Schumer says he met with Trump today and urged the president to release funds for the Gateway Tunnel, support the ACA tax credits extension Also "told the president ICE raids are terrorizing communities," per his office. First meeting in a long time

Van Hollen: “I will not vote for one more dime for Trump’s ICE operations" Blumenthal: “We ought to use the power of the purse ... I don’t think we should just give them a pass" Peters: "We have to use every tool in our toolbox" Fetterman: "Do we get tired of losing?”

Hill Democrats have no good options to respond to ICE -If they shut down DHS on Jan. 30, ICE still has billions from OBBB -Bipartisan deal looks tough. Britt working on it - Dems don't have the votes to reprogram money Sen. King: “It’s going to be quite a fight" www.semafor.com/article/01/1...

Sen. Barrasso sets up a post-recess vote on Sen. Moody's bill to "require institutions of higher education to disseminate information on the rights of, and accommodations and resources for, pregnant students" www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...

Senate passes CJS, Interior and Energy & Water minibus by a whopping 82-15 vote, sending it to Trump's desk. 6 of 12 agencies now funded to Sept. 30.

Thune on the pitfalls of a runoff in the Texas Senate GOP primary (which is very likely no matter who is in the top 2 among Cornyn/Hunt/Paxton) "Primary is March 3, the runoff is May 26. That's 10 weeks of spending in a state where it's $8 million a week on television"

Thune sounds pretty down on a bipartisan deal on expired enhanced ACA subsidies “Progress on that is, is sort of uneven. I think it's up and down. It doesn't look like they're close to closing it out”

Trump went nuclear on the five GOP senators who first advanced the Venezuela resolution, but it was Rubio who probably won over the decisive vote last night www.semafor.com/article/01/1...

Vance breaks tie, 51-50, procedural vote to sideline this thing. The procedural point of order vote is pretty convoluted; Vance took a minute to make sure he was voting the right way: "Had to make sure"

Senate is tied 50-50 on procedural vote to sideline Kaine's Venezuela War Powers resolution. GOP leaders need VP Vance to tiebreak Votes from the Big Six last week -Fetterman, Rand, Collins, Murkowski voted to advance - Young and Hawley voted the other way

Sen. Collins said this afternoon she'll continue to vote to advance the Venezuela War Powers resolution: "I'm voting the same way"

Sen. Tillis: "this isn't cranky Thom, this is Thom trying to explain a very serious subject" "The thought of the United States taking a position that we would take Greenland ... is absurd" "Whoever told the president that this is a viable path? It doesn't make sense"

"Depending on how DoD implements the order to use the name 'Department of War,' CBO estimates that costs could range from a few million dollars up to $125 million. A modest implementation of the name change would cost about $10 million." www.cbo.gov/publication/...

Dem Sen. Welch got a rare invite to a Trump signing ceremony on whole milk legislation today. He plans to press the president on ACA tax credits "We’ve got the framework of a doable deal, but nothing will happen unless the president gives it his OK.” www.semafor.com/article/01/1...

Sen. McConnell says everything Trump has done to increase NATO spending in Europe "would be for nothing if his administration's ill-advised threats about Greenland were to shatter the trust of our allies" Says there's potential for "an unprecedented act of strategic self-harm"

Sen. Peters tries to repeal the language allowing senators to sue government over seizure of phone records. Sen. Graham objects: "Jack Smith went after my phone records ... I was probably the leading voice on this side of the aisle saying the election is over"

New - Chuck Schumer to haters: “The answer to these critics is to win. If we win back the Senate, that will answer every question" Peltola “was the last piece to the puzzle" He says Dem path to Senate is Ohio, Alaska, Maine and NC. Dems are watching Texas/Iowa www.semafor.com/article/01/1...

New: Sen. Cortez Masto wants to redirect the Big Beautiful Bill's $75 billion in ICE money rather than try to defund its regular appropriations. "I support strong border security ... But “this administration is not going after hardened criminals with this money" www.semafor.com/article/01/1...

Trump is rolling out economic proposals that a lot of Republicans hate - 10 percent credit card rate cap - Marshall swipe fee bills - Banning institutional investors from buying houses - (also, Rs don't like Powell investigation) Some populist Rs like it though ...

Congressional Progressive Caucus "opposes any appropriations bill that provides any funding to immigration enforcement agencies within the Department of Homeland Security unless there are meaningful and significant reforms to immigration enforcement" Funding runs out Jan. 30

Sen. Moreno confirms that the ACA subsidies deal isn’t quite ready to be released yet. They’ve been near a deal for awhile but will slip until after next week’s recess.

Update: Sen. Josh Hawley says he’s undecided on the Venezuela War Powers vote after advancing it last week. Says he’s talked to President Trump, Secretary Rubio and admin lawyers They told him “We don't want to do ground troops…. “I don't want to prejudge anything, but that's significant”

New - Murphy, Schiff, Smith and Warren urge their Democratic colleagues to adopt populist platform “Our party’s anemic response to the rigging of our democracy and economy in favor of the ultra-wealthy has eroded our credibility with working people" www.semafor.com/article/01/1...

Trump admin stepping on a rake with the Powell probe. 6 R senators panning it … including people who don’t like Powell! Cramer: “If we were to do an indictment on everybody that’s elusive in front of Congress, we’d have to build a couple new penitentiaries” www.semafor.com/article/01/1...

