How the Hill will see Trump's security guarantees for Ukraine

IN THIS EDITION

How would Congress view security guarantees for Ukraine?

How Schatz locked up the whip race

The Vault: The ink on GENIUS just won’t dry

Schweikert mulls Arizona governor bid

THE TOP

How would Congress view security guarantees for Ukraine?

Happy Tuesday morning.

President Donald Trump’s extraordinary meeting on Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European power brokers broached a touchy subject that Congress will have lots of thoughts about — security guarantees for Ukraine.

Zelensky told reporters following Monday’s session that U.S. involvement in this effort is critical to any Russian-Ukrainian peace deal.

“It is important that the United States of America sends a clear signal that they will be among the countries that will help coordinate and will also be participants in the security guarantee for Ukraine,” Zelensky said during a press conference in Lafayette Park across from the White House. “I believe that this is a big step forward. I cannot yet say how all the details will be.”

Trump said on Truth Social, “During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America.”

Standing with Zelensky, Trump also told reporters, “We will give them very good protection, very good security. That’s part of it.” Trump didn’t offer more details, however. Trump was caught on a hot mic saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants a deal.

Yet the concept of an American guarantee of Ukraine’s borders or independence against potential future Russian aggression raises a host of questions for a war-weary — and increasingly isolationist — Congress.

Will the United States have boots on the ground inside Ukraine? Will Americans be asked to supply new shipments of weapons to buttress Ukraine’s military, and who will pay for that? What will the shape of the U.S. presence be in the region for years — potentially decades — to come?

Trump is facilitating a meeting between Zelensky and Putin, a session Trump would be willing to join. Trump even called Putin during Monday’s discussions.

The Trump effect. Over his near decade in power, Trump has dramatically reshaped Republican foreign policy, charting a 180-degree shift from its hawkish Cold War positions. In the post-9/11 era and even into Barack Obama’s presidency, Republicans supported efforts to spread democracy by nearly any means, including unyielding support for the long American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But Trump has gone so far as to consider withdrawing the United States from NATO, shutting down embassies overseas and slashing foreign aid. Ending U.S. military support for Ukraine has been a key “America First” tenet for the MAGA movement.

Now, Trump may create a new American peacekeeping role in order to help end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

Trump’s top negotiator, Steve Witkoff, floated an “Article 5-like” approach for Ukraine following the president’s Friday meeting with Putin. This is a reference to the NATO charter, which requires every member-nation to step in to defend another that is attacked.

But it’s hard to see how having U.S. forces inside Ukraine would be acceptable to Trump’s MAGA base. And it could land like an absolute thud with a Congress that’s been wary of spending more money on Ukraine, let alone greenlighting U.S. troops.

We’ll note that Republicans were mostly silent following the end of Monday’s talks other than praising Trump for trying to end the war. For its part, the White House released quotes from Zelensky and other European leaders praising Trump under the heading “American Leadership is Back Under President Trump.”

Interestingly, a top Democratic senator praised Trump for his openness to a Ukrainian security guarantee.

“I am encouraged by President Trump’s recognition that an agreement will require U.S.-backed security guarantees and continued assistance to safeguard Ukraine’s sovereignty,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

On the Hill, there are several proposals intended to discourage Putin from further attacks on Ukraine.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) introduced the PEACE Act last month, which would establish a new fund for NATO allies to finance the transfer of U.S. weapons and equipment to Ukraine.

This would essentially codify Trump’s proposal to have European nations pay for the weapons. It would also give NATO members another way to boost their defense spending, in line with the alliance’s new 5% target.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday that the Senate “stands ready” to give Trump “any economic leverage needed to keep Russia at the table to negotiate a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.” This is presumably a reference to the stalled sanctions bill from Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), which has nearly 90 co-sponsors.

But Secretary of State Marco Rubio ruled out the idea of additional sanctions on Sunday, saying it would mean the end of the existing peace talks with Russia.

D.C. crisis: Roughly 2,000 National Guard troops are now deployed or heading to D.C. as part of Trump’s efforts to combat the “crime emergency” in the nation’s capital.

