J. Scott Applewhite
House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., left, joined by Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, the ranking member of Appropriations, appear before the House Rules Committee as they field questions about the politics of the federal debt, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Tuesday night to fund the government into early December, suspend the federal debt limit and provide disaster and refugee aid, setting up a high-stakes showdown with Republicans who oppose the package despite the prospects of a looming fiscal crisis.
The Democratic-led House passed the measure by a vote of 220-211, strictly along party lines. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it is likely to falter because of overwhelming GOP opposition.
The federal government faces a shutdown if funding stops on Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, midnight next Thursday. Additionally, at some point in October the U.S. risks defaulting on its accumulated debt load if its borrowing limits are not waived or adjusted.
“Our country will suffer greatly if we do not act now to stave off this unnecessary and preventable crisis,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said shortly before the vote.
The package approved Tuesday would provide stopgap money to keep the government funded to Dec. 3 and extend borrowing authority through the end of 2022. It includes $28.6 billion in disaster relief for the aftermath of Hurricane Ida and other extreme weather events, and $6.3 billion to support Afghanistan evacuees in the fallout from the end of the 20-year war.
While suspending the debt ceiling allows the government to meet financial obligations already incurred, Republicans argued it would also facilitate a spending binge in the months ahead.
“I will not support signing a blank check as this majority is advancing the most reckless expansion of government in generations,” said Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa.
Backed by the White House, Democratic congressional leaders pushed ahead at a time of great uncertainty in Congress. Democrats are also trying to gather support for President Joe Biden’s broad “Build Back Better” agenda, which would have a price tag of up to $3.5 trillion over 10 years.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he was not about to help pay off past debts when Biden was about to pile on more. He said since Democrats control the White House and Congress, it’s their problem to find the votes.
“The debt ceiling will be raised as it always should be, but it will be raised by the Democrats,” McConnell said.
In the 50-50 Senate, Democrats will be hard-pressed to find 10 Republicans to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster.
“This is playing with fire,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
The Treasury Department has been using “extraordinary measures” to fund the government since the last debt limit suspension expired July 31, and projects that at some point next month will run out cash reserves. Then, it will have to rely on incoming receipts to pay its obligations, now at $28.4 trillion. That could force the Treasury to delay or miss payments, a devastating situation.
Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, warned if lawmakers allow a federal debt default “this economic scenario is cataclysmic.”
In a report being circulated by Democrats, Zandi warned that a potential downturn from government funding cutbacks would cost 6 million jobs and stock market losses would wipe out $15 trillion of household wealth.
Once a routine matter, raising the debt ceiling has become a political weapon of choice for Republicans in Washington ever since the 2011 arrival of tea party lawmakers who refused to allow the increase. At the time, they argued against more spending and the standoff triggered a fiscal crisis.
Echoing that strategy, McConnell is refusing to provide Republican votes, even though he also relied on Democratic votes help raise the debt ceiling when his party had the majority. He explained his current thinking to senators during a private lunch Tuesday.
Still, some GOP senators might have a tough time voting no.
Republican John Kennedy of Louisiana, whose state was battered by the hurricane and who is up for election next year, said he will likely vote for the increase. “My people desperately need the help,” he said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that “in our view, this should not be a controversial vote.” Psaki said Congress has raised the debt ceiling numerous times on a bipartisan basis, including three times under President Donald Trump.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the Democratic chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, was forced to introduce another version of the bill Tuesday after some within the Democratic caucus objected to the inclusion of $1 billion for Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, which uses missiles to intercept short-range rockets fired into the country.
The Israel defense issue splits Democrats, but DeLauro assured colleagues that money for the weapons system would be included in the annual defense spending bill for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Hoyer went a step further and said he would bring a bill to the floor this week to replenish the Iron Dome system.
Republicans were highly critical of the change and vowed to stand as allies with Israel.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Democrats were negotiating among themselves over Biden’s big “build back better” package as the price tag likely slips to win over skeptical centrist lawmakers who view it as too much.
Publicly, the White House has remained confident the legislation will pass soon, despite sharp differences among progressives and moderates in the party over the eventual size of the package and a companion $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.
