Tag: nrsc
Senate GOP Ads Broadcast Lies On Immigrants, Medicaid And Trump Budget

Senate GOP Ads Broadcast Lies On Immigrants, Medicaid And Trump Budget

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is running ads in multiple states that spread disinformation about Medicaid and undocumented immigrants.

The ads target Democratic Senate candidates in Ohio, Alaska, Iowa, Georgia, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Michigan for not supporting the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), which the NRSC claims stopped undocumented immigrants from receiving Medicaid benefits.

This claim is false. Federal law already barred undocumented people from accessing Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) coverage. Instances of undocumented people being erroneously enrolled in these programs are extremely rare.

Republicans have made this claim about OBBB repeatedly since the legislation was introduced. Health policy experts, including the Kaiser Family Foundation and Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, have repeatedly debunked it.

The law does, however, make profound changes to Medicaid. OBBB will cut about $1 trillion from the health insurance program over the next decade, resulting in up to 12 million Americans losing their coverage. The bulk of those cuts will fund tax breaks that disproportionately benefit the wealthy.

Sens. Jon Husted (OH) and Dan Sullivan (AK) both voted for OBBB, as did Reps. Ashley Hinson (IA) and Mike Collins (GA), who are both running for Senate this year. Former New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu and former Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers, who are also running for Senate, have both publicly praised the law.

Michael Whatley, the Republican Senate candidate in North Carolina, said he would have voted for OBBB “in a heartbeat.”

A tracking poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that OBBB is deeply unpopular with voters. Sixty-four percent of respondents have an unfavorable view of the law. Among independents, 71 percent oppose it.

President Donald Trump has proposed additional tax cuts and further cuts to government programs if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate after the 2026 elections.

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News

Thom Tillis

'Wipeout': Republicans Terrified 2026 Blue Wave Will Flip Senate And House

Republicans are increasingly anxious about the 2026 midterm elections, fearing a potential “wipeout” that could cost them their House majority and several Senate seats.

The Hill reported Monday that off-year elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and municipal races around the country indicate they might be in trouble.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who is not running for reelection, told the outlet, “If we are where we are today in the beginning of the second quarter [of 2026], then I think we’re in for a really rough time in November.”

“We have plenty of time to address it. There are a lot of positive things that we’re doing here, that the administration is doing. But if you mess with health care … if we don’t get health care policy right, if we don’t get some of the cost policies right, we’re going to have major headwinds next year,” he added.

The Hill reported that the biggest concern is the coattails of President Donald Trump, which have never been especially strong. Republicans lost power in their first midterm election after Trump’s 2016 win, when Democrats flipped the House in 2018. It was already a concern in January 2016, when former Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) told Reuters he did not think Trump could help carry down-ballot candidates later that year.

Trump’s approval rating currently stands at 41.9 percent in a recent polling average compiled by Decision Desk HQ. On the generic congressional ballot — that is, whether voters say they would support a Democratic or Republican candidate — Democrats lead with 46.8 percent to 41.4 percent, according to DDHQ’s average.

One Republican on a conference call with the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) said election fears have spread among many senators up for reelection in 2026.

“The numbers are terrible,” said the unnamed lawmaker. “Not necessarily for any individual incumbent senator, although some of them aren’t very good. But you saw what happened a couple of weeks ago. Republicans didn’t win anything anywhere.”Democrats won the governor’s races in both Virginia and New Jersey. In Virginia, Trump did not participate, but in New Jersey, the president offered a full endorsement and support to the GOP nominee.

“There are a lot of warning signs blinking,” the lawmaker noted. “We’re increasingly on defense on the Senate side. … I think there’s a lot of concern.”

“Look at the 2018 midterm, we lost 41 seats in the House. The Speaker can only lose three this time,” a different GOP senator said.“I would expect to lose the House; I’m just trying to be objective,” the senator confessed.

Trump appeared to see the writing on the wall several months ago when he pressed Texas to pursue mid-decade redistricting to gerrymander congressional lines and eliminate solidly Democratic seats, a move that drew national criticism. California lawmakers, facing their own political pressures, moved ahead with a mid-decade redraw that targeted several Republican-held districts. A court has now thrown out the new Texas maps, ordering lawmakers back to the drawing board.

Other states, like Indiana, are resisting Trump’s demands to eliminate their remaining Democratic-held seats, even as they face pressure over redistricting. After years of litigation, a court ruled that Utah must draw a Democratic-leaning district centered on the Salt Lake City area, ensuring that Democrats have at least one realistic opportunity to win a seat there.

“The conventional wisdom was Democrats were screwed, and we were going to be in a hole of anywhere from 10 to 17 seats because of redistricting. That was back in the middle of July. Looking where we are now, that’s absolutely not the case,” said a Democratic strategist, according to The Hill.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

GOP Megadonors Lack Confidence In Trump’s Senate Candidates

GOP Megadonors Lack Confidence In Trump’s Senate Candidates

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), was deeply offended when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — during an event in Kentucky in August — told a crowd that he considers control of the U.S. Senate a toss-up in the 2024 midterms and cited “candidate quality” as a factor. McConnell expressed confidence that Republicans will “flip” the U.S. House of Representatives, but wasn’t nearly as bullish on the Senate. And his “candidate quality” comment was taken as a criticism of the MAGA candidates Trump has pushed.

