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Present and Accounted For: House Republicans’ small majority could make attendance a priority

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It’s long been said that Congress is a lot like school.

What’s the first thing they do in school? Take attendance.

That is one thing which they usually don’t do in Congress.

But they might next year.

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Figuring out who is present and accounted for and who is out will emerge as one of the most dramatic daily events on Capitol Hill.

It is always about the math on Capitol Hill.

But the 119th Congress will really be about the math.

Every day in the House will hinge on who’s sick. Who has a parent/teacher conference. Whose plane was delayed due to snow. Who is just playing hooky and isn’t reliable. Who was giving a speech downtown, got caught in traffic and just didn’t make it back in time. Whose kid is starring in the school play. Whose aunt died.

President Trump and House Republicans have big plans for their 2025 legislative agenda. But the miniscule size of the GOP majority could temper those expectations on a daily basis.

It will be interesting to see what Republicans can execute.

Republicans will likely begin the new year with a 219-215 majority. So 434 seats. There is one vacancy as former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., resigned. That’s a margin of four seats. But it in reality, it means the GOP majority can only tolerate one Republican defector on each roll call vote without needing help from the other side. One Republican "nay" is 218-216. But two Republican rebels produces a 217-217 tie. By rule, ties lose in the House.

But the beginning of the new Congress on January 3 could represent the Halycon days for the House Republican Conference.

Reps. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Michael Waltz, R-Fla., intend to resign in January to join the Trump Administration. Stefanik is up for United Nations Ambassador and requires confirmation for that post. The President-elect tapped Waltz to serve as National Security Advisor. That position is not subject to Senate confirmation. So the Republican majority will dwindle to 217-215. At that point, Republicans can’t lose any votes to pass their agenda.

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That is a problem for House Republicans who regularly had a squadron of defectors – ranging from keeping the government open to even impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. This could even spell problems for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., returning to the Speaker’s suite. Johnson must win an outright majority of all House members voting when the new Congress convenes on January 3 to become Speaker. He’ll have a bit of a cushion when the new Congress starts. But it won’t be much. House Republicans still suffer from political PTSD after the 15 rounds it took to elect former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., early last year.

Yes. There will be special elections to fill the seats of Gaetz, Stefanik and Waltz. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has already called a special election for the Gaetz seat for April 1.

You can’t make this stuff up.

The other special elections are months away because Stefanik and Waltz haven’t resigned yet. In fact, if Stefanik is confirmed and resigns in late January, it may be May before there’s a special election in her seat – based on New York law and discretion afforded New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D).

The results in special elections sometimes produce "special" results. The usual electorate periodically stays home and the opposite party captures those seats in off-cycle elections. So, even though these are "Republican" seats, there’s no guarantee that Republicans will automatically prevail.

But if things go according to plan, Republicans will have those seats back in a few months, with a comparatively robust 220-215 majority. That means Republicans can lose up to two votes on any major issue.

But there are always absences. Always resignations.

And this isn’t limited to the Republican side of the aisle.

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There have long been concerns about the health and attendance of 79-year-old Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee. Scott faced criticism earlier this year over a lack of public appearances and interviews.

76-year-old Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., is the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee. Grijalva vowed that this term would be his last after suffering from cancer. The illness sidelined Grijalva for months. He missed more than 300 roll call votes on the floor between February and this fall and did not conduct interviews.

Late Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Tex., Bill Pascrell, D-N.J. and Donald Payne Jr., D-N.J., were all in office when they passed away this year. Late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., died in 2023.

Democrats make a lot of noise right now about the agenda of President-elect Trump. It will be incumbent on Democrats to have full attendance to oppose Republicans and generally make life miserable for the majority. But Democrats can only do that if they show up. All the time.

Such was the case when House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., had the votes of every House Democrat on each roll call for Speaker in January and October of last year. Only Rep. David Trone, D-Md., missed a couple of votes because he underwent a surgical procedure. But Trone returned to Capitol Hill later that evening to vote.

Rep. Al Green, D-Tex., was hospitalized this past February. But Green came to the Capitol in a wheelchair in February to help torpedo the initial effort to impeach Mayorkas. Republicans had three defectors on their side. Green’s vote fresh from a hospital gurney forced the GOP effort to fail on the floor and try again.