There has been a flurry of outreach from the White House to Democrats on Capitol Hill, and Biden himself was given a call sheet of lawmakers to cajole, even though his week was dominated by foreign policy, including his speech to the United Nations General Assembly.
The president has been talking to a wide number of lawmakers beyond his recent meetings with Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., two key centrist votes, according to a White House official familiar with the calls and granted anonymity to discuss them.
Biden’s big initiative touches almost all aspects of Americans’ lives. It would impose tax hikes on corporations and wealthy Americans earning beyond $400,000 a year and plow that money back into federal programs for young and old. It would increase and expand government health, education and family support programs for households, children and seniors, and boost environmental infrastructure programs to fight climate change.
With Republicans opposed to Biden’s vision, Democrats have no votes to spare in the Senate, and just a few votes’ margin in the House.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has promised a Sept. 27 vote on a companion bill, a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill of public works projects that enjoys widespread support from both parties in the Senate, though House Republicans mostly oppose it.
Even though that bipartisan bill should be an easy legislative lift, it too faces a political obstacle course. Dozens of lawmakers in the Congressional Progressive Caucus are expected to vote against it if it comes ahead of the broader Biden package. And centrists won’t vote for the broader package unless they are assured the bipartisan bill will also be included.
Associated Press writers Darlene Superville and Jonathan Lemire contributed to this report.
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House OKs debt and funding plan, setting up clash with Senate GOP
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Incumbent: Republican Pat Toomey (retiring)
The Democratic field in this top pick-up opportunity got a new candidate last week, when Rep. Conor Lamb made official his campaign to replace Toomey. The Marine veteran and former prosecutor, whom Biden once said "reminds me of my son Beau," joins Lt. Gov. John Fetterman -- the biggest fundraiser in the race -- Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh, who has the backing of EMILY's List, and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta as the major candidates trying to flip this seat blue. Lamb first came to Congress in a 2018 special election, winning a conservative district that Trump had carried comfortably two years earlier. Like Fetterman, he's from the western part of the state, but unlike the former Braddock mayor, Lamb has tried to cut a more moderate image, which could be advantageous in a general election. Republicans haven't yet coalesced around a candidate of their own, but they're gleeful that a competitive Democratic primary may be pushing all their potential opponents to the left. Lamb, for example, has come out in support of ending the filibuster. Meanwhile, Republicans Jeff Bartos, a businessman, and Army veteran Sean Parnell, who lost a House race to Lamb in 2020, continue to duke it out, while Carla Sands, Trump's ambassador to Denmark and a top donor, announced her candidacy late last month. Former congressional candidate Kathy Barnette, who hadn't gotten much attention in the race so far, generated some buzz by outraising the other GOP contenders in the second quarter.
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Incumbent: Republican Pat Toomey (retiring)
The Democratic field in this top pick-up opportunity got a new candidate last week, when Rep. Conor Lamb made official his campaign to replace Toomey. The Marine veteran and former prosecutor, whom Biden once said "reminds me of my son Beau," joins Lt. Gov. John Fetterman -- the biggest fundraiser in the race -- Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh, who has the backing of EMILY's List, and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta as the major candidates trying to flip this seat blue. Lamb first came to Congress in a 2018 special election, winning a conservative district that Trump had carried comfortably two years earlier. Like Fetterman, he's from the western part of the state, but unlike the former Braddock mayor, Lamb has tried to cut a more moderate image, which could be advantageous in a general election. Republicans haven't yet coalesced around a candidate of their own, but they're gleeful that a competitive Democratic primary may be pushing all their potential opponents to the left. Lamb, for example, has come out in support of ending the filibuster. Meanwhile, Republicans Jeff Bartos, a businessman, and Army veteran Sean Parnell, who lost a House race to Lamb in 2020, continue to duke it out, while Carla Sands, Trump's ambassador to Denmark and a top donor, announced her candidacy late last month. Former congressional candidate Kathy Barnette, who hadn't gotten much attention in the race so far, generated some buzz by outraising the other GOP contenders in the second quarter.
