Latest news with #DCCC
Axios
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Axios
National Democrats target Rep. Andy Ogles' seat
The national Democratic Party will put money toward ousting U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles next year. Why it matters: It's an unprecedented move in recent Tennessee political history for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to target a House Republican. The DCCC infuses financial resources and organizational help that Tennessee Democrats have sorely lacked since they lost control of the seat in 2022. State of play: Ogles has tacked far to the right in the gerrymandered district that includes about a third of Nashville clumped together with conservative suburbs and hyper-conservative rural areas. His time in Congress has been defined by loyalty to President Trump as well as campaign finance scandals. More recently, Ogles has hammered Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell over his response to federal immigration raids. Yes, but: The DCCC's decision to target the seat preceded Ogles decision to take on O'Connell. Between the lines: Due to the pre-existing scandal and the hope that 2026 will be a banner year for Democrats, the DCCC views Ogles as vulnerable. Flashback: Ogles defeated state Sen. Heidi Campbell in 2022 and he bested anti-gun activist Maryam Abolfazli last year. Ogles outperformed Trump in the district last year. Ogles won by 17.8 points, compared to Trump's 11.3-point margin. Details of an FBI investigation into Ogles' finances came out after last year's tough primary, meaning he hasn't faced a slate of negative ads on the issue. What she's saying: "Scandal after scandal, lie after lie, Andy Ogles continues to prove that he has no interest in actually working for the people of Tennessee's 5th Congressional District," DCCC spokesperson Madison Andrus tells Axios. "He's chasing self-enrichment and his constituents are tired of it." "Tennessee's voters deserve real representation and the DCCC is working to ensure we flip this seat blue next November and get a real fighter in Congress for TN-05," she says. The big picture: Democrats previously had a stranglehold on District 5 since the Civil War. For generations, the district was essentially Nashville's congressional seat, with a few neighboring counties included. U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, a moderate Democrat, represented the district for two decades. Then, the Republican-led legislature redrew district lines to carve Nashville into three districts in which conservatives in neighboring counties outnumbered mostly liberal voters. Reality check: Ogles enters the race as a clear favorite. It's too soon to know if the nation is bracing for a blue wave in 2026, though it's fairly common for the minority party to do well in midterm elections.
Politico
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Trump's Rubicon moment
Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Bethany Irvine Good Sunday morning. Zack Stanton here. Get in touch. YOUR SUNDAY LISTEN: Rahm Emanuel has had just about every job in politics: senior adviser to the president, U.S. representative, DCCC chair, White House chief of staff, U.S. ambassador and Chicago mayor, among others. Could 'presidential candidate' be next on the list? On today's episode of 'The Conversation with Dasha Burns,' Emanuel joins Dasha to diagnose the Democratic Party's ills and offer a remedy to them — which happens to sound an awful lot like a 2028 message. Watch and listen to it now on YouTube His message: 'We're going to make the American dream affordable and accessible. We [the Democratic Party] haven't talked about that. We've talked about every other issue that's tangential to the core crux [of voters' concerns].' Where Dems are united: 'There's a fundamental agreement on the critique that the system is rigged and it's rigged against middle-class, working-class families. … There's more cohesion and coherence in the Democrats than there were 10, 20, 30 years ago.' Where Dems are divided: 'The biggest thing we're missing is that we don't have a consensus or agreement on the road forward. Put [President Donald] Trump aside: We spend a lot of energy appropriately fighting him, but it has prevented us over the years from figuring out how to fight for America.' Where Dems have failed: 'We were not only … out of bounds on cultural issues, we made it look like [they] were central.' On David Hogg's call to primary older Dem incumbents: 'If you have a young face with ideas that don't work, that's not going to solve the problem. You have to have both. … We don't have $20 million to waste on Democratic primaries. Give me that $20 million in a targeted race and you'll pick up a seat and you will stop Donald Trump dead in his tracks.' (More on Hogg below.) And though he demurred about a presidential bid, when pressed about whether his work for Barack Obama would still resonate on the campaign trail, he had this to say: 'I'm not sure that President Obama is unpopular in South Carolina. We'll see, we'll test that, maybe.' Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts … Spotify … YouTube DRIVING THE DAY SLOUCHING TOWARDS WASHINGTON: Welcome to a week that begins with 2,000 members of the California National Guard on the streets of Los Angeles and is scheduled to end with Army tanks parading down the streets of Washington (if you've missed the videos of them arriving by train, they're quite something). Even by the standards of the past decade — we're just a few days short of the 10th anniversary of Trump descending the escalator at Trump Tower to declare his presidential candidacy — it is a jarring moment in American life. The escalation: Over the past two days, protesters have dramatically confronted ICE agents during raids of businesses in Southern California, resulting in 'several violent clashes,' including near a Home Depot in Paramount, as the L.A. Times reports. On Friday, demonstrators marched around a federal detention center in downtown LA — an action White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called an 'insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States' in a tweet yesterday morning. Then came last night … 8:09 p.m., California Gov. Gavin Newsom: 'The federal government is sowing chaos so they can have an excuse to escalate. That is not the way any civilized country behaves.' 8:13 p.m., Newsom: 'The federal government is moving to take over the California National Guard and deploy 2,000 soldiers. That move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions. LA authorities are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment's notice. We are in close coordination with the city and county, and there is currently no unmet need. … This is the wrong mission and will erode public trust.' 8:25 p.m., Trump: 'If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can't do their jobs, which everyone knows they can't, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!' 9:17 p.m., White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt: 'In recent days, violent mobs have attacked ICE Officers and Federal Law Enforcement Agents carrying out basic deportation operations in Los Angeles, California. These operations are essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States. In the wake of this violence, California's feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens. That is why President Trump has signed a Presidential Memorandum deploying 2,000 National Guardsmen to address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester. … The Commander-in-Chief will ensure the laws of the United States are executed fully and completely.' Let's pause here for a moment. What Trump is doing is incredibly rare: 'It is the first time since 1965 that a president has activated a state's National Guard force without a request from that state's governor,' NYT's Shawn Hubler and Laurel Rosenhall report, citing Elizabeth Goitein of the Brennan Center. 'The last time was when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to Alabama to protect civil rights demonstrators in 1965, she said.' Also worth flagging: The National Guard 'has nearly non-existent law enforcement training or doctrine despite it always being talked about as a domestic force,' as Steve Beynon notes. What's the basis of the legal authority here? The Times notes that 'the directive signed by Mr. Trump cites '10 U.S.C. 12406,' referring to a specific provision within Title 10 of the U.S. Code on Armed Services. Part of that provision allows the federal deployment of National Guard forces if 'there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.'' Naturally, then, language from the administration aims to underscore the threat of rebellion, danger or invasion. Back to the timeline … 9:33 p.m., VP JD Vance: 'One of the main technical issues in the immigration judicial battles is whether [Joe] Biden's border crisis counted as an 'invasion.' So now we have foreign nationals with no legal right to be in the country waving foreign flags and assaulting law enforcement. If only we had a good word for that…' 10:06 p.m., Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: 'The violent mob assaults on ICE and Federal Law Enforcement are designed to prevent the removal of Criminal Illegal Aliens from our soil; a dangerous invasion facilitated by criminal cartels (aka Foreign Terrorist Organizations) and a huge NATIONAL SECURITY RISK. … if violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized — they are on high alert.' 10:18 p.m., Miller: 'We will take back America.' 10:36 p.m., Newsom: '[T]hey want a spectacle. Don't give them one.' 12:14 a.m., Newsom: 'The Secretary of Defense is now threatening to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil against its own citizens. This is deranged behavior.' 2:41 a.m., Trump: 'Great job by the National Guard in Los Angeles after two days of violence, clashes and unrest. … These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will NOT BE TOLERATED. Also, from now on, MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests. What do these people have to hide, and why??? Again, thank you to the National Guard for a job well done!' 3:22 a.m., Bass: 'I want to thank LAPD and local law enforcement for their work tonight. … Just to be clear, the National Guard has not been deployed in the City of Los Angeles.' More protests are scheduled for LA later this afternoon. And regardless of how those demonstrations play out, this storm isn't likely to dissipate any time soon. 