U.S. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., leaves a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II at the Capitol on Dec. 4, 2024, in Washington, D.C.  (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was injured while on an official trip to Luxembourg to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge and admitted to a hospital, her office said Friday.

“Speaker Emerita Pelosi is currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals,” spokesperson Ian Krager wrote in a statement.

“She continues to work and regrets that she is unable to attend the remainder of the CODEL engagements to honor the courage of our servicemembers during one of the greatest acts of American heroism in our nation’s history,” Krager wrote, using the abbreviation for congressional delegation, the term for an official trip.

“Speaker Emerita Pelosi conveys her thanks and praise to our veterans and gratitude to people of Luxembourg and Bastogne for their service in World War II and their role in bringing peace to Europe.”

Krager wrote in the statement that after sustaining “an injury” Pelosi “was admitted to the hospital for evaluation.” He didn’t provide any additional details. The Associated Press reported that Pelosi “tripped and fell while at an event with the other members of Congress.”

Pelosi, 84, was sworn in as a member of Congress in June 1987 and rose through the ranks to become the first woman in the country’s history to hold the speaker’s gavel.

House Democrats elected Pelosi speaker in 2007 and she remained the top member of the party in the House until January 2023, when New York Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries became minority leader following his election by Democrats.

After she retired from leadership at the beginning of this Congress, she took on the title of speaker emerita.

Pelosi represents California’s 11th Congressional District, which covers parts of San Francisco.

Voters in the district reelected Pelosi to another two-year term in Congress during November’s elections. She secured 81% of the vote in the heavily Democratic district over a Republican challenger.

Pelosi’s undisclosed injury came just days after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., fell in the U.S. Capitol, sustaining an injury to his wrist and a small cut on his face.

Lawmakers on trip

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., led the bipartisan trip that included House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas; House Republican Policy Committee Chair Gary Palmer, of Alabama; House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chair Mike Bost, R-Ill; and House Veterans’ Affairs Committee ranking member Mark Takano, D-Calif.

Reps. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif; Andrew Clyde, R-Ga.; Neal Dunn, R-Fla.; Scott Franklin, R-Fla; Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis.; John Joyce, R-Pa; Thomas Kean Jr., R-N.J.; Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa; Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas; Keith Self, R-Texas; Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa.; Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis.; and Joe Wilson, R-S.C., also attended.

The U.S. Embassy in Luxembourg posted a photo showing the group on social media on Friday.

The photo shows Wyoming GOP Sen. John Barrasso, Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan and Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran were on the trip as well. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, speaks with reporters inside the U.S. Capitol after returning from a meeting at the White House on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024.  (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday tripped and fell after a GOP lunch, sprained his wrist and sustained a small cut on his face, his office said in a statement.

The Kentucky Republican is doing fine, and after receiving medical attention, “has been cleared to resume his schedule,” his office said in the three-sentence statement read to reporters.

McConnell, 82, is a polio survivor, and has tripped in the past.

The incoming Senate GOP leader, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, said that McConnell was “fine” and deferred all other questions to McConnell’s office. 

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, speaks during a press conference inside the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)   

WASHINGTON — Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell announced Thursday he’ll become chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and the Rules Committee when the new Congress convenes in January. 

“America’s national security interests face the gravest array of threats since the Second World War,” McConnell wrote in the announcement. “At this critical moment, a new Senate Republican majority has a responsibility to secure the future of U.S. leadership and primacy.”

Maine Sen. Susan Collins currently holds the top Republican slot on the Defense Subcommittee, which drafts the Pentagon’s annual spending bill, worth $825 billion.

Collins is expected to become chairwoman of the full Appropriations Committee next year and McConnell said in the statement he looks forward to working with her “to accomplish our shared goal.”

It wasn’t immediately clear Thursday if Collins would become chairwoman of one of the Appropriations Committee’s other 11 subcommittees.

Current Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., not only leads the full panel but is also chairwoman of the Energy-Water Subcommittee, for example.

McConnell will also take over the Senate Rules Committee, one of the oldest panels in the chamber that holds a broad jurisdiction.

