Stories

Browse major news stories and see what officials have said.

Sep 8, 2026

New Hampshire Sets Up the Senate Race for Jeanne Shaheen's Open Seat — John E. Sununu Wins the Republican Primary Three to One and Says He "Can't Wait to Debate Chris Pappas," and Pappas Wins the Democratic Primary and Says Sununu "Has Thrown His Lot In With Donald Trump"

On September 8, 2026, New Hampshire voters set the November matchup for the U.S. Senate seat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) is giving up after three terms. Former Sen. John E. Sununu, who held the seat from 2003 to 2009 and carried President Trump's endorsement, won the Republican primary over former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown by roughly 70 percent to 25 percent. Rep. Chris Pappas, the four-term Democrat from the 1st District, won the Democratic primary over Karishma Manzur, a scientist backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, by roughly 62 percent to 36 percent — a wider-than-expected margin for Manzur in a race Pappas had been expected to walk through. Both nominees used their victory speeches to define the other. Sununu told supporters "I can't wait to debate Chris Pappas — anytime, any place," called the congressman "ineffective, partisan, and out of touch with New Hampshire," and said that as senator he would "take a backseat to no one" in standing up for the state and was "not running for any other job." Pappas said "Everywhere I go, I hear the same thing: Life is too damn expensive," tied that to tariffs, expiring health-insurance subsidies and gas and grocery prices, said "Donald Trump thinks all of this is just a hoax," and cast Sununu as the president's "handpicked candidate" who "has thrown his lot in with Donald Trump" and as "a failed politician from the past." Brown conceded to Sununu by phone. Down the ballot, Gov. Kelly Ayotte was renominated with roughly 92 percent and will face Democrat Cinde Warmington, a former executive councilor who ran unopposed. In the open 1st Congressional District that Pappas is leaving, Stefany Shaheen — the retiring senator's daughter — won a nine-way Democratic primary with about 37 percent, edging Marine veteran Maura Sullivan by fewer than 2,000 votes in a race the Associated Press did not call until after midnight; she faces Republican Anthony DiLorenzo. In the 2nd District, Rep. Maggie Goodlander was renominated and faces Republican Lily Tang Williams. The general election is November 3.

“I think it's important that we have some representation in DC, because right now we don't, and quite honestly, we deserve it.”
Scott Brown (R-NH) · Sep 8, 2026

The House Votes 237-169 to Strip Federal Student Aid From Colleges That Boycott Israel — a Bill Written by a Democrat, Opposed by His Own Leadership, and Passed With 33 Democrats and All but Two Republicans

On September 3, 2026, the House passed H.R. 4795, the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act of 2026, by a vote of 237-169. The bill bars colleges and universities that engage in what it defines as a "non-expressive commercial boycott" of Israel from participating in federal student aid programs — including Pell grants and federal student loans. The bill was written by an unusual pair: Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the former chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), one of the most pro-Israel Democrats in the House. It had cleared the Education and Workforce Committee 24-9 after a June 25 hearing. The floor vote split both parties, but far more unevenly on one side than the other. Republicans voted 203-2 in favor, with only Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Warren Davidson (R-OH) opposed. Democrats voted 167-33 against — meaning 33 Democrats broke with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark and the rest of the leadership team, all of whom voted no. Supporters framed the bill as an answer to campus antisemitism. Opponents, led by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) — who has spent decades opposing the BDS movement itself — argued it punishes constitutionally protected speech, and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), the ranking member on Education and Workforce, argued on the floor that no American university administration has actually adopted the policies the bill describes. The vote landed the same week House Democratic leaders were weighing discipline against two members who crossed the aisle on a procedural rule, and ten weeks before the midterms — sharpening an intra-Democratic fight over Israel that has been building all year.

“Let’s take my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and their argument, and that is the bill does nothing, and there’s nothing to see here. Then there’s no harm in passing it.”
H. Griffith (R-VA) · Sep 3, 2026

Two Democrats Cross the Aisle to Save a Republican Rule After Five Republicans Kill It — the Rule Passes 210-208, and Their Own Leadership Calls It "a Significant Breach of Trust" and Sends It to the Caucus Rules Committee

On Tuesday, September 1, 2026, the House adopted a Republican rule — the procedural resolution setting the terms of floor debate — by 210-208. It only got there because two Democrats voted yes. Five Republicans had defected: Reps. Andy Harris (MD), Clay Higgins (LA), Ralph Norman (SC), Chip Roy (TX) and Pete Sessions (TX), several of them angry that the rule handled the Senate's continuing resolution the way it did. That left the rule short. Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), both Blue Dogs, supplied the votes that saved it. By long-standing House custom the minority votes against rules as a bloc, regardless of what they think of the underlying bills. The rule Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez rescued teed up a batch of Republican bills — including the resolution condemning socialism "in all its forms" bolted to the SAVE America Act — as well as Golden's own Northeast Lobstermen Protection Act. Democratic leaders said they got no advance notice. Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar issued a joint statement the same day calling it "a significant breach of trust" and referred the matter to the Committee on Caucus Rules, which met the next day. Members floated stripping committee assignments — a live threat for Gluesenkamp Perez, who sits on Appropriations and is among the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents on the map. Golden is retiring at the end of the term. Gluesenkamp Perez told reporters on Wednesday that she was undeterred.