'We have been told to get ready for 30 days of enforcement, 30 days of ICE enforcement,' Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.) said this morning on CNN's 'State of the Union.' 'So, 2,000 troops to be there for that enforcement, it's a concern. I mean, it's going to escalate the situation.' In the meantime, there are any number of ways to read the administration's response so far. With sympathy: 'Active-duty Marines are not going to be put into local law enforcement,' Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said this morning on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' 'They would be in support roles on it, as we have at the border.' (Of Trump's deployment of the National Guard, Lankford suggested the president is 'trying to de-escalate all the tensions that are there.') With wariness: 'Important to remember that Trump isn't trying to heal or keep the peace. He is looking to inflame and divide,' Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted this morning. 'His movement doesn't believe in democracy or protest - and if they get a chance to end the rule of law they will take it. None of this is on the level.' As vindication: This morning, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) posted a screenshot of his famous 'Send In the Troops' NYT op-ed published amid a wave of at times violent demonstrations after the murder of George Floyd by police in Minnesota in 2020. In that piece, he called on Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy the military domestically. With contempt: 'Don't kid yourself they know they are absolutely getting cooked politically w their terrible bill and rising prices, and they want to create a violent spectacle to feed their content machine,' Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) posted late last night. 'It's time for the mainstream media to describe this authoritarian madness accurately.' SUNDAY BEST … — Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) on the millions of Americans projected to lose health insurance from the reconciliation bill's Medicaid cuts, on 'State of the Union': 'What we're doing is getting rid of the waste and fraud. … All we're doing is removing the people that are frauding the American taxpayers out of health care. … You can't point to anyone that's losing coverage that deserves and qualifies for the care.' — Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) on whether he'd vote for the reconciliation bill if the Senate pares back the state and local tax deduction, on CNN's 'Inside Politics Sunday': 'I've been very clear with leadership all this past week that if the Senate changes the SALT deduction in any way, I will be a no. And I'm not going to buckle on that. And I know in speaking to my other colleagues, they will be a no as well.' — Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) on whether the SALT increase will survive the Senate, on 'Fox News Sunday': 'No, and it shouldn't survive. We should not be subsidizing blue-state governors' wasteful spending. … If that's in there, then Florida will be paying for the state government of New York, and that's wrong.' TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week's must-read opinion pieces. 9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR 1. MUSK READS: The online war of words between Trump and Elon Musk has quieted after aides on both sides held a call Friday to establish some sort of detente, POLITICO's Dasha Burns and Julia Marsh scooped. On Theo Von's podcast yesterday, Vance said he hoped Musk 'kind of comes back into the fold' despite making the 'huge mistake' of going after Trump. The president himself last week encouraged Vance to be diplomatic toward Musk, WaPo's Natalie Allison reports. Top talker: New details went viral about a physical altercation between Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, reported by WaPo's Cat Zakrzewski and colleagues. 'Musk then rammed his shoulder into Bessent's rib cage 'like a rugby player,' [Steve] Bannon said, and Bessent hit him back.' The fallout continues: The Department of Government Efficiency is trying to figure out what's next after Musk's departure — rank-and-file staffers in the office fear their jobs could become just as jeopardized as the rest of the federal government they've slashed, WSJ's Scott Patterson and Ken Thomas report. Increasingly, some Cabinet members are wresting back control of their agencies, a diminishment of DOGE that was underway even before the Musk blow-up, WaPo's Faiz Siddiqui and colleagues report. And NASA and the Defense Department started to move last week to seek alternative options to SpaceX amid the drama, WaPo's Christian Davenport scooped. But but but: DOGE's intense cost-cutting — and its effects throughout