Chaos, progress for Congressional Republicans

REPUBLICANS on Thursday moved closer to clawing back billions in federal spending and passing a package of crypto bills, advancing more pieces of President Trump's agenda.

The GOP is speeding toward the end of another chaotic but productive legislative week, even as the administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files consumes Washington (more on that below).

The biggest line item from Thursday is the Senate’s passage of a rescissions package with $9 billion in cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting.

Congress once again worked past midnight, with Republicans squeaking the clawbacks through with a 51-48 vote just after 2 a.m. Thursday. The vote came after last-minute dealmaking between the White House and Senate Republicans over funding for a global anti-AIDS initiative, which will remain in place.

Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) were the two GOP holdouts.

The rescissions package now heads back to the House with the clock ticking toward a Friday deadline for passage. The rescissions bill will cut funding to PBS and NPR, a top wishlist item for conservatives, who have long argued the outlets have taken a left-leaning ideological bent.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday celebrated the rescissions package, describing PBS and NPR as “two media organizations that have ridiculously used federal dollars to push a partisan, left-wing agenda for many years.”

Also on Thursday, House Republicans finally overcame internal divisions to move forward with a trio of cryptocurrency bills following a two-day saga driven by another revolt among hardline conservatives.

"This legislation is going to make America the crypto capital of the world," Leavitt said, adding the White House had already planned a signing ceremony for Friday.

The vote to move forward on the crypto bills was open for hours, as lawmakers negotiated behind the scenes. It’s the longest vote in House history, surpassing a previous record set earlier this month when the House was working to overcome a procedural vote on Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

“I will say again, I’m tired of making history, I just want normal Congress, but some people have forgotten what that looks like,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told Punchbowl News. “But as long as we get it done, it doesn’t matter to me how long a vote is held open. We just got to get the votes and we did.”

The GOP has largely been fighting itself, but fresh fights with Democrats are coming.

Democrats are furious over the rescissions, saying they threaten bipartisan negotiations to fund the government ahead of a September shutdown deadline.

“How are we supposed to negotiate a bipartisan deal if Republicans will turn around and put it through the shredder in a partisan vote,” Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said on the Senate floor earlier this week.

Most Republicans don’t want to get in the habit of passing rescissions bills, as they worry about ceding Congressional authority over spending to the Executive Branch.

However, White House budget chief Russ Vought said Thursday the administration is likely to send another rescissions package to Congress soon.

Murkowski on Thursday said Vought “disrespects” Congress’ annual funding process after he said it should be “less bipartisan."

“I think he thinks that we are irrelevant," Murkowski said.

MEANWHILE…

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee walked out of a Senate hearing in protest on Thursday, as Republicans gave their approval to two controversial Trump nominees.

The committee gave its approval to Emil Bove, one of Trump’s former criminal defense attorneys who is now in the No. 3 spot in the Justice Department, and to Jeanine Pirro, a former Fox News host confirmed as a nominee for U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.

Democrats are largely powerless to stop the Trump agenda with minorities in both chambers, although they hope their fortunes will change in the 2026 midterm elections.

A new CNN poll finds Democrats are more motivated to vote next year, although favorable views of the party are at their lowest in decades.

Liberals have organized another round of street protests this weekend to draw attention to the GOP’s Medicaid cuts and Trump’s immigration policies.

The New York Times interviewed Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) about the way forward for Democrats.

“You cannot win a game, a war, anything, just by playing defense,” Slotkin said. “You can’t just point at Donald Trump every day and point out the bad things that he’s doing. You have to show a positive, affirmative vision of what you’re going to do if you’re in power.”

MORE POLITICS...

• CNN commentator Scott Jennings, who has amassed a following on the right for his spirited debates with Democrats, says he’d run for Senate to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) if Trump wants him to.

• Arizona Democrats voted to oust their state party chair amid infighting.

• Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) asked Trump to endorse him in his Senate primary against state Attorney General Ken Paxton, but Cornyn says Trump is “not ready” to endorse anyone yet.

• The Hill’s Caroline Vakil has five takeaways from the latest campaign finance reports.