Senate's hearing day: AG Blanche, Labor nominee face grilling as birthright push mounts

The Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearing for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche drew statements from both parties Thursday, with Republicans praising the DOJ's direction and Democrats pressing on interference allegations.

Sen. Schmitt led his questioning by citing what he called DOJ achievements under Blanche — the National Fraud Enforcement Division and "the largest takedown of health care fraudsters in the Department's history" — before urging Blanche to commit to combating sanctuary policies, investigating election practices, and protecting free speech. "These calls to defund ICE, this hammer-and-sickle wave that came through New York a few weeks ago... The central plank, of course, is 'defund the police,' overthrowing Western civilization. This is not your grandfather's Democrat Party," Schmitt said.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., praised falling crime statistics at the hearing, noting "we currently have the lowest murder rate that we've had since 1900" and "violent crime arrests, we are up 184%." She also honored the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, noting he "was excited about your nomination."

Sens. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., took a sharper line outside the hearing room, writing the DOJ Inspector General to request an investigation into whether Blanche's office "interfered in a Department of Justice investigation into a potentially corrupt clemency scheme" tied to President Trump's commutation of convicted fraudster David Gentile's sentence. "In light of Acting Attorney General Blanche's refusal to answer questions on the matter, and the great importance of the fair and impartial administration of justice, we request that the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General investigate the decision to close the Eastern District of New York's investigation," they wrote.

The HELP Committee's hearing on Labor Secretary nominee Keith Sonderling produced some of Thursday's sharpest exchanges, with Sen. Murray leading the Democratic challenge and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., offering a more collegial line of questioning.

Murray opened by cataloguing what she called Sonderling's anti-worker record: rescinding the overtime rule in May, pushing to rescind the independent contractor rule, and advancing a joint-employer rule. "You rescinded the overtime rule in May — slamming the door on time-and-a-half pay for more than 4 million workers who already aren't making much to begin with," she said. She then pressed Sonderling directly on whether it made sense for DOL — an agency with, she said, zero programs focused on elementary school students — to absorb Education Department programs. "I asked you a specific question and I have very little time. Do you know how many programs?" Murray said after Sonderling began a broader answer. "I will tell you. The answer is none."

Tuberville's exchange with Sonderling focused on unemployment insurance fraud and the Vice President's anti-fraud task force. Sonderling described $135 billion stolen from the unemployment system during COVID, including payments "to people in jail, to dead people" and to someone "born in the year 2154." Tuberville also raised cryptocurrency's role in 401(k) retirement accounts.

Three Republican senators used Thursday's releases to advance or amplify legislation targeting birthright citizenship, a coordinated effort that spanned cable news appearances and a formal letter to two Cabinet secretaries.

Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., issued three separate media releases — Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, and Newsmax — all centered on his Citizenship Act of 2026, which he argues would legislatively define children of undocumented immigrants as ineligible for birthright citizenship without requiring a constitutional amendment. "Congress must determine and legislate that the children of illegals who are invaders into our country are not eligible for birthright citizenship," Banks said on Fox Business. He cited Justice Kavanaugh's concurring opinion in the Supreme Court's birthright ruling as the legal basis. Banks also noted Sen. Tuberville as a co-sponsor.

Sen. Schmitt pursued a related but distinct angle, writing to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to demand an investigation into citizenship documents issued to foreign diplomats' children. "Foreign diplomats' children using improperly procured citizenship documentation to illegally claim citizenship degrades the meaning of American citizenship, undermines our sovereignty, and threatens our national security," Schmitt wrote. He also announced plans to introduce a constitutional amendment on the issue.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously advanced the Water Resources Development Act of 2026 Thursday, with senators from Arizona, Washington, and Oregon each claiming wins for their states in the bipartisan bill.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said the bill addresses drought pressure on the Colorado River with specific authorizations: $10 million for Kingman water service line improvements, a $5 million increase for Tucson's recycled water loop, and a $8 million boost for Buckeye's reclaimed water line projected to conserve 2.5 million gallons of groundwater daily. "Arizona knows better than most that water isn't something we can take for granted," Kelly said.

Sen. Gallego's Water Infrastructure Modernization Act language was also folded into the bill, which he said would "incentivize community water systems to purchase and implement new water technologies." Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., highlighted provisions for Oregon's ports, the Columbia River Treaty, and a new Environmental Infrastructure Authority. "WRDA 2026 has a lot of wins for our state, and I am pleased these critical Oregon priorities are one step closer to becoming law," Merkley said. The bill now heads to the full Senate.

Twenty-five Senate Democrats signed a letter Thursday pressing the Defense Department to publicly release its investigation into the February bombing of a girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran, which they said reportedly killed approximately 120 children and 175 people overall.

The letter — led by Sens. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif. — noted the probe was reportedly submitted in April but has remained under review for months. "More than four months after the strike, and after the reported submission of the investigation in April, Congress and the American people still have not received the Department's investigation and findings," the senators wrote. "There is no justification for withholding an unclassified accounting of what happened, what went wrong, and what the Department is doing to prevent recurrence."