This includes 800 National Guard troops from D.C., plus troops from six red states – Ohio, West Virginia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

In addition, Trump has ordered in hundreds of law-enforcement officers from an array of federal agencies including the Homeland Security Department, ICE, FBI, DEA and ATF, among others. Attorney General Pam Bondi said federal officers have made nearly 400 arrests, while the D.C. Police Union said crime is down significantly across the city.

Trump hasn’t said how long he’ll deploy the National Guard troops or what their goal is. Trump’s attempts to federalize the Washington Metropolitan Police Department are limited under the 1973 Home Rule Act. Trump doesn’t face such restrictions for National Guard troops, although they can’t conduct law-enforcement functions.

But D.C Mayor Muriel Bowser suggested Monday that the operation is about detaining undocumented immigrants, not fighting crime.

“If this is really about immigration enforcement, then I think the administration should make that plain,” Bowser told reporters.

— Jake Sherman, John Bresnahan and Andrew Desiderio

NEW: Join us on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 9 a.m. ET for a conversation with Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Punchbowl News Founder and CEO Anna Palmer will sit down with Chavez-DeRemer to discuss news of the day and workforce innovation for the built environment. Presented by the National Institute of Building Sciences, the conversation is a part of their Elevate 2025 event, where attendees are welcome to stay for the duration. RSVP here!

THE SENATE

How Schatz locked up the whip race

LAS VEGAS — Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) was laying the groundwork for a Senate leadership position before Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) even got to the Senate.

So it wasn’t too heavy of a lift for Rosen and Kelly as they led Schatz’s “whip team” in his bid to succeed Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) as the Senate Democratic whip.

He’s basically already doing the job, Democrats say.

“It’s not like [Schatz] just said, ‘I want to do this.’ He’s put in the work with all of us,” Rosen said in an interview here after speaking at a Medicaid-focused event. “Since [Durbin] announced his retirement, I will tell you that Sen. Schatz has really led the way in making sure that we’re educated, that we’re informed. He’s really stepped into that role.”

Beyond 2026. Schatz officially locked up the requisite votes to win the coveted job earlier this month. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also endorsed Schatz. So regardless of whether Schumer runs for reelection in 2028, Schatz’s ascension to the whip role makes him the favorite to succeed Schumer as Democratic leader.

In an interview in Phoenix last week, Kelly wouldn’t project out that far, saying it’s all “hypothetical.” But Kelly acknowledged that the 52-year-old Schatz represents a new generation of leaders — something Democratic voters have been clamoring for.

“He’s worked very closely with Durbin’s whip team. He’s the guy that’s hanging out on the floor. He’s the guy you go to when you’re like, what’s going on right now?” Kelly said of Schatz. “Kind of like with Durbin, he was doing the job.”

Schatz has maintained close relationships with the party’s “old guard,” serving as a top adviser on the leadership team while simultaneously building strong ties with a new generation of Democratic senators. He’s straddled both camps successfully, giving him credibility across the party. This was also evident when Schatz joined Schumer in voting for the stopgap government funding bill in March, a decision that angered progressives.

In a statement after Schumer backed him for whip, Schatz credited Schumer with helping deliver Democrats’ legislative accomplishments under former President Joe Biden. And Schumer backed Schatz from the jump, helping the Hawaii Democrat lock up the necessary support before publicly endorsing him.

On the trail. Schatz is also someone whom aspiring Senate Democrats want to see on the campaign trail in 2026. Schatz likely plans to do this, while many of his fellow Democratic senators are spending time testing the waters for a 2028 presidential run.

Mallory McMorrow, who’s running for Senate in a crowded and intense Democratic primary in Michigan, said Schatz is “somebody that, when some crazy shit is going down, he just says so.”

“Voters want their elected officials to feel the way that they feel. And that requires a willingness to not always have this politically correct filter on that comes across as disingenuous,” McMorrow told us. “I think Sen. Schatz offers that and offers it in droves, and I’m really excited that he’s moving up in leadership.”

McMorrow has also said she wouldn’t vote for Schumer to be Democratic leader, though it’s worth noting that there’s no indication Schumer’s job is in jeopardy.

