Daily Digests: M 10/20 • T 10/21 • W 10/22 • Th 10/23 • F 10/24
Senate — Votes — Legislation: New: 49 (D, R), Action: 9, Voted: 2, Passed: 7
M 10/20/2025 — Prayer, Digest, Record All–SLR, PDF • Chronicle • Summary
T 10/21/2025 — Prayer, Prayer, Digest, Record All–SLR, PDF • Chronicle • Summary
W 10/22/2025 — Digest, Record All, PDF • Chronicle • Summary
Th 10/23/2025 — Prayer, Digest, Record All–SLR, PDF • Chronicle • Summary
- Senate Record — Thursday, 10/23/2025
- Thune: “Why did Democrats instigate the longest full government shutdown in history? Well, they would like you to believe it is about healthcare. It is not. … It is politics and far-left activists who demanded a showdown with President Trump.”
- Schumer: “We want to sit down with Thune, with Johnson, with Trump and negotiate a way to address this horrible healthcare crisis.” (Thune would rather sit down with the Senate.)
- Durbin: “I am sure that those who are following the opening remarks of the Senate today can sense the frustration, bordering on anger, with the current situation, the current status quo. It is shared on both sides of the aisle.”
- Senate declined to pass the True Shutdown Fairness Act (S. 3039) to pay all federal employees during shutdown, working or not (S. 3039)
- Senate declined to pass the Military and Federal Employee Protection Act (S. 3043) for work done up to this point
- Democrats block bill to pay military, essential workers during shutdown (S. 3012) • Who would be paid under Sen. Johnson's Shutdown Fairness Act • Senate Democrats block bill to pay military, TSA, air traffic controllers amid federal shutdown • “My preference, always, is just to open up the government, then all this stuff would not be an issue,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said • Thune on Wednesday made two other bills available for a vote: Sen. Dan Sullivan's, R-Alaska, bill to pay service members (S. 3030), and Sen. Ted Cruz's, R-Texas, bill to pay TSA employees and air traffic controllers (S. 3031). • Republicans are also discussing voting on a bill from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that would fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for the entire shutdown (S. 3024). • Hawley also has a bill “to ensure uninterrupted services for farmers” (S. 3025). • Ossoff, Warnock break with Democrats Fetterman also voted for the bill • Cortez Masto and King, who have been voting for the House-passed CR to reopen the government, voted against the proposal to pay essential federal workers
- Senate confirms Kentuckian Chad Meredith for federal judgeship
House — Legislation: New: 55 (R, D)
T 10/21/2025 — Prayer, Digest, Record All PDF, Extensions All PDF • Activity
F 10/24/2025 — Prayer, Digest, Record All PDF, Extensions All PDF • Activity
|
|
Foreign Policy — Committees: Senate, House
Risch, Shaheen call for closer ties between U.S. and Bolivia
Bipartisan senators criticize nominee for ambassador to Kuwait over accusations of antisemitism (Meeting, Congress.gov) • The problematic record of Amer Ghalib toward Israel, Jews and U.S.-designated terrorist groups gave some of the president’s most ardent supporters permission to oppose his pick to represent the U.S. in the Middle East. “I think the facts here are quite clear, and your long-standing position is directly contrary to that of the president,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said of Ghalib during his confirmation hearing.
Senators considering ‘Russia Week’: Leading Senate Republicans want to vote within the next month on a package of bills to pressure Russia to compromise in Ukraine peace talks
Constitution
‘No Kings’ hits Senate floor • Johnson: 'No Kings' a 'stunt' for Democrats amid shutdown: the very fact that the protests took place (free speech) is proof that they were not necessary (no autocratic suppression). • God is our King: Serving God is not like serving earthly rulers (2 Chronicles 12:8)
Crane, Cruz urge election group to require documentary proof of citizenship for federal voting registration: “It’s simply a necessary step to ensure the integrity of our elections,” Rep. Eli Crane said.
