Senate Democrats launch anti-corruption push; shutdown fight sharpens

Senate Democrats formally organized Tuesday around exposing what they framed as White House self-dealing, releasing a new report alongside the launch of a dedicated working group. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., anchored the rollout, saying: "The Trump swamp of corruption is a mile deep and MEGA-wide. Trump and his family use his office and official connections to rake in billions for themselves at every turn. Not only is this making life more expensive for hard-working Americans, it's a threat to government 'by and for the people.'"

The working group's stated agenda spans consumer financial protections, wages, food assistance, federal contracting, and foreign government access to the president's family businesses. The full report is publicly available through Merkley's office.

Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., sent letters Tuesday to the Bank Policy Institute, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Managed Funds Association, Financial Services Forum, Principal Traders Group, and American Bankers Association, urging the financial services industry to reject Trump Media's paid API service.

Warner wrote that the arrangement "presents a serious risk to market integrity, creates a clear and unacceptable pathway for corruption, and undermines public confidence in the fair dissemination of market-moving government information." He documented the stakes directly: "A post announcing a tariff pause sent the S&P 500 up 9.5 percent, a post threatening steep tariffs on European goods and foreign-made iPhones pushed down U.S. and European stocks, and a post delaying planned attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure drove oil prices down by as much as 15 percent." Warner concluded that TMTG's service — reportedly priced at $100,000 per month — would "create a two-tiered system for access to government information and threaten the credibility of U.S. capital markets."

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., delivered floor remarks Tuesday laying responsibility for past and potential future government shutdowns squarely on Senate Democrats. "When Democrats were in the majority, they literally shut down the entire appropriations process," Barrasso said. "After Democrats lost the elections in 2024, they revolted and shut down the government twice. The two Schumer Shutdowns broke records."

Barrasso alleged the October 2025 shutdown lasted 43 days and a February 2026 DHS shutdown lasted 75 days, and warned: "A third shutdown would be just as painful for the American people, or worse."

Separately, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., announced he will testify Wednesday before the House Appropriations Committee — its first full-committee oversight hearing since 2008 — on his bipartisan Prevent Government Shutdowns Act, which he introduced with Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H. The bill would impose automatic 14-day continuing resolutions and require members to remain in Washington until spending bills are complete. It has accumulated 23 Senate co-sponsors across both parties.

The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026 — negotiated with the White House and introduced by a bipartisan group of more than 60 senators — would impose sanctions on Putin's inner circle, his shadow fleet, and firms supplying Russia's defense industrial base, while authorizing tariffs on goods from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil and gas.

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, joined the effort and said: "For over four years, the Ukrainian people have shown us what it looks like to fight and die for democracy, for their country, and for the West. Their courage in the face of Vladimir Putin's war offers the greatest example of how to fight back against authoritarian aggression. Amid Putin's intransigence at the negotiating table and daily attacks on civilians across Ukraine, Congress must make Russia pay a further price."

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is among the bill's supporters, as are Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.

Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released what he called "A Framework for America's AI Future" — a package spanning data center transparency, AI agent consumer rights, child safety, worker protections, and national security.

"Artificial intelligence will reshape nearly every aspect of our economy and society. The only question is whether Congress is going to help shape that future or spend the next decade scrambling to catch up," Warner said. "America doesn't have to choose between leading in AI and putting commonsense rules of the road in place. In fact, our leadership depends on getting this right."

Key bills include the Data Center Tax Accountability and Disclosure Act, which would condition federal bonus depreciation for AI data centers on meeting efficiency and sustainability standards, and the AI AGENT Act, establishing rights and responsibilities for consumer-facing AI agents. Warner also announced the SAFE AI Act targeting AI-generated child sexual abuse material and non-consensual intimate images.

Sens. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, Mark Warner, D-Va., and Katie Britt, R-Ala., gathered for a bipartisan podcast episode Tuesday to advance Sammy's Law, which would require large social media platforms to make real-time APIs accessible to FTC-registered third-party safety software and alert parents when specific phrases indicating eating disorders, suicidal ideation, or sexual harassment arise.

The bill is named after 16-year-old Sammy Chapman, who died of fentanyl poisoning after being contacted by a drug dealer through social media. His father, Sam Chapman, joined the lawmakers. Husted said: "As a father and grandfather, I strongly believe that we need to protect our kids in the digital world the same way we do in the physical world. We'll keep working in a bipartisan fashion to get Sammy's Law across the finish line in the U.S. Senate."

Warner added: "Sammy Chapman should still be with us today, and it's our responsibility as lawmakers to protect other children and families from experiencing a similar loss." Britt said: "I often say you don't have to tell me what it's like to raise teenagers in today's digital age because I'm actually doing it."

Thirty-nine senators — led by Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine — sent a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin demanding body-worn camera deployment, stronger officer identification requirements, and independent investigations into two fatal ICE shooting incidents in Biddeford, Maine, and Houston, Texas.