— Andrew Desiderio

The Vault: The ink on GENIUS just won’t dry

Congress made history this summer when both chambers advanced legislation to codify the regulation of stablecoins. Lawmakers aren’t done tweaking this area of the law.

Stablecoin legislation was part one of enacting the crypto sector’s ambitious policy agenda. Part two is market structure — a bigger effort that will retool the responsibilities of federal financial regulators. The House passed its version of this push with the CLARITY Act, and we’re waiting to see how the Senate responds.

But lawmakers and industry advocates are still talking about amending the GENIUS Act, this time via market structure reform. That’s led to a strange state of play where the bill-turned-law could change in meaningful ways, even as national regulators at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) begin to implement the legislation.

“I want to make sure that the OCC does not disadvantage the dual banking system,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) told us last month.

An OCC spokesperson declined to comment.

The Senate. Lummis, a longtime crypto advocate who chairs the Senate Banking panel’s subcommittee on digital assets, has been worried about state versus federal powers for a while.

Just last week, Lummis told us she supported a broad coalition’s push to change a section from the GENIUS Act that would have eased the path for uninsured banking firms to do payments activity.

One warning rattle came during the confirmation of Comptroller Jonathan Gould. Lummis briefly turned heads when she voted against cloture for Gould’s nomination.

Lummis told us she did that to send a signal. “I voted against cloture and spoke to him on the phone before I voted for him — just in the intervening two hours — to explain what my concern was,” Lummis said. “I had my chance to say my piece.”

The House. Members would like to see some GENIUS changes too. Look no further than the CLARITY Act, which has a whole section dedicated to amending GENIUS.

House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) would like to see CLARITY pass the Senate. Spokesperson Brooke Nethercott said the bill “closed many of the regulatory gaps as it relates to the use of payment stablecoins beyond issuance.”

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) is another leader on the panel who pushed for changes via CLARITY.

“I honestly think the stablecoin market would work fine without the GENIUS Act. It’s worked since 2018,” Davidson told us last month.

One of the changes Davidson pushed for would codify a variety of stablecoin that’s backed by commodities, including gold.

“We didn’t have the consensus to get it into STABLE,” Davidson said, referring to the House’s original stablecoin bill. “We were able to build that and get it added to CLARITY. Hopefully, the Senate does that.”

— Brendan Pedersen

THE GRAND CANYON STATE

Schweikert mulls Arizona governor bid

Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) is considering leaving his crucial House battleground seat to mount a run for governor.

A decision will come by the end of August, his campaign said. We scooped this news on Punchbowl News text alerts Monday evening.

“Congressman Schweikert has been asked to run for Governor by several prominent Arizona Republicans who are concerned with the current field of candidates,” Schweikert’s consultant Chris Baker said in a statement. “He is considering it, but has not made a final decision.”

Schweikert, first elected to the House during the GOP wave of 2010, represents a very competitive district anchored in Scottsdale and Phoenix. Both parties have spent millions of dollars fighting over this seat. Schweikert’s absence would deprive Republicans of a well-known incumbent in the pricey Phoenix media market.

And the field of Republicans looking to oust Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is already large. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and attorney Karrin Taylor Robson are running. Both have President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

One important thing to note: Trump has made it a priority to help Republicans hold the House in 2026. He’s successfully urged Reps. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa), Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) not to abandon their swing seats to run statewide. And the president could do the same here.

– Ally Mutnick, John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman

… AND THERE’S MORE

The Campaign. The Business Roundtable is running an ad nationwide, thanking Congress for passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. This is precisely what House and Senate Republicans want business groups and other entities to do in the wake of President Donald Trump signing the massive reconciliation package into law.

Watch the ad here.

Downtown Download. Jeff Miller and Miller Strategies has signed Norfolk Southern Corp., the railroad giant, to lobby on “freight rail, freight transportation, and surface transportation competition.” Union Pacific has sought to buy Norfolk Southern as part of an $85 billion merger.

– Jake Sherman

MOMENTS

CLIPS