Trade
Thune not in favor of increasing Argentine beef imports • beef makes up 9 percent of SD agriculture • Argentina currently provides 2 percent of U.S. beef imports
Federal Spending — Committees: House, Senate — FY 2026 bills, table
Government shutdown now 2nd longest in U.S. history
Democratic senators fear getting ‘hammered’ after 'No Kings' for ending shutdown: “We would have enough votes” to reopen the government “if people were not terrified of getting the guillotine” • “This was not a good faith effort from Republicans to end the shutdown with bipartisan negotiations,” he added. “It was GOP political theater, and these three Democrats joined right in.” (Do these liberal activists know how government works? The vote on the defense bill was not a vote to fund defense. It was a vote to have bipartisan negotiations in public on the Senate floor. Since when do you need concession in order to debate?) • One liberal activist said voting to reopen the government when millions of Americans are projected to lose their health insurance due to rising premiums “would be out of step with what the American people want.” Insurance premiums could rise out of reach anyway, even if the subsidies were approved. • “What Republicans are trying to do is dismantle the ACA brick by brick,” she said, referring to the Affordable Care Act. (Except the Democrats, for budgetary cloaking reasons, are the ones who set the dismantling to automatically happen.) • One Democratic insider argued that Ossoff, who represents a swing state that voted for President Trump in 2024, needs to raise money from the liberal base to win. “His calculus is, ‘Do I vote to open the government up and get crushed and can’t raise a single dollar of low-dollar money or do I vote to shut the government down and get $3 million [from online fundraising]?’” the source argued. • Thune quoted this on the Senate floor.
Speaker Johnson becomes voice of Republican government funding strategy • Speaker Johnson on Day 21 of the Democrat Shutdown: Do Not Be Distracted, The American People Would Have an Open Government if Democrats Weren’t Afraid of Their Far-Left Base • House Democrats Predicted the Harm Their Shutdown Would Cause Hardworking Americans • Democrat Leader Openly Admits Democrats are Intentionally Inflicting Pain on Working American Families for “Leverage” • Scalise on Democrats Prioritizing the Far-Left and Fundraising While Keeping the Government Shut Down: It’s Disgusting
Republican leaders eye new stopgap spending measure to end shutdown • Concede Need to Extend Funding Patch Deadline • floats funding extension to December 2026 next year
11/1 open enrollment increases the pressure: Two big data points in the headlines this week: 1) The average cost of a family health insurance plan will be $27,000 for coverage next year and 2) The federal debt grew faster than any time other than the pandemic and surpassed $38 trillion Wednesday. • (Third data point: To fund government, Democrats demand shifting a large part of #1 to #2) • This is the first-ever truly Democratic shutdown. The first big Democratic shutdown is about increasing spending. So we really are in new territory: stopping government spending to demand more government spending … to have the government provide more subsidies to offset the consequences of a cost spiral that itself is partly caused by … subsidies.
Fetterman believes Thune ‘sincere’ about ACA talks after shutdown • Vulnerable House Republicans urge Johnson to address ACA enhanced subsidies • Think Tanks Twist Facts To Manipulate Congress On Covid-era enhanced ACA subsidies: The federal government still pays on average 75-80 percent of enrollees’ premiums even without enhanced subsidies. Nearly half of Exchange enrollees currently pay nothing in out-of-pocket premiums for benchmark coverage, which has led to over $10 billion in fraud every year.
SNAP emerges as flashpoint in shutdown fight • USDA says it can’t use contingency fund for food stamps
Speaker Johnson on Day 23 of the Democrat Shutdown: Democrats Shamefully Use Air Traffic Controllers as “Leverage” • Flight delays, cancellations increase shutdown pressure on lawmakers • Transportation Secretary Duffy ‘can’t guarantee’ on-time flights during shutdown • Scalise Slams Democrats for Holding Air Traffic Control Hostage for Political Leverage • Pilots Associations Call On Congress To End Government Shutdown
Army Corps of Engineers pausing $11 billion in projects over shutdown: Vought • Examining infrastructure pause perception and the structural likelihood of certain areas being more affected by a pause than others
Texas Republicans allege Smithsonian broke lobbying law on space shuttle Fiscal 2026 Interior-Environment spending bill would block more funds for Discovery move
Monetary Policy — Committees: House, Senate
Senate’s next crypto bill slowed by language in stablecoin law (P.L. 119-27, Kennedy floor speech)
CBO: Accredited Investor Definition Review Act (H.R. 3348) • As reported by the House Committee on Financial Services on June 4, 2025
Introduced: Denouncing the horrors of socialism (H.Con.Res.58)
Executive — Committees: House, Senate
Grassley reveals former FBI Director Christopher Wray, Merrick Garland approved opening Arctic Frost: Grassley said the document, which contained Garland's, Wray's and Monaco's handwritten signatures, was provided by the Justice Department as part of his oversight authority. • Grassley calls on Jack Smith to provide details on meetings with White House, DOJ, & FBI leadership: Grassley and Republican investigators zero in on Jack Smith's coordination with Biden Admin leadership.