“If that’s what they feel they need to do, it’s not going to change.”
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) · Sep 2, 2026

An 80-Year-Old Senator Beats the 47-Year-Old Congressman Who Ran on Generational Change by Roughly Two to One — Ed Markey Says "Tonight Is a Testament to the Power of the Progressive Movement," and Seth Moulton Says the Conversation Still Needed Having

On September 1, 2026, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) beat Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) in the Massachusetts Democratic Senate primary, taking roughly two-thirds of the vote. It was the most direct test yet of the generational-change argument that has been running through Democratic primaries all cycle — and the incumbent won it going away. Moulton, 47, built his challenge on the proposition that Markey, 80, is too old for another six-year term, invoking Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Dianne Feinstein and Joe Biden as cautionary tales. Markey answered by consolidating the left: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez all endorsed him, and he campaigned on the same young-progressive coalition that saved him from Joe Kennedy III in 2020. In his victory speech in downtown Boston he called the win a "testament to the power of the progressive movement of our nation," told the crowd "there is a big blue wave coming to drown out all those red MAGA hats," and answered the age question directly — "I'm always the youngest guy in the room when it comes to new ideas." Moulton conceded the night of the primary, said he had called Markey to congratulate him, and pledged his full support for the general election while refusing to retract the argument he had run on. His House seat in the 6th District is now open. Markey advances to the November 3 general election against Republican John Deaton, in a state he carried with 66 percent in 2020. Elsewhere on the ballot, incumbents held: Rep. Richard Neal survived his primary in the 1st District, and Mike Minogue won the Republican gubernatorial primary to face Gov. Maura Healey.

“Tonight is a testament to the power of the progressive movement of our nation.”
Ed Markey (D-MA) · Sep 1, 2026

Aug 23, 2026· Updated

Eleven Weeks Before the Midterms, Hakeem Jeffries Says He Does Not Support Medicare for All or "the DSA Agenda" — and Ro Khanna and Bernie Sanders Push Back the Same Day

On the August 16, 2026 edition of NBC's "Meet the Press," House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries was asked directly whether he supports Medicare for All. He said he does not — "It's not legislation that I currently am co-sponsoring or that I support" — and separately declined to embrace the Democratic Socialists of America's program, saying "I don't support the DSA agenda as has been articulated by the DSA itself." Jeffries framed the party's 2026 message around affordability and a "broad caucus" containing progressives, New Democrats and Blue Dogs. Jeffries had co-sponsored the Medicare for All Act in 2019 and 2021 but did not co-sponsor the 2025 version introduced by Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Debbie Dingell. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), appearing on the same program, took the opposite position, calling Medicare for All "arguably the most important priority" and predicting most House Democrats would back it. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the policy's longtime author, weighed in publicly the same weekend, citing polling showing 64 percent support. The exchange put the party's internal fight over health care on national television with 11 weeks until the November midterms, as Democrats eye a House majority in January.

“We are facing the most dangerous, radical, and frankly, Kristen, weird Democrats I’ve seen in my lifetime.”
Tim Scott (R-SC) · Aug 23, 2026

A Progressive State Senator Beats Roughly $5 Million in AIPAC-Aligned Spending to Win Eric Swalwell’s Old Seat — and Aisha Wahab Becomes the First Afghan American Elected to Congress

The Associated Press called California's 14th District special election for state Sen. Aisha Wahab on Thursday, August 20, 2026, two days after polls closed, with Wahab leading fellow Democrat Melissa Hernandez 53 percent to 47 percent with more than 95 percent of the vote counted. Wahab will serve the remainder of former Rep. Eric Swalwell's term, which runs through January 2027; Swalwell resigned in April 2026 amid sexual misconduct allegations he denies. Wahab becomes the first Afghan American elected to the U.S. Congress. She had already been the first Afghan American to hold elected office in the United States, winning a Hayward City Council seat in 2018, and the first Muslim woman and first Afghan American in the California Legislature. The race drew unusually heavy outside money for a special election. The United Democracy Project, the super PAC aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, spent roughly $2.5 million against Wahab in the final weeks alone, with reported totals across AIPAC-aligned entities running to about $5 million or more. Wahab, who has called Israel's conduct in Gaza a genocide and supports ending U.S. military aid to Israel, made the spending itself a campaign issue and described the advertising as "$5m of lies." Hernandez, the president of the BART Board of Directors and a former mayor of Dublin, conceded and said she hopes for a different outcome in November, when the two are set to face each other again for the full two-year term under a newly redistricted map. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) congratulated Wahab on what he called a "decisive victory." Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Pete Aguilar had earlier lobbied Wahab against running.