McConnell, however, isn’t the only Republican who is concerned about the quality of U.S. Senate candidates who former President Donald Trump has been pushing. In an article published by CNBC’s website on September 30, reporter Brian Schwartz takes a look at Republican donors who are reluctant to get out their wallets for Trump-backed Senate hopefuls who have been underperforming in polls.

“Republican megadonors want the GOP to take back the Senate, but they don’t have confidence that some of former President Donald Trump’s top picks can catapult their party to a victory in November,” Schwartz explains. “Billionaire financiers Paul Singer, Dan Loeb and Larry Ellison have so far avoided donating directly to some or all of Trump’s staunchest allies running for Senate in the midterms: J.D. Vance in Ohio, Blake Masters in Arizona, Herschel Walker in Georgia, Adam Laxalt in Nevada and Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, according to Federal Election Commission records and people familiar with the billionaires’ donations.”

The CNBC reporter adds, “All of those candidates have been endorsed by Trump. And many of them have previously sided with the former president on the false claims that the 2020 presidential election had widespread voter fraud — an accusation that’s been debunked by Trump’s former attorney general, Bill Barr, federal courts and several other top Republicans who served in Trump’s administration.”

A Republican strategist, quoted anonymously, told CNBC that those megadonors would “would be lighting their money on fire if they got totally swayed by these candidates.” And that strategist is advising donors to give their money to the Senate Leadership Fund, a political action committee run by McConnell’s former chief of staff Steven Law. That strategist said of the Senate Leadership Fund, “They have the best polls, and they won’t sink money into races they know they can’t win.”

Schwartz notes, “The campaign poll tracking website FiveThirtyEight shows Masters trailing (incumbent Sen. Mark) Kelly by more than seven percentage points…. FiveThirtyEight shows Oz trailing his Democratic rival John Fetterman by more than six percentage points and Walker trailing his competitor, (Sen. Raphael) Warnock, by more than two percentage points. Vance and Laxalt are both in statistical dead heats with their Democratic rivals; both GOP candidates are down by an average of less than a percentage point.”

Schwartz points out that megadonor and real estate mogul Stephen Ross “hasn’t given a penny yet to Vance, Walker, Masters, Laxalt or Oz, according to FEC filings.”

“Ross was criticized for hosting a fundraiser for Trump and the Republican National Committee at his Hamptons home in 2019, but has distanced himself from some of Trump’s favorite candidates this election cycle,” Schwartz observes. “He’s donated over $685,000 to a mix of Republicans, Democrats and their affiliated outside groups this cycle. His biggest checks so far have gone to GOP organizations tied to Republican leadership, such as House GOP campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee and a joint fundraising committee called Take Back the House 2022, federal election records show.”

Did Sen. Minority Leader McConnell correctly believe that many of the 2022 US Republican Senate candidates had a “candidate quality” issue?

Yes, Sen. McConnell had the correct intuition to worry about the 2022 slate of Republican Senate candidates. In comparison to Arizona’s 2022 gubernatorial race, when Republican nominee Kari Lake lost by less than one percent to Democrat Katie Hobbs, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters was decisively beaten, losing by 4.88% to Sen. Mark Kelly. In Nevada, even though Republican Steve Sisolak won the state’s gubernatorial race, Republican Adam Laxalt lost Nevada’s Senate race to Catherine Cortez-Masto. In Georgia, Republican Herschel Walker lost his state’s Senate race to Raphael Warnock by 2.8%, a decisive win compared to Trump’s loss to Biden by .23% in Georgia during the 2020 presidential election. In Pennsylvania, although Biden only won the state by 1.17% during the 2020 presidential election, Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz lost by 4.91% in the 2022 Senate race to Sen. John Fetterman.

 What toxic policy issue linked these 2022 Republican Senate candidates together?

After the fall of Roe v. Wade in the summer of 2022, causing Americans to lose their constitutional right to abortion, these Senate candidates chose not to moderate their positions on abortion, prompting backlash. For instance, during the 2022 midterm race, Laxalt “…called the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision “a joke” and the Supreme Court decision overturning it “historic””. Masters had to rewrite his website due to backlash against his positions on abortion. In addition, after Walker stated during the campaign that he wanted to ban abortion across the country, he was later accused of hypocritically pressuring past lovers to obtain abortions.

 Did Trump pick the wrong Senate candidates?

Yes, as former president Trump picked unelectable candidates who were fraught with controversy. Pennsylvania Senate candidate Oz was constantly accused of carpetbagging and was often mocked by Sen. Fetterman for his elitist personality, e.g., calling a veggie tray “crudité”. Meanwhile, Walker was accused of domestic violence and stalking.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

GOP Fundraising Pitch: 'Where Do You Want To Send Illegal Immigrants Next?'