One factor which was a challenge for the GOP was the health of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. Scalise was diagnosed with cancer last year and was out the first part of 2023. Scalise has now recovered. But his absence hamstrung the GOP on big votes like the initial Mayorkas impeachment.

Unfortunately – and inevitably – there will be absences due to health. And God forbid, death. Rarely does a Congress pass without the death of a lawmaker – sometimes unforeseen. Late Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., and two aides died in a traffic accident during the summer of 2022.

So listen for the attendance bells in the House next year. Check the weather forecast and the flight schedule at Reagan National Airport. Better look at Waze if they’re flying into Dulles. See if the flu or another round of COVID burns through Congress.

Yes. Understanding whether someone is for or against a given bill or amendment is always important in Congress. But what supersedes that is whether they’re actually present.

Comer report reveals Biden-Harris admin’s ‘rampant waste, fraud, abuse’

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EXCLUSIVE: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer revealed his committee’s oversight work of the Biden-Harris administration, telling Fox News Digital that Americans "cannot afford" another term of "incompetence."

Vice President Kamala Harris has "been an active participant in the worst administration in U.S. history that has inflicted untold harm on the American people," Comer told Fox News Digital. 

Comer compiled a 72-page report with the committee’s "118th Congress accomplishments," highlighting the committee’s work — including its investigation into the Biden family’s domestic and international business dealings, oversight of the Biden-Harris administration’s border crisis, as well as probing the fraud and abuse related to COVID unemployment relief benefits and the infiltration of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the U.S. 

"Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee are committed to achieving what Democrats have neglected: rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse within the federal government and holding the Biden-Harris Administration accountable," he said. "We have succeeded."

BIDEN COMMITTED ‘IMPEACHABLE CONDUCT,’ ‘DEFRAUDED UNITED STATES TO ENRICH HIS FAMILY’: HOUSE GOP REPORT

"Our thorough oversight and investigations have revealed rampant waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement in the Biden-Harris Administration, and we’ve provided the transparency and accountability the American people demand," Comer said. 

The report included the committee’s latest Secret Service oversight following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at his Butler, Pennsylvania, rally in July. Then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned the day after she publicly testified before the committee. 

"Americans cannot afford another four years of the same failed policies and incompetence," Comer told Fox News Digital. 

"Vice President Kamala Harris has been an active participant in the worst administration in U.S. history that has inflicted untold harm on the American people," Comer continued. "We must return to pro-growth, America-first policies to restore prosperity, liberty, and security for the American people."

During the 118th Congress, the House Oversight Committee held 135 hearings, sent more than 600 investigative letters, issued 51 subpoenas, heard testimony from 112 government witnesses and saw 23 bills passed in the House — with three signed into law. 

The committee investigated the Biden family’s business dealings, finding that from 2014 to the present, Biden family members and their associates received more than $27 million from foreign individuals or entities. The committee claimed that the family set up shell companies to conceal the payments from scrutiny. 

The White House previously ripped the investigation as an "evidence-free, politically-motivated" probe. 

Comer also co-led the impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Comer’s Oversight Committee led the inquiry after its monthslong investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings, alongside the House Judiciary Committee and House Ways & Means Committee. 

The committees concluded that Biden engaged in "impeachable conduct, "abused his office" and "defrauded the United States to enrich his family."

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"We also exposed Joe Biden’s corruption at the highest levels of government as he actively participated in his family’s influence peddling racket that made the Bidens millions from Chinese, Russian and other foreign entities," Comer told Fox News Digital. 

From those investigations, Comer, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department recommending Hunter Biden and James Biden be charged with making false statements to Congress about key aspects of the impeachment inquiry. 

The White House discounted the committee's investigations, calling the impeachment inquiry a "failed stunt" that "will only be remembered for how it became an embarrassment that their own members distanced themselves from as they only managed to turn up evidence that refuted their false and baseless conspiracy theories."

Following the investigation, Comer introduced the bipartisan Presidential Ethics Reform Act — a bill requiring presidents and vice presidents to disclose conflicts of interest while in office and disclose foreign payments, expensive gifts, loan transactions and tax returns during the two-year period prior to taking office, time in office, and for two years after leaving office. That bill also required presidents and vice presidents to make disclosures for immediate family members who receive foreign payments and other gifts, or who use official travel for personal business. 

