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Tag: midterms-2026 ✕

Sep 28, 2026· Updated

At the U.N., Trump Asks Whether to Make a Deal With Iran "or Do I Annihilate the Islamic Republic and Do It Quickly" and Says Tehran Is "Waiting to See How I Do in the Midterm" — Hours Later Witkoff and Kushner Sit Down With Iran's Foreign Minister for Three Hours, and Tim Kaine Asks "Who Talks Like That?"

President Trump used his September 22, 2026 address to the 81st U.N. General Assembly to defend the nearly seven-month war with Iran and to frame its end as a choice he alone would make: a deal that would let Iran "rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before," or to "annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly" and "drive them into hell with no chance of survival." He accused Tehran of stalling on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz until after the November midterms, predicted an agreement "right after the election," and insisted the election "doesn't even enter my mind." The same speech called Cuba a failed state, announced that U.S. documents would refer to AI as "superintelligence," and vowed to "encourage it, not rein it in." Within hours, Trump told reporters that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had held "a very good meeting" lasting about three hours with an Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of the General Assembly, with another meeting expected soon. Witkoff called the mediated talks "promising" and "constructive." Iranian state media said Tehran used the meeting to lay out its conditions for reopening the strait: lifting the U.S. naval blockade, releasing frozen Iranian assets and ending the war on all "resistance fronts." Democrats had earlier called for Trump's removal after his April threat that "a whole civilization will die tonight." Sen. Tim Kaine, lead sponsor of the Senate's Iran war powers resolutions, answered the U.N. speech by asking "who talks like that?" The speech came as a CNN/SSRS poll found 71% of voters disapproving of Trump's handling of foreign affairs.

“This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING! Axios' story, like most others, is a HOAX, used only for purposes of satisfying their Trump Derangement Syndrome. They should withdraw this fake story, IMMEDIATELY! [Trump, responding to an Axios report that he had offered Iran sanctions relief and the release of frozen funds in exchange for nuclear concessions.]”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 28, 2026

Sep 27, 2026· Updated

Eight Weeks Out, House Democrats Say Out Loud What a Majority Would Do — Raskin Says a Third Trump Impeachment Is "Not a Taboo With Us" but "Not a Panacea," and Jason Crow Says He Would Start With the Pentagon

On Sunday, September 6, 2026, with the midterms eight weeks away, the House Democrats who would run the investigative committees in a new majority described their plans on the record for the first time. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee and the lead impeachment manager in both of Trump's prior Senate trials, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the president has "undoubtedly" committed impeachable offenses in his second term and that a third impeachment would be "a critical tool in the toolbox for constitutional self-defense" — while insisting "it's not a fetish with us" and that health care and "ending the lawlessness" rank higher. Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), who sits on Armed Services and Intelligence, told Fox News he would "start on the Department of Defense" because "our service members are being put at tremendous risk," and would not rule out impeachment of Trump or his appointees, calling it "one of several tools." Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking member on Oversight, named his first two targets: "Trump family corruption" and "the Jeffrey Epstein investigation." House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has repeatedly declined to be pinned down on impeachment. The remarks give Republicans a concrete campaign argument and mark the clearest public accounting yet of what Democratic oversight would look like in 2027.

“Don't be impeaching anybody. Let's just get back to work. … I would rather move the ball forward and to the benefit of the American people.”
Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) · Sep 27, 2026

Six Weeks Before the Midterms, the Senate Rejects the House-Passed Resolution to End the Iran War 49-50 — Thom Tillis Joins Paul, Collins and Murkowski, Saying "We've Got to Break the Cycle," While Tim Kaine Says Republicans Have Been "Carrying Water for This Ridiculous and Illegal War"

