Senior political reporter @politico │ Minnesota raised
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Scoop: Trump officials are weighing alternatives to imposing a ban on diesel exports to bring prices for the fuel down from record highs — including passing the issue down to the state level
Among the evolving set of options under consideration by Trump officials are measures to boost distribution of “dyed diesel,” a red-colored diesel used in agriculture and for other off-road vehicles that is exempt from state and federal taxes.
The White House would also encourage more states to temporarily eliminate their state-level excise taxes on diesel ahead of the midterms. Some GOP guvs have already done so.
No decisions have been made. But internal talks are ongoing and idea is for a diesel plan announcement by early next week.
W/ @bjlefebvre
politi.co/4yYWsC4 via @politico
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Mobile, Alabama’s media market also reaches into the Florida panhandle - where Republicans really want to push turnout to shore up Florida Rs >>
Scoop: Trump is eyeing a rally in Alabama late next week, per 2 sources who said the plans were still subject to change/not yet set in stone
Dems have made ground in plenty of red states, but AL is not considered one of them
w/@meredithllee
politico.com/news/2026/09/24…
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Meredith Lee Hill retweeted
Scoop: Trump is eyeing a rally in Alabama late next week, per 2 sources who said the plans were still subject to change/not yet set in stone
Dems have made ground in plenty of red states, but AL is not considered one of them
w/@meredithllee
politico.com/news/2026/09/24…
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Meredith Lee Hill retweeted
NEW: House Republicans for decades have prided themselves on their strict three-term limit for committee leaders, saying it promotes fresh blood in the party ranks.
But as that limit has grown less strict, and a growing number of GOP lawmakers are aching for a crackdown. Multiple GOP chairs are asking the influential Steering Committee to extend their terms as the top R on their panels.
Depending on the outcome of the midterms — and the subsequent GOP leadership elections — Steering could also see an influx of younger members who might be even less inclined to give longtime committee leaders a two-year extension.
“They don’t owe the old guys anything,” Rep. Rich McCormick told me in an interview. “They don’t see seniority as the main thing anymore, because even leadership is pretty young. So this is a whole new generation.”
Read my breakdown of the dynamics at play in this behind-the-scenes battle: politico.com/news/2026/09/24…
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News - The White House is preparing a plan for a 90-day diesel export ban — despite splits inside the administration and with the oil industry as GOP panic spreads over high fuel prices
Legal process is still being worked out and internal infighting is high.
Some GOP lawmakers, refining industry executives and even some admin officials are still trying to convince President Trump it’s a bad idea.
w/ @bjlefebvre @scottpwaldman
politi.co/4jkxyIk via @politico
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NEW — Chatter has been picking up in House GOP leadership that if the Senate passes permitting reform, they’re inclined to bring the House back before the election.
That’s still a highly dicey prospect and the House would need to see final text.
They’d also have to vote on the triggered Hegseth impeachment vote - which they seem willing to stomach if permitting gets done.
Barring that, House GOP leadership is not planning to bring the chamber back for a NIL deal by itself. (Trump wants to sign a bill and could add pressure though)
Or to debate hard items like a gas tax suspension, diesel export ban or E15 - as Rep. Ashley Hinson called for yesterday - which do not have the votes.
more w/ @Reporter_Mia @kelseybrugger
politico.com/newsletters/ins…
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Scoop - By Sunday night, Michigan GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers had filmed an ad at a grocery store decrying high prices and, straight to camera, breaking with Trump to call for an end to the Iran war.
Rogers’ team was putting the finishing touches on the ad Monday morning when Rep. Ashley Hinson, the Iowa GOP Senate nominee, posted her own call to end the war and lower prices directly on social media.
Inside the early rush to break with Trump >
politi.co/4iEuneo via @politico
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NEW — The diesel export ban Trump is mulling is rife with internal GOP fighting behind the scenes.
Trump’s team is getting an earful from GOP lawmakers in oil states who oppose the move, per sources. But a growing number of vulnerable Midwest Rs desperately want it ahead of peak harvest season and Election Day.
That makes any decision before the midterms highly problematic with at least one corner of the party.
Both the top House GOP leaders — Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise — have opposed similar measures in the past as a way to protect their oil state of Louisiana.
The Texas GOP delegation is also “strongly opposed,” according to another Republican.
But unlike some other gas price options - Hill GOP leadership says Trump can enact the diesel export ban unilaterally through emergency powers — without Congress — ahead of the midterms.
politi.co/4iEuneo via @politico
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Hinson’s escalation on this since the weekend is really stunning
One notable piece is Hinson and Mike Rogers both use top Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio in their campaigns.
politico.com/news/2026/09/22…
The House should return to DC immediately to work to pause diesel exports, suspend the gas tax, fully unleash E15 and biodiesel, and work on a diesel relief program for truckers and farmers.
Americans need relief and I’ll work with anyone to deliver.
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🚨Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) tells @politico:
“The war needs to come to an end as quickly as possible so that we can lower gas prices.”
It’s his furthest comments yet on the Iran war amid sky-high fuel prices.
But a spokesperson says Husted will NOT vote for the Dem-led war powers resolution this week when it comes up in the Senate — showing how he’s walking a finer with Trump and Vance expected to visit in the coming weeks to help shore up his tight race.
w/ @_alibianco @erinpdoherty
politico.com/news/2026/09/22…
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Re Kansas — Two weeks ago, POLITICO overheard a senior member of Kansas’ Republican party leadership complaining about their state’s tighter-than-expected Senate race on a shuttle at the GOP convention in Dallas.