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House OKs debt and funding plan, setting up clash with Senate GOP
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Incumbent: Democrat Raphael Warnock
There's no question that Georgia, where Warnock is running for a full six-year term, will be a close race. But that's not quieting GOP anxiety over who their candidate will be. All eyes are still on Herschel Walker, who's received encouragement from Trump but lives in Texas and has yet to get in the race. Plenty of Republicans are hoping he doesn't get in, with a recent Associated Press report detailing his past -- including that he threatened violence against his ex-wife -- deepening concerns that he could jeopardize this top GOP pick-up opportunity. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has privately raised the idea that former Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, both of whom lost in runoffs earlier this year, should reconsider this race, CNN reported last week. While the party establishment desperately searches for someone besides Walker, the idea that the Heisman Trophy winner already has Trump's blessing may make it more daunting for other would-be candidates to throw their hats in the primary ring. Three candidates are already running, including state Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, who tried to attack Walker in a digital ad last week in which he rides a tractor and says he's "had Georgia plates all my life," a not-so-subtle dig at Walker's June video teasing a Senate run by revving the engine of a car with Peach State license plates. Biden only narrowly carried Georgia -- as did Warnock and Sen. Jon Ossoff -- so no matter who the Republican nominee is, Warnock is likely to have a fight on his hands. But for now, he has the race largely to himself, allowing him to start the third quarter with more than $10.5 million in the bank.
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Incumbent: Democrat Raphael Warnock
There's no question that Georgia, where Warnock is running for a full six-year term, will be a close race. But that's not quieting GOP anxiety over who their candidate will be. All eyes are still on Herschel Walker, who's received encouragement from Trump but lives in Texas and has yet to get in the race. Plenty of Republicans are hoping he doesn't get in, with a recent Associated Press report detailing his past -- including that he threatened violence against his ex-wife -- deepening concerns that he could jeopardize this top GOP pick-up opportunity. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has privately raised the idea that former Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, both of whom lost in runoffs earlier this year, should reconsider this race, CNN reported last week. While the party establishment desperately searches for someone besides Walker, the idea that the Heisman Trophy winner already has Trump's blessing may make it more daunting for other would-be candidates to throw their hats in the primary ring. Three candidates are already running, including state Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, who tried to attack Walker in a digital ad last week in which he rides a tractor and says he's "had Georgia plates all my life," a not-so-subtle dig at Walker's June video teasing a Senate run by revving the engine of a car with Peach State license plates. Biden only narrowly carried Georgia -- as did Warnock and Sen. Jon Ossoff -- so no matter who the Republican nominee is, Warnock is likely to have a fight on his hands. But for now, he has the race largely to himself, allowing him to start the third quarter with more than $10.5 million in the bank.
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House OKs debt and funding plan, setting up clash with Senate GOP
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Incumbent: Republican Ron Johnson
While everyone waits to see whether Johnson runs for a third term, Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes is, quite literally, running -- announcing his campaign in a video late last month in which he laces up his sneakers at 6 a.m. and hits the streets. State Sen. Chris Larson soon ended his campaign and endorsed Barnes, leaving state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski and Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry as the other major Democratic candidates, although the race got another new candidate last week in Wisconsin Emergency Management Administrator Darrell Williams. Johnson raised $1.2 million in the second quarter -- more than double his first-quarter haul -- but he still hasn't said whether he's seeking a third term. As the only GOP incumbent who hasn't announced a retirement who's running for reelection in a Biden state, he would automatically be vulnerable. But some Democrats believe that his increasing penchant for peddling conspiracy theories -- about the 2020 election, the January 6 insurrection and the coronavirus and vaccines -- may make the race even more winnable for them than if this were an open seat.
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Incumbent: Republican Ron Johnson
While everyone waits to see whether Johnson runs for a third term, Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes is, quite literally, running -- announcing his campaign in a video late last month in which he laces up his sneakers at 6 a.m. and hits the streets. State Sen. Chris Larson soon ended his campaign and endorsed Barnes, leaving state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski and Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry as the other major Democratic candidates, although the race got another new candidate last week in Wisconsin Emergency Management Administrator Darrell Williams. Johnson raised $1.2 million in the second quarter -- more than double his first-quarter haul -- but he still hasn't said whether he's seeking a third term. As the only GOP incumbent who hasn't announced a retirement who's running for reelection in a Biden state, he would automatically be vulnerable. But some Democrats believe that his increasing penchant for peddling conspiracy theories -- about the 2020 election, the January 6 insurrection and the coronavirus and vaccines -- may make the race even more winnable for them than if this were an open seat.
