Pro-Israel groups are going all-out in a bid to dethrone a member of the House’s liberal Squad, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), ahead of her Aug. 6 primary battle.

Data tracked by AdImpact show approximately $320,000 in ad reservations for cable, radio, satellite and other formats from the United Democracy Project — the independent expenditure arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — through next week.

Bush, who won her seat by defeating a long-time incumbent, has been heavily critical of the Israel government’s handling of the war in Gaza and demanded an immediate cease-fire of hostilities. She’s also faced legal scrutiny of her campaign spending on her security (though she denies any wrongdoing).

Bush, who first assumed office in Missouri’s most Democratic seat in 2021, faces St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell in what’s expected to be a competitive primary.

“UDP, AIPAC, and their extensive network of far-right billionaires, anti-abortion extremists, and GOP megadonors have been promising to spend millions in their effort to defeat me ever since they first bribed my opponent to enter this race,” Bush said in a statement.

“Unfortunately for them, organized people beats organized money, and our community is ready to show that St. Louis is not for sale.”

Former President Donald Trump officially endorsed Rep. Bob Good’s primary challenger Tuesday morning, a huge potential liability for the chair of the House Freedom Caucus.

In a social media post, Trump called Good “BAD FOR VIRGINIA AND BAD FOR THE USA.” It’s not a shocking development — Good has now endorsed Trump for president, but only after he initially backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, prompting ire from Trump loyalists. Trump called Good’s endorsement “too late” in the Tuesday post.

Meanwhile, Good’s GOP opponent, Virginia state senator John McGuire, has closely aligned himself with Trump. The former president touted him as “strong on crime, will protect our great Military/Vets, and will always defend our under siege Second Amendment” in Tuesday’s post.

Early voting is already underway in the heated primary, which is on June 18. The Virginia district is solidly Republican, so the GOP winner is expected to easily win the congressional seat.

And it’s not just Trump who has come out against Good. Some of the conservative’s own House GOP colleagues have backed McGuire, with a half dozen attending a recent fundraiser. And allies of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who Good voted to boot last fall, have also been working to boost McGuire.

During the Obama years, conservatives were all about forcing fodder for the national GOP base onto the Senate’s legislative fights. Recall former Sen. David Vitter’s (R-La.) push to throw Congress onto the Affordable Care Act exchanges, former Sen. Roy Blunt’s (R-Mo.) bid to exempt employers from Obamacare’s contraception coverage mandate — and, of course, the entire bid to defund the health care law.

But the new class on the Senate’s right flank has a different strategy. Take Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), for instance; he’s working with an unusual bipartisan coalition to go after credit card swipe fees, stirring up massive corporate opposition in the process. He wants the GOP to be known for more populist policy causes.

“This is a sign of who the new Republican Party is,” Marshall said. “We’re the party for hard-working Americans, and we’re not the party, necessarily, of Wall Street.”

He’s tried to attach his swipe fees plan to pretty much everything that moves in the Senate, including the recently passed FAA law — to no avail so far. But his move isn’t the only reorientation among conservatives toward a smaller-scale, more activist approach to using their leverage.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) tried to use the FAA bill to extend the expired Affordable Connectivity Program that helps lower-income Americans with Internet costs, introducing an amendment with Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) to pour billions of dollars into the program. He’s currently balancing that move with another bipartisan push for the railroad safety bill he wrote with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

“We’re going to keep on fighting for it and working on it. Obviously, rail is a bigger priority for me, and I think we’re going to have a vote on rail,” Vance said. “Sometimes when you care about something you have to put your foot down and say: I’m going to make it painful.”

A co-sponsor of that rail bill, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), tangled on the Senate floor this week with his own party over another bill that has nothing to do with cutting government or the culture wars: The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Hawley, Vance and Marshall are all in their first terms, making them good bellwethers for the Senate GOP’s future direction on policy.

Hawley and his radiation compensation allies have tried to stick an expansion of the program onto pretty much anything moving through Congress. It’s passed the Senate twice, on the NDAA and as a standalone, though the House hasn’t acted on it yet.

Lujan praised Hawley, often a foil for Democrats, for defending his constituents first, citing their unusual partnership as an “example of how maintaining relationships with your colleagues makes a difference, even though you may have a voting record that is 90 percent different.”

And Hawley isn’t above calling out reticent GOP colleagues — from Sen. Mitt Romney to Speaker Mike Johnson — to try to get the radiation compensation bill passed. The program expires on June 7, making it one of Congress’ only time-sensitive to-dos left in the coming months.