On Thursday, September 24, 2026, the Senate voted 49-50 against H.Con.Res. 89, the House-passed concurrent resolution directing President Trump to remove U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran unless Congress authorizes the war. It was the 14th time the Senate has taken up an Iran war powers measure since the war began on February 28. Because it is a concurrent resolution, the measure would not have gone to the president and would not have had the force of law. The vote was mostly symbolic, but it was one of the Senate's last votes before the November elections. Four Republicans voted yes: Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Tillis is retiring, and he said he doesn't usually back "show votes" but wanted to signal that it is time to engage Congress. Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted no, and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks missed the vote. Together those two votes decided the outcome. The vote came two days after Trump's U.N. speech asking whether to make a deal with Iran "or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic." Diesel prices are above $6 a gallon, and several Republicans who voted no have said publicly that the war needs to end. The White House said Congress cannot force the president to end the campaign this way and that Trump has sufficient authority under Article II. Pentagon figures put the toll at 19 U.S. service members killed and more than 820 wounded, and the cost at about $43.5 billion.

“I think there are a lot of Republican members, yes, obviously. Everybody wants to see wars come to a conclusion. We are hopeful that the administration's efforts will lead to getting … the shipping lanes open and taking some of the pressure off of the American peoples' pocketbooks via a lower price at the pump for gasoline. … It's an economic frustration. That's why again I hope that the administration is laser-focused on trying to get the strait open. [Thune called the Democratic-forced vote "political."]”
John Thune (R-SD) · Sep 24, 2026

ICE Sweeps the Meatpacking Towns of Southwest Kansas Without Telling Local Police — Dodge City, Garden City and Liberal Say They Got No Warning, and Both of the State's Republican Senators Say ICE "Needs to Coordinate With Our Local Law Enforcement"

Beginning before dawn on Tuesday, September 23, 2026, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in unmarked vans set up on the roads around the big beef-packing plants in Liberal, Garden City and Dodge City, stopping vehicles and questioning passengers at shift change. The four plants employ more than 10,000 people in the region, many of them immigrants. National Beef in Liberal delayed shifts the next day, Dodge City Public Schools warned families that "we may have students whose family members have been detained," and county buildings were used as staging areas. The three cities issued a joint statement saying their governing bodies and police "were not notified in advance" and "do not have operational information regarding these federal enforcement activities." The Finney County sheriff said his office was "in no way assisting." Kansas's two Republican senators — Roger Marshall, who is on the ballot in November in a race that has tightened, and Jerry Moran — both responded by calling on ICE to work with local law enforcement, and both said they had been in contact with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. CNN noted that Marshall had previously praised ICE agents and defended their practices, and grouped the statements with other Republicans in competitive races who have begun distancing themselves from the administration's immigration enforcement.

“I am hearing from Kansans about the increased federal law enforcement presence in southwest Kansas as ICE agents carry out warrants in the area. … [Moran said he visited with Secretary Mullin to stress] the importance of DHS working with our local law enforcement to safely execute these warrants.”
Jerry Moran (R-KS) · Sep 24, 2026

Sep 24, 2026· Updated

Diesel Hits a Record $6.51 and Farm-State Republicans Tell Trump to Stop Exporting It — Chuck Grassley Posts That Prices "ARE KILLING FARMERS INCOME," Trump-Backed Senate Nominees in Iowa and Michigan Say the Iran War "Needs to End," John Cornyn Calls a Ban "a Gimmick," and Trump Says "I've Called for It Within My People"

The national average price of diesel reached a record $6.51 a gallon on September 21, 2026, up roughly 80% on the year, as the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, together with the war in Ukraine, cut refinery output and fuel shipments worldwide. Iowa diesel passed $6.50 and Michigan reached $6.81. Farm-state Republicans have spent the past week pressing President Trump to embargo U.S. diesel exports to keep more supply at home. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) filed two bills on September 17, one banning diesel exports through January 2027 and one that would trigger a ban whenever the national average tops $5. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on September 15 that he was "open to exploring it," and later that the export ban "makes probably more sense to me" than suspending the federal gas tax. On Saturday, September 19, Sen. Chuck Grassley posted that "High diesel prices ARE KILLING FARMERS INCOME" and asked why Trump didn't embargo diesel the way 1970s presidents embargoed farm exports. On Monday, September 21, two Trump-backed Republican Senate nominees, Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa and former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, each called for a diesel export pause and a gas-tax suspension, and each said the Iran war needed to end. Hinson has voted against every House resolution to halt the war. Their Democratic opponents, Josh Turek and Abdul El-Sayed, answered that the two were reversing themselves weeks before the election. Oil-state Republicans and the administration's own energy officials pushed back. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas called a ban "a gimmick," Sen. Lisa Murkowski said it "doesn't really move the needle," and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the administration would consider one only "if we thought that actually might lower prices, but that's not the case." Refiners and analysts warned that the United States already produces more diesel than it uses, so a ban could glut the Gulf Coast while prices rose elsewhere. Then on September 22, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Trump said he had pushed for a ban inside his administration, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration was "examining" whether it was feasible.

