Democrats mass against OMB grant rule; Iran war, FBI election probe dominate recess day

The full Senate Democratic caucus signed a letter Thursday calling on OMB Director Russell Vought to immediately rescind a proposed rule that would allow political appointees to override expert peer review in federal grant decisions. At least two senators — Whitehouse and Gallego — issued releases highlighting their participation.

Gallego's office described the stakes plainly, quoting the letter: "Ultimately, these changes will make it harder for grant recipients to apply for and manage federal funds — undermining public safety, public health, economic competitiveness, and the government's ability to address rising costs."

Whitehouse and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., also issued a joint statement: "We strongly oppose the Trump Administration's attempt to circumvent Constitutional checks and balances in order to seize more power for President Trump and use federal grants as a hyper-partisan tool to reward supporters and punish critics. That is illegal and immoral and puts American innovation, research, patients, and infrastructure at risk."

The senators' letter warned that the rule "would allow the President to weaponize federal grants for political purposes" and concluded: "Article I of the Constitution vests the power of the purse in Congress... OMB's proposal unlawfully seeks to substitute Congress's role in directing federal spending with the President's preferred priorities."

Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, sent letters Thursday to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel demanding answers on reports that the Trump administration has designated Georgia's 2020 presidential election a "priority investigation" and reassigned 260 agents to it.

Warner's letter called the move an abuse: "This misuse of taxpayer dollars and investigative resources for the sole purpose of a partisan investigation intended to soothe the President's personal grievances about the 2020 election and its systems — the same systems that securely, fairly, and freely declared him as the winner of the 2016 and 2024 presidential elections — is negligence and abuse of power of the highest order."

Warner also argued the reassignment undermines core national security work: "Their work is crucial to safeguarding Americans from harm, crime, corruption, and terrorism. Unlike those serious threats to the country, this fool's errand of an 'investigation' will serve to erode trust in the FBI, the DOJ, and America's elections."

The letter requests a staff briefing and a series of questions about the scope, legal basis, and personnel impact of the reassignment — arriving, Warner noted, "just a few months away from the 2026 midterm elections."

Four senators — Warner, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md. — sent a follow-up letter Thursday pressing the Interior Department for answers on its plans for East Potomac Park, five months after their first letter went unanswered.

The senators cited a lack of basic disclosure about cost, timeline, and public access: "The only detail provided was a low-resolution image of the proposed course, leaving the public and Congress entirely in the dark about the scope of the redevelopment, including to what extent redevelopment will ensure continued public access to the waterfront, address existing infrastructure issues on Hains Point, and protect important artifacts such as the historic cherry trees on the White Course — the oldest grove of Japanese cherry trees in D.C."

They also flagged President Trump's June 28 social media post announcing a September 1 construction start: "These photos and statements seem to illustrate the Administration's plans for East Potomac Park, yet the Department has still not provided Congress or the public with basic details about the scope of the project, the funding source, the expected period of closure or disruption, the effect on current users, or how such an accelerated timeline can be reconciled with applicable environmental, historic-preservation, procurement, and public-engagement requirements."

Thursday's recess-day release queue carried four separate BUILD grant announcements totaling more than $103 million across four states, all from the Department of Transportation's fiscal year 2026 round.

Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., announced $29,974,140 for 12 Nevada airports. Cortez Masto said: "Nevada's airports are the gateway to our state — for visitors, for emergency services, and for Nevadans traveling throughout the Silver State and across America. It's critical that all the airports across Nevada continue to have world-class facilities and infrastructure."

Sen. Banks claimed credit for a $25 million BUILD award to Ports of Indiana-Jeffersonville — described as the largest federal grant in the port's 65-year history — saying: "This investment is a major win for Indiana. Modernizing the Jeffersonville port will strengthen American manufacturing, support Hoosier jobs, and keep Indiana at the forefront of logistics and commerce."

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., secured $25 million for the Colebrookdale Railroad in Montgomery County, saying: "When we invest in historic landmarks like the Colebrookdale Railroad, we invest in Pennsylvania's future." Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., applauded a $23.5 million award to replace up to 18 structurally deficient bridges across nine rural counties: "South Carolina's rural communities deserve infrastructure that's safe and built to last."

Sen. Banks used a Fox News appearance Thursday to voice support for resumed U.S. strikes in Iran following the end of a ceasefire, saying: "The ceasefire gave us time for our military to restore our munitions stockpiles, and now you're seeing the full force of the American Military. The might of the American Military is something the Iranians do not want to face again... President Trump is not going to take just any deal with the Iranians; it has to be a deal that ensures they never get a nuclear weapon."

Banks connected the military campaign to domestic economics: "My interest here on behalf of Hoosiers is to make sure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon, bring down the price of gas, and to bring down the cost of living for families in Indiana."

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., took a sharply different view in an evening statement that catalogued ongoing global conflicts before focusing on Sudan. Sanders accused the United Arab Emirates of financing the Rapid Support Forces' genocide: "Trump's good friend and staunch U.S. ally, the United Arab Emirates dictatorship, run by one of the wealthiest families in the world — has financed and enabled this genocide for years." He put the confirmed Sudan death toll since 2023 at 59,000, with credible estimates as high as 150,000, and called for the U.S. not to be "complicit in the face of genocide, no matter where it is happening."