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House OKs debt and funding plan, setting up clash with Senate GOP
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Incumbent: Democrat Mark Kelly
Kelly is running for a full six-year term after flipping this seat blue last fall. While Republicans fretted earlier this year that they lacked a candidate in one of their top pick-up opportunities, there's a bevy of candidates lining up to take on Kelly, while Gov. Doug Ducey -- one of Trump's favorite Republicans to attack -- insists he isn't running. Blake Masters, the president of the Thiel Foundation, launched his campaign last month, with expectations that Thiel will invest $10 million in a super PAC for him. He joins retired Maj. Gen. Michael "Mick" McGuire, the state's top National Guard officer who also headed Arizona's emergency response department during the pandemic, Attorney General Mark Brnovich and solar energy entrepreneur Jim Lamon in the race. But much of the early jockeying here isn't about the 2022 election -- it's about relitigating the last one, when Biden became just the second Democrat to win the state since 1948 and then-GOP Sen. Martha McSally lost. Masters told CNN in an interview when he announced that "it's really hard to know" who won the presidential race. Upping the pressure on local Republicans to embrace that perspective, Trump traveled to the Grand Canyon State later that month for a misleadingly called "Rally to Protect our Elections," seizing on Maricopa County's partisan audit and repeating his lies about election fraud.
While it's a powerful narrative among some Republicans -- including the state party, which earlier this year censured Ducey -- there's a risk that parroting too much Trump talk about stolen elections will turn off the same suburban voters who (twice) rejected McSally's efforts to cozy up to the former President. Republicans are hitting Kelly on the border, while some in Washington are showing plenty of love for the state's other Democratic senator, Kyrsten Sinema. North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, for example, recently published an op-ed praising her efforts on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, while the National Republican Senatorial Committee has been trying to use Sinema as a foil to argue that Kelly isn't as moderate as he says he is. As Republicans fight amongst themselves -- and will for another year, given the state's late primary -- Kelly ended the second quarter with nearly $7.6 million in the bank.
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Incumbent: Democrat Mark Kelly
Kelly is running for a full six-year term after flipping this seat blue last fall. While Republicans fretted earlier this year that they lacked a candidate in one of their top pick-up opportunities, there's a bevy of candidates lining up to take on Kelly, while Gov. Doug Ducey -- one of Trump's favorite Republicans to attack -- insists he isn't running. Blake Masters, the president of the Thiel Foundation, launched his campaign last month, with expectations that Thiel will invest $10 million in a super PAC for him. He joins retired Maj. Gen. Michael "Mick" McGuire, the state's top National Guard officer who also headed Arizona's emergency response department during the pandemic, Attorney General Mark Brnovich and solar energy entrepreneur Jim Lamon in the race. But much of the early jockeying here isn't about the 2022 election -- it's about relitigating the last one, when Biden became just the second Democrat to win the state since 1948 and then-GOP Sen. Martha McSally lost. Masters told CNN in an interview when he announced that "it's really hard to know" who won the presidential race. Upping the pressure on local Republicans to embrace that perspective, Trump traveled to the Grand Canyon State later that month for a misleadingly called "Rally to Protect our Elections," seizing on Maricopa County's partisan audit and repeating his lies about election fraud.
While it's a powerful narrative among some Republicans -- including the state party, which earlier this year censured Ducey -- there's a risk that parroting too much Trump talk about stolen elections will turn off the same suburban voters who (twice) rejected McSally's efforts to cozy up to the former President. Republicans are hitting Kelly on the border, while some in Washington are showing plenty of love for the state's other Democratic senator, Kyrsten Sinema. North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, for example, recently published an op-ed praising her efforts on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, while the National Republican Senatorial Committee has been trying to use Sinema as a foil to argue that Kelly isn't as moderate as he says he is. As Republicans fight amongst themselves -- and will for another year, given the state's late primary -- Kelly ended the second quarter with nearly $7.6 million in the bank.
