Inside TMZ’s Capitol Hill playbook

TMZ’s new, kind of troll-y Washington team says they want to provide factual information, from what bills are passing to who’s clogging the toilets in Congress.

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‘Just do the math’: GOP senators get antsy about Trump Cabinet shakeup

Approving replacements for Donald Trump’s embattled deputies could get complicated, lawmakers are warning.

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Steny Hoyer set to announce retirement from Congress

The former second-ranking House Democrat has held his seat since 1981.

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House punts Mills censure attempt to the Ethics Committee

The House voted 310-103 Wednesday night to send a rebuke of Republican Rep. Cory Mills to the Ethics Committee — a move that now puts larger efforts to censure the Florida Republican on ice. House Republican leaders put the motion on the floor to derail an attempt by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) to formally censure Mills in a rare intraparty feud. Her measure would also have removed him from the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees. The House Ethics Committee announced earlier in the day Wednesday it would form an investigative subpanel to explore whether Mills broke House rules, laws or other standards in violating campaign finance rules or engaged in sexual misconduct or dating violence, among other issues. The Ethics panel’s announcement helped give political cover for Republicans who might have felt pressure to vote to admonish Mills. “I think it’s very clear that the actual committee of jurisdiction is in fact the Ethics Committee. Cooperating with them is my top priority. I believe all the accusations and false things being said will be proven to be absolutely false in many ways, and I have the evidence and receipts and look forward to working with them,” said Mills on the House floor. This isn’t the first time Mace and Mills have publicly sparred. Mills was one of several House Republicans who voted down Mace’s attempt to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) in September, leading to a series of testy exchanges between the two that spilled onto social media. The House has been separately embroiled this week in an escalating disciplinary fight. Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.) received an admonishment from the legislative body Tuesday for his controversial machinations around his retirement, while Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.) narrowly avoided censure later that night over her communications with the late convicted sex offender Jefrrey Epstein. Democrats responded to the Plaskett effort by suggesting they would force a vote on a measure reprimanding Mills, but stood down after the Plaskett resolution failed. The series of events stoked accusations from some Republicans that Hill leadership of both parties had struck a deal to protect Plaskett and shield Mills. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sidestepped the question earlier Wednesday when asked whether there was such a deal, instead reiterating Democratic threats to bring more retaliatory censure measures against Republicans if more were introduced against Democrats.

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Congress plots path for Russia sanctions bill with Trump’s blessing

Lawmakers are quietly discussing how to quickly move new Russia sanctions legislation — this time with President Donald Trump’s blessing. “The president has now weighed in, in support of the Russia sanctions legislation,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Wednesday, adding that he believed the House would need to make the first move in advancing the measure. However, House GOP leaders have long believed the Senate needs to act first. Members of the House and Senate are expected to talk Wednesday about advancing the long-stalled bill after Trump privately told top Republicans he supports it, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Graham also told reporters Wednesday that the White House sent him a statement that very day about the bill, and that lawmakers involved in its drafting have signed off. The bill would impose tariffs on countries that import Russian energy and implement secondary sanctions on foreign firms that support Russian energy production. “It’s moving,” Graham declared after a closed-door GOP conference lunch. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), who is supporting a bipartisan companion bill of Graham’s in the House, said in an interview Wednesday he believes his chamber could quickly pass the sanctions bill if Trump gave his public blessing. Wilson predicted it would receive overwhelming support from Republicans and Democrats. He conceded that “15 percent” of members of the House GOP Conference “are isolationist” and will vote against Russia sanctions in any scenario. Despite potentially loud protests from that sliver of Republicans, however, Wilson predicted it wouldn’t be enough to tank the effort. But House leadership hasn’t yet said if, or when, it will take up the Russia sanctions legislation, and Congress is quickly running out of time before the end of the year to take action. Thune, on Wednesday, pointed to a December agenda in the Senate already overloaded with appropriations, a defense policy bill, nominations and health care vote. Asked if he believed sanctions could pass this year, he said, “we’ll see.”

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Chuy García was the first signer of top aide’s ballot petitions, document shows

The Illinois Democrat has sought to distance himself from an apparent scheme to install his chief of staff as his successor. Rep. Chuy García has denied purposely clearing a path for his chief of staff to take his seat without facing a primary, but a document filed with Illinois elections officials shows he was the first to sign her nominating petitions, days before he announced his retirement. García said Tuesday in a note to Democratic colleagues obtained by POLITICO that he “did not circulate petitions for any Congressional campaign except my own.” But that obscures his apparent knowledge of the effort by his top aide, Patty García, to get on the ballot. A petition signature page submitted by Patty García to the Illinois Board of Elections shows the congressman and his closest allies, whom Chuy Garcia has also helped get elected over the years, signed their names. They include Cook County Commissioner Alma Anaya, Illinois state Sen. Celina Villanueva, state Reps. Aaron Ortiz and Norma Hernandez, and Chicago City Council members Jeylú Gutiérrez and Michael Rodriguez. The form is dated Nov. 1, two days before the filing deadline and three days before Rep. García formally announced his retirement. The two Garcías are not related. Fabiola Rodriguez-Ciampoli, a spokeswoman for the congressman, said signing a petition is not the same as circulating them. “He did not circulate petitions” for his chief of staff’s campaign, she said. The House is set to vote Tuesday afternoon on a measure brought by Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez rebuking Rep. Garcia’s move, which essentially assures that Patty García will succeed him as Democratic nominee and likely winner of the 2026 election. Democratic leaders have signaled they are backing the veteran Chicago lawmaker and are whipping against the measure. “We disagree with the resolution that’s being offered, and we should be talking about issues that affect the American people,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), the third-ranking House Democrat. Lead Art: Illinois Congressman Jesús "Chuy" García participates in a House Transportation Committee hearing in 2024. | Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP

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House approves Epstein files bill in near-unanimous vote

The legislation is now on track toward the desk of President Donald Trump, who spent months trying to kill it.

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Capitol agenda: Trump blinks on Epstein as GOP rebels

The president's U-turn comes after he spent months trying to block an effort to force the release of more Epstein files.

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Trump signs bill ending longest government shutdown in US history

After the House cleared the bill earlier in the evening, the president signed it into law in an Oval Office ceremony.

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House votes to reopen government after 43-day shutdown

The measure now heads to the White House, where President Donald Trump’s signature will end the historic funding lapse.

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Epstein files vote happening next week, Johnson says

The speaker said he would move up the timeline after a bipartisan discharge effort succeeded Wednesday.

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House GOP committee leaders to hold health care brainstorming sessions

The conversations with members will also focus on the fate of expiring Obamacare tax credits.

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