“We are working with the industry … to increase the supply of diesel … without using blunt instruments. … Nobody wants a full blanket ban or zero exports of diesel. … What's being discussed is what's the most efficient way to get more diesel into the United States.”
Chris Wright (R-CO) · Sep 24, 2026

ProPublica Reports the FBI's Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins Over a Defense Contractor's $150,000 to Her Super PAC — Until Trump Returned and the Probe Was Dropped — Collins Calls It "Clearly a Political Hit Job," John Thune Blames "a Left-Wing Outlet," and Her Democratic Opponent Says "This Is Corruption of the Highest Order"

On September 22, 2026, ProPublica reported that an FBI public-corruption squad had been seeking approval by late 2024 to open a wider bribery investigation touching Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), built on previously undisclosed FBI interviews with Martin Kao, the former CEO of Hawaii defense contractor Navatek, who is serving an 87-month sentence after pleading guilty in 2022 to illegal campaign contributions and fraud. Kao told agents that after a November 2019 meeting with the head of the pro-Collins super PAC, who allegedly asked for $500,000, he routed $150,000 to the PAC through a shell company, and that Collins had committed to steering Navy research contracts to the company. According to ProPublica, the inquiry was abandoned after Trump returned to office and FBI Director Kash Patel removed the agents and dismantled the unit handling it. Collins, who faces Democrat Troy Jackson in one of the most competitive Senate races of the midterms, denies any wrongdoing, noting that the Biden Justice Department found none in 2021, and blamed the report on Chuck Schumer. The FBI said the allegations "had already been investigated by the FBI years ago and ultimately found nothing implicating Senator Collins or Senator Collins' campaign." The New York Times separately reported that agents had found little to corroborate Kao's claims.

“[Thune called the report a] political hit job by a left-wing outlet. … I don't think there's ever been any implication that she or her campaign were in any way implicated in that.”
John Thune (R-SD) · Sep 23, 2026

Sep 23, 2026· Updated

Florida Orders Flock's License-Plate Cameras Off Its State Highways and Two Days Later Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna Put Their Names on the Same Bill — the Surveillance Backlash Has Become the Rare Thing Both Parties Are Running On Nine Weeks Before the Midterms

In the first week of September 2026 the political backlash against Flock Safety's automated license plate readers — AI-powered cameras that photograph passing cars and let police reconstruct where a vehicle has been over time — turned into concrete government action in both parties at once. On Monday, September 1, the Florida Department of Transportation ordered local agencies to pull automated license plate readers off state roads within 30 days. Gov. Ron DeSantis, announcing the move, said the technology had gotten "out of control" and asked the legislature to keep Florida from becoming "some type of digital prison." More than 8,000 Flock cameras are documented in Florida, though the state-road order reaches only about 2 percent of them; the rest sit on local roads and private property. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had already frozen state spending on the cameras. On Wednesday, September 2, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) introduced the Flock-Off Act, H.R. 10221, which would bar federal funds from paying for license-plate-reader and facial-recognition camera systems except at the border or for toll collection. It does not ban the cameras. Its five cosponsors are Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Chip Roy (R-Texas), Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) — and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). The bill joins a crowded field: Tim Burchett's Protection Against Mass Surveillance Act, the Massie-Boebert Surveillance Accountability Act, and the PRIVACY Act from Keith Self, Eli Crane and Andrew Clyde. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) have pressed the FTC to investigate Flock's cybersecurity after credentials for at least 35 customer accounts were traded on Russian cybercrime forums. As of early September, no bill in Congress would outlaw the cameras outright. By Saturday, September 5, NPR reported that candidates in races from Florida to Ohio to Wisconsin were campaigning against the cameras, and that Pennsylvania's Democratic governor and Florida's Republican governor had landed in the same place on them. The driving grievances differ by party — Democrats point to ICE's use of Flock's national lookup tool to run searches in states that bar cooperation with the agency, Republicans to the prospect of a de facto federal registry and to documented abuse by individual officers, including a Haines City, Florida officer arrested for using the system hundreds of times to track his estranged wife's car — but the conclusion has converged. Stances below record each official's position on the license-plate-reader networks themselves.

