Under ethics cloud, House Republican drops reelection bid
Mixed primary night for progressive Democrats
Also in today’s “Regular Order” for August 5, 2026:
Michigan Democrat may be latest incumbent to lose.
Senate tries to figure out the road to the August recess.
Trump presses for action on daylight saving bill.
TAR HEEL. Two days after the House Ethics Committee recommended a punishment of public censure over allegations of sexual harassment, Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) announced early this morning that he would retire from Congress. “After much prayer and reflection, I’ve decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign” Edwards tweeted at 3:32 am. “I will complete my current term.”
PRESSURE. The decision by Edwards came as Republicans were leaning on the North Carolina lawmaker to drop out of his race, worried that his embarrassing ethics case would doom his campaign bid in November - in a seat that Democrats already were hoping to win.
TILLIS. “I do believe that the appearances alone make it really difficult for him to overcome the allegations,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told Spectrum News on Tuesday. “He’s got to make a personal choice,” Tillis said of Edwards.
CENSURE. Edwards was facing a likely censure vote in the full House this fall, which would remind voters about the details of his case before November. It featured him showering two young female aides with gifts and attention - even missing House votes to help one woman decorate her Christmas tree.
ETHICS. “The Committee identified numerous specific instances in which Representative Edwards engaged in conduct towards Staffer 1 or Staffer 2 that was highly unprofessional, made the women feel uncomfortable, and/or gave the appearance of a sexual or romantic advance,” the panel reported.
WESTERN NC. While President Trump easily won his district in 2024 by over 9 points, Edwards was already seen as vulnerable in a race against Democrat Jamie Ager, who had been raising much more money. It wasn’t immediately clear how Republicans would replace Edwards on the ballot.
GOP WORRIES. That wasn’t the only ethics concern for House GOP leaders. In Ohio, Republicans were also pressuring Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) to make the same decision as Edwards and drop his election run - but Miller went on TV to defiantly defend himself over a messy divorce case - which involves the family of one GOP Senator from Ohio.
MILLER TIME. Amid speculation about his future on Tuesday, Miller asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate his divorce troubles. But he got more than that. The panel announced that it will review allegations that ‘Miller may have engaged in domestic violence and abuse or illegal drug use.’
DRUGS. Asked last night on CNN when the last time was that he used illegal drugs, Miller had a fuzzy memory. “I don’t know, several years ago,” he said in a live and somewhat combative interview.
VIDEO. Miller’s defense of his actions - which he presented in a video livestream on Monday - has not played well. He blamed his troubles on his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH). The Senator again ripped Miller to reporters yesterday.
DAD. “My daughter lives in constant fear of this man,” the Ohio Senator said, as he took questions from reporters. Moreno told one heart-wrenching story of picking up his granddaughter from Miller - in an exchange at a police station.
BLUE BUNNY. “She has a little blue bunny that she sleeps with,” Moreno said. “Max would not hand over the little blue bunny; literally held it hostage for 48 hours. This girl is crying at night because she can’t sleep without her little blue bunny,” he added. “This is the level of total and complete depravity.”
DEADLINE. Miller could still leave the race over the next few days and have local Ohio GOP officials replace him on the ballot. But the Ohio Republican says he is not dropping out.
NOT GOING ANYWHERE. “Speaker Mike Johnson, everyone else, they’re standing behind me,” Miller said on CNN. “No one has told me to get off the ballot, and that’s because they know I can win this seat.”
MOMENTUM. But not everyone shares that assessment. Ex-Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH) told the New York Times this week that he’s not even sure he could win election if Miller dropped out.
SIDELINES. Most Ohio Republicans have not picked a side in this Moreno-Miller fight. “Let’s focus on letting them sort through this at a family level,” Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) said on Newsmax.
NO COMMENT. For a second straight day in the hallways, Husted simply refused to answer any questions about Miller. Walking with aides after the GOP lunch, Husted went out the door without making any comment.
