20 Democrats press AG Blanche on teen handgun sales; farm fuel relief dominates GOP releases

Senators Coons, Blunt Rochester, Murphy, Kelly, and Schiff led a 20-member Democratic letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday, demanding answers on the Justice Department's decision to stop enforcing the prohibition on handgun sales to people under 21. The letter was the day's only coordinated multi-senator rollout, with both a Coons-led release and a separate Gillibrand release issued within 16 minutes of each other.

The senators cited mass shootings carried out by perpetrators in the 18-to-20 age range: "The public safety implications of this decision are clear. Numerous mass shootings have been committed by perpetrators between the ages of 18 and 20, including the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where an 18-year-old fatally shot 19 students and two teachers and injured 18 others, as well as the shootings at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York; an Indianapolis FedEx facility and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. These tragic examples underscore the public safety considerations at stake and the serious risks Congress sought to address."

The letter challenged the department's constitutional reasoning directly: "Congress enacted this prohibition as part of the Gun Control Act of 1968, clearly stating that 'it shall be unlawful' for an FFL to sell or transfer a handgun to a person under age 21. Nearly 60 years later, the Department's decision to stop enforcing this provision comes not because Congress repealed or amended the law, but because the Executive Branch has independently concluded that these provisions are unconstitutional. This decision raises serious questions about the Department's execution of federal law, its communications with members of the gun industry, and the implications for the enforcement of federal firearms laws nationwide."

Coons and colleagues also framed the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel opinion as an executive overreach: "The Department's OLC opinion acknowledges the constitutionality of age-based firearms restrictions has 'deeply divided members of the federal bench.' Given the ongoing nature of this legal dispute, the Department's decision that it may cease enforcement of federal law by executive fiat, rather than continue defending and enforcing the statute, represents an expansive and concerning assertion of executive authority."

Sen. Gillibrand added in her separate statement: "The Trump administration should be doing more to keep guns out of the wrong hands — not less. Refusing to enforce the law that bars dealers from selling handguns to teenagers makes our communities less safe and is a direct surrender to the gun lobby at the expense of American lives."

Two Republican senators — Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. — issued statements Tuesday welcoming the Trump administration's announcement of an $8 billion Harvest Fuel Relief Program, funded through the Commodity Credit Corporation, to help farmers offset input costs during the 2026 harvest season.

"Between the newly-announced Harvest Fuel Relief Program and the enhancements we made to ARC and PLC, which went into effect this month, producers are receiving meaningful assistance to help them cover their increased input costs during harvest," said Hoeven. "We appreciate President Trump and Secretary Rollins for continuing to work with us to keep our farmers afloat during these challenging times. We will continue our efforts to pass a Farm Bill that further strengthens our farm safety net, secure better market access for producers and unleash American energy production to bring down input costs, including diesel and fertilizer prices."

Marshall, who sent a letter to USDA Secretary Rollins in September urging the relief, framed the announcement as a direct result of that outreach. "To every Kansas farmer who kept harvesting through soaring diesel costs: help is on the way. After hearing directly from Kansas farmers about the strain these rising diesel costs were putting on their operations, we brought these concerns directly to President Trump and Secretary Rollins, urging them to provide relief," said Marshall. "This $8 billion in support is headed to the men and women who feed and fuel this country. Thank you, President Trump, for standing with our farmers, and thank you to our Kansas farmers for never quitting."

Under the program, the Farm Service Agency will issue one-time payments based on planted acres, Economic Research Service cost-of-production estimates, and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates yields and prices. Commodity-specific payment rates for Title I crops are expected in November.

Two senators announced federal rail grants Tuesday drawn from the same program — the Department of Transportation's Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program — though the projects and their political framings differed.

Sens. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., secured $12,495,000 for a corridor improvement project spanning central and southwestern Georgia. "Since coming to the Senate, I have been focused on strengthening rail safety and infrastructure in Georgia. That is why I am proud to champion efforts in the Senate to strengthen the CRISI program to deliver more resources to our state," said Warnock. "This latest grant will help reduce congestion, build new tracks, and strengthen existing rail infrastructure, making it safer, easier, and more efficient to move goods across our state." Ossoff added: "After hearing from communities statewide about aging railroad infrastructure conditions, Senator Warnock and I elevated this as one of our highest priorities. We are delivering these resources through the bipartisan infrastructure law to communities across the State of Georgia to plan and begin construction to address this crisis. We've listened, we've heard, we've acted, and help is on the way."

