Senate Democrats blast Xi visit; Curtis calls out both Trump, Biden families

In a joint statement released Tuesday afternoon, eight Senate Democratic leaders urged President Trump to confront Chinese President Xi Jinping on four specific fronts: advanced chip access, Taiwan, Ukraine, and Iran's targeting of U.S. troops.

"As Americans face rising prices for gas, food, housing, and more, President Trump is rolling out the red carpet for President Xi and hosting closed-door dinners so his billionaire friends can strike deals that threaten American jobs and national security," wrote Sens. Coons, Schumer, Murray, Reed, Shaheen, Warner, Warren, and Kim.

The senators accused China of "accelerating its drive for AI dominance by exploiting weaknesses in the administration's export controls" and warned that "President Trump dismisses the need for commonsense AI guardrails at home while cutting investments in critical research and workforce training." They closed with a sharp line: "We can't let President Xi leave stronger than when he arrived. That is not diplomacy, it's weakness."

Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, sent a letter Tuesday to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Dick Durbin urging subpoenas for both Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden — an unusual move from a member of the president's own party.

Curtis cited reports that Trump Jr. accepted a "lavish wedding afterparty, on a private island, provided by Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, who reportedly traveled to China as part of a delegation accompanying Vladimir Putin shortly before giving the gift." He also flagged Trump Jr.'s "active promotion of family-backed cryptocurrency ventures, his continued pursuit of international real estate deals involving direct meetings with foreign heads of state, and his reported investments in defense contracting."

On the Biden side, Curtis acknowledged that "Hunter Biden has denied involving his father in his business dealings" but argued "there is little question that President Biden's decades in public office gave his son a degree of access, name recognition, and influence that materially enhanced his value in business dealings." The letter's framing was explicit: "That concern should not depend on which party controls the White House."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., led a group of six senators in writing to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer Tuesday, demanding a plan to return tariff costs to consumers after the Supreme Court struck down the first round of IEEPA tariffs.

"Without such a plan, President Trump's reckless trade policy risks becoming nothing but a multi-billion-dollar scheme to transfer wealth from consumers to giant corporations," wrote the senators. They noted that "almost $100 billion in refunded tariffs has been paid out to some of the world's biggest corporations" while consumers have received nothing.

The letter also challenged the administration's use of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act to impose a 50% tariff on Canadian goods following the Supreme Court ruling. "Like the illegal IEEPA tariffs before them, the costs of these new but similarly chaotic tariffs will be borne by American consumers and small businesses," the senators wrote. They requested answers from Greer by October 5.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., led 19 members of Congress in a letter Tuesday to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker and House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, pressing for public hearings on an Iranian strike that killed six U.S. service members at a base in Kuwait.

Whistleblower reports submitted to the lawmakers' offices have alleged significant failures in the attack's aftermath. Among the specifics cited: "There was absolutely no evacuation plan" for Port Shuaiba; some Purple Hearts were "mailed to survivors and families of the fallen, instead of being presented in a ceremony in accordance with Secretary Hegseth's policy memorandum"; and families of the fallen "were misled about meetings with DoD officials — they were told they had been invited to a ceremony instead of a briefing on the deaths of their loved ones."

"As the administration continues to ask Congress for more resources for this war, we can no longer afford to wait for DoD to deign when they are going to answer these questions," the lawmakers wrote. The Department of Defense has not responded to prior requests and has not provided Congress with results of the Army's investigation into the strike.

President Trump signed into law the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act Tuesday, imposing primary and secondary sanctions on Russian officials, oligarchs, and financial institutions supporting Russia's war in Ukraine, as well as tariffs on the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or natural gas.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a cosponsor of the legislation, said in a statement: "Senator Graham was unyielding in his support for the Ukrainian people as they fight to defend their sovereignty, and I can think of few ways more fitting to honor him than by finishing what he started and imposing strict sanctions on the bad actors who have supported Russia's war against Ukraine." Cornyn added: "This law will honor Lindsey's legacy, help dismantle Putin's war machine, and strengthen U.S. national security."

The bill was led by Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and drew more than 60 Senate cosponsors. The legislation also targets the Shadow Fleet Russia assembled to evade existing sanctions.

The entire Senate Democratic Caucus joined Colorado Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, along with House members, in filing an amicus brief at the Supreme Court Tuesday challenging a Trump executive order and USPS rule restricting mail-in voting.

"Since the beginning of his administration, President Trump and congressional Republicans have done everything they can to make our voting system less safe and secure," said Bennet. Hickenlooper called the effort "an unconstitutional, authoritarian attack that we won't let them get away with."

The brief, signed by 261 current and former lawmakers, argued that the order and rule "violate the separation of powers and steal congressional authorities outlined in Article I of the U.S. Constitution." The filing noted that Trump himself voted by mail in Florida's Republican primary in August 2026.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced the Six Penny Plan Tuesday — a budget resolution that would cut six cents from every projected federal dollar spent over five fiscal years to reach balance, up from the one-cent cut he first proposed in 2018.

"At more than $40 trillion, the national debt now costs every household nearly $300,000 and adds $7 billion a day, with interest payments larger than the defense budget," said Paul. "My Six Penny Plan is the right step toward fiscal sanity. Neither party has shown the spine to finish the job, but $40 trillion ought to be the moment they finally do."

Paul noted the federal government ran a deficit of approximately $2 trillion in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year, which would rank as the third-largest nominal deficit on record behind only pandemic-era 2020 and 2021.

Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., co-authored an op-ed in the Indianapolis Star Tuesday with investor Brad Gerstner promoting Trump Accounts — child investment accounts established under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — and announcing a $250 contribution to accounts for approximately 140,000 Indiana children born in 2023 and 2024 in lower-income ZIP codes.