“It’s about doing right by people who are suffering, who are injured by the government: Working people and veterans … overwhelmingly,” Hawley said, adding that “you can see the cleavage between those who get it” and those who don’t in the GOP.

Of course, Republicans have not fully given up on using their Senate power to make a play for the base. They’re just more likely to do so on nominations these days. To wit: Vance has put holds on DOJ nominees over investigations into former President Donald Trump, and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) created an unprecedented backlog in military promotions last year over his opposition to the Pentagon’s abortion leave policy.

Two senior Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), are requesting a meeting with Chief Justice John Roberts “as soon as possible” amid reports that properties owned by Justice Samuel Alito displayed two flags with links to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“We urge you to immediately take appropriate steps to ensure that Justice Alito will recuse himself in any cases related to the 2020 presidential election and January 6th attack on the Capitol,” Durbin and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) wrote in a letter released Friday.

The pair vowed to continue pursuing legislation enacting an enforceable ethics code for the court unless “the Court and the Judicial Conference take meaningful action to address this ongoing ethical crisis.”

Durbin has resisted efforts to call both Alito and Roberts before his committee for a formal hearing. Alito blamed his wife for displaying an upside-down U.S. flag at his property in Virginia just days before the inauguration of President Joe Biden in 2021, as reported in The New York Times.

Chuck Schumer’s second attempt to advance a sweeping border package failed by a wider margin than the first time, with increased opposition among both Republicans and Democrats.

Senate campaign arms have already been hitting the other side on the predictable outcome, hoping to blame problems at the border on the opposing party. Biden administration officials have telegraphed that the president will soon take executive action to address border issues ahead of the November election.

The border policy package was the product of bipartisan negotiations between Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) last winter. It was originally tied to aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, but foreign aid passed independent of border provisions after the first vote on the deal failed. Murphy reintroduced the border package as a standalone bill this month.

Several senators flipped to vote against the legislation this time around, including Sinema, Lankford and Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.).

If enacted, the legislation would have heightened the standards for individuals seeking asylum and sped up processing times for claims. It also would have imposed an automatic shutdown authority at the southern border if daily crossings crossed certain thresholds. The closure powers, specifically, are expected to be a part of the president’s coming executive actions.

But even Republicans who supported the deal last time around — including Lankford — lambasted Senate Democrats for putting the bill on the floor. They dubbed it a blatant campaign messaging tactic and have called on Biden to use his executive powers, while Schumer called it a bipartisan solution to an issue both parties have expressed concern over.

“To my Republican colleagues, you wanted this border bill. … It’s time to show you’re serious about solving the problem,” the majority leader said ahead of the vote on Thursday.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell originally backed the border policy negotiations before coming out against the bill. He blasted the gambit from Senate Democrats on Thursday, as did many other Republicans.

“The solution is a president who’s willing to exercise the authority, to use the tools he already has,” McConnell said. “If Senate Democrats wanted to start fixing the crisis tomorrow, they would be urging the president to do exactly that.”

Rick Scott’s entry into the battle for GOP leader has scrambled the generally sleepy race, testing his rivals’ ties to Mitch McConnell and putting a heavier Trump focus on the November contest.

Scott’s bid is not a surprise, especially given his previous challenge to McConnell in 2022, and he’s an underdog to both Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in a rare open leadership race. But his uncompromising campaign platform may once again attract conservative support, potentially locking up a crucial bloc of votes that could ultimately help determine who becomes leader.

“He’d be a favorite of the president’s; of course, he likes the other guys too. I know [Trump] likes Rick, Rick’s spent a lot of time down in Florida and knows him quite well,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who is neutral but praised Scott’s conservative leadership platform. “I’m glad he’s in. We get away from the John syndrome.”

The Florida Republican creates a starker contrast in the race, which has been low drama so far. Thune and Cornyn have both served on McConnell’s leadership team and are obvious heirs to the Kentuckian, whereas Scott has had an incredibly public rivalry with the current Senate minority leader and hasn’t shied from embracing more controversial policies. And while the McConnell allies have broken with Donald Trump in the past, rhetorically or otherwise, Scott has tightly aligned himself with the former president.

Scott spoke to Trump directly on Wednesday as he rolled out his leadership campaign, according to a person familiar with the conversation, putting a spotlight on the X factor that the former president could play in the race.

Asked about Scott’s bid, both Thune and Cornyn refrained from taking a shot at him. But Thune emphasized that “any change is going to be a significant change” from McConnell. Cornyn said he’s had his own conversations with Trump — and added that the fact that the election is held via secret ballot will help shield the vote from outside influences, including the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

“I don’t know whether President Trump’s going to get involved or not. I’ve had personal conversations and meetings with President Trump about this topic. But my experience is this is the ultimate insider race,” Cornyn said.