WH: Nomination Sent to the Senate
WH: Nominations Sent to the Senate
Judiciary — Committees: Senate, House
Grassley announces judges' use of AI leading to court order errors: Each federal judge, and the judiciary as an institution, has an obligation to ensure the use of generative AI does not violate litigants’ rights or prevent fair treatment under the law, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said
Commerce Policy — Committees: Senate, House
Interior’s Alaska drilling move caps lengthy congressional saga
Health Care Policy — Committee: Senate
Scalise on House Republicans lowering premiums: The Working Families Tax Cut Act included a provision that CBO scored as lowering health care premiums for families by 11% that did not survive the Byrd Rule in the Senate.
Congress — Committees: House, Senate
Senate GOP chatter rises on filibuster reform to end shutdown • Fetterman supports, says ‘hypocritical’ for Democrats to defend filibuster over shutdown
Arizona sues U.S. House over delay in Grijalva swearing-in • lawsuit unlikely to lead to swearing in, experts say
Jan. 6 rioter charged with threatening to kill Jeffries • Johnson condemns threat
Senator says she plans to sue Biden DOJ officials, FBI for invasion of phone privacy: Sen. Marsha Blackburn says search of phone records violated her 1st and 4th Amendment rights, her separation of powers protections as a lawmaker and possibly the Stored Communications Act because her carrier Verizon retained and turned over information on her geographic locations when she made calls.
Holmes Norton scammed in her home by fake cleaning crew, police say
Rep. McIver to request dismissal of assault charges involving ICE
|
|
Committee Activity — Meetings: 16 • Reports: 9 • Legislative action this week:
All committee legislative action • Senate (Subcommittees) • House (Subcommittees)
Foreign Relations approves measures to hold Russia to account for its war on Ukraine (S. 2657, S. 2918, S. 2978, Meeting, Congress.gov)
CBO: Testimony on Growth in the 340B Drug Pricing Program and Its Implications for the Federal Budget (Meeting, Congress.gov) • Aditi Sen, Chief of CBO's Health Policy Studies Unit, testifies before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. • Exploring 340B government drug price controls: The unintended consequences of government modifying market prices — issues for lawmakers to address and methods to do so
Trump's surgeon general pick set for virtual confirmation hearing (Meeting, Congress.gov)
Jack Smith asks that his testimony be public
Jordan calls for criminal charges against former CIA Director John Brennan • House Judiciary's Jordan refers former CIA Director Brennan to DOJ over congressional testimony: The referral centers on 2023 testimony
Johnson touts Oversight panel Epstein investigation
CBO: Improving Interagency Coordination for Pipeline Reviews Act (H.R. 3668) • As reported by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on September 15, 2025
Floor Outlook
Senate
Senators ready to compromise: Democratic push to prohibit layoffs during the shutdown remained a sticking point • “I really don’t have an objection to paying furloughed workers,” Sen. Johnson told reporters. “They’re gonna get paid anyway. So let’s figure out those areas of agreement.” • When asked if a compromise bill could get a vote next week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters: “We’ll see. I mean, if there’s headway made over the weekend, and obviously we’re coordinating with Ron and his team, and we’ll see where it goes.” • Any bill that passes the Senate to pay federal workers would then require a vote in the House.
- Question: Why are Senators considering passing a bill to pay all government employees, working or not? That would be like passing the House-passed CR and not requiring most of them to work. The House CR at least resumes remaining non-essential government operations.
|
|
|
3 p.m., Monday, October 27, 2025
Program for Monday: After the transaction of any morning business (not to extend beyond 5:30 p.m.), Senate will vote on confirmation of the nominations of Rebecca L. Taibleson, of Wisconsin, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit, and Bill Lewis, of Alabama, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Alabama.
Thursday, 10/23/2025, Senate began consideration of two nominations:
- Jordan Emery Pratt, of Florida, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida
- Edmund G. LaCour, Jr., of Alabama, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Alabama
|
|
|
The House meets in Pro Forma sessions during district work periods.
|
|
|
About Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
|
|
|
To learn more about our ministry, and to sign up to begin receiving our daily alerts, please go here.
|
|
|
Capitol Hill Prayer Partners welcomes all who wish to pray for our leaders to join us in prayer for our nation. You may sign up to receive our alerts by sending an email to us at: chpp1994@gmail.com requesting that your name be added to our list of subscribers or CLICK HERE to subscribe.
|
|
|
|
|