The letter also flagged systemic questions: "These reported issues, if accurate, raise deeply troubling questions about the integrity of U.S. target development, the adequacy of target validation and vetting procedures, the interoperability of intelligence and targeting databases, the timeliness and reliability of intelligence used for lethal targeting, and the Department's implementation of civilian harm mitigation policies."

In a floor speech Thursday, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., argued that the One Big Beautiful Bill's SNAP work requirements are already reshaping the food stamp rolls — and called for extending the model across federal social programs.

"Last year, we passed the One Big Beautiful Bill," Kennedy said. "One of the provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill was that we, in America, if you're hungry, we're going to feed you. We're going to give you food stamps. We don't want you to be hungry. But in return for those food stamps, if you're able-bodied, if you're not disabled, and you don't have kids at home, you got to go get a job."

Kennedy cited a four million figure: "So far, we have had four million people who were on food stamps... who have either decided they don't need food stamps, because they didn't want to work, or they've gone to work for a living, and they no longer need food stamps." He acknowledged the full provision is not yet implemented and said: "We ought to extend it to every social program in America."

Sen. Murray and Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, sent a letter Thursday to Energy Secretary Chris Wright demanding he immediately halt plans to spend $350 million in congressionally designated carbon capture funds on coal plant recommissioning — a move the lawmakers called illegal.

"Congress provided funding to cut pollution and lower energy costs, which DOE is now diverting to instead subsidize big coal's uneconomic power plants, raising costs for families," wrote Murray and Kaptur. "The Department's plan to repurpose $350 million in dedicated carbon capture funding to restart and recommission coal-fired power plants is a misuse of public funds and a violation of Federal law."

The letter cited more than eight months of correspondence with the department without a satisfactory legal explanation. "After more than eight months of correspondence, DOE has not provided the Committees a single legal justification that withstands scrutiny," they wrote. The lawmakers set an August 7 deadline for a full response and demanded DOE refrain from obligating any awarded funds in the meantime.

Sen. Murray took to the Senate floor Thursday ahead of a vote on her Congressional Review Act resolution targeting a Trump administration pilot program that uses artificial intelligence to conduct prior authorization in Traditional Medicare.

"President Trump is saying: forget the doctors who went to medical school and took an oath to do no harm — AI knows better when it comes to health care decisions for our seniors," Murray said. She described the WISeR model — Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction — as operating in Washington state and five other states since January, with contractors paid a percentage of denied care costs. "The for-profit contractors that conduct this prior authorization are paid a percentage of the cost of care that they deny. They are literally incentivized to rip health care away from seniors because that is better for their bottom line."

Murray cited constituents by name, including "Joanne — she's a Medicare beneficiary from Quilcene, Washington" who she said was denied timely care for a herniated disc pressing on her sciatic nerve.

The Senate passed Sen. Gallego's resolution unanimously Wednesday evening expressing that convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried should not receive a presidential pardon, commutation, or any other form of federal clemency.

"It should not be considered controversial to say that someone like Sam Bankman-Fried — a fraudster who was convicted by a unanimous jury — should not be allowed to walk away scot-free," said Gallego. "Bankman-Fried stole billions from hardworking Americans. He's a criminal who deserves to stay locked up."

Gallego introduced the resolution alongside Digital Assets Subcommittee Chair Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., following reports that Bankman-Fried has continued to lobby for clemency. Bankman-Fried was sentenced in 2023 to 25 years after his conviction on wire fraud, securities fraud, and other charges related to what federal prosecutors called "one of the biggest financial frauds in American history."

Sens. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., introduced legislation Thursday to give state attorneys general, Epstein victims, and members of Congress standing to sue the DOJ for non-compliance with the original Epstein Files Transparency Act, which became law in November 2025.

"Nearly eight months after our Epstein Files Transparency Act became law, the Trump Department of Justice has failed to comply with the law by releasing the Epstein files and delivering justice for survivors," said Luján. Merkley framed the effort in sharper terms: "At Trump's bidding, the Department of Justice's highest-ranking officials continue to break the law, denying justice to Jeffrey Epstein's victims with an unprecedented cover-up of the abuse of our most vulnerable."

The bill has bipartisan House companions from Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif. Massie's release cited DOJ withholding of "over 3 million Epstein files" and described "unlawfully maintaining heavy redactions" on those that have been released.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., sent a letter Thursday to the DOJ calling for a formal investigation into potential price gouging by major oil companies, citing a gap between falling crude prices and sustained pump prices.

"The Department must move swiftly to hold big oil companies accountable for potential price gouging, and remain vigilant for profiteering at the pump," wrote Schiff, who also requested a public report to Congress within thirty days. Schiff noted that West Texas Intermediate crude fell from a peak of $112 per barrel in April to as low as $68 per barrel, while the AAA national average for regular gasoline remained approximately $3.88 — a drop of only about 30 cents from a month prior. He cited six companies — Chevron, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, Exxon, and TotalEnergies — as projected to earn $94 billion combined in 2026 profits.

