Iran floor vote coming. Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) will force a House floor vote next week on their Iran war powers resolution, as we scooped Wednesday night.
The vote comes amid heavy U.S. military buildup in the region, with CBS News reporting that American forces will be prepared to launch strikes on Iran as soon as this weekend. U.S. and Iranian negotiators met Tuesday in Geneva for mediated discussions over the Islamic State’s nuclear program. Iranian officials are reportedly preparing a framework for additional talks.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was non-committal about a timeline for the diplomatic talks Wednesday. Leavitt said there are “many reasons and arguments that one could make for a strike against Iran.”
Previous efforts to claw back congressional war-making powers have come up short this year, most recently concerning the U.S. military operations in Venezuela.
Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have another Iran war powers resolution ready for consideration in the Senate but have not said when they may force a vote.
DHS update — or not. The shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security is now entering its sixth day, with thousands of federal employees staying on the job but not getting paid.
There’s no movement on this issue that we can see, although high-level discussions continue. We warned you that a formal resolution for this crisis isn’t likely before Congress returns next week. The big question now is whether there’s some sort of agreement in place prior to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night. At this point, it seems like both sides are willing to keep it centerstage for the annual address to Congress.
The money wave. Corporate America is coming for the midterms.
An unprecedented number of free-spending super PACs — many backed by corporations and their top executives — are gearing up to influence the 2026 elections, pushing their preferred candidates and policies.
The most recent news dropped Wednesday in the New York Times. Tech giant Meta is gearing up to spend $65 million on state races to boost candidates who are “friendly to the artificial intelligence industry.”
In fact, the AI political-industrial complex is something to behold. With state, city and local governments pushing back against both AI companies and the nationwide data center boom, the ultra deep-pocketed corporations are responding by flexing their financial muscle.
Jobs and Democracy PAC, which is supported by AI company Anthropic, is boosting candidates who are favorable toward state regulations of AI.
This morning, the PAC will announce plans to spend $450,000 to support Democratic New York State Assemblymember Alex Bores, who is running in the crowded field to replace Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) in the Manhattan-based 12th District.
Jobs and Democracy PAC is part of Public First, an advocacy network that’s helping candidates who want to tackle AI safety and limit exports of advanced tech. Anthropic recently announced it was putting $20 million behind Public First.
Leading the Future has $39 million on hand. A16z, and OpenAI President Greg Brockman are supporting this group.
Leading the Future has a Democratic component: Think Big, which is backed by Silicon Valley stalwart Ron Conway, Brockman and his wife.
But AI is hardly the only player in the big money game right now.
Fairshake, the leading crypto PAC, raised $193 million for the midterm elections. The super PAC, backed by a16z and Coinbase, is already one of the most active players in boosting candidates friendly to the digital asset industry.
The Digital Freedom Fund PAC is another pro-crypto PAC backed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. The Winklevoss brothers put $21 million into the PAC — in Bitcoin. As of the end of 2025, it reported just $723,361 in the bank.
Fellowship PAC has said it would spend $100 million on the midterms. Their most recent FEC filing showed that they had raised nothing and had no money in the bank. The group is linked to Cantor Fitzgerald, the investment bank that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick once ran. The American Growth Alliance, a collection of major banks, has a new 501(c)(4), which plans to spend in the election as well.
Elon Musk looks like he will be back spending on congressional races after pouring more than $250 million in the 2024 presidential campaign. Musk donated $20 million to GOP super PACs this cycle.
What does this mean? The rise of these industry-funded groups helps shift power away from the party committees and their chief allied super PACs: House Majority PAC, Senate Majority PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund and the Senate Leadership Fund.
It also adds an element of uncertainty into the midterm landscape. The Fairshake network tries hard to balance out its spending between parties to ensure it can advocate for its industry’s interests no matter which party controls Congress. But will these new groups be as conscientious?
One other important question: Will these groups spend more in safe seats or competitive ones? A safe-seat win is cost effective. That member can be in Congress for decades. But House and Senate leaders in both parties will be most interested in the battleground races. Let’s say a pro-AI group comes in big for an endangered GOP member. That lets CLF redirect its resources somewhere else. It could have a huge domino effect across the map.