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Regarding its oversight of the Biden-Harris administration’s border crisis, Comer said the committee found there have been more than 8 million illegal immigrants encountered entering the country and over 1.9 million gotaways — illegal immigrants who avoided agents but were detected by other forms of surveillance — since they took office. 

As for China, Comer sent letters to 25 federal agencies to investigate whether officials were aware of CCP outreach to the American public. The committee held briefings with 23 federal agencies revealing "there is no cohesive, government-wide strategy to identify, deter, and defeat CCP political warfare."

The committee also found that American taxpayers lost more than $100 billion to fraud and improper payments as a result of temporary unemployment insurance programs created in response to COVID-19. 

The committee also investigated Biden-Harris administration officials implementing a "radical environmental agenda" that Comer said is "jeopardizing jobs, energy security, and national security."

SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR CHEATLE RESIGNS AFTER MOUNTING PRESSURE IN WAKE OF TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Meanwhile, after the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump, Comer launched an oversight investigation into the U.S. Secret Service, acting "quickly" to investigate the "historic failure and prevent a similar incident from happening again in the future." 

Comer held an immediate hearing with Cheatle, who testified publicly about the egregious security lapses that led to the assassination attempt of Trump and the murder of an innocent attendee, Corey Comperatore. 

Cheatle resigned the following day. 

Most recently, Comer launched an investigation into Harris' running-mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, for alleged connections to the CCP. 

Comer said the committee's "effective, targeted oversight has led to transparency, accountability, and solutions for the American people." 

Dems eye possible Trump investigations if they win House majority

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Some House Democrats are already looking at the possibility of investigating former President Donald Trump if they win the House majority in November.

Two top lawmakers, Reps. Richard Neal, D-Mass., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., did not rule out probing Trump if he wins the White House in November.

Neal, the top Democrat on the House Ways & Means Committee who led the probe into Trump’s tax returns in the last Congress, told Fox News Digital it would be "hard to assess" whether he would see himself resuscitating that effort, but he added that the Supreme Court’s recent decision expanding presidential immunity could change the calculus.

"That would be speculative, but I certainly would not back away from the positions I’ve taken over the years on that issue," Neal said.

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Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, told Fox News Digital, "I’d rather look to the future than the past, but we’ll do our job."

In a longer statement provided to Fox News Digital on Wednesday, Raskin accused Republicans of ignoring issues like gun violence and prescription drug costs.

"Instead, for two years, House Republicans have used the gavel to pursue a laughingstock flop of an impeachment investigation to help their presidential nominee and personal cult leader, Donald Trump. Even worse, they have blocked and obstructed Democrats' efforts to investigate the corruption of Donald Trump and his autocrat allies," Raskin said.

"Investigating this endless corruption is critical for Congress to create legislative fixes to ensure government serves the people and to put an end to efforts to exploit the presidency and sell out our government to the highest bidder."

Meanwhile, rank-and-file Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., said investigations could be warranted into Trump’s family and their business dealings even if the former president lost his re-election bid.

Both singled out his son-in-law and former White House adviser Jared Kushner, whose investment firm got a $2 billion investment commitment from a fund led by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. 

"His family has some ongoing deals that we learned about after we went out of the majority that I think are worth visiting," Swalwell said. "The Kushners and the Saudi deal – I think people want some closure on that."

He took a shot at the House GOP’s probes into the foreign business dealings of President Biden’s son, Hunter, adding, "If you tell me you're interested in Hunter Biden, then you probably owe it to the country to be interested in what happened there."

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Goldman, an Oversight Committee member, told Fox News Digital, "I think if Trump wins, obviously that'll be the principal purpose [of the committee], is to provide the checks and balances that Congress needs to check, and that Donald Trump especially requires."

"I think there are a lot of really important, substantive issues that the committee has not investigated this year that are not partisan, that we should be focused on," he said, adding, "But we also were frustrated this term that obvious, obvious concerns were not investigated."

"How did Jared Kushner get $2 billion from Mohammed bin Salman for an investment company in something that he had never done before…That's a tremendous amount of money. There's been no investigation into that."

