SENATE UPDATE: Gabbard & RFK Jr. Confirmed, Kash Patel & Budget Next?
Last Week
Tulsi Gabbard was confirmed as Director of National Intelligence (52-48)
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services (52-48)
Brooke Rollins was confirmed as Secretary of Agriculture (72-28)
Conservative Spotlight
TED CRUZ — The Senate passed Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) “Take It Down Act,” a bipartisan bill that would criminalize posting non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated “deep-fake revenge porn” content. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives.
MIKE LEE—Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced a new bill, the “Defund Government-Sponsored Propaganda Act,” which would cut all federal funding of National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting System. For decades, NPR and PBS’s “journalism” has had a left-wing bias. In today’s media environment, with hundreds of private outlets, government-funded “fake news” needs to go.
RAND PAUL — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) sent a shot across the bow of the DC Establishment last week. With budget reconciliation plans moving ahead in the House and Senate, Paul made it clear he has no intention of voting for fake budget cuts to “pay for” real spending increases elsewhere in the budget. This should be a non-starter in the DOGE era.
SCF — Remember when Sen. Mitch McConnell used to chastise SCF for “dividing” Republicans? Who’s divisive now? Last week, Mitch voted against two more of President Trump’s cabinet picks: Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. For years, we argued that McConnell was preventing Republicans from defunding the Left and rescuing our country. Now that Trump is doing just that, Mitch is finally fighting. Sadly, it’s for the other team.
This Week
The Senate will continue consideration of President Trump’s cabinet nominees, including votes on:
Kash Patel to be FBI Director
Howard Lutnick to be Secretary of Commerce
Kelly Loeffler to be Administrator of the Small Business Administration
Senate Republicans may also take up their Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Resolution later this week.
Thank you for your continued support. We will keep fighting!
