The few Republican candidates across the U.S. this year who say they support abortion rights still find themselves under attack on the issue.

A federal lawsuit accuses the National Rifle Association of violating campaign finance laws by using shell companies to illegally funnel up to $35 million to Republican candidates, including former President Donald Trump, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and others.

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)DENVER – The Department of Defense's inspector general announced Friday that it was reviewing the Trump administration's last-minute decision to relocate U.S. Space Command from Colorado to Alabama. “Moving Space Command will disrupt the mission while risking our national security and economic vitality,” the senators said in a joint statement. We fully support the investigation.”Among other duties, the Space Command enables satellite-based navigation and troop communication and provides warning of missile launches. The Space Command differs from the U.S. Space Force, launched in December 2019 as the first new military service since the Air Force was created in 1947. The Space Command is not an individual military service but a central command for militarywide space operations.

(Nicholas Kamm/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – Arizona Democrat and former astronaut Mark Kelly was sworn into the Senate on Wednesday, narrowing Republican control of the chamber and underscoring his state's shift from red to blue. Kelly, 56, defeated GOP Sen. Martha McSally in last month's election, making her one of only three incumbents to lose. Kelly's Arizona colleague, Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, held the Bible on which he took his oath. In what was one of the country's most expensive Senate races, Kelly raised $89 million. That was second only to the $108 million collected by defeated South Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Jaime Harrison, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Donald Trump’s campaign helped his GOP allies, but that state election officials were still counting ballots. Key Senate races in North Carolina, Alaska and Georgia remained undecided. Democrats contested seats from New England to the Deep South and the Midwest to the Mountain West, reaching deep into GOP strongholds. North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has struggled against Democrat Cal Cunningham, despite the married challenger’s sexting scandal with a public relations strategist. GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler will face Democrat Raphael Warnock, a Black pastor at the church where the Rev.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi was on track to keep control of the Democratic House, but saw her majority shrinking and her leadership called into question. By evening, Pelosi had all but declared Democrat Joe Biden the winner, saying House Democrats “will now have the opportunity to deliver extraordinary progress” on party priorities — lowering health care costs, providing jobs through new infrastructure and others. “I know folks are anxious,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy told followers on a live Twitter video. McConnell also warned of the continued problems Republicans face in the Trump era as voters turn away from the GOP. “It’s time for a different approach,” said Democrat John Hickenlooper, a former governor who unseated Republican Sen. Cory Gardner in Colorado.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi was on track to keep control of the Democratic House, but saw her majority shrinking and her leadership called into question. By evening, Pelosi had all but declared Democrat Joe Biden the winner, saying House Democrats “will now have the opportunity to deliver extraordinary progress” on party priorities — lowering health care costs, providing jobs through new infrastructure and others. “I know folks are anxious,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy told followers on a live Twitter video. McConnell also warned of the continued problems Republicans face in the Trump era as voters turn away from the GOP. “It’s time for a different approach,” said Democrat John Hickenlooper, a former governor who unseated Republican Sen. Cory Gardner in Colorado.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Donald Trump’s campaign helped his GOP allies, but that state election officials were still counting ballots. Key Senate races in North Carolina, Alaska and Georgia remained undecided. Democrats contested seats from New England to the Deep South and the Midwest to the Mountain West, reaching deep into GOP strongholds. North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has struggled against Democrat Cal Cunningham, despite the married challenger’s sexting scandal with a public relations strategist. GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler will face Democrat Raphael Warnock, a Black pastor at the church where the Rev.

Republican Senate candidate Sen. Mitch McConnell, second from right, and his wife, Elaine Chao, right, look on as aides show him the election results in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)WASHINGTON – Hopes fading for Senate control, Democrats had a disappointing election night as Republicans swatted down an onslaught of challengers and fought to retain their fragile majority. Democrats contested seats from New England to the Deep South and the Midwest to the Mountain West, reaching deep into GOP strongholds. The Democrats' gains were in Colorado and Arizona, where former astronaut Mark Kelly beat GOP incumbent Martha McSally. Republican Cynthia Lummis, the former congresswoman from Wyoming, won the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Mike Enzi.