“If you haven't heard of Flock, Flock has probably heard of you. … We need the Bill of Rights now more than ever.”
Josh Hawley (R-MO) · Sep 23, 2026

Vance's Fraud Task Force Cancels Obamacare Coverage for More Than 760,000 People It Calls "Phantoms" — the Vice President Says "This Is Not About Cutting Off Anybody From Their Benefits," Dr. Oz Says "We're Not Paying Insurance for Nonexistent Ghosts," and Chuck Schumer Says the Administration's Answer to Rising Costs Is to "Kick Hundreds of Thousands More People Off Their Health Insurance"

On September 22, 2026, Vice President JD Vance's White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services was cancelling roughly 315,000 federal-marketplace Affordable Care Act enrollments covering more than 760,000 people, saying they were fraudulent or ineligible and that the move would return about $2.2 billion in taxpayer-funded subsidies. Another 419,000 enrollments were flagged for additional checks on immigration status and income, and CMS froze new agent and broker registrations for six months. Officials pointed to one ring of 40 brokers they said had enrolled 50,000 people. CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz called the cancelled enrollees "phantoms" and said about 35% of exchange enrollees never used their coverage. Vance insisted the effort was "not about cutting off anybody from their benefits." Health-policy analysts warned that legitimate enrollees who simply missed a notice could lose coverage. The cancellations apply only to the federal HealthCare.gov marketplace, not to states running their own exchanges such as California. Democrats called it retribution disguised as fraud enforcement, six weeks before the midterms and as premiums rise after the expiration of enhanced ACA subsidies.

“We're actually making sure that the people receiving Obamacare subsidies are actually entitled to receive them. Amazingly, we weren't doing that before. … This is not about cutting off anybody from their benefits. It's about cutting off fraudsters from stealing from these programs. … We had a system in this country that rewarded brokers, that made people rich for enrolling fake people in programs that are meant to ensure that our fellow citizens have health care. This was a scandal.”
JD Vance (R-OH) · Sep 22, 2026

Families of Five People Killed by Federal Immigration Agents Tell a Democratic Shadow Hearing the Government's "Falsehoods" Amount to "Dual Assassinations" — Richard Blumenthal Says the Anger "Ought to Be Directed at Congress" Too, and Alex Padilla Promises Investigations "When We Get the Gavels Back"

On September 22, 2026, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), the ranking members of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and the House Oversight Committee, convened their fifth bicameral "shadow hearing" on immigration enforcement in a Senate office building. Relatives of five people killed by ICE or CBP agents — Ruben Ray Martinez, Renée Good, Alex Pretti, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, who was shot in Biddeford, Maine — described what they called official falsehoods, obstruction of investigations and smears of the victims. Democrats in the minority cannot compel testimony or issue subpoenas; members at the forum pledged formal investigations if their party wins control of either chamber in November.