the world — is here to stay. OMB Director Russ Vought is taking up the mantle of dismantling swathes of the federal government, with potentially much greater staying power than Musk, POLITICO's Sophia Cai and Megan Messerly report. Vought knows how to break the bureaucracy, and he's 'pushing change through institutional channels, backroom conversations, and contingency planning.' The impact: Some effects of the federal spending cuts are just beginning to be felt. In Ohio, food banks are increasingly struggling to serve people in need, Reuters' P.J. Huffstutter reports from Columbus. State and local emergency managers are bracing to handle natural disasters with diminished help from FEMA, WaPo's Scott Dance and Brady Dennis report. And art experts fear for the future of a federal collection of 26,000 works after the General Services Administration staff that oversees it was shaved to less than a third of its previous size, NYT's Lydia DePillis and colleagues report. 2. ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Gina Ortiz Jones was elected the new mayor of San Antonio, a victory for the left in a technically nonpartisan race that became infused with national politics, the San Antonio Express-News' Molly Smith reports. Ortiz Jones took 54 percent of the vote, keeping the fairly blue city in Democratic hands. 3. TAKING EFFECT TOMORROW: 'Trump's ban stalls lifesaving treatment for Haitian children who need to travel for surgery,' by NBC's Claretta Bellamy: 'Leaders of an aid organization that has sent more than 100 Haitian children with serious cardiac conditions to the U.S. for heart surgery said President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from 19 countries will stall or cancel lifesaving procedures for at least a dozen children or young adults. … No such mention [of travel ban exemptions] was made for cases of medical necessity.' 4. WHOA: On a private DNC Zoom call last month, an emotional Chair Ken Martin said the feud with David Hogg had undermined him and made him question the job, POLITICO's Holly Otterbein scooped. 'The other night I said to myself for the first time, I don't know if I wanna do this anymore,' Martin said on the call. 'You essentially destroyed any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to,' he told Hogg. Martin responded to Holly now that 'I'm not going anywhere.' 5. DEMS' NOVEMBER TESTS: Can Democrats claw back ground in this fall's two closely watched gubernatorial races? In Virginia, nominee Abigail Spanberger has mounted a push to cut into Republican margins in rural areas and small towns, AP's Olivia Diaz reports from Culpeper. Her approach: 'We have to show how we govern.' Meanwhile, New Jersey's Democratic contenders are trying to win back Latino voters who swung hard to the right last year, AP's Adriana Gomez Licon and Mike Catalini report from Newark. Focusing on immigration is out, and playing up pocketbook issues is their emphasis now. 6. 2026 WATCH: 'Paxton presents an opportunity in Texas — if Democrats can take advantage of it,' by POLITICO's Nick Wu and Liz Crampton: 'Texas Republicans' messy Senate primary is giving Democrats hope that they could finally have an opening to wedge into higher office in the red state — for real this time. But a potential pileup of candidates as the party sees renewed interest in the race could spoil their chances … A [Ken Paxton GOP primary] victory could divide Republicans and potentially even sway some to support a Democrat. Nearly two dozen Texas Democratic members of Congress, party leaders and strategists described a sense of opportunity, but were divided on the type of candidate to run.' 7. SCHOOL DAZE: 'Trump has universities in the bind the right has long wanted,' by POLITICO's Juan Perez Jr.: 'Even as Ivy League schools, research institutions, and college trade associations try to resist Trump's attacks in court, campus leaders are starting to accept they face only difficult choices: negotiate with the government, mount a painful legal and political fight — or simply try to stay out of sight. Groundbreaking scientific research, financial aid for lower-income students and soft power as an economic engine once shielded schools' access to federal funds. Trump has now transformed those financial lifelines into leverage.' 8. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: Would Republicans' reconciliation megabill unleash massive economic growth and prosperity in America? It's the chief selling point for party leaders, who have dismissed forecasts that the bill would hugely increase the deficit. But nonpartisan experts anticipate smaller benefits — some short-term growth that wouldn't amount to an economic boom paying for itself, WSJ's Richard Rubin reports. 'Broadly, economists across the political spectrum discount elected officials' predictions.' 