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Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt responded, saying, "Swalwell and Goldman should get a life. President Trump has endured two fake impeachments, four baseless witch-hunt indictments, and endless investigations into his businesses — all of which have failed because they are not based on facts but rather, they are fueled by the vitriolic Trump Derangement Syndrome that has taken over the Democrat Party."

Raskin’s investigatory efforts into Trump during this Congress, as leader of the Oversight Committee’s Democratic minority, could also offer a possible preview of what Democrats’ probes could look like in a second Trump term.

Earlier this month, he and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., sent a letter to Trump demanding that the former president prove he did not take a "cash bribe" from Egypt’s president in 2017. The letter was spurred by a Washington Post report that also alleged former Attorney General Bill Barr had blocked a probe into the matter.

Investigating Biden and his family has been a core focus of the committee under Chairman James Comer’s tenure. Comer, R-Ky., released a report recently accusing the president of having committed impeachable offenses – something the White House denies.

He denied that the intensity of his Biden probe could give Democrats cover to investigate Trump, however – insisting their inquiries into Trump were political.

"If the Democrats want to waste taxpayer dollars and time investigating the Trump administration again for the second time, then that's their prerogative. But we focused on waste, fraud and abuse and mismanagement by the federal government," Comer told Fox News Digital.

"If Trump wins…They're going to harass and obstruct every step of the way."

Blinken may be held in contempt after House GOP advances measure

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken could be held in contempt of Congress after a key House committee advanced the penal measure on Tuesday.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced a contempt resolution against the top Biden administration Cabinet secretary, setting it up for a House-wide vote after Congress returns from a six-week recess. A secretary of state has never in history been held in contempt.

"We have a duty of oversight, and no one’s above the law," McCaul told Fox News Digital Tuesday morning.

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Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News Digital, "I’m sure we will," when asked if there would be a House-wide vote on holding Blinken in contempt when Congress returns in November.

If the House votes to hold Blinken in contempt, he would be automatically referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal charges.

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The House GOP majority has already held another Biden official in contempt – Attorney General Merrick Garland. The DOJ declined to prosecute, however. 

House Republicans also voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, though it was quickly dismissed by the Senate.

McCaul has accused Blinken of stonewalling his committee’s probe into President Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

Blinken was absent from the hearing portion due to a full schedule at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, however.

In a letter sent to McCaul over the weekend, Blinken urged McCaul to withdraw his subpoena and efforts to hold him in contempt, saying he was "disappointed" with the Texas Republican.

"As I have made clear, I am willing to testify and have offered several reasonable alternatives to the dates unilaterally demanded by the Committee during which I am carrying out the President’s important foreign policy objectives," Blinken wrote.

But McCaul dismissed the Biden official’s arguments.

"I gave him any day," McCaul challenged. "Any day in September, and he refuses."

"He doesn't have one day in the whole month of September to show up before Congress? I mean, I've been very flexible with him since May to try to get cooperation."

It comes after McCaul’s committee released an explosive report detailing Biden administration shortfalls that led to the hasty military withdrawal from Kabul following a lightening-fast takeover of the country by the Taliban.

The Republican-led paper opens by hearkening back to President Biden’s urgency to withdraw from the Vietnam War as a senator in the 1970s. That, along with the Afghanistan withdrawal, demonstrates a "pattern of callous foreign policy positions and readiness to abandon strategic partners," according to the report.

The report also disputed Biden's assertion that his hands were tied to the Doha agreement former President Trump had made with the Taliban establishing a deadline for U.S. withdrawal for the summer of 2021, and it revealed how state officials had no plan for getting Americans and allies out while there were still troops there to protect them.

Two recent House contempt votes that resulted in criminal charges were those against former Trump administration advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro. Both were held in contempt by the previous House Democratic majority for failing to comply with subpoenas from the now-defunct House select committee on Jan. 6.

House Republicans cry ‘vindication’ after Hunter Biden guilty plea

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Congressional Republicans are claiming vindication after Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to nine federal tax-related charges on Thursday — and warning President Biden not to pardon his son.

Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital that he believes the plea "absolutely" affirms the accusations and findings GOP lawmakers have levied against the first family since before President Biden took office.

"It's also vindication for the whistleblowers," he added, accusing Hunter's defenders of trying to "wreck their careers."

Davidson said of Biden potentially pardoning his son, "I think it would be an abuse of that power for the president to do that, but I think a lot of people will be surprised if Joe Biden doesn't."