“Defending the Senate as an institution and protecting the right to political speech in our elections remain among my longest-standing priorities,” McConnell wrote in his statement. “Ranking Member Deb Fischer has done an outstanding job advancing these causes, and I know she will remain a key partner in the committee’s ongoing work.”

Nebraska Republican Sen. Fischer secured reelection this year against a closer-than-expected challenge from an independent candidate in the Cornhusker State.

Thune taking over from McConnell

McConnell remained an active member of both the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Rules Committee after he became Senate Republican leader in 2007.

He’s stepping aside from that leadership role when the new Congress begins in January but will remain a member of the Senate.

Senate Republicans elected South Dakota’s John Thune to become the majority leader once they take over control of the upper chamber in January after flipping four seats in this year’s election.

McConnell is up for reelection in 2026 and hasn’t said yet if he’ll seek another six-year term in the Senate or opt to retire.

McConnell, 82, was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984. 

U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota,. arrives for the Senate Republican leadership elections at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 13, 2024 in Washington, D.C.  Thune was elected to be the majority leader in the next session of Congress.  (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Republicans on Wednesday elected their leadership teams for the next Congress, opting for a new slate in the Senate while reelecting many of the same lawmakers in the House.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune will become that chamber’s next majority leader, marking the first time since 2007 that Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell hasn’t held the top GOP slot after choosing to retire from leadership.

Thune defeated Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Florida Sen. Rick Scott during the closed-door, secret ballot. 

“We’re excited to reclaim the majority and to get to work with our colleagues in the House to enact President (Donald) Trump’s agenda,” Thune said during a press conference. “We have a mandate from the American people — a mandate, not only to clean up the mess left by the Biden-Harris-Schumer agenda, but also to deliver on President Trump’s priorities.”

Thune said border security, deregulation and energy policy would be among the top policy areas GOP senators pursue once the new Congress begins.

He also pledged to “be a leader who serves the entire Republican Conference” and noted the GOP has “an ambitious agenda that will take each and every Republican working together” to achieve.

More new GOP leaders

Senate Republicans also elected a new slate of new leaders during the Wednesday elections, all of whom will take on their new roles in January.

Wyoming’s John Barrasso, who ran unopposed, will become the assistant majority leader next Congress, holding the No. 2 slot in the Senate that was previously referred to as the whip.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton defeated Iowa’s Joni Ernst for the No. 3 leadership post of conference chair.

West Virginia’s Shelley Moore Capito was elected as the Republican Policy Committee chair, Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford received his colleagues’ backing for conference vice chair, and South Carolina’s Tim Scott will become the next chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Trump made demands of the next Senate Republican leader ahead of the election, writing on social media that whoever is chosen should recess the chamber early next year so he can appoint whoever he wants without having to go through the confirmation process.

Thune said during the press conference Wednesday the Senate would work quickly to vet and confirm Trump’s nominees, but didn’t fully commit to recessing the chamber for the 10 days minimum that’s required for recess appointments.

“What we’re going to do is make sure that we are processing his nominees in a way that gets them into those positions, so they can implement his agenda,” Thune said. “How that happens remains to be seen.”

“Obviously, we want to make sure our committees have confirmation hearings, like they typically do, and that these nominees are reported out to the floor,” Thune added. “But I’ve said this, and I mean it, that we expect a level of cooperation from the Democrats; to work with us to get these folks installed. And obviously we’re going to look at, explore all options to make sure that they get moved and get moved quickly.”

Building trust

South Dakota GOP Sen. Mike Rounds said after the election that Thune was able to secure the votes needed to win after spending years building trust.

“For a lot of people, it was that sense of comfort with John Thune of being able to represent what we believe — the fact that they knew that they could go to him and talk to him privately, and that he was not going to be doing this as ‘I’m going to tell the conference what to do,’ but rather, ‘We’re going to, as a conference, move forward, and we will find consensus as we do it, because we need everybody to support the vast majority of the things that we’re going to get done,’” he said.

Rounds, an early backer of Thune in the race, said his fellow South Dakota senator voted in support of Trump’s policies “more than 90% of the time when he was in office.”

South Dakota veteran lawmaker

Thune, 63, was elected to the Senate in 2004 after spending six years in the U.S. House of Representatives.