9. KNOWING THOMAS CROOKS: 'The Quiet Unraveling of the Man Who Almost Killed Trump,' by NYT's Steve Eder and Tawnell Hobbs: '[H]e went through a gradual and largely hidden transformation, from a meek engineering student critical of political polarization to a focused killer who tried to build bombs. For months he operated in secret, using aliases and encrypted networks, all while showing hints of a mental illness that may have caused his mind to unravel to an extent not previously reported. … Mr. Crooks followed his dark path with seemingly little notice from those closest to him.' TALK OF THE TOWN Jon Bramnick finds time, even while campaigning for New Jersey governor, for about one or two stand-up comedy gigs a month. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — 'WorldPride parade marches through D.C.,' by WaPo's Dana Munro and colleagues: 'Organizers acknowledged that WorldPride this year has not been the massive celebration they originally hoped for — one that was expected to attract up to 3 million people … The parade was [now] expected to attract up to 700,000 attendees, almost double the number in a typical year.' OUT AND ABOUT — Friends of the National World War II Memorial hosted a commemoration of the 81st anniversary of D-Day at the National World War II Memorial's Circle of Remembrance on Friday. SPOTTED: Navy Secretary John Phelan, Jane Droppa, Kevin Griess, Alex Kershaw, Frank Cohn, Anthony Grant, Harry Miller, Dave Yoho, Andy Hoare, Maite Morren, Kristjan Monaghan, Natalie Pozer, Thibaud Thomas, Simon Gunneweg, Alan Parker, Connie Stien and Dai Bevan. TRANSITIONS — Jason McMahon will join Valinor Enterprises to build out its federal strategy and government relations efforts. He previously was a professional staff member on the Senate Appropriations Committee. … Rob Simms and Ben Miller have launched Motive Media, a strategy and creative firm. They both previously were at Convergence Media, and Simms is a former NRSC executive director. … Martina McLennan is now director of policy comms for economic and health policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. She previously was comms director for Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) … Cory Fritz of FTI Consulting … Matt Whitlock … Justin Peligri … former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) … Paola Molina … Jonathan Collegio … Kelsey Bolar (Harkness) … Roger Hickey of Campaign for America's Future … Erin Gorman Van Alsten … Paul Winfree … Strategic Partners & Media's Russ Schriefer … WaPo's Sarah Hashemi … Jennifer Dunn of Hill+Knowlton Strategies … Lindsey Wagner-Oveson of Sen. Peter Welch's (D-Vt.) office … The Bulwark's Hannah Yoest … Joshua Matz of Kaplan Hecker & Fink … NBCUniversal's Amanda Kontor … Margaret Reynolds of Rep. Jared Golden's (D-Maine) office … Julianna Margulies … Preston Bell of the House Ways & Means GOP (36) … Kris Coratti Kelly … Alex Daugherty … Becca Winch of No Labels … Lale Morrison Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. Correction: Yesterday's Playbook misspelled Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) name.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House Dems' campaign chair says her party's 'on offense' in 2026 battle to win back majority from GOP
With the early moves heating up in the 2026 battle for the House majority, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's (DCCC) chair argues President Donald Trump and the Republican majorities in the House and Senate are "doing incredible damage to working families and to our country." And with the GOP defending a razor-thin majority in the House in next year's midterm elections, Rep. Suzan DelBene, the DCCC chair, noted, "We only need three more seats." "We have 35 districts in play across the country where we have opportunities," DelBene said in a Fox News Digital interview last week in the nation's capital, pointing to the Republican-held seats the DCCC is targeting. "We are on offense. We are fighting for the American people and for the important issues they care about, and Democrats are united in doing that." House Democrats Predict Republicans Will Pay Price For Passing Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' While the party in power after a presidential election — currently the GOP — typically faces political headwinds and loses House seats in the following midterms, the 2026 map appears to favor Republicans."The battlefield is really laying out to our advantage. There are 14 Democrats who won seats also carried by Donald Trump. There are only three Republicans in seats that were carried by [former Vice President] Kamala Harris. So, that tells me we're going to be on offense," Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chair, told Fox News Digital at the start of the 2026 cycle. Read On The Fox News App What The House Gop Campaign Committee Chair Told Fox News About Trump's Role In The Midterms DelBene countered that "the reason we have opportunities is because people are outraged, because they do want to see someone come into office who is going to fight for their communities and not just be blindly loyal to a president." And pointing to the small bite House Democrats took out of the GOP's majority in the 2024 elections, she added that "those are the types of candidates that won in our districts last cycle. It's a reason we actually gained seats in 2024 and is absolutely the reason why