DEMOCRATS. The battle over the direction of the Democratic Party took a slight detour last night in primaries in five states. Instead of smashing victories for progressives as predicted by many polls, their top candidate was holding only a narrow lead for U.S. Senate in Michigan. Meanwhile, in Missouri, voters crushed a comeback attempt by an original member of the liberal ‘Squad.’
MICHIGAN. This was not what the polls had shown. In the Senate race in Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed had to wait through the night to make sure he kept a narrow lead over Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who had won the strong backing of pro-Israel groups like AIPAC.
EL-SAYED. The 20,000 vote lead (as of 5 am) wasn’t the butt-kicking that many of El-Sayed’s more liberal supporters had expected. “There is so much more that unites us than divides us,” El-Sayed told cheering supporters, who would be the first Muslim to serve in the U.S. Senate.
STEVENS. Rep. Stevens wasn’t giving up as the votes trickled in after midnight, mainly from the notoriously slow count in the Detroit area. “We knew that this was going to be a close race, and that’s exactly what we’ve got,” Stevens said.
NOVEMBER. The apparent narrow win for El-Sayed will certainly spur all sorts of questions about how Democrats can come together for November against ex-Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), who openly said that El-Sayed would be an easier candidate to defeat than Stevens.
ISLAMOPHOBIA. Republicans were already fine-tuning their November attack lines. “El-Sayed is also an Islamist, as is Mandami,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told Fox News. “They want Sharia law, they hate Jews, they hate Christians, they hate capitalism, they hate America.”
CANDIDATE QUALITY. We have watched in recent years as Republicans have repeatedly blown chances to win U.S. Senate seats with weak candidates. Michigan Democrats have a really strong bench - but there will be a lot of questions about whether El-Sayed can win in November.
CONGRESS. It’s obvious that Democratic Party voters want change in Congress. And that doesn’t just mean defeating GOP incumbents in the House and Senate. Some of that change is happening inside their own party. The latest incumbent in trouble is Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI), who trails in his primary in Detroit by 3,200 votes.
PROGRESSIVES. Leading Thanedar in his primary was Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney, who had the backing of Bernie Sanders, Abdul El-Sayed, and some members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
NUMBERS. If the results hold, Thanedar would be the eighth House member to lose a primary so far this year - 6 of those 8 have been Democrats.
TRUMPED. Maybe the craziest result came in the GOP primary in MI-8, a seat held by Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI). President Trump had endorsed Navy veteran Amir Hassan - but he lost by a wide margin to Thomas Smith, who had dropped out of the GOP race weeks ago. (Narrator: In other words, candidate names matter.)
THE SQUAD. The second time was not a charm for ex-Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO). The original member of ‘The Squad’ in Congress was trying to win back her House seat from Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO), in a rematch from 2024. The playbook was familiar for progressives in 2026.
ISRAEL. Bush tried to make this race about Israel, highlighting AIPAC’s support for Bell. That’s certainly been a politically lethal argument inside the ranks of Democrats. But in this race, it didn’t work. Bush lost by 22 points.
INCUMBENTS. Other than Thanedar in Michigan, no House or Senate incumbents came close to losing their seats last night.
SENATE SQUEEZE. The clock is ticking in the U.S. Senate. With a summer break scheduled to begin on Friday, the window of opportunity for legislative action continues to shrink. And no one on the Republican side is quite sure what can get done before Senators head home until mid-September.
SCHEDULE. GOP Senators emerged from their regular lunch yesterday without any big insight on this week’s plans. Let’s quickly give you my review on the chances for action on certain items this week:
CR/Stopgap funding - Definitely gets done.
Nominations package - Will be approved.
Russia sanctions - Lots of support, but in limbo.
Blanche nomination - Full Senate vote TBD.
Budget resolution - Still no final GOP plan as yet.
College sports/NIL - Hard to imagine a vote.
CLARITY - At most a cloture vote on crypto regulations.
RECESS. The normal game plan for Senate leaders at this point is to basically try to jam as much as possible into the last few days before a recess. In other words, the threat is - unless you quickly approve these bills, the Senate might have to stick around into the weekend and/or next week.