GOP Fundraising Pitch: 'Where Do You Want To Send Illegal Immigrants Next?'

Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and his NRSC are once again under fire, this time for sending fundraising emails to GOP voters asking, “where do you want Republicans to send illegal immigrants next?” The multiple-choice answers include “Barack Obama’s House,” “The White House,” and “San Francisco.”

Sen. Scott is the embattled head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the official fundraising arm of the Senate GOP caucus. Recently he has been highly criticized by Republicans wondering why the NRSC’s funding of critical Republican senate campaigns has been so poor. Earlier this month a New York Times headline read: “How a Record Cash Haul Vanished for Senate Republicans.”

The NRSC email, posted to social media by The Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger, falsely claim the 50 Venezuelan immigrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard by Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis, possibly unlawfully according to at least one lawsuit, are “illegal.” They had applied for asylum and were in the country legally.

“Democrats and their corrupt partners in the mainstream media just don’t get it,” the defensive email, titled, “OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE,” begins. “Republican Governors like Greg Abbott from Texas and Ron DeSantis from Florida showed coastal elite millionaires in Martha’s Vineyard what life is like on our country’s southern border – and they WERE NOT HAPPY.”

That too is false — there are few “coastal elite millionaires in Martha’s Vineyard” in late September, and most of the area’s residents were angered by what some legal experts are accusing DeSantis of: possible kidnapping.

“Biden’s BORDER CRISIS is only getting worse – and he REFUSES to do anything about it,” Scott’s email continues. DEADLY drugs, like fentanyl, are flowing into our country UNCHECKED – and Americans are dying at UNPRECEDENTED rates from overdoses. It’s sad – and PREVENTABLE.”

The email does not mention that Customs and Border Protection has seized 10,071 pounds of fentanyl this year already, according to The Arizona Republic. Nor does it explain how flying 50 asylum-seeking immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard would stop fentanyl from entering the U.S.

The Cato Institute, a right wing think tank, just last week reported “fentanyl is overwhelmingly smuggled by U.S. citizens almost entirely for U.S. citizen consumers.” But it also revealed that “60 percent of Republicans believe, ‘Most of the fentanyl entering the U.S. is smuggled in by unauthorized migrants crossing the border illegally.'”

Gov. DeSantis is being investigated by a Texas sheriff and sued by a Boston-based legal firm representing some of the Venezuelan immigrants. There are calls for the DOJ to open an investigation as well.

NBC News on Thursday reported the “air charter company Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration hired for his migrant-moving program has contributed big money to some top allies of the governor and was once legally represented by Rep. Matt Gaetz and his former partner, who is now Florida’s ‘public safety czar’ in charge of immigration policy.”

Reports say DeSantis has already paid more than $1.5 million in taxpayer funds on the possibly unlawful “stunt” to that “air charter company.”

Anger over Senator Scott’s NRSC fundraising email was strong on social media.

“Fascists,” tweeted Justin Hendrix, cofounder and CEO of the nonprofit Tech Policy Press.

“The Senate Republicans, whom respectable donors and conservative elites still consider it just fine to support, are raising money by embracing the exploitation of ‘illegal immigrants’ (who in fact aren’t illegal). Team Normal is now simply the wingman for Team Demagogue,” wrote veteran journalist and former Republican turned Never-Trumper and Democrat Bill Kristol.

“How is this legal? This can not possibly be legal,” said former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega.

“They are inciting hatred, xenophobia and violence. They are morally bankrupt, and are not fit to hold power,” warned Rep Sean Casten (D-IL).

“Andrew Jackson wants his bullshit back,” tweeted law professor and political scientist Anthony Michael Kreis, referring to the late American president responsible for the forced, brutal, violent, and deadly “removal” of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands.

“They’ve made human trafficking a central policy plank,” noted Media Matters for America senior researcher Jason Campbell.

“Liberal anger at the Martha’s Vineyard stunt wasn’t because the people were MIGRANTS, it was because they were PEOPLE—and jerking people around for a political stunt is despicable,” explained attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, the policy director at the American Immigration Council. “That the right can’t understand this is a sign of how dehumanization has become a norm for some.”

“Online fundraising off human trafficking of people seeking asylum. Quite a party they’ve got there,” noted Democratic strategist and former Clinton campaign official Jesse Ferguson.

“Dehumanization and elimination as a fundraising tactic. Another reminder that this horror is what the MAGA base wants from their leaders,” warned Melissa Ryan, a consultant on combatting disinformation and extremism.

Jim Swift, senior editor at The Bulwark tweeted, “the cruelty is the point.”

Public affairs strategist Murshed Zaheed warns, “Republicans in the Trump era are going to operate like monstrous, inhumane ghouls. They are not going to stop until the national Democrats effectively counterattack them over it (ie go after DeSantis for potential criminal liabilities) instead of cowering in silence.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Shop our Store

Headlines

Editor's Blog

Trending

World