we're going to take back the majority in 2026." But Hudson noted he has a powerful ally as he works to keep control of the House. "The president understands that he's got to keep the House majority in the midterm so that he has a four-year runway instead of a two-year runway to get his agenda enacted," Hudson said. "He's been extremely helpful to us, and we appreciate it." And the Democrats are facing a polling dilemma because the party's ratings have been sinking to historic lows in a number of national surveys so far this year. The Democrats' ratings in a Fox News poll stood at 41% favorable and 56% unfavorable in a survey conducted April 18-21. Head Here To Check Out The Latest Fox News Polls That's an all-time low for the Democrats in Fox News polling. And for the first time in a decade, the party's standing was lower than that of the GOP, which stood at 44% favorable and 54% unfavorable. The figures were reversed last summer, when Fox News last asked the party favorability question in one of its surveys. But there is a silver lining for the Democrats. The Fox News poll indicated that if the 2026 midterm elections were held today, 49% of voters would back a generic Democrat in their congressional district, with 42% supporting the generic Republican candidate. The Democrats also have another problem — the possibility of primary challenges against longtime and older House lawmakers in safe blue districts. Recently elected Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice Chair David Hogg last month pledged to spend millions of dollars through his outside political group to support primary challenges against what he termed "asleep at the wheel" House Democrats who he argued have not been effective in pushing back against Trump. The move by the 25-year-old Hogg, a survivor of the shooting seven years ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida, to spend money against fellow Democrats ignited a firestorm within the party. In response, DelBene said, "Democrats across the country are united in taking back the House." Asked by Fox News if the move by Hogg would force the DCCC and allied super PACs to divert money and resources from competitive districts in order to defend incumbents in safe blue districts from primary challenges, DelBene responded, "I think everyone knows how important it is that we take back the House, and folks are focused in helping make sure that we do that in districts all across the country." But the dispute is giving the GOP ammunition. In response to the intra-Democratic Party feud, NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella argued, "No Democrat is safe. A political earthquake is underway, and the old guard is scrambling."Original article source: House Dems' campaign chair says her party's 'on offense' in 2026 battle to win back majority from GOP
Fox News
01-06-2025
- Business
- Fox News
House Dems' campaign chair says her party's 'on offense' in 2026 battle to win back majority from GOP
With the early moves heating up in the 2026 battle for the House majority, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's (DCCC) chair argues President Donald Trump and the Republican majorities in the House and Senate are "doing incredible damage to working families and to our country." And with the GOP defending a razor-thin majority in the House in next year's midterm elections, Rep. Suzan DelBene, the DCCC chair, noted, "We only need three more seats." "We have 35 districts in play across the country where we have opportunities," DelBene said in a Fox News Digital interview last week in the nation's capital, pointing to the Republican-held seats the DCCC is targeting. "We are on offense. We are fighting for the American people and for the important issues they care about, and Democrats are united in doing that." While the party in power after a presidential election — currently the GOP — typically faces political headwinds and loses House seats in the following midterms, the 2026 map appears to favor Republicans."The battlefield is really laying out to our advantage. There are 14 Democrats who won seats also carried by Donald Trump. There are only three Republicans in seats that were carried by [former Vice President] Kamala Harris. So, that tells me we're going to be on offense," Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chair, told Fox News Digital at the start of the 2026 cycle. DelBene countered that "the reason we have opportunities is because people are outraged, because they do want to see someone come into office who is going to fight for their communities and not just be blindly loyal to a president." And pointing to the small bite House Democrats took out of the GOP's majority in the 2024 elections, she added that "those are the types of candidates that won in our districts last cycle. It's a reason we actually gained seats in 2024 and is absolutely the reason why we're going to take back the majority in 2026." But Hudson noted he has a powerful ally as he works to keep control of the House. "The president understands that he's got to keep the House majority in the midterm so that he has a