Congressional lawmakers from both parties are signaling that despite President Donald Trump’s assertion that he will control the money gained from selling Venezuelan oil turned over to the United States, they’ll want to check the books. Democrats said they were appalled by the Trump administration’s plans to sell Venezuelan oil “indefinitely” and control the revenue, suggesting it would amount to a takeover of the country’s fledgling oil industry. “It’s an insane plan,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told POLITICO coming out of a briefing Wednesday with Trump administration officials on Venezuela. “They are proposing to steal Venezuela’s oil at gunpoint forever and use that leverage to run the country.” Republicans expressed tepid support for the plan, and though they projected confidence in Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s ability to manage the funds, they demanded some oversight over how the money would be spent. “Chris Wright is brilliant when it comes to energy,” said Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) after the briefing. “Nobody’s going to do a better job than him in terms of making sure that that oil is properly marketed. Congress will have an oversight role. He’ll [Wright] be up here testifying in front of us exactly how they’re doing it.” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said the U.S. controlling oil revenues would provide important “leverage” over Venezuela’s government, given the fragile state of its economy. “As long as we can control how they spend it, that could be a really important part of rebuilding the country and democracy in the region,” Cramer said after the briefing. But he expressed some hesitation around selling the oil in the United States that would compete with crude produced in the United States. Both Cramer and Hoeven represent a state that is one of the largest oil producers in the United States but has recently seen its output plateau amid weak prices. The type of oil it produces wouldn’t compete directly with the lower-quality grades coming from Venezuela, but could be pushed out at the margins. “As long as it’s not sold at a discount I probably don’t have a big problem with it. As long as they aren’t going to use that dirty, cheap oil to flood the market,” Cramer said. Speaker Mike Johnson in an interview earlier Wednesday said he didn’t have the full details of the administration’s plans to secure oil fields and output in Venezuela, but he said he thought the plan “makes sense.” And he said he did not expect the Trump administration would spend taxpayer dollars for the effort. “I do not expect that they would,” he said. Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report. A bipartisan Senate group is nearing an agreement to revive lapsed Obamacare subsidies, with a key negotiator saying the group could release draft legislation early next week. The deal being discussed by the senators would reestablish the enhanced tax credits that expired Jan. 1 for two years, with new restrictions including minimum premium payments and income caps. The developing agreement would pair that with new cost-sharing reduction measures and expanding access to health savings accounts. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), a key negotiator, said Wednesday that legislative text could be finalized “realistically, probably Monday.” Two other people granted anonymity to disclose private negotiations characterized the Senate group as close to an agreement. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) added she was “encouraged” by the group’s progress and agreed an agreement is close. Even if the fluctuating group of roughly a dozen lawmakers is able to come to a consensus, there’s no guarantee it will get the votes to pass. Senators have been keeping their leadership in the loop on the talks and will meet this week with House lawmakers to update them on their progress. The group is eyeing an income restriction for the subsidies that would exclude those earning more than about 700 percent of the federal poverty level, as well as a $5 a month minimum premium. They would also slap steep new fines on any insurance companies that add so-called phantom enrollees, meaning people who are signed up for subsidized coverage without realizing it. Under the discussions, according to Moreno, Americans who receive the Obamacare subsidies could choose to have the money go instead into a pre-funded health savings account during the second year of the extension. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who has been involved in some of the group’s discussions, cautioned that there were “still some major stumbling blocks.” Moreno, for instance, did not say how the group was going to resolve concerns that the tax credits could be used to subsidize coverage of abortions. But he said the framework of the agreement, as he had described it, does not change current abortion policy and that the abortion discussion remained a “peripheral” issue. “We’re trying to resolve how we ensure compliance with the spirit” of the Hyde Amendment, Moreno said, referring to the longstanding appropriations restriction preventing taxpayer funding of abortions. House Oversight and Government Reform Chair James Comer could take legal action to compel congressional testimony from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison about the ongoing federal probe into social services fraud in their state. A GOP committee spokesperson said Wednesday neither Democrat has so far confirmed they will appear in Washington for the scheduled Feb. 10 hearing date and that they still had weeks to respond. However, the spokesperson said in a statement, “if they don’t commit to appearing, Chairman Comer is prepared to issue subpoenas.” A spokesperson for Walz did not provide a comment. A spokesperson for Ellison, a former member of Congress, said in a statement the attorney general had aggressively prosecuted fraud and “has put fraudsters in prison while defending our tax dollars and the services they pay for.” “Attorney General Ellison will respond to Representative Comer’s invitation at the appropriate time,” the Ellison spokesperson added. The subpoena threat came as Comer on Wednesday morning convened the first installment in what could be a series of hearings to assess the fallout from the expansive government program fraud scandal in the Minnesota. The situation has rapidly evolved into a racially charged scandal fueling the targeting of Minnesota’s Somali community and prompted President Donald Trump to revoke billions in federal assistance to blue states. Across the Capitol, Sen. Ted Cruz is planning his own hearing later this month on the matter in the Texas Republican’s capacity as chair of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee. “The fraudsters — many of whom are from Minnesota’s Somali community — have stolen from programs meant to feed needy kids, provide services to autistic children, house low-income and disabled Americans, and provide health care to vulnerable Medicaid recipients,” Comer said in his opening remarks at the Wednesday hearing, where three Republican members of the Minnesota House were testifying about the state’s epidemic of welfare fraud. “The breadth and depth of this fraud is breathtaking,” Comer continued. “And I fear that this is just the tip of the iceberg.” Comer also has requested additional documents from the state officials and asked the Treasury Department for relevant suspicious activity reports. Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the Oversight panel’s top Democrat, accused Trump of pardoning political allies who have been accused of fraud while punishing Democratic-led states in his decision to freeze money for welfare and childcare subsidies for low-income families there. “What we should not do is use fraud as an excuse to rip away aid from innocent people who follow the rules and need help in our society,” Garcia said. House Speaker Mike Johnson will travel to London later this month to address the United Kingdom’s Parliament, becoming the first sitting U.S. speaker to do so. Johnson announced his invitation on Wednesday, saying he was “honored and humbled” to accept the invite from Sir Lindsay Hoyle, speaker of the U.K. House of Commons, ahead of America’s 250th anniversary of independence. “The U.S. and the UK have stood together as pillars of peace and security across generations,” Johnson said in a statement. “We forged this important friendship in the great wars of the 20th century, but the true source of our strength comes from our shared commitment to individual freedom, human dignity, and the rule of law, which together form the exceptional, joint heritage of the English-speaking world.” Johnson’s address on Jan. 20 will be one of many ceremonial events the U.S. has planned to commemorate this year’s anniversary around the country. “As America begins its Semiquincentennial celebration, I will be happy to visit one of the great shrines of democracy itself, where the principles that launched the long struggle for American liberty were debated and refined,” Johnson added. Though Johnson will be the first sitting speaker to address Parliament, Hoyle said he was pleased to continue a tradition from 50 years ago, when his predecessor invited then-Speaker Carl Albert to London to mark the 200th anniversary. Doing so, Hoyle added, continues to “acknowledge the enduring close relationship between our parliaments and people.” “Our UK Parliament is sited just miles away from where the cross-Atlantic relationship began more than 400 years ago,” Hoyle said in a statement distributed by Johnson’s office. “The courage of the Founding Fathers, who set sail on the Mayflower for the New World, built a bridge and connections across the Atlantic, which continues until today.” POLITICO London Playbook previously reported that Johnson was expected to visit Parliament. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report misstated when Johnson will address Parliament; it will be later this month. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wants to block the construction of any new data centers to protect people from the harms of artificial intelligence. But few Democrats — including some of his picks in key midterm races — have joined his call for a moratorium despite agreeing that regulators aren’t keeping up with the threats artificial intelligence poses to utility bills and resources. The split shows how neither party has a united strategy to take advantage of voters’ distrust of artificial intelligence heading into the 2026 midterms. Democratic candidates in Virginia and New Jersey have already capitalized on that distaste to win key gubernatorial races, highlighting how powerful of an issue AI could be in November. In Michigan’s marquee Democratic Senate primary, Sanders-endorsed progressive Abdul El-Sayed said “any new project must come with enforceable public standards” such as protecting water resources and preventing utility companies from hiking residential rates. In Texas, progressive Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who’s vying in the Democratic primary to unseat GOP Sen. John Cornyn, said in a statement that AI “can bring real economic opportunity to Texas,” but “we must demand transparency, accountability, and responsible growth.” In Illinois, Rep. Robin Kelly, one of several Democrats running for retiring Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat, said she does “not oppose new data centers” but that they should be required to bring clean energy to the grid to keep consumer costs down. And in Minnesota, Sanders-endorsed Senate candidate Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said she’s “not opposed to new technologies or investment in them” but wants stronger regulations and “understand[s] why Senator Sanders is raising the alarm.” All of the candidates stopped short of agreeing with Sanders’ call for a moratorium. Wisconsin state Rep. Francesca Hong, a candidate for governor, is one of the few Democrats also calling for a moratorium, albeit at the state level. Democrats are not the only ones fractured over how to handle AI. President Donald Trump’s push for minimal AI regulations — which includes targeting state laws governing the industry — has drawn resistance from Republican governors like Utah’s Spencer Cox and Florida’s Ron DeSantis. And outspoken GOP lawmakers, including Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Katie Britt (Ala.), and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), have raised concerns about the dangers of AI if left unrestrained. Some of the Democratic Party’s biggest climate hawks, who support regulating the explosion of data centers, also stopped short of calling for a freeze. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who has co-signed multiple Democratic letters to the Trump administration asking it to prevent U.S. households from subsidizing the cost of data centers, told POLITICO he shares the same goals as Sanders but doesn’t believe a blanket ban is realistic. Instead, Blumenthal wants data centers to show how they will bear utility cost increases, rather than consumers, before granting them access to the grid. For Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), one of Sanders’ closest allies, the door isn’t shut on a future moratorium endorsement. “I think it’s something that I’m happy to consider and discuss, but we just haven’t yet,” she said. House Democrats are making a fresh attempt to rein in President Donald Trump on Venezuela, plotting to force a vote on a war powers resolution in the coming weeks. The resolution is likely to be similar to one that was introduced last year as the military began to marshal forces in the Caribbean. That measure was narrowly defeated in the GOP-controlled House. Democrats are hopeful they can garner more support from Republicans following the weekend operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Rules Committee Democrat who co-authored the original measure, said he envisioned “something similar to what we did last time, maybe with a couple of minor adjustments.” He and other top Democrats privately huddled Tuesday evening as they planned a way forward. Some Democrats are privately concerned that introducing a war powers measure that is broadly worded could fail and give the impression that the House is giving Trump permission to take further action in Venezuela. Democratic leaders are involving lawmakers with military backgrounds such as Reps. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) as they plan their response, according to Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the top Foreign Affairs Committee Democrat. He said he expects “very little” to change from last year’s measure. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is donating $400,000 to 23 state Democratic parties in an effort to fund Democratic infrastructure ahead of the 2026 midterms. In an interview, the Massachusetts Democrat called the “early money” investment “crucial” for state parties. She’s urging fellow Democrats to follow her lead on donating now because “the best time to do it is January, not waiting until next October.” The 23 states are ones with competitive congressional or statewide races in the 2026 midterms, and include Maine, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas. “They need the resources to build out infrastructure that all of our Democratic candidates will need to win in November,” Warren said. “They need money now to hire staff, recruit volunteers, knock on doors, make calls, do all the things that make Democrats competitive in these elections.” She’s also raised more than $1.1 million for candidates this cycle, while weighing in on a handful of contested primaries. Warren, a longtime progressive champion, is urging candidates to focus their campaign messaging on “the high costs that families are struggling with every day” and “make it clear that we have solutions and that we will fight to deliver real change.” In 2018, Warren also donated $250,000 to state parties, a sign of her early presidential primary preparations ahead of the 2020 campaign. But when asked if the same applied to this year’s investment, Warren said, “no.” “Democrats need to win elections everywhere, and I am 100 percent committed to making that happen in November 2026,” she said. The start of the second session of the 119th Congress isn’t going as planned for House Republicans. First, the GOP Conference’s long-planned, day-long policy retreat Tuesday at the Kennedy Center — intended to build unity around a legislative agenda in a midterm election year — was shaken by news of Rep. Doug LaMalfa’s (R-Calif.) unexpected death and Rep. Jim Baird’s (R-Ind.) hospitalization from a car accident. It brought into stark relief the major math challenges House Republicans now face. LaMalfa’s passing brings the balance of the House to 218-213. And as long as Baird is out recovering, Speaker Mike Johnson can afford to lose only a single GOP vote on party-line legislative business on the chamber floor. “We keep saying we are one breath away from the minority — that’s more true today than ever,” said one House Republican granted anonymity to speak candidly about the mood. — The numbers game: Johnson’s margins could be a major problem for Wednesday’s vote to move forward with consideration of a “minibus” funding package covering Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy-Water and Interior-Environment — if the measure makes it to the floor at all. Rules ultimately recessed Tuesday night without approving the rule to allow for floor debate on the funding bill after Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and other conservatives revolted over some of the earmarks for projects in Democratic districts and states. The panel is expected to reconvene Wednesday morning to discuss a leadership-backed compromise, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss the plans — though it wasn’t immediately clear what resolution could satisfy Roy’s demands without alienating Democrats whose support will be key in the Senate. — Health care: Republicans who hoped a speech from Donald Trump at the Tuesday retreat would bring messaging clarity to their position on health care policy also had their dreams quickly dashed as the president suggested the GOP ought to be “flexible” when it comes to federal funding for abortion. It caused an uproar among conservatives who insist any agreement to extend lapsed Affordable Care Act subsidies must include language banning the use of federal funds for abortions — while Democrats say abortion restrictions are a nonstarter. Republicans will have to soon decide what compromises they’re willing to make. The House is set to take a procedural vote Wednesday on whether to move forward with legislation that would revive the enhanced ACA subsidies for three years, which Congress let expire in December. The bill is expected to pass the House on Thursday with support from all Democrats and a handful of Republicans. Then, senators will have to make the next move. What else we’re watching: — More Venezuela briefings: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine will brief all lawmakers on the Venezuela operation Wednesday morning — first in the Senate, then in the House. — Appropriations movement: Congress has just over three weeks to pass the remaining spending bills needed to avoid another shutdown. If lawmakers can pass the Energy-Water, Interior-Environment and Commerce-Justice-Science funding measure by early next week, appropriators are tentatively planning to move two more spending packages. The first, according to Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), would include Homeland, State-Foreign Operations and Financial Services. A final minibus could contain Defense, Labor-HHS-Education and Transportation-HUD. Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

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