"The recent fatal shootings involving U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers, specifically within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in Biddeford, Maine, and Houston, Texas, coupled with similar incidents elsewhere in the country, are completely unacceptable," the senators wrote. "Rather than making our communities safer, these actions endanger our citizens and seriously undermine confidence in law enforcement generally."

The letter noted that in both cases the individuals killed — Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero — "were not the intended targets" of the enforcement actions, and that no body-worn cameras were in use. "In each case, DHS quickly issued statements asserting that officers were acting in self-defense, even before evidence of the facts surrounding the incidents had been gathered," the senators wrote.

Nine Democratic senators — including Sens. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. — wrote to FEMA demanding faster distribution of Fire Management Assistance Grants and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds.

The senators wrote: "Unfortunately, over 3.1 million acres have already burned across the country since the beginning of this year, which is the second largest number of acres burned in a January to July period in the past 10 years. Given these recent fires, the persistent drought across multiple states, and the expected above normal wildfire activity, it is imperative that FEMA helps communities quickly respond to wildfires and increase their resilience to future wildfire disasters."

Warnock highlighted Georgia's exposure specifically: earlier this year, the Pineland Road Fire and Highway 82 Fire burned more than 50,000 acres, cost the state $35 million, and destroyed 110 homes.

Day two of the Todd Blanche attorney general nomination hearing drew focused questioning from Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Katie Britt, R-Ala., on separate fronts.

Cornyn pressed Blanche on the Trump v. IRS settlement agreement — specifically on whether the anti-weaponization fund it referenced was legally enforceable. Blanche acknowledged the settlement "is an enforceable document" but said DOJ "can't force" creation of the weaponization fund if sued for breach. Cornyn also secured a commitment from Blanche to respond to a letter on mifepristone dispensing requirements. "I would appreciate it if you would respond to this letter for the record about the intentions of the administration," Cornyn said. "If President Trump is the most pro-life President, this ought to be a pretty easy call."

Britt focused on witnesses including the mother of Megan Bos — killed in a fentanyl overdose whose body was allegedly concealed by an undocumented immigrant — and Jeffrey Epstein survivor Dani Bensky. To Bensky, Britt said: "I completely support your quest to be able to be heard, obviously for victims to be protected and for us to pursue every, every lead possible."

In a floor speech, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., challenged Intel over its reported plan to build a $5 billion chip manufacturing facility in Ireland after receiving $8.9 billion in federal CHIPS Act funding.

"The Department of Commerce gave Intel $8.9 billion cash in return for 10% of the company. Well, here's why I think Intel might have rinky-doo'd us. Intel just announced they were taking $5 billion of that. And you know what they're doing with it? They're building a chip manufacturing plant in Ireland," Kennedy said. He rejected Intel's expected defense that the money came from separate pots: "Money is fungible, folks. Money is fungible."

Kennedy concluded: "Intel needs to build that manufacturing plant in America, or they need to give the American people their money back. And they need to do it now."

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., joined Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and 10 colleagues in urging the Banking and Agriculture committees to add guardrails to the CLARITY Act and Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act, warning that both bills as drafted would allow prediction markets to offer nationwide sports betting and casino-style gaming while bypassing Tribal and state regulatory frameworks.

"We write with urgency regarding the continued lack of proper regulation over prediction markets and the resulting circumvention of state and Tribal gaming regulatory frameworks," the senators wrote. They added that the bills' DeFi exemptions would "effectively allow prediction markets to offer online casino-style gaming and sports betting across the United States, entirely bypassing the localized Tribal-state regulatory systems required by IGRA."

Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., separately highlighted the CLARITY Act in a Banking Committee hearing, saying his work on the bill preserved state authority to enforce crypto ATM fraud laws — and citing Nebraska's Department of Banking returning $325,000 to consumers from September 2025 to June 2026 without CFPB involvement.

Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, sent a letter Tuesday to President Trump backing Gov. Greg Abbott's request for a major disaster declaration covering 33 Texas counties struck by severe flash flooding beginning July 12.

"Beginning on July 12, 2026, multiple rounds of heavy rainfall produced severe flash flooding across the region, requiring sustained water rescue operations in Uvalde, Kerr, and surrounding counties," they wrote. Preliminary assessments have identified thousands of flood-impacted structures, with statewide recovery costs estimated at approximately $489.7 million. The senators noted that many of the affected communities are still recovering from catastrophic flooding in July 2025, making this "an extraordinary burden."

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., led 55 Republican colleagues in a letter to the Justice Department demanding an investigation into five fetal remains discovered outside a Washington, D.C., abortion clinic in 2022 — a case that languished through the Biden administration without prosecution or formal autopsies.

"Four years ago now, the bodies of five preborn children were found in D.C., apparently victims of infanticide or illegal partial-birth abortions. Those babies have still not received justice or proper investigations," Lee said. "Americans cannot tolerate rogue abortion clinics performing gruesome murders and casting helpless victims aside like garbage, especially not in our Nation's capital."