“We're all committed to accountability in all its forms, and when we get the gavels back, we're going to move on that aggressively, starting with the investigations.”
Alex Padilla (D-CA) · Sep 22, 2026

Sep 20, 2026· Updated

A Trump-Backed Miami Republican Tells Him in a New Ad His Immigration Enforcement Has "Gone Too Far" — Trump Answers "I Got Her Elected. Without Me She Wouldn't Have Gotten Elected"

Six weeks before the midterms, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), who represents a 74% Hispanic Miami-area district, released a campaign ad warning President Trump that "some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far" and that the Hispanic voters who backed him in 2024 "feel betrayed." She cited a statistic that half of those detained in July had no criminal record and urged the White House to "be careful what your advisers are telling you." Trump responded dismissively on Friday, September 18, calling Salazar "a nice person" while crediting himself for her election ("Without me she wouldn't have gotten elected") and defending his enforcement posture. Salazar repeated her warning two days later in a nationally televised Sunday show interview, again urging Trump to "preserve that fortune" he built with Hispanic voters. The public break is one of the most direct challenges to Trump's immigration crackdown from a sitting Republican ahead of the midterms, and comes as other battleground-district GOP members have quietly shifted their own messaging.

“Please preserve that fortune that you have brought to the party.”
Maria Salazar (R-FL) · Sep 20, 2026

Sep 20, 2026· Updated

Trump Promises Every Adult Citizen a $5,000 "Dividend" — but Only if Republicans Keep the House and Senate — and Within a Day a Republican Senator Is Drafting the Bill, a Republican Congressman Is Asking Who Pays for "Well Over $1 Trillion," and a Democratic Governor Calls Him the "Briber in Chief"

Closing the first night of the Republican Party's midterm convention in Dallas on September 9, 2026, President Trump promised to send every adult US citizen a $5,000 "dividend" — explicitly conditioned on Republicans holding both the House and the Senate in the November 3 midterms. "If the Republicans win, you win with us," he told the crowd, framing the payment as the kind of cash distribution "a successful company will do" for its shareholders, and saying at least part of it would come from tariff revenue. Independent estimates put the cost between $1.15 trillion and $1.35 trillion, and the pledge drew pushback from both parties within hours. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) said he would have a bill ready to pass "immediately after the November 3rd election." Vice President JD Vance narrowed the offer in a Fox News interview, suggesting wealthy Americans would not qualify and pointing to tariff collections as the funding source. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) publicly asked how the administration intended to pay for it, and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) mocked the figure outright. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) accused the president of making himself the "briber in chief," noting that the $2,000 tariff rebates Trump promised in November 2025 never arrived. Federal law makes it a crime to offer or make a payment to induce someone to vote for or against a candidate, and legal commentators raised that statute immediately.

“It's absolutely inflationary. If Joe Biden had proposed that, conservatives would have been all against it. … [I]f the government borrows money, it's going to drive up how much somebody pays for their mortgage, for their car note, perhaps for their credit card.”
Bill Cassidy (R-LA) · Sep 20, 2026

Seven Weeks Before the Midterms, California Makes It a Felony to Seize Ballots or Block a Mail Ballot's Delivery — Newsom Signs Thirteen Bills Saying Trump "Won't Stop Until He Can Exert Dictatorial Control Over Your Free Vote," While the Secretary of State Calls the Package "a Shield Against Multiple Attacks"

On September 19, 2026, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of thirteen election bills at the Democracy Center of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, framing them as California's answer to federal interference in the November midterms. The package creates new felonies for seizing ballots, election records or voting equipment before certification (AB 282), for directing workers to interfere with the delivery or return of a mail ballot (SB 259) and for theft of election materials (SB 1418); restricts law-enforcement activity near polling places; requires election officials to notify the attorney general and secretary of state of any warrant or subpoena touching election records (AB 1664); expands ballot drop-off hours and language access; and tightens rules on AI-generated and deceptive campaign content. The signing followed the Justice Department's orders to states to preserve 2024 election records, its notices to two chief election officers that they were "under investigation," and its plan to send roughly 1,000 federal monitors to the midterm polls. Republican legislators argued existing law already criminalized ballot theft, and the state sheriffs' association objected that one bill gave the attorney general too much power.

“California is meeting the moment and with this package of bills, erecting a shield against multiple attacks against our elections. No one should doubt the degree of our resolve in protecting our democracy. This legislative package ensures that California voters will not be silenced or intimidated.”
Shirley N. Weber (D-CA) · Sep 19, 2026

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