Senate advances House's minibus of spending bills over initial filibuster, 80-13. Big vote

GOP Sen. Kennedy: “I know Chairman Powell pretty well. I would be stunned if he had done anything wrong” “litigation between the Federal Reserve and the executive branch of government will cause interest rates to rise…we need this like we need a hole in the head”

Sen. Kelly on floor: "I take seriously my duty to protect the Constitution for all Americans. I just never expected I'd have to protect the rule of law against the secretary of Defense. Pete Hegseth is now coming after what I earned ... in violation of my rights as an American"

Trump told NYT he wants immigration reform that "possibly" includes path to citizenship "If the Democrats would do it, I’d do it. I’d love to have a comprehensive immigration policy, something that really worked. It’s about time for the country to have it" www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...

Asked Judiciary Chairman Grassley about DOJ investigating Powell: “you've got to wait until the investigation is over before you draw a conclusion. But I don't want anything to interfere with the independence of the Fed. I support the independence of the Fed,” he said

Sen. Kelly: “I’ve never shied away from a fight for our country, and I won’t shy away from this one ... So today, I filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of Defense because there are few things as important as standing up for the rights of the very Americans who fought to defend our freedoms.”

! Sen. Warren says President Trump called her after her speech this morning "I said that if he really wants to get something done ... he would use his leverage and pick up the phone “After my speech, the President called me, and I delivered this same message on affordability to him directly"

Murkowski endorses Dan Sullivan over Peltola: “We've had a pretty solid team here in the Senate for the past 12 years, so we want to figure out how we're going to keep in the majority,” she said. “And Dan delivers that.” alaskapublic.org/news/politic...

Important moving parts in Congress this week - Venezuela resolution on floor, could delay Senate votes on approps bills. Senate is on recess next week. Deadline Jan. 30 - ACA subsidy group needs to seal deal. They might need to attach it to the funding bill(s) www.semafor.com/article/01/1...

News: Peltola is IN for Alaska Senate race, running against Sen. Dan Sullivan. Tough race still but big recruit for Democrats She’s proposing term limits, is campaigning on “fish, family and freedom,” and is name-dropping Don Young and Ted Stevens www.semafor.com/article/01/1...

Newsy Monday Semafor DC - Whip Barrasso endorses Hageman in Wyoming Senate. This race is over already - Huge week for ACA subsidies and avoiding shutdown - Warren giving big speech today, arguing against "nibble-around-the-edges approach" from Dem candidates www.semafor.com/newsletter/0...

Sen. Murphy on Meet the Press on ICE/shutdown: "It is reasonable for Democrats speaking on behalf of the majority of the American public who don't approve of what ICE is doing to say, 'If you want to fund DHS, I want to fund a DHS that is operating in a safe and legal manner'"

ICE becoming issue in another Senate race. Lt. Gov Stratton campaign hitting Rep. Krishnamoorthi for vote denouncing terrorist attack/expressing "gratitude" for ICE “Illinois deserves better than [senator] who says one thing on the campaign trail, but votes to praise ICE when it actually counts"

New: Democrats write committee leaders asking for public hearings on US action in Venezuela. Led by Sen. Bennet www.semafor.com/article/01/0...

Trump's honeymoon over in Congress - 11 House Rs vote for Dem ACA subs, more break on veto overrides - J6 plaque resolution honoring law enforcement passes Senate - Rs pushing back on Greenland rhetoric - Venezuelan resolution advances and Trump says 5 Rs shouldn't be reelected ...

Sens. Merkley and Tillis just passed a Senate resolution supporting the Jan. 6 plaque that's become a big issue in the House

Sen. Tillis says he’s put a hold on DHS nominees “I’d simply like the Homeland Security Secretary to respond to what are now two requests by the chairman to come before the committee, and that's the reason why I placed the blanket hold before the shooting yesterday on anything related” to DHS

52-47, Kaine Venezuela resolution advances Rs supporting Hawley Collins Paul Murkowski Young

McConnell opposes Kaine war powers resolution, Collins says she’ll support: “I believe invoking the War Powers Act at this moment is necessary, given the President’s comments about the possibility of ‘boots on the ground’ and a sustained engagement ‘running’ Venezuela, with which I do not agree”

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., is hosting this meeting, according to a source familiar

Venezuela vote hanging in balance, handful of senators undecided/not saying: Collins, Young, Moran. Tillis likely a no but still listening. Needs 51 to advance today Kaine: Rs told him in Nov. "Trump was bluffing and that there was not going to be military action" www.semafor.com/article/01/0...

new: Sen. Graham says he met with/ Trump today and "he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator Blumenthal and many others." Says it might get vote next week Sen. Paul hates it and has said he'll fight it as hard as he can

Rep. Pfluger says next week he will "roll out the RSC framework for reconciliation 2.0" He + Sen. Rick Scott are making case that their bill turning original ACA subsidies into HSAs should be in that Scott: "All of this should be able to get through" reconciliation process

News: Amidst all the Greenland talk from Trump admin, Denmark Ambassador to US Jesper Møller Sørensen holding bipartisan meeting with lawmakers tomorrow, including SFRC ranking member Jeanne Shaheen www.semafor.com/article/01/0...

"Some people around here are calling me cranky," says Sen. Tillis about Trump admin's Greenland designs. "You know what makes me cranky? Stupid"

Trump Team's Greenland rhetoric is a problem for growing number of Republicans Lankford: “we need to not threaten a peaceful nation that’s an ally where we have a military base already" Collins: "it makes no sense to me" Murkowski: "unsettling" McConnell: "unseemly" www.semafor.com/article/01/0...