The letter, first obtained by the Daily Wire, cited neonatal specialist Dr. Robin Pierucci, who said she could "say with confidence that [four of] these babies died at an age when they were viable, premature people." It alleges that Biden-era DOJ not only failed to respond to a 2022 congressional letter but "even went as far as to advise 'the Chief Medical Examiner to discard the bodies of the infants.'"

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., filed a bipartisan, bicameral resolution Tuesday directing the FTC to investigate consolidation in the fire truck manufacturing industry — the first time Congress has moved to invoke that authority since the Great Depression era.

"When giant corporations and Wall Street investors buy up all the fire truck manufacturers, it's a threat to public safety," Warren said. "There's a growing, bipartisan consensus that Congress must stop a handful of corporations from dominating fire truck manufacturing and making it harder and tremendously more expensive to get fire trucks."

Banks said: "Anticompetitive practices are strong-arming our cities, wasting taxpayer dollars, and leaving firefighters without life-saving equipment." The resolution cites fire truck prices doubling over the last decade, lead times tripling since 2019, and delivery backlogs stretching up to five years.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., joined Senate Democratic colleagues Tuesday in reintroducing the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, which would remove cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act and empower states to set their own laws.

"I've always been very pro-weed. In a very libertarian slant: I'm not going to judge anyone for using it to knock the edge off of life. I think your path to wellness should be without judgement or punishment — legal, safe, and regulated. I supported President Biden and President Trump when they took steps on the issue," Fetterman said. "But it is time for Congress to stop dicking around and make weed legal. This bill is a good step forward."

Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., announced Tuesday his support for reforming birthright citizenship, co-sponsoring two bills — the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025 and the SAFE KIDS Act.

"Birthright citizenship was included in the U.S. Constitution to reconcile an incredible error in America. It was added to ensure those freed from slavery were granted American citizenship. This made our nation better. Today, birthright citizenship is being exploited by bad actors and our adversaries," Ricketts said. "Unrestrained birthright citizenship hands Communist China an opportunity to infiltrate our country. We must reform the system."

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced the ONSHORE Manufacturing Act Tuesday — legislation offering a 10.5% domestic manufacturing production credit, a 30% advanced manufacturing equipment credit, and a 30% facility modernization credit to shift critical medical supply production back to the United States.

"America's dependence on China and other foreign nations for critical medical supplies is a national security threat that puts the lives of Americans at risk," Blackburn said. "The ONSHORE Manufacturing Act would cut red tape with smart tax incentives to bring production home, protect our supply chains, and ensure we never face shortages that endanger patients during a crisis."

The bill is backed by DeRoyal Industries, Premier, Inc., Retractable Technologies, and the SAMS Coalition.

Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., led all 47 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus in introducing a resolution Tuesday recognizing Black Women's Equal Pay Day. Black women in the U.S. workforce earn 63 cents for every dollar paid to non-Hispanic white men — a gap that, at current trends, would take nearly 200 years to close.

"Even in the 'land of opportunity,' Black women must work 55 percent longer to achieve the same earnings as white men," Blunt Rochester said. "This resolution sheds light on the challenges facing minority communities across the country and reaffirms our commitment to closing the pay gaps. I'm proud to see all my Senate Democratic colleagues join me in making a concerted effort to improve the quality of life and economic power of Black women everywhere."

Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., John Thune, R-S.D., and Deb Fischer, R-Neb., introduced the Broadband MAP Act of 2026 last week, directing the FCC to evaluate and improve its National Broadband Map challenge process.

"Broadband internet is a necessity, especially for our rural communities. The first step we can take to ensure families have internet access across Pennsylvania and the country is figuring out who still doesn't," Fetterman said. Thune added: "Broadband providers who are on the ground in South Dakota and across rural America have vital, firsthand knowledge of the communities they serve. Ensuring the accuracy of the FCC's broadband map and its corresponding challenge process is critical to build on our progress." The bill is supported by the FCC, NTCA, and NCTA.

Signals

• volumeTuesday's 37 releases represent a 58% drop below the Tuesday average of 88.1, an unusually thin day for a non-recess session date.
• coordinatedNine Democratic senators filed near-identical wildfire FEMA funding demands from separate offices within roughly one hour, a coordinated multi-state rollout.
• coordinatedThe Democratic anti-corruption working group launch — Merkley, Whitehouse, Cortez Masto, Padilla, Kim — appears as a single coordinated rollout with shared report release; only Merkley's office issued a press release in today's input.
• coordinatedThirty-nine senators signed the ICE body-camera accountability letter led by Luján and King; only one office release appeared in today's input, suggesting other signatories did not issue separate statements.
• voteNo floor votes are scheduled today; the next recess window is the August state work period, 20 days out.
• recessSenate is in session; August state work period begins in 20 days, compressing the remaining floor calendar for appropriations action.
• coordinatedThe Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act drew 60-plus Senate co-sponsors including leadership on both sides — Majority Leader Thune, Foreign Relations and Armed Services chairs and ranking members — indicating organized pre-introduction whipping.
• freshman firstSen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., appears in two releases today but both entries in the input contain only navigation boilerplate rather than substantive body text, limiting what can be reported from her office.