Two bipartisan legislative efforts surfaced Thursday — one to protect a Commerce Department manufacturing program, one targeting Chinese-made connected vehicles.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., along with Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, announced plans to introduce the Defend American Manufacturing Act, which would require the Commerce Department to resume operating the Manufacturing Extension Partnership after the department suspended funding. Schiff said: "Our legislation requires the Department of Commerce to release funding that is essential to hundreds of thousands of workers and manufacturers across the country."

Separately, Moreno's Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026 — which would ban Chinese automobiles and connected components from the U.S. market — is scheduled for a Senate Commerce Committee markup on July 15. Moreno's office described the bill as bipartisan; its full sponsor list was not detailed in the release.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., led a bipartisan, bicameral letter Thursday urging HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS to establish reporting requirements monitoring physician-assisted suicide for discrimination against people with disabilities, older adults, and other vulnerable populations.

The letter stated: "We urge HHS and CMS to establish reporting requirements to monitor physician-assisted suicide for discriminatory practices and oversee compliance with federal funding restrictions within hospice programs. All hospice patients — regardless of disability, age or financial means — deserve compassionate end-of-life care that is free of coercion and discrimination."

Lankford said: "Hospice should be a place of compassion, comfort, and care, where the suffering are surrounded by loved ones and quality health care, not a place where they feel quietly pressured to end their lives through assisted suicide." Kaine added: "Where patients are making these choices, they should be free of discrimination and coercion."

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., joined a letter Thursday led by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., pressing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on updated DoD timelines that show PFAS remediation delays of 5 to 20 years at Georgia military installations, including Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Moody Air Force Base, and Robins Air Force Base.

The letter said: "As a nation, we must stand by our servicemembers and military communities to protect them from the health impacts of PFAS. Without a doubt, federal resources must address immediate and dangerous risks to human health and the environment. However, if not reversed, delays of this magnitude must also come with transparency, more specifics on these new timelines, an explanation as to which installations resources are being prioritized toward, and more local stakeholder engagement."

Sen. Christopher A. Coons, D-Del., published a joint op-ed in SCOTUSblog with Albany Law School Associate Dean Ray Brescia and former House Judiciary Committee counsel David Beier, arguing the Roberts Supreme Court is systematically transferring power away from the legislative branch.

The authors wrote: "Every day, Americans are witnessing the most significant expansion of presidential power in modern times. Just as important, and less obvious, is the other significant shift that is occurring in our system of government: the Roberts Supreme Court is systematically stripping away power from Congress, the directly elected representatives of the people."

On the cumulative effect of recent decisions — including Shelby County v. Holder, Loper Bright, and last week's Trump v. Slaughter — the authors argued: "Taken together, these efforts are a transfer of power from the first branch of government to the third within our constitutional system. While the framers conceived of three, co-equal branches, what the court has done is to declare that all branches are equal, but some branches are more co-equal than others." They called on Congress to pass stronger legislation and use its budget authority to reassert oversight.

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., joined Prince George's County Public Schools and County Executive Aisha Braveboy on Thursday to break ground on the new 103,000-square-foot Springhill Lake Elementary School, the latest in a series of 14 schools being built under a public-private partnership model Alsobrooks developed before her Senate tenure.

Alsobrooks said: "As County Executive, I learned Prince George's County faced an $8.5 billion school construction backlog. The truth is — it's expensive to build and maintain schools. Coming up with a plan would take vision. It would require a willingness to act boldly because the need was immediate... This was a bold move — an innovative public-private model that had never before been done at this level for any school system. I am so proud of this work and know we need to continue working together, in innovative ways, to deliver for our children. This is a model that worked and should be used across the nation."

Signals

• volumeThursday release count (17) ran approximately 80% below the Thursday average of 89.6, consistent with the ongoing Independence Day state work period recess.
• recessThe Senate is in its Independence Day state work period; no floor votes are scheduled and no releases originated from floor statements.
• coordinatedAt least two senators — Whitehouse and Gallego — issued separate releases on the same caucus-wide OMB grant-rule letter, a dual-release pattern that signals an organized Democratic communications rollout on the issue.
• coordinatedNevada's two Democratic senators — Cortez Masto and Rosen — issued near-identical releases on the same $29.97 million FAA airport grant within 69 minutes of each other, a standard dual-release pattern for state delegation funding announcements.
• silent breaksSen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., who has been quiet for 17 days, appeared as a named co-sponsor in Schiff's manufacturing bill release but did not issue his own release.
• silent breaksSen. Alan Armstrong, R-OK, has filed no releases in the archive (999 days quiet); his silence is an outlier with no peer in today's input set.

Quiet desks

Senators with no release in two weeks or more.

• Sen. Alan Armstrong, R-OK—
• Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC66d
• Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY36d
• Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-KY30d
• Sen. Andy Kim, D-NJ17d
• Sen. John Barrasso, R-WY15d
• Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-AK15d
• Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-IL15d
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA15d
• Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-MT15d