Young and Gerstner wrote that every American child under 18 is eligible for an account, and newborns receive a $1,000 seed investment from the U.S. Treasury. "There is an important difference between teaching a child about the American economy and giving a child a stake in it," they wrote. "Trump Accounts do both."

The op-ed reported that over 9 million families have signed up for Trump Accounts since the program launched July 4, including more than 1.5 million newborns eligible for the pilot Treasury contribution.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., a member of the Senate Banking Committee, introduced the Tailoring and Indexing Enhanced Regulations (TIER) Act Tuesday, legislation to automatically adjust asset-based bank regulatory thresholds to track economic growth rather than remain fixed at static dollar amounts.

"Bank regulation should be based on an institution's actual size, complexity, and risk, not on arbitrary thresholds that become increasingly outdated with every passing year," said Britt. "The TIER Act provides a commonsense solution that preserves strong safety and soundness standards while ensuring our regulatory framework remains appropriately tailored and grounded in economic reality."

The Senate bill would make a one-time adjustment to reflect historical economic growth and then establish a recurring process for future updates, tied to either nominal GDP or the Consumer Price Index. It builds on provisions in the House-passed Main Street Capital Access Act, which cleared the House on July 21 by a 270-155-1 vote.

Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., led a bipartisan letter Tuesday to HHS Secretary Kennedy and CMS Administrator Oz urging recertification of LifeCenter Northwest, the organ procurement organization serving Montana, Washington, Alaska, and northern Idaho.

The senators argued that CMS's evaluation methodology fails to account for the organization's unique geography, noting the OPO serves "more than 10 million people across approximately 808,000 square miles" with only five transplant centers, all in Washington state. "Unlike many CMS quality frameworks, the current methodology relies heavily on two closely related outcome measures, provides limited risk adjustment for differences in OPO circumstances, and does not recognize sustained year-over-year improvement," they wrote.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., joined the letter, along with 12 House members from the region.

Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., a former circuit judge, introduced the Better Bench Act Tuesday alongside Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., in a bipartisan effort to remove the requirement that judges on the Federal Circuit and the Court of Federal Claims reside within 50 miles of Washington, D.C.

"For a court that covers the entire country, we should be considering nominating judges from everywhere in America based on merit — not their proximity to the D.C. bubble," said Moody. Coons framed it as a talent pipeline issue: "For too long, we have limited the pool of judges available to take on the toughest IP and federal contract cases to those willing to uproot their lives and move to Washington, D.C. No longer."

Three Democratic senators filed separate legislative and oversight actions Tuesday tied to social safety net issues.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., sent a letter to Health Net Interim CEO Eric Schmacker demanding reversal of the insurer's termination of Medi-Cal assisted living benefits for roughly 3,000 Californians. "The sudden loss of assisted living benefits could have potentially devastating repercussions for enrollees and their family members," Schiff wrote, warning that out-of-pocket assisted living costs "can cost as much as $7,000 each month."

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., joined Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., in reintroducing the Protecting Our Students in Schools Act, which would ban corporal punishment in any school receiving federal funding. "Every student deserves a safe, supportive learning environment that fosters positive relationships and protects their physical and emotional well-being," said Padilla. Meanwhile, Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., announced $7.45 million in federal Section 811 housing vouchers for Oregon residents with disabilities. "Everyone deserves a safe, affordable place to call home," said Merkley.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., received the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's 2026 Distinguished Service Award, the only member of Congress to receive the honor this year. "Electric co-ops connect the farmers who feed our country, keep the lights on at our schools, hospitals, and small businesses, and power our communities," said Klobuchar.

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced $1,466,049 in FEMA grants for New York State covering storm infrastructure repairs, COVID-19 pandemic reimbursements for hospitals, and wildfire suppression costs. "From helping communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic to repairing infrastructure after severe storms, this $1.4 million in FEMA funding will support communities across New York," said Schumer.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., continued his "Rescuing America" platform with a video focused on housing affordability, saying: "Washington has been robbing the American people blind for decades while making everything from homeownership to opening a business harder."

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., joined Rep. Adrian Smith and a bicameral group Tuesday in introducing the Educational Opportunities Expansion Package, a two-bill package to strengthen the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit enacted in the Working Families Tax Cuts bill in 2025.

The package would remove the current state opt-in requirement for the scholarship program and eliminate restrictions on donor eligibility based on marital status. "As parents, we know our children better than anyone. When we put parents in charge of their child's education, we give children the best opportunity to thrive," said Cassidy.

Signals

• volumeTuesday's 18 releases ran 76% below the Tuesday rolling average of 74.9, an unusually light output day.
• coordinatedEight Senate Democratic ranking members issued a single joint statement on the Xi state visit, spanning Armed Services, Foreign Relations, Intelligence, Banking, and Appropriations — a rare cross-committee coordinated rollout.
• silent breaksSen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has been silent for 70 days; his name appeared in today's releases as the namesake of newly signed Russia sanctions legislation negotiated before his death.
• silent breaksSen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., has issued nothing for 62 days yet was named Tuesday as the Armed Services Committee chairman being pressed to hold public hearings on the Port Shuaiba attack.

Quiet desks

Senators with no release in two weeks or more.

• Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC70d
• Sen. Alan Armstrong, R-OK68d
• Sen. Roger F. Wicker, R-MS62d
• Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC36d
• Sen. Mike Rounds, R-SD35d
• Sen. Peter Welch, D-VT28d
• Sen. Tom Cotton, R-AR21d