Democrats Are Worried The GOP's Cash Advantage Could Hurt Their Chances In The Midterms

The Democratic Party heads into the midterms with generic congressional ballot polling and historical precedent on its side. It is nevertheless worried that the majorities it so desperately wants could still slip away.

Politico reported this week that Democratic strategists increasingly fear their favorable political environment could be overwhelmed by a Republican cash stockpile that dwarfs their own.

Federal Election Commission filings through the end of June show the three main GOP national committees and their affiliated congressional super PACs sitting on a combined $657 million. Their Democratic counterparts held $334 million. Add President Trump's MAGA Inc. super PAC, which reported more than $400 million on hand several weeks earlier, and the Republican reserve runs to more than three times what Democratic Party committees and congressional super PACs can muster between them.

That gap matters more this cycle than it would have in any previous one. On June 30, the Supreme Court ruled in NRSC v. FEC that federal limits on coordinated party spending violate the First Amendment, overturning a 2001 precedent and freeing national party committees to spend without ceiling in direct coordination with their candidates. Committee money that once had to be routed through independent expenditures can now be aimed straight at a race.

Democratic strategist Morgan Jackson, an adviser to former Gov. Roy Cooper's Senate campaign in North Carolina, calls the imbalance the central threat to his party's hopes this cycle.

"What is putting the House majority and the Senate majority, nationally, in danger is the Republicans' massive stockpile of resources that they're putting together to push back," Jackson said.

He warned that the spending gap could erode the advantage Democrats have built everywhere else. "If you get outspent five to six to eight to one, that can alleviate the environmental advantage that Democrats have this cycle," Jackson said.

The committee-level numbers are lopsided almost everywhere. The Republican National Committee reported $128 million in cash against $16 million for the Democratic National Committee, which is also carrying $18 million in debt. The National Republican Senatorial Committee held $55.9 million to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's $41 million. The National Republican Congressional Committee held $92.7 million to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's $79 million.

The super PAC gap is wider still. Senate Leadership Fund, the leading Republican Senate super PAC, reported roughly $112 million more on hand than the Democratic-aligned Senate Majority PAC. Congressional Leadership Fund, its House counterpart, held about $51 million more than House Majority PAC.

The national totals obscure a more complicated picture in the marquee Senate races, where the money runs the other way. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff holds roughly $40 million more on hand than Rep. Mike Collins in Georgia. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico has nearly $20 million more than Attorney General Ken Paxton. In North Carolina, Cooper is about $17 million ahead of former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley. In several of the contests that will decide both chambers, individual Democratic candidates are burying their opponents even as the national party apparatus falls behind.

The picture inside the party gets messier once primary season is factored in. A wave of insurgent challengers aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America has forced sitting Democratic incumbents into costly primary fights this cycle, draining accounts well before anyone gets near a Republican opponent.

Senate Majority PAC spokeswoman Lauren French rejected the idea that the committee gap tells the whole story. "Republicans can crow all they want about getting massive checks from donors and businesses and billionaires, but we're going to win because we have the actual support from people who are voting," French said.

Other Democratic strategists are less confident that grassroots enthusiasm can offset a structural disadvantage. Jesse Ferguson argued that the media environment itself has made the shortfall more expensive than it would have been in past cycles. "Too many people think that fragmentation of media meant more efficiency and spending less. Wrong - it means you have to spend more," Ferguson said. The proliferation of streaming platforms, social media, and other digital outlets has driven up the price of political advertising, strategists say, raising the stakes for whichever side can deploy the deepest reserves of outside money.

What should worry Democrats most is that the Republican advantage has barely been touched. Trump political director James Blair said last month that Republican spending would begin "very soon," without offering a timetable. The fear on the Democratic side is that the bulk of MAGA Inc.'s $400 million war chest is being held back deliberately, to be dumped into competitive House and Senate races in the closing weeks - at the exact moment undecided voters start paying attention and Democratic committees have the least room left to answer.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/25/2026 - 16:55

Trump Orders Signs Outside Smithsonian Museum To Warn Of Inaccurate Exhibits

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on July 24 directing signs to be placed outside one of the Smithsonian Institution’s history museums warning visitors that some exhibits contain inaccurate information.

The order references a July report by the White House Domestic Policy Council, which alleges that the National Museum of American History “cannot be trusted to tell America’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic.”

Trump said in his order that the report shows that “the Smithsonian leadership does not present American history as a shared national inheritance to be taught and celebrated, but instead views American history as a ‘prime tool’ to advance ideas of social justice and the radical transformation of our society.”

The president directed his administration to use “all available authorities” to encourage the Smithsonian Institution to correct the issues identified in the report and ensure compliance with the laws, funding requirements, and contract conditions.

The order instructs the Interior Department to place temporary signage along the sidewalks and walkways that are maintained by the National Park Service and used by the public to access the museum, informing visitors of the report’s findings.

The signage will direct visitors to locations and resources presenting what the president deems accurate information regarding America’s history, according to the order.

The Smithsonian Institution did not return a request for comment by publication time.

The National Museum of American History, located in Washington, was originally named the National Museum of History and Technology when it was opened in January 1964. The museum was renamed in October 1980.

The museum’s collection includes more than 1.7 million objects representing the nation’s heritage in the areas of science, technology, society, and culture, according to its website.

Anthea Hartig, director of the National Museum of American History, defended the museum during a July 21 congressional hearing, saying its work is guided by the Smithsonian’s standards of scholarship and independence.

“The museum does not take sides in America’s political debates,” Hartig said. “We preserve and document the evidence of American life in all of its breadth, so that the public can encounter the past and draw their own conclusions.”

The White House report followed Trump’s March 2025 executive order directing the Interior Department to ensure that public monuments “do not contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”

The report said the museum has not established any exhibit specifically dedicated to the Founding Fathers, the Second Continental Congress, the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolutionary War, or the nation’s path to independence and the establishment of constitutional rule of law.

“Our central finding is not that the museum has simply added overlooked stories, corrected perceived errors, or broadened its historical scope,” the report stated.

“Rather, it is that museum leadership has explicitly adopted an ideological framework that no longer treats the American story as a shared national inheritance to be taught or celebrated, but as a political instrument to divide, dispirit, and discourage our citizens.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/25/2026 - 16:20