Also in today’s ‘Regular Order’ for August 18, 2026:
Speaker Johnson hits the campaign trail in Virginia.
GOP Senator worries about high prices.
White House lobs insults at Sen. Ossoff.
PRIMARIES. It’s my favorite day of the week - a primary Tuesday! Voters go to the polls in three states today to take the next step on the road to the November midterm elections. Most of the attention will be on Florida, where a new GOP map forced Democrats to run in a series of newly-drawn districts. But there are also notable races taking place for the U.S. House and Senate today in Wyoming and Alaska.
FLORIDA. There are a couple of U.S. House incumbents who probably did not sleep well last night, as today could bring some bitter medicine from the voters - or some signs of big trouble for November. Topping the list is Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL), already under ethics investigation for multiple instances of sexual misconduct.
MILLS. While President Trump has officially endorsed Mills, several fellow House GOP lawmakers have refused to follow suit, instead backing one of his primary opponents, Ryan Elijah.
TALLAHASSEE. Even Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has refused to help the two-term Republican Congressman with his GOP primary. “I have not endorsed Cory Mills and I do not support Cory Mills,” DeSantis said last week.
CAMPAIGN. Mills has refused to give up his bid for reelection, even as more details have surfaced about how he threatened to release nude photos and videos of one woman who was not his wife - and knocked around another woman who was not his wife.
TRUMPED. “To be clear, I’m the only candidate in Florida’s 7th endorsed by President Trump,” Mills said last week. “I’m proud to have the only proven constitutional conservative voting record.”
TRUTH. But last night as Trump repeated his endorsements in the Sunshine State, he skipped over Mills. That’s not the same thing as opposing him - but it also sends a message to GOP voters.
BALLOT. The one thing that might help Mills survive is that he has three Republican primary opponents. And since Florida has done away with runoffs, Mills could still eke out a victory tonight.
FL-20. One House Democratic incumbent could have some heartburn today - that’s Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL). The veteran Florida Democrat switched into a new majority-minority district when Republicans chopped up her old district, and that has aggravated some Black leaders in South Florida.
DEXTER. The Democratic challenger getting most of the airplay in recent months is Elijah Manley, who has called Wasserman Schultz a carpetbagger. “DWS is everything that’s wrong with the Democratic establishment,” said Manley. “I look forward to retiring her from public office.”
RESIGN. Also on the ballot is a familiar name - that of ex-Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), who resigned earlier this year over charges that she pocketed a mistaken $5 million overpayment by the state of Florida. She won’t win - but she could draw some votes.
INCUMBENT. It won’t surprise me for Wasserman Schultz to win today, as there are four Black candidates on the ballot who will split the votes against her. (Narrator: I wonder what kind of odds you could get on a Mills-Wasserman Schultz daily double.)
FL-19. The absolute craziest primary of this year takes place today along Florida’s southwest coast, in a district that stretches from Fort Myers down to Sanibel Island and Naples. This seat is currently held by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), who is running for Governor. The GOP slate of candidates trying to replace him seems like it’s been made up by an AI bot.
GOP FIELD. Try not to giggle, because this is going to take a while to run down some of the characters in this 10-person GOP field.
FORMER. There is ex-Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, who left Congress after losing his 2022 GOP primary to Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) - and now lives in Florida.
PARDON. There is ex-Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY), the first GOP lawmaker to endorse Donald Trump in 2016. Collins resigned in 2019, convicted of insider trading. He was pardoned by Trump and moved to Florida.
LAND OF LINCOLN. There is former Illinois State Senator Jim Oberweis, an 80-year-old businessman who has raised over $3 million for this race. He lost three races for Congress before moving to Florida.
ONE MORE. Also from Illinois is Catalina Lauf, who lost races for Congress there in 2020 and 2022 - before moving to Florida. She may be the favorite, because she has the endorsement of President Trump.
EMPIRE STATE. Then there is Ola Hawatmeh, who ran for Congress in New York in 2020 - before (everyone join in) moving to Florida and running for this House seat.
MICHIGAN. Do you think I’m done? Nope. Also in the race is Linda Sawyer, who ran for Congress in Michigan in 2020 and 2024 - before (let’s hear it from the back) moving to Florida and running for this seat.
JAN. 6. Also in this race is John Strand, a self-described ‘January 6th political prisoner.’
EQUALITY. In Wyoming, there are some interesting open seat GOP fights for Senate, House, and Governor. Today’s primary is the first time in 32 years that all three of those posts have not had an incumbent running. There are big names in all of those races.
SENATE. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) - who defeated Liz Cheney in 2022 - is trying to move up to the Senate, to replace the retiring Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY). Hageman is the favorite over four opponents like Sam Mead, a rancher whose Uncle Matt served as Governor.
HOUSE. The race to replace Hageman has drawn big money in a state of less than 600,000 people. Three candidates have lent their own campaigns over $1 million each, as this race includes the Secretary of State, the Wyoming Senate President, and the former state superintendent of schools.