Republican senators are fighting to save their majority against an onslaught of challengers in states once off limits to Democrats that are now hotbeds of the backlash to President Donald Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans are fighting to save their majority, a final election push against the onslaught of challengers in states once off limits to Democrats but now hotbeds of a potential backlash to President Donald Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill. With it, a reelected Trump could confirm his nominees and ensure a backstop against legislation from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. With the chamber now split, 53-47, three or four seats will determine Senate control, depending on which party wins the White House. Swooping in to fill the gap for Republicans is the Senate Leadership Fund, tapping deep-pocketed donors.

The two contests are crucial in the fight for control of the Senate, where Republicans have a 53-47 majority. “You can’t just be a supporter of public lands for four months before the election,” Montana Gov. Democrats have gained traction on a Bullock lawsuit against a senior Trump administration official with a history as an anti-public lands firebrand, Wyoming attorney William Perry Pendley. The Trump administration installed Perry as the nation’s lead public lands steward, acting head of the Bureau of Land Management, only to have a court side with Bullock and remove Pendley from the post. The court also struck down plans approved under Pendley that would have opened public lands in Montana to more oil and gas development.

In conservative Mississippi, voters will consider competing ballot proposals that would legalize medicinal marijuana, which is allowed in 33 states. In Colorado, one supporter of legal cannabis could lose his seat. Legal sales would mean tax money for education and other services, and social-justice issues are also in play, after decades of enforcement during the war on drugs. Despite the pandemic and challenges including heavy taxes and regulation, marijuana sales are climbing. The amendment also subjects cannabis to the state’s sales tax, and lets towns and cities add local taxes.

Less than two weeks from an Election Day that will determine Senate control, each party is throwing late money at an up-for-grabs Democratic seat in Michigan. The Senate Majority PAC, a political committee aligned with the chamber's Democratic leaders, has canceled its remaining $1.2 million in spending against GOP Sen. Cory Gardner in Colorado, sensing victory. He's getting outspent 3-1,” said GOP Sen. Pat Roberts, whose retirement is making the seat available. Besides Alabama, Michigan is the GOP's best chance at gaining a seat and thwarting Democrats' drive to a Senate majority. “It matters," agreed Poersch of Democrats' Senate Majority PAC, citing a shift in voters' sentiment over the final weeks of the 2016 campaign that helped Trump edge to victory.

DENVER – A major Democratic group on Friday pulled its last remaining ads from Colorado's closely watched U.S. Senate race, a sign that the party thinks its nominee has the crucial race in the bag. Senate Majority PAC said it will cancel $1.2 million in television ads and spend the money elsewhere as Democrats press a newly expanded Senate map, which Republicans on the run in GOP strongholds such as Alaska and South Carolina. Hickenlooper is in good shape heading into the final stretch,” Senate Majority PAC spokeswoman Rachel Irwin said. This week, Gardner reported raising $7 million in the prior quarter compared with Hickenlooper's $22.6 million — part of an overwhelming Democratic fundraising advantage that has become a staple of virtually every Senate race. Last week the Republican counterpart to Senate Majority PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, added another $1 million to its spending in Colorado as part of a $22 million blitz to defend seats around the country.

– Political groups fighting for control of the U.S. Senate have poured more than $118 million into the contest between Montana's Democratic Gov. And the Montana political ad spending is almost 10 times as much per voter being spent on ads in Colorado's Senate contest between former Democratic Gov. But the main driver is the race's competitive nature and the high stakes in the Senate. “These groups that are spending, they're spending big," Bullock told The AP. The Annenberg center's Jamieson, whose grandmother homesteaded in Montana, noted that political ads have a long history in the state.

Confirmation hearings are set to begin Monday for President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee giving Republicans one last chance to salvage their Senate majority by wresting attention away from the White House and its COVID-19 response and onto the GOP’s longtime goal of fashioning a conservative court. Only two GOP senators balked at quick confirmation. This time, it's much about securing his own legacy reshaping the judiciary into what allies call the “McConnell Court” as giving his majority a landing pad after a tumultuous four years with Trump. Having already bent Senate rules to allow 51-vote threshold to advance Supreme Court nominees, rather than 60 as was tradition, McConnell is now poised to usher a third Trump justice to confirmation. “It’s not going to be remembered as the McConnell Court,” said Stevens.