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The White House has said multiple times that the president will not pardon his son, but that has not stopped Republican-led skepticism from pouring in.

It comes after a bombshell House GOP report, which the White House has pushed back on, that accused the president of committing "impeachable offenses" by allegedly helping enrich himself and his family through foreign deals.

Meanwhile, House Ways & Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., whose committee is one of three that was investigating Biden via impeachment inquiry, similarly said the guilty plea upheld the testimony of whistleblowers who came to his panel.

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"Hunter Biden’s decision to plead guilty once again affirms the integrity of the IRS whistleblowers who recommended these exact charges over two years ago before being stonewalled by the Biden-Harris Justice Department. Had Joseph Ziegler and Gary Shapley not come forward, putting their reputations and careers at great risk in the process, Hunter Biden would have received a sweetheart plea deal for merely two misdemeanors," Smith told Fox News Digital.

Smith added as a veiled warning, "It remains to be seen whether President Biden will abuse the power of his office to ensure his son avoids the consequences of his felony tax crimes."

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who also co-led the probe, said, "Hunter Biden is finally admitting the obvious: he didn’t pay taxes on income he received by selling access to his father, Joe Biden."

A member of that committee, Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital, "We also can’t let Hunter Biden’s plea deal distract from the fact that he was the bag man in the Biden family’s influence peddling scheme that saw them amass some $27 million by selling political access to ‘the big guy,’ Joe Biden."

"For more than a decade, Hunter and his associates enriched themselves at the expense of the American people. By all means, Hunter needs to be held to account, but this is by no means the end when it comes to equal justice under the law," Fallon said.

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Biden and his allies have consistently pushed back on accusations levied by House Republicans, dismissing them as misrepresentations and political attacks.

But that has not convinced GOP lawmakers like Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who warned Biden not to pardon his son.

"Hunter Biden’s bait-and-switch stunt is a clear effort to avoid a messy trial that would reveal his father’s role in the family’s corrupt business dealings. Americans will once again witness the Bidens’ corruption go unpunished as President Biden will likely pardon his son on his way out of the Oval Office," Biggs said.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday that "no," Hunter Biden would not get a presidential pardon from his father, hours before he entered his guilty plea.

Biden himself said in June that he would "abide by the jury’s decision" when asked if he would pardon his son.

Balance of power: Five races that could decide control of the House in November

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As the presidential race heats up with less than three months until Election Day, candidates in smaller-scale races across the country are also sprinting to the November finish line.

Those include the 435 races that will decide control of the House of Representatives next year.

"I feel sort of bullish for Republicans right now," veteran GOP strategist Doug Heye told Fox News Digital. "This [presidential] race, especially in the swing states, is going to be so close that, to me, mitigates some of the ‘If Trump wins, Republicans keep the House, if Harris wins, Democrats take it back’ – that mitigates it for me to some extent."

Democratic strategist Joel Rubin, on the other hand, was confident in his party’s redistricting wins and renewed political enthusiasm since Vice President Kamala Harris took over the mantle from President Biden last month.

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"These 35, 40 swing districts, I think about 18 to 20 are Biden wins in red seats. So the map looks promising," Rubin said. "And the thing that’s distinct now from a month ago, obviously, is Democratic enthusiasm . . . I do think Democrats can take back the House with these kinds of numbers and these kinds of structural gains."

And with ever-shrinking margins in the House in recent years, it’s likely control of the House will come down to just several key races, five of which Fox News Digital highlighted below:

Freshman Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., is running against former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones in the New York suburbs just north of the Big Apple. His district is among several that Biden won in 2020, and Democrats see an opening to win it back.

Both Jones and Lawler have sought to paint each other as radicals, each tying his rival to the most unpopular policy stances in their respective parties. 

Lawler, for his part, has been ranked among the most bipartisan lawmakers in the 118th Congress.

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Jones, meanwhile, has reshaped himself closer to the center, going so far as to endorse the primary opponent of a former progressive anti-Israel colleague, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, which earned him ire from that faction of House Democrats.

"I think that’s a really important one, that’s a potential pickup for Democrats against a moderate, well-regarded Republican – but in a district that had been blue, and there are . . . seats that Democrats lost in New York that we should not have lost two years ago – and that was the difference between minority and the majority," Rubin said.