ALASKA. The final state on the board today is Alaska, where all eyes will be on the outcome in the Senate jungle primary. Alaska uses a ‘Top Four’ system, where the top four finishers go on to November.
SULLIVANS. While there are two Dan Sullivans on the ballot - one is the incumbent GOP Senator - the main candidate to watch is ex-Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat who is seen as a possible threat in November. It may take a couple of days to shake out the primary results in this one.
GOLDEN STATE. Just over four months after Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) resigned from Congress, voters in his district will elect someone to fill out his term for the rest of the year. The two candidates on the ballot are both Democrats - as they finished first and second in California’s ‘Top Two’ primary.
BALLOT. State Senator Aisha Wahab will face Melissa Hernandez, a member of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) board. Wahab won over 42 percent in their first meeting - as the same two candidates will also meet in November for this same seat.
NUMBERS. The House currently has 218 Republicans, 212 Democrats, and 1 Independent. One Democrat will get elected today from California - and another likely next week in Georgia. That means when the House returns on August 31, the margin will be even tighter for GOP leaders at 218-214-1.
STILL VACANT. This is also a reminder that two GOP Governors never called a special election for vacant seats in their states. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) left the seat of ex-Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) vacant, and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) did the same with the seat of ex-Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL).
ROSTER SPOTS. The House has not had a full 435 members since December 1, 2023, the day that Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was expelled.
ON THE ROAD. Speaking of elections, House Speaker Mike Johnson wasn’t too far from Capitol Hill on Monday, doing an event in Virginia Beach with Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA), who is one of the prime targets for Democrats in November.
VA BEACH. Kiggans wasted no time getting to the central GOP message. “It's a fight right now between craziness and common sense, and really civility and communism, socialism,” the Virginia Republican said.
SPEAKER. “Virginia's second district will determine the fate of the country,” Speaker Johnson told reporters, as he tried to portray Democrats as a bumbling bunch of socialists who will take the country in the wrong direction.
JOHNSON. “It’s a fascinating thing to see the Democrat Party. They’re in the midst of an open civil war,” the Speaker said, highlighting differences between party leaders and much more liberal Democratic Socialists. “They’re kind of a rudderless ship.”
IRAN WAR. In a short Q&A with reporters, the Speaker was asked about the ongoing Iran war, and its impact on gas prices - which remain over $4 per gallon on average.
THE STRAIT. “Everybody in the world has an interest in the Strait of Hormuz being open for commerce,” Johnson added. “I believe we’ll be getting into a new phase of that, where we can calm (prices) down.”
ON BOARD. There were three other lawmakers who joined the Speaker and Rep. Kiggans in Virginia Beach: Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK), Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA), and Rep. Craig Goldman (R-TX). I was surprised to see Goldman at a 1pm ET event. Why?
HOUSE. A few hours earlier - at 9 am - Goldman had chaired the House pro forma session. (Narrator: Something tells me that he didn’t drive down to Virginia Beach for that Kiggans event. Just saying)
PRO FORMA. Speaking of pro forma sessions, Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) had the honors of gaveling the Senate in and out on Monday. And unlike some of his colleagues who don’t like to stay and talk, Justice chatted with a handful of reporters after he left the Senate floor.
POST RECESS. Asked about whether the Senate can get a budget resolution done when it returns for legislative business on September 14, Justice gave us a blunt - but folksy answer. He doesn’t believe much of anything will get done by October 1, when the House and Senate are scheduled to leave for November.
CAMPAIGN. “I think we’ll try to jam in as much stuff as we possibly can, but you know what everybody’s thinking right now,” Justice said. “There’s almost nobody here that is not thinking anything but midterms.”
HIGH PRICES. Justice said the message he hears from voters back home is simple. “They’re hurting, whether it be gas prices or food prices or whatever it may be, they’re hurting,” he said. “And we need to absolutely be more in tune with them.”
TOBY AND EDITH. Justice likes to refer to voters as ‘Toby and Edith.’ “You people are living in a cave if you don't see that the folks out there - the Toby and Ediths out there - are hurting, they're hurting,” said Justice. His election outlook for the GOP did not seem promising to say the least.
WAR. Asked about the Iran war - and how that’s kept gas prices up - Justice said there aren’t many good options for President Trump. “You’ve got a situation to where it’s hard to get away. It’s hard to drive gasoline prices back down to where they ought to be.”
OMAN. As for the Iran War, Trump provided a somewhat bizarre headline on Monday, as he threatened to attack the country of Oman, which has been trying to help mediate a deal between the U.S. and the Tehran regime.
TRUMP. “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump told Fox News on Monday. That prompted an immediate reaction in Congress from Democrats.
KAINE. “I will challenge Trump’s deranged threat to “bomb the shit” out of our ally Oman,” announced Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who vowed to file a war powers resolution when the Senate returns next month.
KOREA. Meanwhile, Democrats ripped Trump over his threats against South Korea. “Trump is siding with Communist dictator Kim Jong Un over South Korea because South Korea refused to help Trump with his failed war against Iran,” said Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC).
