Axios Hill Leaders

July 17, 2025
Long night coming! 896 words, 3.5 minutes.
- š£ Thune calls Schumer's bluff
- š„ Senate Dems bash Israel
- š¤ Exclusive: $500K in 2 days
Situational awareness:
- Crypto week is turning into crypto welp for House Speaker Mike Johnson, who seems no closer to a deal tonight than he was at the time of last night's newsletter. But hope springs eternal.
- On Friday, President Trump will host Republican senators and their spouses at the White House for a dinner to celebrate their legislative victories, Axios' Alex Isenstadt has learned. The president also wants to enlist GOP lawmakers to help sell the bill when they are back home this summer.
1 big thing: š£ Thune calls Schumer's bluff
The Senate is plowing ahead tonight on $9 billion in cuts to PBS, NPR and foreign aid, threats from Democrats be damned.
Why it matters: Democratic leaders ā and some high-level Republicans ā say budget rescissions undermine the trust they need to pass the annual bipartisan spending deals.
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has warned Republicans they'll be left to figure out a potential government shutdown on their own if they keep the partisan cuts coming.
- But GOP leaders insist they aren't worried.
Between the lines: Democrats have a "valid concern" about making spending deals just to be undone through rescissions, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told reporters today.
- "We've actually shared with folks from the administration that the bigger challenge for them is ā appropriations take 60 votes," Rounds said.
The other side: Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told us he didn't think the appropriations would be any more difficult because of the rescissions package.
- "I think we can have a bipartisan process," he said, pointing to the appropriations bills that have already been voted out of committee with Democratic support.
- He said the Senate could even start voting on appropriations bills or the National Defense Authorization Act as early as before the August recess.
- "I think our first markup went well. The second one was mixed, but we've reported bills out of committee. I expect we're going to report more tomorrow," Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said on whether rescissions will complicate her job.
The simple math: Government spending bills require 60 votes to advance in the Senate.
- But rescission packages ā which cut specific spending from a budget ā can be passed with a simple majority, as they're set to tonight.
- "This is beyond a bait-and-switch ā it is a bait and poison-to-kill," Schumer said earlier this month.
The big picture: Votes on rescission packages originating from the White House are rare.
- It hasn't been done successfully since 1999.
ā Stef Kight, Stephen Neukam and Justin Green
2. š„ Senate Dems bash Israel
Mainstream Senate Democrats are starting to echo their party's base, which has soured on supporting Israel.
Zoom in: Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), a moderate Democrat from a swing state, this week slammed the Israeli government for the lack of humanitarian aid in Gaza and violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
- "There are times when, to me, it doesn't look like [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] is prioritizing the hostage situation," Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told us. "Certainly, there's times when it looks like Hamas does not want a deal."
- "I think it's way overdue to have Democratic members of Congress speak up and speak out about the humanitarian disaster in Gaza," Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), another moderate who has criticized Israel since the start of the war, told us today.
The big picture: The comments are part of a significant shift in tone toward Netanyahu from the center of the Democratic Party.
- Slotkin's post on X this week addressed the killing of an American by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and slammed Netanyahu for a lack of accountability.
- Slotkin, a former CIA analyst who spent time in Iraq, told us today she has heard "lots of negative feedback" about her post following a "very rough weekend in the Middle East."
The other side: Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has emerged as one of the strongest pro-Israel voices in the party.
- Fetterman offered his full support of President Trump's decision to attack Iran last month, saying the U.S. commitment to Israel must be "absolute."
The bottom line: Progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told us lawmakers are starting to understand "this is not just a moral issue, it's a political issue."
- Van Hollen, a leading Senate Democratic voice against the Netanyahu government, told us he's happy to have more Democrats speak up.
ā Stephen Neukam
3. š¤ Exclusive: $500K in 2 days

Janelle Stelson, a Pennsylvania Democrat who narrowly lost to Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) in 2024, raised more than $500,000 in the first 48 hours since announcing for 2026, we scooped earlier tonight.
Why it matters: For a candidate essentially asking donors for a second chance, those are encouraging numbers.
- Bombshell fundraising announcements can also make other potential Democratic hopefuls think twice about jumping into the primary.
- "We are building the coalition needed to win this seat and it's clear that momentum is on our side," Stelson said in a statement to us.
- The DCCC tends to encourage repeat candidates more than its GOP counterparts, with 10 Democratic challengers who ran for a second time in competitive seats in 2024.
Perry raised $885,000 in the second quarter of 2025, with $282,000 coming from direct transfers for leadership accounts, leaving him with $1.2 million cash on hand.
ā Hans Nichols
This newsletter was edited by Justin Green and copy edited by Kathie Bozanich.
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