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House OKs debt and funding plan, setting up clash with Senate GOP
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Incumbent: Republican Richard Burr (retiring)
This is one open race where Trump has already weighed in, throwing his weight behind GOP Rep. Ted Budd to replace retiring Sen. Richard Burr in a surprise endorsement earlier this summer. But it hasn't winnowed the field -- former Gov. Pat McCrory is still running, as is former Rep. Mark Walker. The political arm of the conservative Club for Growth, which has been with Budd since he emerged from a 17-way primary to come to Congress in 2016, recently ran an ad during the Olympics attacking McCrory, whose previous campaigns and time in statewide elected office make him a well-known commodity in the race. On the Democratic side, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, who's running with the backing of EMILY's List, raised about $1.3 million during the second quarter, despite not being in the race for the full quarter -- more than either state Sen. Jeff Jackson or former state Sen. Erica Smith raised during that period. Democrats have struggled in North Carolina at the Senate and presidential levels recently, but there's excitement that running a non-White male candidate could drive turnout among minority voters, especially in some of the rural areas where Republicans have continued to hold an advantage. Higher Heights PAC, which works to elect progressive Black women, and the political arm of the Congressional Black Caucus both endorsed Beasley this summer.
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Incumbent: Republican Richard Burr (retiring)
This is one open race where Trump has already weighed in, throwing his weight behind GOP Rep. Ted Budd to replace retiring Sen. Richard Burr in a surprise endorsement earlier this summer. But it hasn't winnowed the field -- former Gov. Pat McCrory is still running, as is former Rep. Mark Walker. The political arm of the conservative Club for Growth, which has been with Budd since he emerged from a 17-way primary to come to Congress in 2016, recently ran an ad during the Olympics attacking McCrory, whose previous campaigns and time in statewide elected office make him a well-known commodity in the race. On the Democratic side, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, who's running with the backing of EMILY's List, raised about $1.3 million during the second quarter, despite not being in the race for the full quarter -- more than either state Sen. Jeff Jackson or former state Sen. Erica Smith raised during that period. Democrats have struggled in North Carolina at the Senate and presidential levels recently, but there's excitement that running a non-White male candidate could drive turnout among minority voters, especially in some of the rural areas where Republicans have continued to hold an advantage. Higher Heights PAC, which works to elect progressive Black women, and the political arm of the Congressional Black Caucus both endorsed Beasley this summer.
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House OKs debt and funding plan, setting up clash with Senate GOP
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Incumbent: Democrat Maggie Hassan
Still waiting... that's the refrain in the Granite State, where Republicans (and Democrats) are watching to see when Gov. Chris Sununu will make a decision about challenging Hassan. Trump has said he would like to see him run -- as would establishment Republicans. He had said he'd make a decision after the end of the legislative session, but that deadline has come and gone. "I'm not going to make a decision for a while," Sununu said last week on the "Ruthless" podcast, hosted by longtime McConnell adviser Josh Holmes. While the holdup may be frustrating some Republicans, Sununu is probably right that he has time. As a sitting governor, he doesn't need to introduce himself to voters. (Hassan, herself a former two-term governor, didn't announce for Senate until October 2015.) And if he doesn't run, the GOP may have another good option in former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who only lost to Hassan by 1,017 votes in 2016. Democrats, meanwhile, are trying to turn the GOP excitement for Sununu into an attack by tying him to McConnell, launching digital ads last week about how they are "two sides of the same coin." They're also leaning hard into Sununu's signing of a budget with abortion restrictions -- an issue that could be problematic for the Republican in a state that's increasingly trended blue in federal elections.
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Incumbent: Democrat Maggie Hassan
Still waiting... that's the refrain in the Granite State, where Republicans (and Democrats) are watching to see when Gov. Chris Sununu will make a decision about challenging Hassan. Trump has said he would like to see him run -- as would establishment Republicans. He had said he'd make a decision after the end of the legislative session, but that deadline has come and gone. "I'm not going to make a decision for a while," Sununu said last week on the "Ruthless" podcast, hosted by longtime McConnell adviser Josh Holmes. While the holdup may be frustrating some Republicans, Sununu is probably right that he has time. As a sitting governor, he doesn't need to introduce himself to voters. (Hassan, herself a former two-term governor, didn't announce for Senate until October 2015.) And if he doesn't run, the GOP may have another good option in former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who only lost to Hassan by 1,017 votes in 2016. Democrats, meanwhile, are trying to turn the GOP excitement for Sununu into an attack by tying him to McConnell, launching digital ads last week about how they are "two sides of the same coin." They're also leaning hard into Sununu's signing of a budget with abortion restrictions -- an issue that could be problematic for the Republican in a state that's increasingly trended blue in federal elections.
