Congress

NY Times -   A little more than five months ahead of the midterm elections, President Trump seems to be focused on virtually anything other than keeping Republican control of Congress.

He endorsed a MAGA challenger over Texas’s senior Republican senator, ignoring warnings that he could endanger the seat. He has boasted almost daily about his expensive and expansive new White House ballroom. He has minimized rising gas costs, waving off spiking prices at the pump as “peanuts” last week compared to what he is pursuing in Iran. And even as he engaged over the weekend in negotiations to end the Iran war that he began, Mr. Trump has made plain that he prioritizes his record abroad above domestic affordability, which he has dismissed repeatedly as a Democratic “hoax.”

For many, a new jaw-dropper came last week when Mr. Trump created a $1.8 billion fund to pay people who say they have been victims of “weaponization and lawfare,” including those who attacked the Capitol and law enforcement officers there, on Jan. 6, 2021.

Incensed Senate Republicans, many of whom lived through that day, returned home vexed by a president who appears set on pursuing his personal priorities ahead of the November midterm elections, even if doing so undermines his own party. They angrily abandoned Washington on Thursday without funding the president’s immigration crackdown or the $1 billion he wants for his ballroom.

Republicans know that their party’s fate rests with the president, according to interviews with numerous officials in recent weeks. Yet they also know there is not much any of them can do to make him help them.

MS NOW-   They may not have the gavels yet, but House Democrats are laying the groundwork for a number of investigations into President Donald Trump should they win control of Congress in November. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif. — who’s set to chair the House Oversight Committee in a Democratic majority — told MS NOW that his team is “already preparing and gearing up.” 

“We’ve got a team on Epstein, we have a team on [Trump] family corruption, we have a team on DHS and ICE,” Garcia said. “Those teams are actively working on preparation, letters, research.”