On Saturday, another Republican senator, Ron Johnson on Wisconsin, announced he has tested positive for the virus, the third GOP senator this past week. With Trump in Walter Reed military hospital for treatment and quarantine, the virus seemed to spill into every corner of the party. The pandemic even spread to a subject the GOP hoped to be its safe harbor in the campaign's closing weeks — the looming confirmation of Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in a GOP case seeking to overturn the health care law shortly after the election. In fact, Goeas argued that Trump’s belligerent performance during Tuesday’s debate did more to hurt his chances of recouping wayward Republicans and hesitant independents, a development that could hurt GOP Senate candidates in tight contests.

The Senate is ready to move quickly on a Supreme Court nominee. A confirmation vote so close to a presidential election would be unprecedented, creating significant political risk and uncertainty for both parties. Collins has said the next president should fill the court seat, and she will vote “no” on Trump’s nominee on principle. No matter what happens in this year’s election, Republicans are still expected to be in charge of the Senate during that period. DIDN’T MCCONNELL SAY IN 2016 THAT THE SENATE SHOULDN’T HOLD SUPREME COURT VOTES IN A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEAR?

Even before Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death last week, the president had tried to use likelihood of more Supreme Court vacancies to his political advantage. Supreme Court nominations are never entirely devoid of political considerations, but Trump’s decision has been particularly wrapped up in a charged political moment. Even before Ginsburg’s death, Trump had done the same in 2020, releasing an additional 20 names he would consider for the court, and encouraging Democrat Joe Biden to do the same. “So they don’t want to show the judges because the only ones that he can put in are far-left radicals,” Trump said this week. “If Joe Biden and the Democrats take power, they will pack the Supreme Court with far-left radicals who will unilaterally transform American society far beyond recognition,” Trump said at a rally outside Toledo on Monday.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, leaves the Senate Chamber following a vote, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. But under GOP planning, the Senate could vote Oct. 29. No court nominee in U.S. history has been considered so close to a presidential election. Elsewhere, as tributes poured in for Ginsburg with vigils and flowers at the court’s steps, Democrats led by presidential nominee Joe Biden vowed a tough fight. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska for opposing a Senate vote before elections.

Biden's team is skeptical that the Supreme Court clash will fundamentally change the contours of a race Trump was trailing so close to Election Day. Many Republicans are hopeful the Supreme Court fight will supersede many conservative voters' concerns about Trump's inconsistent leadership and divisive rhetoric. Conservative activist Tim Phillips, president of the group Americans for Prosperity, is doubtful that the court fight will change many votes. When conservative activists gathered in the morning, the Supreme Court was a prime topic of conversation that "strengthened their resolve to get out and work," Phillips said. Lisa Holgash, a 49-year-old Trump supporter, said she would “love it” if Trump were able to appoint another Supreme Court Justice.

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Ky., takes the elevator as he leaves a Senate Republican policy meeting on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)WASHINGTON – It’s legacy time for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. For better or worse, this will be how McConnell’s tenure as a Senate leader will be measured. Absent a robust legislative agenda aligned with Trump, McConnell set out on the Senate’s other main role — confirmations. Along with the two Supreme Court justices, he has installed more than 200 federal appellate and trial court judges in the Trump era.

Three more defections from the GOP ranks would be needed to stop Trump’s nominee from joining the court. “Voters should pick the president and the president should pick the justice to consider,” he said. Hundreds of mourners gathered for a second night outside the Supreme Court building, holding candles in honor of Ginsburg and listening to a succession of testimonies and rallying speeches. “Today Mitch McConnell and his henchmen think they can ram through a Supreme Court justice only 45 days before the election,” Warren said. Typically, it takes several months to vet and hold hearings on a Supreme Court nominee, and time is short before November.

The Supreme Court says Ginsburg has died of metastatic pancreatic cancer at age 87. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)NEW YORK – A presidential campaign that was already tugging at the nation’s most searing divides has been jolted by the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, potentially reshaping the election at a moment when some Americans were beginning to cast ballots. That decision cast a long political shadow, prompting Pete Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor who mounted a spirited bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, to make expansion of the Supreme Court a centerpiece of his campaign. Some Democrats privately concede that the Supreme Court vacancy could shift attention away from the virus, which has been a central element of Biden's campaign. The president, seeking to build the same type of energy that surrounded his 2016 bid, released another list of potential Supreme Court nominees this month.