McConnell declined to comment on Scott, who he has broken with repeatedly over strategy. As National Republican Senatorial Committee chair during the 2022 cycle, Scott released his own agenda with more conservative political policies, a move McConnell criticized as giving Democrats a free shot ahead of the midterm election. Republicans failed to regain the Senate that year, and Scott’s subsequent challenge to McConnell’s leadership failed by a wide margin.

Scott’s announced second try prompted some head-scratching among the rank-and-file GOP. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said he was surprised Scott, who is seeking reelection, launched his bid now: “He’s on the ballot. You do have to win first. It’s hard to commit to somebody who has to win an election.”

“The two Johns are vying for other ones. And Rick starts with the ones we all know, probably 10,” Cramer added, assessing Scott’s prospects. That’s the number of Republicans who supported Scott in 2022 over McConnell.

Several conservative Republicans, like Tuberville and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), sounded warm on Scott’s bid but didn’t fully endorse it yet. Lee said Scott’s platform is a “game-changer” because it could induce Cornyn and Thune to more fully explain their own visions. Scott detailed his positions in a letter to colleagues Wednesday, which included vows to prioritize GOP demands over bipartisan deals, increased transparency and more amendment consideration.

Most of those promises are generally popular among Republicans — but they’re easier to say than they are to execute. And other parts of Scott’s letter, including his critique that the GOP has been too compromising with Democrats, seemed like an indirect criticism of Thune and Cornyn, who have voted for more of those compromises than Scott.

“There’s many times you shouldn’t, and you ought to just stop bad ideas, but occasionally there’s sometimes things where interests align,” Cornyn said.

If Scott locks up 10 votes, it’s certainly not enough to win a leadership race. But it’s enough to have an impact. If there are more than two candidates, there will be multiple rounds of ballots — and there are scenarios where 10 is enough to advance to the next round and eliminate a candidate, especially if more candidates jump into the race, as several senators suspect.

“I suppose everybody has a chance. I’m not going to handicap his chances,” Thune said of Scott. “If there’s more than one ballot, you have to think about second ballot votes. And, you know, clearly, you want to get through the first round of voting. And so it’s a dynamic that you just have to adjust for.”

More wild-card candidates could prompt further adjustments. Trump has encouraged Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), the current NRSC chair, to launch his own bid, though Daines won’t make any moves until after the election.

And Daines gave Scott credit on Thursday, saying the Florida Republican has done enough work in his home state to allow him to run a race back home and in Washington simultaneously: “He’s running like he’s five points behind when he’s 10 points ahead.”

Of course, Scott has ground to make up in more ways than one. Thune and Cornyn have been discussing their bids with colleagues for months now — and assisting GOP Senate candidates who could vote in the leadership elections this fall and play pivotal roles.

Still, there are plenty of senators who won’t make their minds up soon no matter how many candidates get in.

“I know some have made their commitments early. I want to see what happens in early November, after the election. I’m going to wait until then,” said Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.).

Ursula Perano contributed to this report.

The cryptocurrency industry capped a notable month on Capitol Hill, as 71 House Democrats joined most Republicans to pass sweeping legislation aimed at establishing rules of the road for the fast-moving industry.

Backers of the legislation, which passed 279-136, included prominent senior Democrats like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Ted Lieu (D-Calf.) and DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.).

The White House opposed the measure, which critics say could put consumers and even the larger financial system at risk, but did not threaten to veto it

In a statement explaining her vote, Pelosi said that while the bill “must be improved by working with the Senate and the Administration,” the industry “needs clearer rules of the road and the federal government needs stronger enforcement authority.”

It’s a powerful show of force for the crypto industry among Capitol Hill backers from both parties in a time of fierce divisions.

“Having a robust regulatory climate that protects investors and protects people is something we think through, even when there are different ideas on how we get there,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), chair of the House Democratic Caucus, who said leadership did not whip the vote and supported it.

A number of prominent Democrats did oppose the bill, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Financial Services Committee ranking member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Ways and Means Committee ranking member Richard Neal (D-Mass.).

Just three Republicans opposed the measure — Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Nick LaLota (N.Y.) and Matt Rosendale (Mont.).

Movement on the sweeping bill comes just days after 11 Senate Democrats, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, joined with Republicans to ax SEC guidance on cryptocurrency accounting, shortly after the House passed the same measure (though Biden plans to veto it).

Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.