COLLEGE SPORTS. Much of the Tuesday GOP lunch meeting was spent on a new bipartisan plan to regulate how college athletes are paid. While it is getting a lot of attention - there may be too many obstacles in front of this bill right now.
GRUMBLING. The current GOP strategy has drawn less than rave reviews. “You don’t have to be a senior at Caltech to understand that we can’t do them all this week,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said of the Senate GOP options. “That’s what happens when you don’t start early.”
SENATE NERD NOTE. While Kennedy is correct, it’s also a reminder that under the Senate rules, one Senator can slow everything down. So - even if Majority Leader Thune had been pressing for action last week on some of those bills listed above, he wouldn’t have much to show for his efforts.
SANCTIONS. Let’s take the Russia sanctions bill for example. The plan, championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, has wide bipartisan support. But just one Senator can get in the way - and on Tuesday, that was Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), not pleased with new tariff powers in the bill.
RUN THE CLOCK. Even if you have 60 votes to break a filibuster, it takes about a minimum of 8 days to pass a bill on the Senate floor - without any amendment votes. Without a bipartisan agreement, it is a time consuming process.
30 HOURS. Just look at this week in the Senate. On Monday evening, the Senate voted 89-4 to shut off debate on the motion to start debate on a stopgap funding bill. But before anything else can happen, the clock runs for 30 hours of post-cloture debate. So on Tuesday, the Senate treaded water all day.
SAVE AMERICA. Don’t forget - before the Senate leaves town, there will also have to be some kind of performative political dance on the Senate floor - where GOP Senators will attack their own leaders and demand action on President Trump’s prized elections bill, the SAVE America Act. Stay tuned.
THUNE. As reporters pressed for details on this week’s pre-recess agenda, there was a hint of frustration from Senate Majority Leader John Thune about all of the loud GOP criticism on the failure of the Senate to act on the SAVE America Act. Here is some of what Thune said to reporters:
“We have voted on the SAVE America Act five times. It was the pending business on the floor of the Senate for over two weeks, and I am willing to, in any way possible, get that across the finish line if there is a path to do it. But there are two realities and two facts you have to deal with. The first is there are no Democrats who are going to vote for this. All 47 voted against the SAVE Act five times. So let’s make this an issue in the campaign. How about we go out and turn our fire on Democrats and make it about them opposing the SAVE Act? So, we’re not getting any Democrats. The second thing is we are not getting rid of the legislative filibuster. The votes aren’t there to do that. I’ve made abundantly clear many, many times, and it seems to me some days that I’m the only one here who can count to 50 in this town. But we don’t have the votes to get rid of the filibuster, and we aren’t flipping 10 Democrats to vote for the SAVE America Act.”
WINNING. It’s safe to say that MAGA Republicans don’t want to listen to any of that Thune explanation - even though he’s absolutely right. Thune will get hit with multiple slings and arrows from his own party at some point this week. And none of it is his fault.
BLANCHE. In a 12-10 vote along party lines, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved the nomination of Todd Blanche to be U.S. Attorney General. The vote came after weeks of wrangling between two GOP Senators and the White House, as Blanche agreed to scrap President Trump’s plan for a $1.8 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund.
OPPOSITION. Democrats ridiculed the change of heart by Senators Tillis and Cornyn. “I have not seen something as farcical as what I’ve witnessed over the last few weeks,” said Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). “We got no guarantees whatsoever that this slush fund still can’t go forward.”
FLOOR VOTE. Blanche does not have his nomination locked up yet. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said Tuesday that she would vote against him. “Mr. Blanche has taken several actions that have further eroded the Department’s independence,” Collins said.
OUTLOOK. Do we really think that two more GOP Senators will refuse to approve the Blanche nomination? The only two who might are Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). A Cabinet nominee hasn’t lost on the Senate floor since 1989 (John Tower - I covered that one).
NO COMMENT. Whether it was on the nomination of Todd Blanche or major legislation being talked about in the Senate, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) had one simple answer for reporters on Tuesday. “No comment.” The Alaska Republican kept saying that to every question on her way from the GOP lunch to the safety of the ‘SENATORS ONLY’ elevator.