GOP Sen. Roger Marshall, the person said, was in some trouble even as Republicans tried to dismiss the seriousness of his Democratic challenger, Adam Hamilton.
Top national Rs are still largely dismissing those concerns - but their internal polling has had Trump’s approval underwater in deep red Kansas for months.
politico.com/news/2026/09/22…
NEW - Inside the shifting Senate map as Rs try to stem the bleeding
Top Rs are most alarmed about Alaska and Ohio. Then highly focused on Maine and flipping Michigan + NH.
They’ve quietly deprioritized NC and Georgia - and many see NC mainly as a money sink for Dems.
Even with the Texas concerns - top Rs are more worried about the Midwest, incl Iowa, than the Sunbelt given the unrelenting blows to the Midwest economy.
It’s keeping Iowa in an uncomfortable spot for them, raising Ohio alarm and and absolutely hammering Rogers and Rs in Michigan.
senior Republicans have been working their midterms problem from two ends:
trying to gently persuade Trump in private conversations to back off some of his recent policy moves and wind down the war in Iran — while also organizing a wave of cash reinforcements across the growing map to try to stem the bleeding.
More w/ @erinpdoherty @jsscppr @andrewjfhoward
politi.co/4AppEDR via @politico
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NEW - Inside the shifting Senate map as Rs try to stem the bleeding
Top Rs are most alarmed about Alaska and Ohio. Then highly focused on Maine and flipping Michigan + NH.
They’ve quietly deprioritized NC and Georgia - and many see NC mainly as a money sink for Dems.
Even with the Texas concerns - top Rs are more worried about the Midwest, incl Iowa, than the Sunbelt given the unrelenting blows to the Midwest economy.
It’s keeping Iowa in an uncomfortable spot for them, raising Ohio alarm and and absolutely hammering Rogers and Rs in Michigan.
senior Republicans have been working their midterms problem from two ends:
trying to gently persuade Trump in private conversations to back off some of his recent policy moves and wind down the war in Iran — while also organizing a wave of cash reinforcements across the growing map to try to stem the bleeding.
More w/ @erinpdoherty @jsscppr @andrewjfhoward
politi.co/4AppEDR via @politico
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NEW — We need to stop the contagion’: GOP ramps up midterms defense in Trump states
Republicans are playing defense deep in their own territory as voter anger over price hikes grows.
Rs are increasingly worried about Husted in Ohio and the wider Midwest amid soaring diesel prices. Trump and Vance both expected to go to Ohio before Election Day.
Tariffs are pummeling Mike Rogers - who just broke with Trump over the Iran war - and GOP candidates in Michigan.
“Everywhere we go, we are getting hammered on it,” one Michigan Republican said. “It’s crushing us.”
Since Aug. 1, more than $110 million in ad bookings have gone toward Republican-held districts so red that Trump won them by double digits.
More w/ @erinpdoherty @jsscppr @andrewjfhoward on the shifting map
politi.co/4AppEDR via @politico
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Hinson this morning - "Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran."
"We need to use every option at our disposal to provide some relief from high prices."
NEW — A Republican involved in a recent fundraiser for Ashley Hinson acknowledged growing fears that the Senate race in Iowa is too close for such a red state.
They said Hinson risked losing the seat if she didn’t put more space between herself and Trump — as tariffs, high fuel prices and his beef import moves roil Iowa voters.
“He’s putting Iowa in play,” one House Republican who has spoken to Hinson said of President Trump
politi.co/4Apbp1A via @politico
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NEW — A Republican involved in a recent fundraiser for Ashley Hinson acknowledged growing fears that the Senate race in Iowa is too close for such a red state.
They said Hinson risked losing the seat if she didn’t put more space between herself and Trump — as tariffs, high fuel prices and his beef import moves roil Iowa voters.
“He’s putting Iowa in play,” one House Republican who has spoken to Hinson said of President Trump
politi.co/4Apbp1A via @politico
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Another warning sign for the Iowa Senate race —
Diesel prices are so high in Iowa that Chuck Grassley is calling for Trump to take 1970s style emergency actions
As @politico has reported - GOP lawmakers have been privately pressing Trump officials for weeks to take emergency actions to try to lower gas prices ahead of the midterms — including during the GOP convention in Dallas
nitter.net/meredithllee/status/20…
W diesel $6.57 in Iowa why doesn’t Pres Trump put an embargo on diesel exports like presidents in the 70s put embargoes on ag products bc food prices were inflated. High diesel prices ARE KILLING FARMERS INCOME #cornwatch #soybeanwatch
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Meredith Lee Hill retweeted
NEW: Sen. Mark Kelly tells me he’s introducing legislation next week that would have AI companies pay into a fund to help workers whose jobs are affected by the tech.
He’s far from the only possible 2028er pushing guardrails amid AI panic that could ripple into the next presidential.
w/@meredithllee @politico politico.com/news/2026/09/18…
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Meredith Lee Hill retweeted
🚨🚨SCOOP: A shipment of F-35 fighter jet parts was rerouted to Hong Kong this summer — then vanished.
Congress and DOD are investigating, amid the possibility that China may now have access to the highly-classified program.
W/ @audrey_decker9
politico.com/news/2026/09/18…
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NEW — Democratic advisers are warning their candidates not to go too hard at AI - out of fear that powerful tech groups will unleash a tidal wave of $$$ against them ahead of Nov
And, AI groups have plans to spend even more
w/ @lisakashinsky @JasonBeeferman
politi.co/4rkfCQ7 via @politico
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