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House OKs debt and funding plan, setting up clash with Senate GOP
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Incumbent: Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto
Republicans are also waiting in Nevada, where there's not yet a major challenger to first-term Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto. But that could soon change. All eyes have been on former Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who's hosting his Basque Fry next weekend with a list of speakers that includes conservative heavyweights like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and David McIntosh, the president of the Club for Growth. If Laxalt doesn't run for Senate, it's not clear the party has a backup in the same way the GOP does in the Granite State, especially with so many other Republicans in Nevada running for governor. Cortez Masto, the first Latina senator and the former chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, ended the second quarter with more than $6.5 million in the bank.
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Incumbent: Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto
Republicans are also waiting in Nevada, where there's not yet a major challenger to first-term Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto. But that could soon change. All eyes have been on former Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who's hosting his Basque Fry next weekend with a list of speakers that includes conservative heavyweights like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and David McIntosh, the president of the Club for Growth. If Laxalt doesn't run for Senate, it's not clear the party has a backup in the same way the GOP does in the Granite State, especially with so many other Republicans in Nevada running for governor. Cortez Masto, the first Latina senator and the former chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, ended the second quarter with more than $6.5 million in the bank.
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House OKs debt and funding plan, setting up clash with Senate GOP
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Incumbent: Republican Marco Rubio
This race moved up one spot on the list last month -- and Democratic Rep. Val Demings' quarterly fundraising report, released later in July, underscored why: she raised nearly $4.7 million, ending the period with about $3 million in the bank. Rubio raised about $4 million, but still had a hefty cash-on-hand advantage of more than $6 million. Republicans scoff at big Democratic fundraising, arguing that it's become standard in the Trump era and isn't necessarily indicative of victory. And while past races have shown that money certainly isn't everything, it can say something about the strength and enthusiasm around a certain candidate -- not to mention it's pretty useful for Florida's expensive media markets. Rubio still has the clear advantage in this state that Trump won by 3 points, but Democrats are enthused about their candidate and think Rubio's vote against infrastructure gives them a powerful attack.
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Incumbent: Republican Marco Rubio
This race moved up one spot on the list last month -- and Democratic Rep. Val Demings' quarterly fundraising report, released later in July, underscored why: she raised nearly $4.7 million, ending the period with about $3 million in the bank. Rubio raised about $4 million, but still had a hefty cash-on-hand advantage of more than $6 million. Republicans scoff at big Democratic fundraising, arguing that it's become standard in the Trump era and isn't necessarily indicative of victory. And while past races have shown that money certainly isn't everything, it can say something about the strength and enthusiasm around a certain candidate -- not to mention it's pretty useful for Florida's expensive media markets. Rubio still has the clear advantage in this state that Trump won by 3 points, but Democrats are enthused about their candidate and think Rubio's vote against infrastructure gives them a powerful attack.
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House OKs debt and funding plan, setting up clash with Senate GOP
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Incumbent: Republican Rob Portman (retiring)
Portman isn't running for reelection, although he's still a crucial player in the Senate, leading GOP negotiations over the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The crowded field of Republican candidates vying to replace him isn't on board with the compromise -- just one example of how Republican candidates in open-seat races are trying to run much closer to Trump than to the incumbent. Former state Treasurer Josh Mandel, former state party chair Jane Timken, businessmen Mike Gibbons and Bernie Moreno and "Hillbilly Elegy" author JD Vance are all hoping a Trump endorsement will come their way, but so far the ex-President has stayed out of the race. Vance has benefited from a surge of earned media since his announcement last month, and he already had the backing of a super PAC with a $10 million cash infusion from Thiel. But his high profile has also led to scrutiny of his past anti-Trump comments, including calling him a "moral disaster," as CNN's KFile has reported. Democrats are ready to use Republicans' opposition to the infrastructure plan against them, and Rep. Tim Ryan -- who raised more $3 million in the second quarter -- is consolidating support with the backing of Rep. Joyce Beatty, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. But in a state Trump won by 8 points, Ryan still faces an uphill battle to replicate Sen. Sherrod Brown's success of winning statewide here.