In Louisiana, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., announced a separate $5.81 million grant to replace five aging railroad bridges between Baton Rouge and New Orleans — a project he tied explicitly to eventual passenger rail service. "This grant brings us one step closer to a passenger rail line between Baton Rouge and New Orleans," said Cassidy. "It will also make our rail lines safer for freight trains. This is a win for Louisiana." Cassidy noted the CRISI program is funded in part by his Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law in November 2021.

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., announced Tuesday that two Federal Highway Administration grants totaling $5.9 million will help Mississippi continue recovery from Tropical Storm Arthur and Winter Storm Fern — two disasters that struck the state within six months of each other.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation will receive more than $3.0 million in Emergency Relief for Federal-aid Highways funding for damage caused by Tropical Storm Arthur, which brought severe storms, tornadoes, and flash flooding on June 18–19. The U.S. Forest Service will receive more than $2.8 million in Emergency Relief for Federally Owned Roads funding for Winter Storm Fern damage — a Jan. 23–27 event that blanketed 38 counties in ice.

"Winter Storm Fern in January, followed by the drenching Tropical Storm Arthur early this summer, damaged transportation infrastructure throughout Mississippi. These two FHWA grants will augment the significant resources already spent by federal, state, and local entities to overcome these two natural disasters," said Hyde-Smith, who chairs the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee and last week toured Gulf Coast federal highway projects with FHWA Administrator Sean McMaster.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee, joined House counterparts Tuesday in a letter to the CEOs of 25 technology companies — including Meta, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, TikTok U.S., and Truth Social — urging them not to undermine election integrity in the final weeks before the midterms.

The letter warned that AI tools have lowered the cost of influence operations: "Your platforms play a significant and important role in sharing, disseminating, and in some cases generating information about those elections. Much of the United States — and the world — searches for and receives information from American search engines, American chatbots, and American social media platforms. These connections create opportunities for Americans to come together and debate important topics and share information. But they also create vectors for foreign adversaries and domestic actors to easily and quickly reach — and manipulate — large audiences."

The legislators flagged signs of backsliding on prior commitments, citing Russian disinformation: "Unfortunately, there are concerning signs of backsliding on some of your commitments to protecting elections from misuse of your products. These signs are particularly alarming because they come at a time when the capabilities of malign actors are growing in scale and sophistication and our elections are under attack from multiple directions... Public reporting indicates that Russia continues to undermine confidence in U.S. elections through disinformation campaigns executed directly on many of your platforms; though such efforts clearly violate your terms of service, some of your companies have not quickly or consistently removed such content."

Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., announced Tuesday that he will host the 5th annual Northeast Indiana Defense Summit in Fort Wayne on Oct. 27–28, bringing together senior Trump administration officials, military leaders, and defense industry executives. Confirmed speakers include Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, Acting Secretary of the Army Adam Telle, Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., and the Ambassador of Finland to the United States.

Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., released a video Tuesday highlighting her cybersecurity legislative priorities during National Cybersecurity Month, citing bills targeting online child predators, senior scammers, and AI-generated deepfakes.

"It's National Cybersecurity Month, and I'm reminding Floridians that criminals don't have to break into your home to steal from you — they can target you through a call, email or even a text. As U.S. Senator, I'm working to protect Floridians from online bad actors — including scammers, fraudsters, and child predators," said Moody. Moody cited her sponsorship of the Kids Online Safety Act, the STOP Scams Against Seniors Act, the No FAKES Act — which she passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in June — and the SWIPES Act targeting gift card fraud.

Signals

• volumeTuesday's release count of 11 ran 84 percent below the Tuesday baseline of 69.2, consistent with the ongoing pre-election state work period recess.
• recessThe Senate remains in its pre-election state work period; no floor votes are scheduled and no releases originated from the chamber floor.
• coordinatedGillibrand and Coons each issued separate releases on the same 20-senator DOJ gun-enforcement letter within 16 minutes of each other, the day's clearest coordinated rollout.
• silent breaksSen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has not issued a release in 98 days — the longest current silence in the tracked set — followed by Sen. Alan Armstrong, R-Okla. (96 days) and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss. (90 days), all extending streaks that began before this recess window.

Quiet desks

Senators with no release in two weeks or more.

• Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC98d
• Sen. Alan Armstrong, R-OK96d
• Sen. Roger F. Wicker, R-MS90d
• Sen. Peter Welch, D-VT56d
• Sen. John Kennedy, R-LA33d
• Sen. John Barrasso, R-WY21d
• Sen. Mike Lee, R-UT21d
• Sen. Andy Kim, D-NJ20d
• Sen. Ron Johnson, R-WI20d
• Sen. Ted Budd, R-NC19d