{"id":45265,"date":"2026-07-23T23:05:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T04:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/?p=45265"},"modified":"2026-07-23T23:05:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T04:05:26","slug":"the-2026-senate-campaign-updates-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/2026\/07\/23\/the-2026-senate-campaign-updates-28\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2026 Senate Campaign: Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE SEED OF INFURIATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump supporters, MAGA<\/strong> and not-MAGA<\/strong>, often celebrate his attempts to “punch back ten times harder,” which sounds all tough and fighty – but politics isn’t always a punching game. Consider this:<\/p>\n

The Trump administration on Tuesday paused more than $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota, which Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said would not be reversed until the Democratic-led states \u201cdemonstrate that every dollar meets federal requirements.\u201d [MS NOW<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Governors Walz (D) and Newsom (D), the governors of Minnesota and California, respectively, are loathed by President Trump, the former for being on the Democratic ticket, and the latter for standing up to President Trump and making him look bad. No doubt, someone in the Administration thought this was a matter of retribution.<\/p>\n

But now Trump has made himself<\/strong> look bad. He’ll look bad to every person affected by Medicaid<\/strong> funds being withheld.<\/p>\n

And Walz and Newsom will make this Trump Administration action an important part of many races in their States. Minnesota residents are angry enough over the murders of Minnesota citizens by ICE agents that it probably won’t matter, but it’s possible a House seat or two will flip between the two States.<\/p>\n

Dumb move.<\/p>\n

NOT A RHETORICAL MIRACLE WORKER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Steve Benen notes<\/a> the SAVE Act<\/strong><\/em> has made little progress with Congress:<\/p>\n

The New York Times reported<\/a>\u00a0last week that his legislative plea, \u201cwhich Mr. Trump implied was the reason behind the Thursday night speech, appeared to have landed with a whimper among Republicans on Capitol Hill and in campaigns around the country.\u201d NBC News\u00a0published a related report<\/a>\u00a0as this week got underway:<\/p>\n

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, didn\u2019t mince words when he was asked Monday whether President Donald Trump\u2019s primetime speech succeeded in its goal of nudging the Republican-controlled Senate to pass his sweeping elections bill, known as the SAVE America Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Cornyn told NBC News. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the votes. \u2026 I think the president\u2019s getting some supremely bad advice.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When NBC News asked Republican Sen. Thom Tillis whether Trump\u2019s speech helped the legislation\u2019s prospects, the North Carolinian replied, \u201cNot at all. There\u2019s no way you get this implemented in time for this election. I think people are being led to believe that that\u2019s the case, and that\u2019s just wrong.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s true the House managed to pass it, as The Guardian<\/strong><\/em> (UK) notes<\/a>, but it was somewhat pathetic:<\/p>\n

\n

House Republicans resurrect Save America Act by adding it to spending bill<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Effort is latest attempt to pass bill that seeks to ban mail-in ballots and imposes voter identification requirements<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That’s Speaker Johnson for you. Rather than make a persuasive case for it, or telling Trump to back off<\/strong>, he quips that intuitively<\/em> he knows cheating is rampant and then strong-arms the legislation to its doom in the Senate.<\/p>\n

The weakest Speaker in modern memory.<\/p>\n

THE ANCHOR IN THEIR PANTS IS GETTING BIGGER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump’s War<\/em>, and the Senate’s failure to stop it, will weigh more heavily on them as the Houthis try to blockade the Bab el-Mandeb Strait<\/em><\/a>. Even if they fail, it’ll push up the cost of insurance used by shippers, which will be passed on to consumers – and they’ll know who to blame.<\/p>\n

AND BACK TO OUR DAILY SOAP OPERAS!<\/strong><\/p>\n