SOCIAL SECURITY. The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing today on an issue which has long been ignored by members of both parties - the solvency of Social Security. The system has been funded upside down for years, and at this point, will hit insolvency in 2032, prompting benefit cuts of over 20 percent.
NUMBERS. The problem is simple. Not enough money is coming in. “Since 2010, Social Security’s costs have exceeded its revenue, and in just six years, the reserves built up in the 1990s and early 2000s will be depleted,” wrote Marc Goldwein, of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, who is one of today’s witnesses.
CHOICES. Just like the regular budget deficit, the solution to the Social Security funding question is not difficult. You have 3 basic options:
1) Bring in more tax revenue
2) Cut benefits to reduce spending
3) A combination of 1) and 2)
OPTIONS. There are a variety of plans that have been out there for years which could help with new revenue or reduce benefit spending:
Eliminating the payroll tax cap (now at $184,500).
Raising the retirement age.
Limiting benefits for wealthy seniors
POLITICS. But let’s remember something. This can’t be done by just one party. Both sides have to hold hands and jump off the cliff together. That happened back in Ronald Reagan’s first term - when a special commission (led by Alan Greenspan) produced recommendations that turned into a 1983 reform law. But things are a little different in 2026. Tell me what you would do.
DAYLIGHT SAVING. President Trump last night pressed GOP Senators to drop their holds on a House-passed bill to make daylight saving time permanent. “This is an issue that Republicans, Democrats, and Independents can unite behind,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website.
HOLDS. Without naming GOP Senators who oppose the bill, Trump was clearly trying to get the bill cleared for action this week - before the Senate goes home for an extended summer break. “I am asking Republican Senators to release their holds, and allow the hotline to clear on the Republican side,” Trump wrote.
BOLD MOVE COTTON. There is at least one GOP Senator who isn’t going to let the bill go through - Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas. He has made clear that he made a mistake a few years ago when he allowed the bill to be approved by unanimous consent.
FORECAST. I don’t think this time change to permanent daylight saving is going to become law. Just like the SAVE America Act, I’m not sure there would be 60 votes to overcome a filibuster on the Senate floor. And I’m not even sure it ever gets to that point.
BEHIND THE SCENES. When House members gather for a secure briefing, no cellphones are allowed in the room. So what do lawmakers do with their phones while they are inside? This handy rack gets rolled around to various spots. It was put to use recently outside a room just off the House floor.
MUSE OF HISTORY. August 5, 1882. On this date, the Senate approved a plan allowing the use of the Capitol Rotunda to hold ‘a bazaar and reception’ - in order to raise money to build a statue in Washington, D.C. for President James Garfield, who had been assassinated in 1881. With help from Congress, the Society of the Army of the Cumberland raised money for the monument, which was put up in 1887 on First Street SW, just below the Capitol. It still stands there today.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The Senate convenes at 10:30 am.
The House is back for votes on August 31.
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Medicare tax already has no income cap, and that model is what should be done for FICA. Cutting benefits would end up costing the government in other ways, and means testing is simply unfair and pulling the rug. First, eliminate the cap, then consider increasing eligibility to 65 rather than 62, leaving a rate hike for all as last resort.
I've been waiting for this morning's Regular Order. I have not yet read Jamie's report but Heather Cox Richardson's Letter from an American is a must-read summation of the corruption of this administration.
--> Congress passed federal securities laws and banking regulation in the 1930s after it became clear that a small group of wealthy investors had manipulated the markets and misused bank funds. Pressure to clean up Wall Street came from entrepreneurs and small investors, who knew they could not do business or make gains in the market if the system was rigged against them. A healthy economy depended on a level playing field for everyone.
Now, it appears, we are watching the dismantling of those protections and not only the long-term skewing of our system toward the very wealthy, but also a dramatic skewing in real time. On Saturday, Trump began selling access to his social media posts to Wall Street trading firms milliseconds before they go public, permitting them to buy and sell with insider information. The cost for this service, according to Marina Dunbar of The Guardian, is up to $100,000 a month.