Axios Hill Leaders

September 16, 2026
Pre-midterm activity abounds. Tonight's edition is 903 words, 3.5 minutes.
- π° Scoop: Schumer's $10M wager
- π₯ GOP feud boils over
π¨ Situational awareness: The House passed a sweeping Russia sanctions bill tonight, sending the long-awaited legislation to President Trump's desk.
- The measure, named in honor of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), would hand Trump fresh authority to impose secondary tariffs of up to 100% on buyers of Russian oil and gas.
1 big thing: π° Scoop: Schumer's $10M wager
The Democrats' main Senate super PAC is pouring an additional $10 million into the Michigan Senate race to boost progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, we've learned.
Why it matters: The Democratic establishment is coalescing around El-Sayed after a primary that was nasty, bruising β and late in the season.
- πΊ Republicans see Michigan as a top pickup opportunity and are flooding the airwaves to elect former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.).
- "All pathways to a Senate majority run through Michigan," El-Sayed said today after meeting with Democratic senators at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters.
πΊ Driving the news: The fresh $10 million from Senate Majority PAC, which is aligned with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), brings the group's spending in Michigan to $30 million. The new TV ads will begin airing Tuesday.
- "Mike Rogers spent years building a fortune everywhere but Michigan. Now he wants Donald Trump and Elon Musk to hand him a Senate seat," said Lauren French, a spokesperson for SMP. "We're not letting that happen."
Between the lines: Ahead of a private meeting with Schumer today, El-Sayed declined to say if he would support him for Democratic leader next year.
- "I'm looking forward to a productive meeting because we need to win in the state of Michigan," he told reporters.
π§ What we're hearing: Senators from across the ideological spectrum dropped by his DSCC open house, with El-Sayed personally assuring them that he would work hard to join them in the Senate next year, according to people familiar with the gathering.
- π¬ The conversations were friendly and forward-looking, and senators posed for pictures with El-Sayed.
- π "He's a great candidate. He's going to win, and we are all united," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), the DSCC chair.
- Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a potential 2028 presidential candidate, announced he would campaign with El-Sayed next month.
The other side: Republican outside groups are also pouring tens of millions of dollars into Michigan.
- A MAGA-aligned super PAC is preparing to spend $18 million in the state.
- In August, shortly after El-Sayed defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary, Senate Leadership Fund β the GOP's main Senate super PAC β announced an additional $6 million for Michigan, bringing its total commitment in the state to $51 million.
- The pro-Rogers Great Lakes Conservatives Fund has already spent about $10 million in the race.
π Zoom out: Since El-Sayed's Aug. 4 victory over Stevens, Democrats have been working to heal the raw divisions from the primary.
- But there are still some holdouts: Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.) has declined to endorse El-Sayed.
Zoom in: Republicans have attacked El-Sayed over his ties to Hasan Piker, a prominent left-wing streamer who campaigned with El-Sayed during the primary and whose comments about American Jews and Israel have been condemned as antisemitic by prominent Democrats.
- Last month, El-Sayed apologized for comments he made about a March attack on a suburban Detroit synagogue by a Lebanese-born man, in which he said that "hurt people hurt people."
- β El-Sayed has since put distance between himself and Piker, telling Semafor last month that he has "no plans" to campaign with the streamer again.
β Hans Nichols
2. π₯ GOP feud boils over
Mike Johnson's decision to send the House home early β again β is fueling an increasingly bitter feud with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) over whether the speaker is using the calendar to dodge politically painful votes.
Why it matters: The House will now be gone for more than six weeks ahead of the midterms, delaying Massie's effort to force a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his handling of the Iran war.
- π₯ "We had the Epstein recess last year. We got the Epstein recess this year, and then we got the Hegseth day off," Massie told us coming off an hourlong tirade on the House floor today.
- Massie's impeachment resolution has dim prospects in the GOP-controlled House, but it would have forced members to go on the record on Hegseth just weeks before the midterms.
π Driving the news: Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth yesterday as a privileged resolution, giving the House two legislative days to act.
- But Johnson's decision to cancel tomorrow's session pushes the matter until after the election.
- "He cut off the day tomorrow to avoid the vote," Massie said.
- π₯ Johnson (R-La.) disputed that characterization, calling Massie's claim "ridiculous" and the Kentucky Republican's impeachment push a "publicity stunt." He said he expects the House to table the resolution when lawmakers return.
π€ The intrigue: Massie took the fight to the House floor today, using a point of personal privilege to deliver an hourlong indictment of Johnson's leadership and the institution.
- Other lawmakers also spoke out against Johnson's decision, with Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) writing on X: "Canceling yet another day of votes is unacceptable.β¦ The Founders did not envision taking this much time off and still getting paid."
- It's not uncommon for lawmakers to recess for the entire month of October in an election year.
βΒ Kate Santaliz
This newsletter was edited by Kathleen Hunter and copy edited by Brad Bonhall.
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