But as lawmakers straggle back to Washington for an abbreviated pre-election session, hopes are fading for a pandemic relief bill, or much else. But as lawmakers straggle back to Washington for an abbreviated preelection session, hopes are dimming for another coronavirus relief bill or much else. Democrats seem secure in their political position, with President Donald Trump and several Senate GOP incumbents lagging in the polls. Pelosi recently referred to Meadows as whatever his name is," while the Meadows-run White House during a press briefing ran a video loop of Pelosi's controversial visit to a San Francisco hair salon. "Now we can focus just on another relief bill, and were continuing to do that in good faith, Vice President Mike Pence said Friday on CNBC.

Standing behind Trump are Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., from left, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. So far, voters are signaling they want to finish the job they started in 2018 by installing Democrats for House majority control. In battleground Arizona, Republican Sen. Martha McSally is trailing Democrat Mark Kelly, a former astronaut. Gonzales said after GOP losses in 2018 there was an expectation that Trump atop the ticket would bring back Republican voters in 2020. But President Trump continues to drive Democratic energy and turnout, he said.

But as lawmakers straggle back to Washington for an abbreviated preelection session, hopes are dimming for another coronavirus relief bill or much else. Expectations in July and August that a fifth bipartisan pandemic response bill would eventually be birthed despite increased obstacles has been replaced by genuine pessimism. Democrats seem secure in their political position, with President Donald Trump and several Senate GOP incumbents lagging in the polls. "Now we can focus just on another relief bill, and were continuing to do that in good faith, Vice President Mike Pence said Friday on CNBC. Some Democrats are expected to continue to take advantage of remote voting and may not return to Washington at all.

Vice President Mike Pence arrives with his wife Karen Pence to speak on the third day of the Republican National Convention at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON Republicans proceeded with the third night of their national convention, but many Americans particularly those in the path of Hurricane Laura were focused on more immediate concerns. Joe Biden said America is systemically racist, Pence said, criticizing the Democratic challenger as soft on crime. CRISES DRAIN CONVENTION ATTENTIONA political convention is the most scripted, tightly controllable of events, especially when it is mostly virtual and much of it is prerecorded. ANOTHER SPEAKER DOESNT MAKE THE SHOWFor the second consecutive night, Trumps campaign was forced to reshuffle its speaking lineup just hours before the prime-time program began.

This isnt a party convention, its a Trump convention, said Rory Cooper, a Republican strategist and former congressional staffer who opposes Trump. If Republicans lose the Senate in November, we should look back at this week as a lost opportunity to introduce the country to more GOP congressional candidates. Scalise made no direct reference to the GOP's faint hopes of regaining the House majority in November's elections. Sean Parnell, a GOP challenger for a Democratic-held seat in western Pennsylvania, didnt specifically ask listeners to award Republicans House control. The inattention to the GOP's congressional efforts might have changed Wednesday when Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, delivered prime-time remarks.

WASHINGTON Republicans this week are focused squarely on their convention's star, President Donald Trump, and securing his reelection in November. Theres a lot happening behind the scenes already," said Republican strategist Alex Conant, who worked for the 2016 campaign of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Also allotted time slots: Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Florida Sen. Rick Scott and Donald Trump Jr. "Theres others out there, but nobody else is even close in that stratosphere.Much will depend on whether Trump secures a second term. In her convention speech Monday night, Haley gave an unabashed endorsement of the president while spending time introducing herself to viewers.

Acknowledging an expected surge in mail-in ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic, DeJoy says voters should mail back their ballots at least seven days prior to the election. Trump urged a no vote, railing on Twitter against mail-in ballots expected to surge in the COVID-19 crisis. He has said he wants to block extra funds to the Postal Service. Still, there were signs of bipartisan support for the Postal Service, one of the most popular government agencies with an approval rating above 90%. Twenty-six House Republicans broke with Trump and GOP leaders to back the House bill, which passed 257-150.

That's not how it works," Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, said of the May order in an interview. Prior to joining the Trump administration, he had called for the government to sell its public lands. Interior Department spokesperson Conner Swanson confirmed that the arrangement outlined in Pendley's order means he will continue to lead the bureau. After joining the government, he declared that his past support for selling public lands was irrelevant because his boss, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, opposes the wholesale sale of public lands. Under Trump, the land bureau has sought to scale back some protections for public lands, including proposals to ease restrictions on oil and gas exploration, mining and grazing.