Sen. Alan Armstrong, R-Okla., delivered his first speech on the Senate floor Thursday, centering his remarks on permitting reform and what he called a national failure to build critical infrastructure.

"For generations, Americans understood that building our critical infrastructure was not a partisan cause. It was a national responsibility," Armstrong said in prepared remarks. He pointed to New England's energy prices as a case study: "Pennsylvania sits atop one of the most prolific natural gas formations in the world. Yet only a few hundred miles away, families and businesses in New England pay some of the highest energy prices in the country because the region lacks sufficient pipeline capacity."

Armstrong called out what he described as decades of political drift away from a building consensus: "America's energy problem is not a lack of resources, nor it is a lack of ingenuity. It is our failure to build the infrastructure needed to move those resources to the people who need them." He highlighted the American Energy and Mineral Infrastructure Act as a vehicle for his larger permitting reform mission.

Multiple senators used Thursday's releases to honor the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who died last weekend.

Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., delivered a floor tribute describing Graham as "the definition of the word patriot" and recounting how Graham adopted his 13-year-old sister after losing both parents before age 22. "Lindsey Graham was part of the glue for the Senate — not just for Republicans, but for Republicans and Democrats," Ricketts said. Sen. Banks mentioned missing Graham "this week in the Senate" while discussing the appointment of Graham's successor. Sen. Britt honored Graham during the Blanche confirmation hearing, noting he "was excited about your nomination" and was a champion for the unborn.

Sen. Gallego addressed the NALEO 43rd Annual Conference in Los Angeles Thursday, delivering remarks that touched on ICE enforcement actions, a Supreme Court opinion on racial profiling, and Latino economic contributions.

"This has been a very tough year for our community without a doubt. We have been targeted. They're racially profiling us. They're hunting Latino working class men in the streets of our country right now," Gallego said. He referenced what he described as two men killed by ICE: "Two men just working hard and living their lives and speaking Spanish. Think about that. Two men that were killed for being Latino men, for doing what Latino men do: waking up, going to work to fight for their family, to fight for their country, to fight for the American dream."

On the Supreme Court, Gallego cited Justice Kavanaugh by name: "Justice Kavanaugh wrote that it's okay to racially profile if you speak Spanish." On economics, Gallego pointed to small business formation: "Latina women establish the most amount of small businesses at six times the national rate right now in this economy."

Arizona's two Democratic senators joined state House members this week in demanding answers from DHS and ICE about a measles outbreak at two detention facilities in Florence, Ariz.

Sens. Kelly and Gallego, alongside three Arizona House Democrats, wrote DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Acting ICE Director David Venturella flagging confirmed measles cases at the Florence Service Processing Center and the Central Arizona Florence Correctional Center. "Given the highly contagious nature of measles and the increased risk of transmission in congregate detention settings, this development raises serious questions about the adequacy of ICE's infection prevention and containment measures," the lawmakers wrote. The letter notes this is the second reported measles outbreak at a Florence detention facility this year and requests a detailed response by July 20.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., used a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Treasury nominees Thursday to press for a comprehensive federal digital asset tax framework, arguing the current tax code forces crypto taxpayers to apply "rules written decades before blockchain technology even existed."

Daines described his proposal as built around reducing complexity, increasing compliance, and protecting the tax base — applying familiar rules like wash sale and constructive sale standards where digital assets resemble securities, while creating tailored rules for stablecoin payments, staking, and lending. Nominee Francis Brooke acknowledged the need for U.S. leadership, and nominee Sriprakash Kothari said clarity was essential: "If the U.S. has to have maintained a leadership position in digital assets, digital currency, then we need a regime that is clear in terms of rules of engagement and also we have to enforce those laws."

Signals

• volumeThursday's 32 releases ran 62 percent below the Thursday average of 84, the lowest relative volume in recent weeks — likely explained by staff absorption into live confirmation hearings for Blanche and Sonderling.
• coordinatedSen. Banks issued three separate media releases within roughly two hours (Fox News, Fox Business, Newsmax) all promoting the same Citizenship Act of 2026, a concentrated single-day rollout across conservative outlets.
• freshman firstSen. Alan Armstrong, R-Okla., delivered his inaugural Senate floor speech Thursday, making it his first recorded floor statement since taking office.
• coordinatedFive Republican senators — Banks, Schmitt, Tuberville (co-sponsor), and implicitly Britt (referencing the Kavanaugh opinion) — converged on birthright citizenship restriction on the same day, across hearings, floor statements, and media appearances.
• silent breaksSen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., signed the Iran school strike letter (cited in the Schiff release) but has issued no standalone release in 22 days, making Thursday's group letter her only public footprint this week.

Quiet desks

Senators with no release in two weeks or more.

• Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC73d
• Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY43d
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA22d