Heye said, "I’m betting on Lawler, he’s a good fit for that district. And I think there are still some divisions on the Democratic side."

Both Republicans and Democrats are looking at a portion of the Washington, D.C., suburbs in Virginia as a chance for victory in a district that Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., is vacating to run for governor.

The Democrat running is Eugene Vindman, the brother of Alexander Vindman, whose congressional testimony sparked the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump.

On the GOP side is Derrick Anderson, an attorney and former Special Forces Green Beret.

Spanberger won in 2017 by defeating a Tea Party Republican, and the GOP is eyeing a chance to take the seat back.

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"If I were designing, like, a prototype Democrat to run in a swing district, Spanberger is who I would design – perfect for that district, but she’s not running again. So that makes it harder for Democrats, and I know outside groups are putting money into [that race]," said Heye.

Rubin defended Vindman, pointing out both he and Spanberger were relevant to the national security space between his military experience and her time in the FBI.

"I think this is one where he can build off the Spanberger brand," he said.

Another competitive seat will be the one being vacated by Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., at the end of this year. 

The central Michigan district has grown more conservative in recent years, according to Bridge Michigan, though Biden eked out a 2% victory there over Trump in 2020.

That race is between Democratic State Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet and former Trump administration appointee Paul Junge.

Heye said of the open seat there and in Virginia, "What I’ve been hearing for a while now… is that the open seats have become a liability for Democrats with their math in taking back the House."

Maryland’s 6th congressional district could be Republicans’ best pickup opportunity in an otherwise majority-blue state, with Democratic Rep. David Trone leaving at the end of this year.

April Delaney, whose husband John Delaney held the Seat from 2013 to 2017, is running on the Democratic side against Republican former state delegate Neil Parrott.

The district leans blue, but a Washington Post story on the race pointed out that it also has 141,000 unaffiliated voters who could decide the outcome.

Rubin noted he was supportive of Delaney’s bid but conceded that having popular former governor Larry Hogan on the ballot for Senate could inspire more middle-of-the-road people to vote Republican in state congressional races.

Heye said he was also growing confident about Republicans’ chances in Alaska, where its lone congressional seat will be decided using ranked-choice voting.

"In Alaska, [Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola] could win, but to do so, she’s going to have to massively over-perform," the GOP strategist said. "If we’re talking two weeks ago, I would say Republicans are split, ranked-choice voting, the Democrats win. That framework doesn’t exist anymore."

The general election was meant to be a three-way race between Peltola, Republican Nick Begich, and Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom. 

Republicans have consolidated in recent days, however, with House GOP leadership getting behind Begich and Dahlstrom dropping out of the race.

Peltola, a moderate Democrat, is generally well-liked in the state, which voted for Trump by roughly 10 points over Biden in 2020. Those dynamics now make for what’s expected to be a close race.

Ex-Trump impeachment manager accuses House GOP of ‘fishing’ for Biden crimes after bombshell report

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A House Democrat who played a major role in the first impeachment of former President Trump is criticizing Republicans' own push against former President Biden.

"I don't see any evidence here. The problem is, is they wanted to try to create an impeachment, so they started with an impeachment and they went looking for evidence – fishing for it," Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., told Fox News Digital last week.

"There's just nothing there. And it's clear the report again confirms that. It's too bad we wasted so much valuable time in Congress going through that process."

Crow was one of seven House Democrats chosen by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to make the case for impeaching Trump in 2020. He was one of just two first-term lawmakers on that team.

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"Congress actually passed Ukraine funding. He withheld that funding, which is actually against the law – the president does not have the authority to withhold funding that's dedicated by Congress for a specific purpose," Crow said. "The job of the president is actually to make sure that funding is used appropriately and to implement it. So that happened, and then Congress investigated it, and then we went through an impeachment proceeding."

"Contrast that with the Republican approach, they just said they want to impeach Biden. And then they went looking for things to impeach him on – and, of course, didn't come up with anything."

His comments come after House Republicans released a report accusing Biden of committing impeachable offenses relating to his family's foreign business dealings.

It's the product of a years-long probe by the House committees on Oversight, the Judiciary and Ways & Means into whether Biden used his position as vice president to benefit himself or his family.