Negotiators are still stuck, but still trying. Republicans offered to extend the benefit into December and cut it to $400, according to aides confirming leaks reported in Politico. Pelosi is opposed for now, but Democrats who see it's a key to any final agreement aren't ruling the idea out. Key Republicans whose rural constituents are especially reliant on the post office support the idea. NON-CORONAVIRUS ITEMSThe competing bills from House Democrats and Senate Republicans include a fair amount of money for non-coronavirus-related items.

The GOP senators did not specify an amount, but a proposal by several airline unions would give the hard-hit aviation industry $32 billion, including $25 billion for passenger airlines. Eleven of the 16 GOP senators are up for re-election in November and could be hurt by headlines about thousands of airline workers being laid off the month before the Nov. 3 election. Others represent states with large numbers of airline workers, such as John Cornyn of Texas. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky made no provision for airline workers in his $1 trillion proposal for additional virus relief. Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, responded by calling the airline provision the most successful jobs program in the $2.2 trillion virus-relief measure approved in March.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)WASHINGTON A small but singularly influential group is a driving force for an agreement on a stalled coronavirus relief bill: Endangered Senate GOP incumbents who need to win this fall if Republicans are going to retain control of the majority. Several of them are refusing to allow the Senate to adjourn until Washington delivers a deal to their desperate constituents. And Sen. Susan Collins is in overdrive, backing help for cash-starved states and local governments and Maine's shipbuilding industry. GOP Senate candidates need a deal, a good deal ... so they can get home and campaign on helping small businesses get up and moving again, said Scott Reed, the chief political strategist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Cornyn helped start a bandwagon of senators who are demanding the Senate stay at work in Washington until a coronavirus bill is passed.

WASHINGTON After more than a weeks worth of meetings, at least some clarity is emerging in the bipartisan Washington talks on a huge COVID-19 response bill. Postal Service on Wednesday indicates a long slog remains, but the White House is offering some movement in House Speaker Nancy Pelosis direction on aid to states and local governments and unemployment insurance benefits. The aides were unauthorized to discuss the private talks and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Very tricky talks remain, and Republicans are carping that Pelosi is being too greedy. NON-CORONAVIUS ITEMSThe competing bills from House Democrats and Senate Republicans include a fair amount of money for non-coronavirus-related items.

Supporters say the Great American Outdoors Act is the most significant conservation legislation enacted in nearly half a century. Opponents counter that the money isn't enough to cover the estimated $20 billion maintenance backlog on federally owned lands. The law requires full, mandatory funding of the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund and addresses the maintenance backlog facing Americas national parks and public lands. Supporters say the legislation will create at least 100,000 jobs, while restoring national parks and repairing trails and forest systems. The legislation's opponents, mostly Republicans, complain it would not eliminate an estimated $20 billion maintenance backlog on 640 acres (259 hectares) of federally owned lands.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)WASHINGTON A small but singularly influential group is a driving force for an agreement on a stalled coronavirus relief bill: Endangered Senate GOP incumbents who need to win this fall if Republicans are going to retain control of the majority. Confronted with a poisonous political environment, vulnerable Senate Republicans are rushing to endorse generous jobless benefits, child care grants, and more than $100 billion to help schools reopen. Several of them are refusing to allow the Senate to adjourn until Washington delivers a deal to their desperate constituents. And Sen. Susan Collins is in overdrive, backing help for cash-starved states and local governments and Maine's shipbuilding industry. GOP Senate candidates need a deal, a good deal ... so they can get home and campaign on helping small businesses get up and moving again, said Scott Reed, the chief political strategist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Forty-nine GOP senators voted for the defense bill that includes the base-renaming, while just four Republicans voted against it. The aide steered a reporter to a statement McConnell made on the Senate floor praising the defense bill and its strong bipartisan support. There are 10 Army posts named for Confederate military leaders, including Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Benning in Georgia, Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Forts Robert E. Lee and A.P. The House bill would require the base names to be changed within a year, while the Senate would give the military three years to rename them. The Senates top Democrat, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, has dared Trump to veto the defense bill over Confederate base names.