“Congratulations Aisha Wahab on your decisive victory. I look forward to working with you on Medicare for All, a living wage, and ending the war in Iran.”
Ro Khanna (D-CA) · Aug 21, 2026

Aug 16, 2026· Updated

The DNC Adopts a Resolution Calling on Congress to Abolish ICE — and a Second Resolution Calling to Reform It — as Jeffries Refuses to Back Abolition

At the Democratic National Committee's summer meeting in Austin, Texas, the DNC Resolutions Committee voted 25-12 on Thursday, August 13, 2026 to advance Resolution 27, which urges congressional Democrats to pass legislation eliminating US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and winding down the federal immigration detention system. The committee also advanced a separate resolution calling for ICE to be reformed rather than abolished. Both were bundled into a larger package and adopted by the full membership on a unanimous voice vote on Saturday, August 15 — leaving the party formally on record for two contradictory positions at once. Resolution 27 was introduced by Michele Johnson, a DNC committeewoman from Louisiana, who argued the party's caution is why voters do not trust it. Marge Hoffa, vice chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, objected that the DNC would be contradicting its own record of demanding reform. DNC Chair Ken Martin downplayed the vote, noting that official party positions are set in the quadrennial platform. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" the next morning, declined to endorse abolition and instead called for "dramatic, bold and transformational" reform — unmasking agents, body cameras, judicial warrants and state-level criminal accountability. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), on the same program, said he has called for abolishing ICE. Republicans moved immediately to make the vote a midterm issue: RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said Democrats "made it official," and the White House called the party "extreme radical Democrats."

“The masks should come off. Body cameras should come on.”
Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) · Aug 16, 2026

Senate Agriculture Committee Deadlocks 10-11 on the Agricultural Act of 2026, Stalling "Farm Bill 2.0" Over SNAP Error-Rate Cost Shifting

On August 6, 2026, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry failed to advance the Agricultural Act of 2026 — the five-year farm bill reauthorization branded "Farm Bill 2.0" — on a 10-11 party-line vote, leaving the package stranded in committee. The bill collapsed over a single unresolved fight: how quickly states would be forced to pick up a share of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit costs based on their payment error rates. Chairman John Boozman (R-Ark.) had negotiated directly with the White House to soften the nutrition title, agreeing to delay the state cost-sharing requirement by one year and to let states use whichever of their fiscal 2026 or 2027 error rates was lower. Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) pushed for a two-year delay, arguing the one-year window let the highest-error-rate states escape cost-sharing entirely while states that had already cleaned up their numbers were penalized. Luján's amendment to extend the delay — scored by CBO at roughly $19 billion — failed, and with it the bill. Most of the farm title enjoyed bipartisan support, and a mandatory country-of-origin labeling amendment drew Majority Leader John Thune along with Sens. Deb Fischer, John Hoeven, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst. But the SNAP impasse held, Democratic amendments were defeated along party lines, and the final vote failed. Boozman pointedly recessed rather than adjourned the committee, signaling he intends to bring the bill back after the August break. House Agriculture Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson (R-Pa.) blamed Senate Democrats. Agriculture groups including the National Corn Growers Association, the American Soybean Association and the Farm Credit Council all voiced disappointment, warning the delay pushes a five-year farm bill further out of reach.

“I remain committed to working with those who put our farmers and rural communities first on advancing solutions that strengthen agriculture.”
John Boozman (R-AR) · Aug 6, 2026

Apr 13, 2026· Updated

Sexual Assault Allegations Against Gov. Candidate Eric Swalwell

A CNN investigation on April 10, 2026 reported that four women described sexual misconduct by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), including a former staffer who said he raped her when she was too intoxicated to consent. Swalwell, a candidate for California governor, called the allegations "flat false." Within hours, House Democratic leadership called on him to end his campaign, Sen. Adam Schiff and Sen. Ruben Gallego withdrew endorsements, his campaign chair resigned, the Manhattan DA opened a probe, and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi urged him to drop out. On April 13, Swalwell dropped his governor bid and announced he would resign from Congress, saying he was taking "responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make" while still denying the most serious allegations.

“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I've made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make. I am aware of efforts to bring an immediate expulsion vote against me. Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong. But it's also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress.”
Eric Swalwell (D-CA) · Apr 13, 2026