He currently holds the title of Republican whip, but has done stints as Republican Conference vice chair, Republican Policy Committee chair, Republican Conference chair and chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Thune has given dozens of floor speeches and press conferences during his time in the Senate, but highlighted his support for bipartisanship in April 2021, applauding Democrats, who were in the majority, for working with the GOP on legislation.

“The Senate was designed to promote moderation and consensus. It was intended to be a check on the more partisan — or as the founders would put it, factious — House of Representatives,” Thune said during a floor speech. “The Senate fulfills its constitutional role best when it engages in serious, bipartisan consideration and negotiation and ensures that members of both parties are heard.”

He then pressed lawmakers from both parties to adopt that framework to negotiate infrastructure legislation in the months ahead.

Control of Congress and White House

Thune will have to break from those beliefs a bit during the next two years as Republicans use what is expected to be unified control of government to move through as much conservative legislation as they can via the complex budget reconciliation process.

That legislative pathway will allow Republicans to get around the Senate’s 60-vote legislative filibuster, which typically forces bipartisanship on major legislation.

The GOP used the process to try to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, during the first Trump administration, but were unsuccessful. Republicans were able to use it to enact the 2017 tax law.

Democrats used budget reconciliation to approve a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package and their signature climate change, health care and tax package called the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, during the first two years of President Joe Biden’s term.

Thune expressed frustration during his April 2021 floor speech that Democrats had used the process to avoid negotiating with Republicans senators on those two laws.

“Our Founders established a democratic republic instead of a pure democracy because they wanted to balance majority rule with protection for minority rights. They knew that majorities could be tyrants, so they wove protection for minority rights into our system of government,” Thune said at the time. “The Senate was one of those protections. That is why we should be preserving rules like the filibuster, which ensures that the minority party and the many Americans it represents have a voice in legislation.”

House Republican leaders

In the House, Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana received his party’s nomination for speaker for a second time, but he’ll need to secure the votes to hold the gavel in the 119th Congress during a floor vote in January.

Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise was reelected as House Republican leader and Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer secured the votes needed to continue as the whip. Both ran unopposed.

Michigan Rep. Lisa McClain will become the Republican Conference chairwoman, succeeding New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, whom President-elect Donald Trump has said he’ll nominate as ambassador to the United Nations. McClain defeated Florida Rep. Kat Cammack for the role.

Indiana Rep. Erin Houchin will become conference secretary. Utah Rep. Blake Moore will become conference vice chairman. Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern will become policy chairman. And North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson will remain chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee for another two years.

Johnson said during a press conference after the closed-door elections that the GOP was ready to begin passing legislation as soon as the new Congress begins on Jan. 3.

“I know you’re all tired of hearing my football metaphors, but we have a very well-designed playbook. We will begin to execute those plays with precision on day one,”

Emmer signaled the potential speed bumps ahead during that press conference, referencing some challenges the GOP has faced with small margins in the House during the last two years.

“As the 118th Congress proved, it may not always be smooth sailing, and we may have some disagreements along the way, but I’ve always been a firm believer that there’s more that unites us than divides us,” Emmer said. “So long as we work together as a team, I have no doubt we will seize the opportunity in front of us.”

Shauneen Miranda contributed to this report.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, shown walking to his office in this January 2024 photo, didn't rule out the possibility Wednesday of a funding lapse Oct. 1 as Congress debates a short-term government funding bill. (Anna Rose Layden | Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Congress has 12 days left to approve a short-term government funding bill before the shutdown deadline, though leaders in the Republican House and Democratic Senate haven’t felt the need to start negotiations just yet.

House GOP leaders, instead, attempted to pass a six-month continuing resolution Wednesday that carried with it a bill requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote, but were unsuccessful.

The 202-220 vote in the House, with two members voting present and 14 Republicans in opposition, came shortly after Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called on lawmakers to force a government shutdown as leverage to enact the voter ID law.

“If Republicans don’t get the SAVE Act, and every ounce of it, they should not agree to a Continuing Resolution in any way, shape, or form,” Trump wrote on social media, doubling down on a shutdown statement he made last week.