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Rep. James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, pushed back on Crow's comments via a spokesperson, telling Fox News Digital, "It comes as no surprise that a Democrat congressman who dismisses concerns about Joe Biden’s mental fitness to serve the remainder of his term also dismisses the clear evidence of Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s business schemes. 

"Bank records don’t lie and reveal the Bidens and their associates raked in nearly $30 million by selling the Biden brand. Multiple witnesses have confirmed Joe Biden was involved in his family’s business schemes as he dined, spoke, had coffee, and met with nearly all of his family’s foreign business associates. This is blatant corruption and abuse of public office."

The report said that "overwhelming evidence demonstrates that President Biden participated in a conspiracy to monetize his office of public trust to enrich his family."

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"Among other aspects of this conspiracy, the Biden family and their business associates received tens of millions of dollars from foreign interests by leading those interests to believe that such payments would provide them access to and influence with President Biden," the report said.

The committees said the Biden family and its associates received more than $27 million from foreign individuals or entities since 2014.

The White House said in response to the report last week, "This failed stunt will only be remembered for how it became an embarrassment that their own members distanced themselves from as they only managed to turn up evidence that refuted their false and baseless conspiracy theories. The American people deserve more from House Republicans, and perhaps now they will finally join President Biden in focusing on the real issues that American families actually care about."

Fox News Digital also reached out to the committees on the Judiciary and Ways & Means for comment on Crow's remarks but did not hear back by press time. 

Byron Donalds urges House GOP leaders to hold vote on Biden impeachment after bombshell report

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EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., is urging House GOP leaders to hold a chamber-wide vote on impeaching President Biden days after a highly anticipated report accused the commander in chief of committing impeachable offenses.

"I've felt that way for a long time. I'm on the Oversight Committee, I've seen all of the evidence up close and personal. It is without a doubt that he used his office when he was vice president to enrich his family as pay for play," Donalds told Fox News Digital. "That's public corruption."

Referencing the phone call with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy that precipitated the first impeachment of former President Trump, Donalds added, "Listen, if a phone call is quote-unquote, an impeachable offense, then public corruption absolutely is. I think the House should hold that vote."

House Republicans released a 292-page report on Monday, a joint effort by the House Oversight Committee, House Judiciary Committee and House Ways and Means Committee, arguing Biden engaged in "impeachable conduct."

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Those committees have been working on a monthslong investigation into whether Biden helped enrich himself and his family through foreign business deals while he was vice president.

Donalds' public pressure is significant; while a majority of House Republicans have publicly accused Biden of at least acting improperly, it's not clear that House leaders would risk forcing their most vulnerable GOP members to take such a weighty vote with just a razor-thin majority in the chamber.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., indicated in March that criminal referrals could be the end of the road for the probe. He told Newsmax the House "would vote to impeach Joe Biden right now," but "the best path to accountability is criminal referrals."

In his statement on the impeachment report on Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., praised the investigation as "thorough, diligent and thoughtful" but made no mention of a House-wide vote. Johnson himself has previously said he believes Biden is guilty of wrongdoing.

Donalds appeared to reference his colleagues' hesitation when he told Fox News Digital he would make the case for an impeachment vote to Johnson the next time he spoke with the GOP leader.

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"It'll definitely probably come up, and we'll see where it is," Donalds said. "And look, I know members, they all are trying to figure out what they're going to do in their re-elections, but we have a responsibility to hold the executive branch accountable. That is the job of Congress."

"I think one of the reasons why a lot of people are losing faith in our institutions is because it appears that people at the top of our politics just get away with everything and are never held accountable. And that's wrong."

In their report, Republicans said there is "overwhelming evidence" that Biden participated in a "conspiracy to monetize his office of public trust to enrich his family." They alleged that the Biden family and their business associates received tens of millions of dollars from foreign interests by "leading those interests to believe that such payments would provide them access to and influence with President Biden." 

The committees said the Biden family and its associates received more than $27 million from foreign individuals or entities since 2014.

FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN IN 2017 SENT 'BEST WISHES' FROM 'ENTIRE BIDEN FAMILY' TO CHINA FIRM CHAIRMAN, REQUESTED $10M WIRE

They also alleged that the Biden family leveraged Biden’s position as vice president to obtain more than $8 million in loans from Democratic benefactors. The loans "have not been repaid and the paperwork supporting many of the loans does not exist and has not been produced to the committees."