four-year runway instead of a two-year runway to get his agenda enacted," Hudson said. "He's been extremely helpful to us, and we appreciate it." And the Democrats are facing a polling dilemma because the party's ratings have been sinking to historic lows in a number of national surveys so far this year. The Democrats' ratings in a Fox News poll stood at 41% favorable and 56% unfavorable in a survey conducted April 18-21. That's an all-time low for the Democrats in Fox News polling. And for the first time in a decade, the party's standing was lower than that of the GOP, which stood at 44% favorable and 54% unfavorable. The figures were reversed last summer, when Fox News last asked the party favorability question in one of its surveys. But there is a silver lining for the Democrats. The Fox News poll indicated that if the 2026 midterm elections were held today, 49% of voters would back a generic Democrat in their congressional district, with 42% supporting the generic Republican candidate. The Democrats also have another problem — the possibility of primary challenges against longtime and older House lawmakers in safe blue districts. Recently elected Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice Chair David Hogg last month pledged to spend millions of dollars through his outside political group to support primary challenges against what he termed "asleep at the wheel" House Democrats who he argued have not been effective in pushing back against Trump. The move by the 25-year-old Hogg, a survivor of the shooting seven years ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida, to spend money against fellow Democrats ignited a firestorm within the party. In response, DelBene said, "Democrats across the country are united in taking back the House." Asked by Fox News if the move by Hogg would force the DCCC and allied super PACs to divert money and resources from competitive districts in order to defend incumbents in safe blue districts from primary challenges, DelBene responded, "I think everyone knows how important it is that we take back the House, and folks are focused in helping make sure that we do that in districts all across the country." But the dispute is giving the GOP ammunition. In response to the intra-Democratic Party feud, NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella argued, "No Democrat is safe. A political earthquake is underway, and the old guard is scrambling."
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Medicaid cuts in Republican bill emerge as an early flash point for the 2026 elections
WASHINGTON — Early battle lines are forming over a centerpiece of the sprawling domestic policy bill that House Republicans narrowly passed, with Medicaid spending cuts emerging as a flash point that could define the 2026 midterm elections. Democrats are fine-tuning their message as they blast the legislation, which now heads to the GOP-led Senate, as a tax cut for the wealthy that would be funded by cutting health care, after Republicans broadly promised they wouldn't cut Medicaid. A recent memo from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee vows to make the GOP's 'tax scam' and Medicaid cuts 'the defining contrast of the 2026 election cycle' in its efforts to win the House majority next year. The DCCC is advising Democratic candidates to criticize the Republican bill as a Trojan horse designed to throw millions off of Medicaid — not address waste — with new red tape, said a separate source with knowledge of the private conversations. And Republicans are trying to frame the fight on their terms. The National Republican Congressional Committee is advising members to tout the bill as 'strengthening Medicaid' by limiting the program to those who need it — 'not fraudsters, able-bodied adults who refuse to work, or illegal immigrants.' Underneath the clash is a wonky debate about what, exactly, constitutes a Medicaid 'cut.' Republicans insist they aren't directly cutting benefits for low-income and disabled people, so their bill shouldn't be defined as a cut. Democrats and outside critics say it would strip away coverage for millions of people, including those who need the program the most, who would fall through the cracks if they can't meet the new bureaucratic requirements to keep proving their eligibility. The bulk of the cost savings would come from strict new rules to maintain eligibility for Medicaid, which would require adult recipients to prove they're working or engaging in 'community service' for at least 80 hours per month, with limited exceptions that include pregnant women. That rule would kick in at the end of 2026. Other new rules would involve verifying addresses, proving lawful immigration status and screening eligibility more frequently, once every six months, instead of once a year. The bill would impose about $700 billion in cuts to Medicaid relative to current law, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, and rescind health coverage for about 8.6 million people. (The estimate was based on the work requirement's beginning in 2029, before it was moved up in the revised bill, meaning