Supporters say the measure, known as the Great American Outdoors Act, would be the most significant conservation legislation enacted in nearly 50 years. Supporters say the measure, known as the Great American Outdoors Act, would be the most significant conservation legislation enacted in nearly half a century. Supporters say the bill will create at least 100,000 jobs, while restoring national parks and repairing trails and forest systems. Gardner and Daines are among the Senates most vulnerable incumbents, and each represents a state where the outdoor economy and tourism at sites such as Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone national parks play an outsize role. Visitors cannot enjoy national parks such as Yellowstone and Yosemite if the bathrooms dont work, if the trails and campgrounds arent open, or if the roads are in disrepair, Heinrich said.

John Hickenlooper's Senate campaign reports a $5.2 million fundraising haul over the past three months, calling it a record for any Senate candidate in state history. Hickenlooper's haul is significant, though it comes as his fellow Democratic hopefuls have been shattering Senate fundraising records nationally. The Democratic campaign on Wednesday reported raising the $5.2 million between April 1 and June 30. The period includes the weeks running up to Colorado's June 30 Democratic primary, which Hickenlooper won handily despite a series of gaffes. Gardner and other Republicans began a multimillion-dollar ad campaign against Hickenlooper before the primary concluded, and Hickenlooper's allies have hit back.

President Donald Trump walks across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Saturday, July 11, 2020. What were watching heading into a new week on the 2020 campaign:Days to general election: 113___THE NARRATIVEThese are among the darkest days of President Donald Trump's presidency. Overall, more than 135,000 people in America have died as a result of COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins. ___2020 Watch runs every Monday and provides a look at the week ahead in the 2020 election. ___Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game.

Still another said Republicans worry the GOP brand of cutting taxes could be overshadowed by Trump's drive to defend Confederate monuments. 2 Senate Republican leader John Thune of South Dakota said last week. He said GOP candidates need to do what they need to do to win. Republican Senate candidates will have to defend things President Trump says and does between now and Election Day, said Rory Cooper, a Republican strategist and longtime Trump foe. He said he believes independent swing voters abandoning Trump will be willing to back GOP Senate candidates and expressed cautious optimism.

The health care law has been a flashpoint in American politics since its enactment a decade ago. Trying to take away health care in the middle of a pandemic is like throwing out the sandbags during a hurricane, said Jesse Ferguson, a longtime Democratic strategist. The pandemic has made clear for people how important it is to them that their neighbors have health care. And in March, it put $250,000 behind an ad attacking Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana on health care. She said the Democratic health care message would be, Democrats are the party of health care.

The health care law has been a flashpoint in American politics since its enactment a decade ago. Trying to take away health care in the middle of a pandemic is like throwing out the sandbags during a hurricane, said Jesse Ferguson, a longtime Democratic strategist. The pandemic has made clear for people how important it is to them that their neighbors have health care. And in March, it put $250,000 behind an ad attacking Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana on health care. She said the Democratic health care message would be, Democrats are the party of health care.

Hickenlooper was supposed to be Democrats' worry-free solution to the Colorado Senate race, but he's stumbled badly in the weeks leading up to the party's June 30 primary. John Hickenlooper's standing in the Colorado Democratic Senate primary, a new political group is spending at least $1 million on a scathing attack ad against Hickenlooper's rival in the race. Romanoff is the underdog in the June 30 primary, running as a populist insurgent against the establishment's choice, Hickenlooper, who has raised significantly more money. Privately, Colorado Democrats have been concerned about how Hickenlooper will perform in the primary. Hours later, the attack ad against Romanoff, which Let's Turn Colorado Blue described as a seven-figure buy, began to circulate.

Hickenlooper defied a subpoena from the Colorado Ethics Commission, only testifying after the nonpartisan panel found him in contempt. Then the commission found he'd violated state ethics laws by accepting free travel while governor. This guy they put on a pedestal, he's a hot mess, said Democratic former state Rep. Joe Salazar, who often clashed with Hickenlooper in the statehouse. On Tuesday, both Gardner and the National Republican Senatorial Committee released ads bashing Hickenlooper, an unusual move during a Democratic primary. Then Senate Democrats, alarmed at an unwieldy primary for the party's nomination to challenge Gardner, recruited Hickenlooper to run for the Senate instead.

