House Republicans are bracing for a potentially grueling campaign trail run in August.
Members left for their districts Thursday for five weeks face-to-face with voters ahead of the looming midterms. Many acknowledge they’re going to need to ease Americans’ worries about what is beginning to look like an endless war yielding high gas prices, as well as other major affordability concerns, Mia, Meredith and Riley report.
“All of these issues will come up. I mean, Iran will absolutely come up,” Majority Leader Steve Scalise acknowledged Thursday. “Cost of living comes up. Safety and security, border security comes up. All of them come up, you know, and that’s why it’s important to remind people that we’re addressing those issues.”
Others were more blunt.
“We have a hell of a lot of work to do, that’s clear,” one House Republican, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said on their way out of the chamber.
Some are trying to paint a rosy picture to bring home of recent wins: Speaker Mike Johnson shepherded his conference this week through funding the government through Dec. 4, adopting a budget blueprint for a $95 billion party-line package and passing the annual defense policy bill.
“We’ve got a plan going into the fall,” Rep. Mike Flood said in an interview. “If you would have told me on Sunday we could get all that done with low drama, I would have never believed you.”
But each of those House bills now head to the Senate, where they are expected to hit several hurdles — assuming any of them can move at all.
Rep. Marlin Stutzman said he believed there was a “50/50” chance Senate Republicans will adopt the budget resolution in the coming weeks, “and I’m not optimistic.”
The GOP push to promote the benefits of their “One, Big Beautiful Bill” has fallen flat among Americans, too. That and Republicans’ plans to green light billions in funding to cover the military conflict in Iran has Democrats projecting confidence in their own midterm message.
“Donald Trump and Republicans have failed the American people, which is why they clearly are on the run and are on the verge of losing control of the House of Representatives,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Thursday.
Jeffries is planning to launch a new affordability “effort” on Sunday while marking 100 days until the midterm elections. Some members are feeling buoyed by polling that shows mounting frustration with the Iran war and Democrats up on a generic ballot.
But the party is facing a rocky road in August in other ways.
A handful of Democratic incumbents are facing primary challenges that threaten to distract from the party’s sales pitch of unity. Democrat-on-Democrat infighting is taking place in contests involving Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Florida, Ed Case in Hawaii, Shri Thanedar in Michigan and John Larson in Connecticut.
“I have to confess, I’m a little more worried about some of the folks that have primaries,” Rep. Don Beyer said. “I just hate the idea of replacing people we know can win easily in November with people who could lose.”
What else we’re watching:
— SENATE GOP DEFENDS THUNE IN TRUMP TIFF: Trump’s patience with Senate Majority Leader John Thune is wearing thin. But other Senate Republicans say the president’s still not likely to get what he wants. Trump is again pressing Thune to muscle his top legislative priority — the SAVE America Act — through the Senate, and his frustration has grown heated in recent days. But Thune has repeatedly said he doesn’t have the votes to do so, even with House Republicans handing him a fresh opportunity by passing their party-line budget plan this week that includes portions of the elections bill. Many Republicans on Thursday came to their leader’s defense, acknowledging an unwinnable standoff between the president and their 53-seat majority.
— SENATE EYES RUSSIA-IRAN SANCTIONS PASSAGE: Thune is eyeing putting legislation on the Senate floor next week to impose sanctions on Russia and Iran. The core of the measure would be Russia-focused legislation unveiled last week by Sen. Darline Graham in honor of her late brother, with Iran provisions added at the request of Trump. “I’ve been having conversations with Democrats and folks on our side, and I think we’re homing in on it,” Thune told reporters Thursday, adding he was pushing for an agreement to expedite the process.
Mia McCarthy, Meredith Lee Hill Riley Rogerson, Sophia Cai, Jordain Carney, Alex Gangitano and Megan Messerly contributed to this report.
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