The White House said in response to the report, "This failed stunt will only be remembered for how it became an embarrassment that their own members distanced themselves from as they only managed to turn up evidence that refuted their false and baseless conspiracy theories. The American people deserve more from House Republicans, and perhaps now they will finally join President Biden in focusing on the real issues that American families actually care about."

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Donalds' remarks.

Trump shooting task force demands documents from top Biden officials in probe kickoff

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The House of Representatives is kicking off its formal probe into the attempted assassination of former President Trump on Monday.

The bipartisan Trump shooting task force sent a pair of letters announcing its investigation will now supersede several other ongoing House investigations into the matter and asking for all information sent to those committees about the July 13 shooting so far.

One letter was sent to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe; the other was addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Lawmakers are seeking staff-level briefings from each agency and department, to be scheduled by Aug. 16 – a signal that the task force is serious about its pledge for a short investigatory timeline. 

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"We, as the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump (Task Force), write to request documents and information related to the attempted assassination of former President Donald J. Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024," wrote Reps. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and Jason Crow, D-Colo.

There have been multiple Congressional inquiries launched into how a 20-year-old gunman was able to position himself on a rooftop just outside Trump's rally perimeter last month, opening fire and killing one rally attendee. Trump himself was shot in the ear and rushed offstage by Secret Service agents.

The task force is a push by House leadership to consolidate those efforts. The panel is armed with subpoena power and wide-ranging jurisdiction to probe the shooting, with the goal of producing an end-of-year report.

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Kelly and Crow asked that the Biden administration officials they wrote to "should produce documents and information directly to the Task Force from this point forward, including any documents and information that are in process in response to pending requests."

Lawmakers also asked for "all documents and information that have been produced to date, to any committee of the House or Senate related to the attempted assassination of former President Donald J. Trump" and "a briefing for staff to review DHS and USSS’ responses to Congress to date, and to discuss the Task Force’s priorities with respect to documents and information moving forward."

The task force, comprised of seven House Republicans and six House Democrats, was formed after a unanimous 416-0 vote last month.

One senior House Republican told Fox News Digital last month that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was inundated by House GOP lawmakers' requests and arguments to be on the panel. 

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Both Kelly and Crow have stressed that the investigation must be apolitical. 

Crow, a former Army Ranger, told Fox News Digital earlier this month that he and Kelly were discussing a possible trip to the Pennsylvania rally site where the shooting took place. Kelly, who was at the rally in Butler, represents the surrounding district.

"Chairman Kelly and I have discussed that, and we do think that would be an important thing to do if we have the support to do it," Crow said.

Reddy wins primary for Rep Davids’ seat that GOP is gunning to flip red

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An Indian-born U.S. military veteran won the GOP primary in the 3rd Congressional District of Kansas on Tuesday, a seat Republicans are hoping to win back in November.

Dr. Prasanth Reddy, a former physician-turned-high level Labcorp executive, was heavily favored to win the primary against challenger Karen Crnkovich.

Reddy was endorsed by top House Republicans including Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and was named to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) "Young Guns" list just last week.

He’s now moving on to face Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., a moderate Democrat seeking a fourth term in the House.

"Extreme House Democrat Sharice Davids has fueled the border, crime and cost of living crises that are wreaking havoc on Kansans’ safety and security. Prasanth Reddy is in a prime position to flip Kansas’ 3rd District red and help grow our House majority in November," Delanie Bomar, a spokeswoman for the House GOP campaign arm, said last week.

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Reddy had far outraised Crnkovich during the primary cycle, bringing in more than $1.3 million compared to her total of just over $150,000.

Both totals are significantly lower, however, than the $3 million and change that Davids has managed to raise. 

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Davids won her seat during the blue wave of 2018 and was among the first Native American women to be sworn into Congress. Davids is also the only Democrat in Kansas’ congressional delegation.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has her seat ranked as an R+1 district, making it a top target for Republicans hoping to keep and expand their razor-thin House majority.

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Davids won the district after defeating incumbent former Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., by just under 10 points, and has modestly expanded her margin of victory since.

The district is majority-White and includes much of the Kansas City metro area. It’s also the least red of Kansas’ congressional districts.