The bill would spend about $2.8 billion per year on conservation, outdoor recreation and park maintenance. "Americas hundreds of millions of acres of public lands are the result of hundreds of years of exploration and conservation,'' said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnnell, R-Ky. Those measures are especially needed now, when communities surrounded by public lands have high unemployment rates because of shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Gardner said. Trump has tweeted in favor of the lands bill, saying it "will be HISTORIC for our beautiful public lands.'' Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., credited a new coalition of lawmakers from both parties who support conservation and public lands.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, facing a competitive North Carolina reelection contest, is looking forward to campaigning" with Trump, Tillis' spokesperson said. GOP Sen. Steve Daines tweeted, Montana cant wait to have you back, Mr. President! after Trump promised to help him battle a strong Democratic challenger. Republican candidates are hostages, said Trump critic Tim Miller, an aide to past GOP presidential contenders including Jeb Bush. Anyone who wants to win in November should be running with the president, said Trump campaign spokesperson Erin Perrine. In the House, Democrats hope to use allegiance to Trump that GOP candidates touted in primaries against them in general elections.

The video shows a silhouetted Hickenlooper speaking at some sort of gathering with a microphone in his hand about political schedulers. Imagine an ancient slave ship, he tells the audience. We elected officials are the ones rowing, Hickenlooper said. Anderson has endorsed Hickenloopers rival, former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate. The winner of Colorado's Democratic Senate primary will face Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, widely seen as the most vulnerable GOP senator this year.

The bill, set for a Senate vote this coming week, would spend about $2.8 billion per year on conservation, outdoor recreation and park maintenance. McConnell told the two senators, who are both seeking reelection this year, that he would not consider the bill unless Trump was on board. Cantwell credited Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., for forcing attention on the conservation fund by blocking a 2018 spending bill that did not renew the program. While widely supported, the outdoors bill faces sharp opposition, mainly from Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and other Gulf Coast senators pushing to ensure it includes revenue-sharing for their states from offshore drilling. Calling Trump's record on the environment "the worst one in history,'' Cantwell said Gardner, Daines and other Republicans will be forced to defend the president as they go before voters.

The GOP package includes several provisions similar to the Democratic bill. The database proposal expands on a similar bill Scott introduced in 2015 after Walter Scott no relation was killed by police in South Carolina. The White House has said it was a nonstarter and is not likely to be included in the Senate bill. Both those are included in the Democrats' bill, but not likely to be included in the Senate GOP package. It calls for bold and broad-scale change, said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

Steve Bullock speaks at an event marking a conservation agreement at a former mining site in Jardine, Mont. Steve Bullock never got to square off directly against President Donald Trump before dropping out of the Democratic presidential primary race last year. But the two-term governor is getting another chance on his home turf by trying to oust a strong Trump ally, first-term Republican Sen. Steve Daines in Montana's U.S. Senate race. Steve Bullock never got to square off against President Donald Trump before dropping out of the Democratic presidential primary last year, but the two-term governor is getting another chance on his home turf by trying to oust a strong Trump ally in Montana's U.S. Senate race. To hear Bullock tell it, he doesn't see the Senate race as an extension of his presidential run or Daines as a proxy of Trump.

WASHINGTON An unexpectedly strong jobs report could further scramble an already uncertain picture for passing a fifth and possibly final coronavirus aid bill. The positive statistics are feeding the wait-and-see approach of the White House and its GOP allies in Congress. Republicans say the numbers vindicate their decision to take a pause and assess the almost $3 trillion in assistance they already have approved. The coming weeks are expected to bring difficult negotiations over what the package should contain, just months before an election where the White House and control of Congress are at stake. Fridays jobs report showed a 2.5 million gain instead of an expected loss of millions more, complicating prospects for the aid talks.

Mark Grueskin, an attorney for Hickenlooper, logged onto the remote hearing 15 minutes after it started, citing problems with his internet connection. He told commissioners that Hickenlooper's legal team had appealed to an appellate court a Wednesday night court order for Hickenlooper to appear. No immediate ruling is expected but Hickenlooper could be fined if the commission rules against him. The Public Trust Institute, a conservative group led by Frank McNulty, a former Republican speaker of the Colorado House, has alleged that Hickenlooper violated Colorado's ethics law by taking free flights on private jets as governor. Hickenlooper, who was governor from 2011 to 2019, has denied the accusations as politically motivated.