The unsuccessful House vote could provide space for Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, to negotiate with the Senate.

But, with just one week left in the session before Congress departs for a six-week election break, there’s not much time for leaders to find consensus, draft a bill, hold votes in both chambers and secure President Joe Biden’s signature.

Johnson, asked repeatedly by reporters Wednesday about the possibility of a shutdown, didn’t entirely rule out a funding lapse beginning on Oct. 1.

“We’ll see what happens with the bill,” Johnson said before the vote. “We’re on the field in the middle of the game, the quarterback is calling the play, we’re going to run the play.”

Blaming the Senate

Johnson criticized the Senate for not being further along in the annual appropriations process, seeking to place the blame for a stopgap spending bill and a possible shutdown on that chamber.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved 11 full-year government funding bills with broadly bipartisan votes this summer, but experienced challenges with the Homeland Security funding measure.

The House Appropriations Committee approved all dozen of its bills along party-line votes and was able to move five of those across the floor with GOP support, but not broad backing from Democrats.

House and Senate leaders haven’t allowed the two chambers to begin conferencing the bills that have either passed out of committee or off the floor, despite that being a regular occurrence in past years.

It’s highly unlikely leaders will bring any more of the full-year spending bills to the floor this fall, making the election results the biggest piece of the puzzle that will change between now and the end of the calendar year.

McConnell: Shutdown would be ‘politically, beyond stupid’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has repeatedly called on his colleagues to avoid a shutdown, though he hasn’t jumped in to negotiate a stopgap bill and doesn’t seem inclined to do so.

“I think we first have to wait and see what the House sends us,” McConnell said during a Tuesday press conference. “My only observation about this whole discussion is the one thing you cannot have is a government shutdown. It would be, politically, beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election because, certainly, we’d get the blame.”

McConnell then referenced the saying that there’s no “education in the second kick of a mule” and noted funding the government for a few more months will “ultimately end up being a discussion between” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Johnson.

“I’m for whatever avoids a government shutdown,” McConnell added.

Election year drama

Leaning on a stopgap spending bill has been a regular part of Congress’ annual appropriations process for nearly three decades. During that time, lawmakers have consistently failed to approve all the full-year government funding bills before the Oct. 1 deadline.

The September struggle to approve a continuing resolution, which is intended to give lawmakers a bit more time to reach bicameral agreement on the full-year spending bills, has become increasingly dramatic with election-year politics ratcheting up the posturing this year.

In divided government, any legislation to fund the government must be bipartisan, or it all but guarantees a shutdown.

The House’s failed six-month continuing resolution also wasn’t supported by most Senate Republicans.

GOP senators argued it was too lengthy and could have hindered that chamber’s ability to confirm the next president’s Cabinet during the first few months of 2025.

Senate Republicans and defense hawks in the House also said that leaving the Department of Defense on autopilot for half of the next fiscal year was an abdication of Congress’ responsibility and a threat to national security.

December end date eyed

The final stopgap spending bill that Congress approves in the days ahead will likely last through Dec. 20, the final day this year that Congress is scheduled to be in session. It is also unlikely to include the voter registration ID component.

That final, bipartisan continuing resolution could also include a plus-up in spending for the Secret Service or a provision that allows the agency to spend its stopgap allocation at a faster rate to bolster Trump’s security following two apparent assassination attempts.

Florida Republican Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, chairman of the State-Foreign Operations spending panel, said Wednesday that if he was a betting man, he’d expect Congress to pass a stopgap spending bill through mid-December.

“The first thing is, we can’t have a shutdown,” Díaz-Balart said. “I think most people here understand that that would be catastrophic, particularly when half the world is in flames.”

During a government shutdown, some federal workers continue reporting to the office without pay while the rest are furloughed until Congress approves a new funding bill. All federal employees impacted by a shutdown receive back pay.

A shutdown this October would affect all the departments and agencies funded within the annual process, including the departments of Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and State.

Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson, chairman of the Interior-Environment appropriations subcommittee, said he was sure there would be no shutdown but didn’t detail how exactly Congress would broker a bipartisan agreement in the days ahead.

“I don’t think anybody wants to shut the government down,” Simpson said. “That’s not a viable option.”

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