the uninsured number could be larger.) Still, Republicans are seeking to steer the debate toward the work requirements, which surveys say voters generally support for able-bodied adults, and selling the bill as an attempt to return Medicaid to those who need it the most. Asked to respond to the GOP argument on the bill's work requirements, DCCC spokesperson Viet Shelton said in an email: 'House Republicans got caught lying about their vote to rip health care away from millions of people and are now scrambling to change the subject. Their tax scam bill was specifically designed to be the largest cut to Medicaid in history and Republicans are now stuck in a doomloop debating how many and how quickly people will get kicked off their health insurance — not if.' The politics of the escalating fight could prompt Senate Republicans to make changes to the bill. Some have already expressed discomfort with the changes proposed for Medicaid, though they broadly favor work requirements and don't count them as 'cuts.' President Donald Trump has similarly said he doesn't want to cut Medicaid, yet he championed the House legislation. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee released a digital ad last week describing the GOP Medicaid policies as 'devastating.' A recent national survey by KFF, a nonpartisan health research group, highlights the nuances of the issue. Overall, the poll found that 62% of U.S. adults support new legislation 'requiring nearly all adults to work or be looking for work in order to get health insurance through Medicaid' — including 6 in 10 independents. But the KFF poll found the support to be soft. It plummets to 32% when respondents hear the argument that most Medicaid recipients are already working or are unable to work. When respondents hear the argument that such new rules would raise administrative costs without significantly affecting the share of Medicaid recipients who are working, support drops to 40%. There are other headwinds for Republicans. Overall, the KFF poll found that Medicaid funding cuts are unpopular: 82% of respondents said they wanted Medicaid spending to increase or stay about the same, while just 17% said they want it to decrease. Even among Republican respondents, just 33% said Medicaid spending should be reduced. The survey found that 3 in 4 U.S. adults said the legislation was about reducing government spending, while just one-fourth of them said it was about improving how Medicaid works. Still, the GOP focus has tripped up at least one Democratic candidate. Manny Rutinel, who is eying the seat of freshman Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., declined three times in an interview on NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver to say whether he favors work requirements for able-bodied adults. 'It was painful to watch,' said a national Democratic strategist, who spoke candidly on condition of anonymity. The strategist said the onus is on Democrats to elevate the voices of regular people in their districts who would be harmed by the new rules and to make the case that 'people who need Medicaid are going to lose it because of what Republicans are doing.' As top Democrats echo their successful message from the 2018 election cycle, whereas Republicans tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act and enacted the Trump tax cuts, some in the party warn that the dynamics are different this time. The Republican 'message today is about requiring able-bodied Americans to work, preventing fraud and ensuring noncitizens are not covered,' said Ashley Schapitl, a former Democratic Senate communications aide. 'While Medicaid cuts poll horribly, these individual policies poll well. Democrats can still win the argument, but members need a sharp message and discipline around the issues of work requirements and immigration, not to feel complacent around rerunning the exact 2017 playbook.' House Majority Forward, a political group focused on electing Democrats, launched a six-figure ad campaign Wednesday in 26 Republican-held districts, accusing those lawmakers of voting to raise prices for ordinary people through Medicaid cuts. An ad running in Pennsylvania's 8th District says freshman GOP Rep. Rob Bresnahan 'just cast the deciding vote to raise the cost of your groceries and cut your health care including Medicaid — to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-rich.' A similar script is used against other incumbents, all of whom were pivotal in the 215-214 vote to pass the legislation last week and send it to the Senate. Republicans, notably, are focusing a new ad campaign of their own on touting the bill's tax cuts, not its spending cuts. The NRCC announced new ads Friday targeting 25 Democratic incumbents in competitive districts, saying they voted 'for the largest U.S. tax hike in generations' by opposing the bill that extends the expiring 2017 Trump tax cuts. The ad obliquely refers to citizenship verification for benefits, saying that under the status quo, 'illegals get freebies, you get the bill.' The ad doesn't mention Medicaid. This article was originally published on