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Incumbent: Republican Rob Portman (retiring)
Portman isn't running for reelection, although he's still a crucial player in the Senate, leading GOP negotiations over the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The crowded field of Republican candidates vying to replace him isn't on board with the compromise -- just one example of how Republican candidates in open-seat races are trying to run much closer to Trump than to the incumbent. Former state Treasurer Josh Mandel, former state party chair Jane Timken, businessmen Mike Gibbons and Bernie Moreno and "Hillbilly Elegy" author JD Vance are all hoping a Trump endorsement will come their way, but so far the ex-President has stayed out of the race. Vance has benefited from a surge of earned media since his announcement last month, and he already had the backing of a super PAC with a $10 million cash infusion from Thiel. But his high profile has also led to scrutiny of his past anti-Trump comments, including calling him a "moral disaster," as CNN's KFile has reported. Democrats are ready to use Republicans' opposition to the infrastructure plan against them, and Rep. Tim Ryan -- who raised more $3 million in the second quarter -- is consolidating support with the backing of Rep. Joyce Beatty, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. But in a state Trump won by 8 points, Ryan still faces an uphill battle to replicate Sen. Sherrod Brown's success of winning statewide here.
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House OKs debt and funding plan, setting up clash with Senate GOP
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Incumbent: Republican Roy Blunt (retiring)
The fallout from Blunt's decision not to run for another term jolted a race that should never have been competitive onto the list of seats most likely to flip. Other Republican retirements in red states have undoubtedly made races more competitive -- see Ohio above, for example -- but Blunt's impending departure has created an opening for former Gov. Eric Greitens, who resigned from office following a probe into allegations of sexual and campaign misconduct. Republicans haven't forgotten 2012, when Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" comments cost them a Senate race here. And the problem for Missouri Republicans this year is that more of them keep launching campaigns, which could eventually splinter the anti-Greitens vote and reduce the threshold he needs to win the primary. GOP Rep. Billy Long recently announced his campaign, joining Rep. Vicky Hartzler, Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Mark McCloskey, whom the Republican governor recently pardoned after he and his wife had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges for pointing guns at protesters near their home last summer. The only other GOP woman in the congressional delegation, Rep. Ann Wagner, announced she'd run for reelection instead. On the Democratic side, former Gov. Jay Nixon also announced he'd pass, putting an end to the chatter that the bigger-name would jump in now that Greitens' candidacy is making a solid Republican seat, in a state carried by 15 points, look more vulnerable. Democrats have a handful of lesser-known candidates, and some who are still eying the race, who could still make this race competitive -- or at least force the national GOP to spend money defending the seat.
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Incumbent: Republican Roy Blunt (retiring)
The fallout from Blunt's decision not to run for another term jolted a race that should never have been competitive onto the list of seats most likely to flip. Other Republican retirements in red states have undoubtedly made races more competitive -- see Ohio above, for example -- but Blunt's impending departure has created an opening for former Gov. Eric Greitens, who resigned from office following a probe into allegations of sexual and campaign misconduct. Republicans haven't forgotten 2012, when Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" comments cost them a Senate race here. And the problem for Missouri Republicans this year is that more of them keep launching campaigns, which could eventually splinter the anti-Greitens vote and reduce the threshold he needs to win the primary. GOP Rep. Billy Long recently announced his campaign, joining Rep. Vicky Hartzler, Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Mark McCloskey, whom the Republican governor recently pardoned after he and his wife had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges for pointing guns at protesters near their home last summer. The only other GOP woman in the congressional delegation, Rep. Ann Wagner, announced she'd run for reelection instead. On the Democratic side, former Gov. Jay Nixon also announced he'd pass, putting an end to the chatter that the bigger-name would jump in now that Greitens' candidacy is making a solid Republican seat, in a state carried by 15 points, look more vulnerable. Democrats have a handful of lesser-known candidates, and some who are still eying the race, who could still make this race competitive -- or at least force the national GOP to spend money defending the seat.