PYONGYANG. Ever since his summit with Kim - which produced no peace breakthrough - Trump has continued to express his admiration for the North Korean leader. “Trump was wrong on Putin. And he’s wrong on North Korea,” said Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI).
GEORGIA SENATE. The White House lashed out at Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) on Monday, a day after Ossoff needled President Trump in a campaign speech over his push for a White House ballroom and his focus on a new Air Force One.
ZINGER. “He doesn’t want to do the job,” Ossoff said of Trump. “He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar.”
HARP. But who is Natalie? That is Trump’s aide Natalie Harp, a 35-year-old former conservative TV media host, who is often by Trump’s side. Evidently that Ossoff line struck close to home.
PUSHBACK. “Jon Jackoff has to be the biggest cuck loser in politics,” tweeted White House Communications Director Steven Cheung. “Jon Ossoff is a cringeworthy, feminine theatre kid cosplaying as Barack Obama,” added White House spokesman Davis Ingle. Trump called Ossoff ‘Pee Wee Herman.’
OSSOFF. Again, I want to note that Ossoff keeps cranking out viral video campaign speech content hitting Trump - like no other Democrat. The production quality is off the charts, with multiple camera angles, and a snappy message that mainly accuses Trump of corruption. It just screams 2028. Tell me what you think.
ETHICS. Most of the big ethics cases on Capitol Hill of late have involved Republicans - but now there is a House Democrat who faces a new sexual misconduct investigation. The Ethics Committee formally announced yesterday that it is probing Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA).
GOMEZ. There have been press reports tying Gomez to women who were not his wife. “Years ago, I made personal mistakes outside my marriage that have caused real pain to my wife and family,” Gomez said earlier this year when news broke of a possible ethics review.
NOVEMBER. Even if this ethics investigation causes big problems for Gomez - it won’t take a House seat away from Democrats. Why not? Because the other candidate on the ballot in November for the Gomez seat is another Democrat - progressive Angela Gonzales-Torres.
WATER COOLER. Your stat of the day is that of the 52 U.S. House seats from California, 6 of those 52 races will have a Democrat vs Democrat choice for voters in November. Can’t beat those odds.
BIG BEND. Facing criticism from Texas lawmakers in both parties, the head of the Border Patrol said Monday that he has put all construction work on hold in remote areas of Big Bend National Park. Rodney Scott says he will visit the park this week to make an in-person review of border security work that’s drawn sharp criticism from inside the Texas GOP.
BORDER PATROL. “CBP is firmly committed to protecting America, and that includes our national treasures,” Scott said as he headed for Texas. “We know the current and predictable national security threats and they are real.”
REPUBLICANS. The videos of bulldozers tearing apart old trees and blasting a road through remote desert areas - where few migrants go - had landed with a thud. “We can secure Big Bend while protecting its God-given scenery,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who praised Scott’s construction pause.
NO WALL. Originally, the Trump Administration wanted to build a 30-foot high wall through this region, as construction work started near Santa Elena Canyon - where rock walls going as high as 1,500 feet frame the Rio Grande River. (Narrator: In other words, not many people are crossing the border there.)
AUDIBLE. What’s not clear is whether anything is really changing here - or if this is just a face-saving way for the Border Patrol to act like it is concerned, but then give the go-ahead to this border security project.
BEHIND THE SCENES. I showed you on Monday where the Architect of the Capitol was starting to do restoration work on the first floor of the original House wing. The scaffolding is now going up there so workers can fix the plaster and repaint the corridor in the original colors used by Benjamin Latrobe around 1820.
BRICK AND BLOCK. I’m still hoping that the AOC will be able to answer my questions about what kind of stone was used in the walls of this section. Again, most people don’t realize that much of the original Capitol has stone and/or brick walls - but they are covered by paint and plaster.
SOUTH WING. This particular first floor hallway is still basically as it was during the 1814 fire set by British troops. The original building ended where the dark stone floor stops at the bottom of this picture.
MUSE OF HISTORY. August 18, 1890. When the Senate convened on this date, time was the issue. “Our Senate clock,” said Sen. George Edmunds of Vermont, “varies from day to day very considerably,” and Edmunds asked consent to have the Sergeant-at-Arms purchase a new clock for the Senate chamber. “The Chair has been several times embarrassed by the eccentricities of the clock,” added Sen. John Ingalls of Kansas, who served as President Pro Tempore. The new clock was approved.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House is back for votes on August 31.
The Senate next has votes on September 14.
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Ossoff -- I am a Georgian. I voted for Jon, but I thought he didn't have a really great chance of winning in the 2021 runoff election. But David Purdue was such a horrible candidate and Jon looked young and inexperienced. He speaks well and did a good job campaigning, but that doesn't always help in Georgia. But he won, and he's doing a great job as a senator. His speeches are showing up in social media and they are great. It looks like he is going to coast to victory in his Senate race this year. I sure hope so.
Mike Johnson is framing the party owned by Donald Trump as the party of civility?!?!
And the White House is calling Jon Ossoff "feminine"??? A group of women on Threads consider Ossoff to be a total smokeshow, and call him Senator My Boo.