Trump & Co. launch final megabill pressure campaign
Evans faced mounting questions about his ability to serve after suffering a stroke last year and missing months of votes. He insisted until recently he still intended to run for reelection, though several primary challengers were already starting to make moves.
'Serving the people of Philadelphia has been the honor of my life,' Evans said in a statement. 'And I remain in good health and fully capable of continuing to serve. After some discussions this weekend and thoughtful reflection, I have decided that the time is right to announce that I will not be seeking reelection in 2026.'
Evans, 71, has served in Congress since 2016. He succeeded Rep. Chaka Fattah, who resigned after being indicted on federal corruption charges, and is one of six Pennsylvanians on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.
His retirement announcement comes amid generational upheaval in the Democratic Party. Longtime Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said earlier this year she wouldn't run again. The party base has looked to their leaders to mount a more vigorous response to President Donald Trump, with some in the party calling for primary challenges to senior leaders.
Evans' retirement could kick off a fierce battle between establishment Democrats and progressives for the Philadelphia-area seat, and several possible candidates are already weighing campaigns. Democratic socialists have made headway in the city, particularly at the state level, and pro-Israel groups and the liberal Working Families Party are eyeing the race, according to multiple Democrats.
'This is completely wide open,' said a high-level Philadelphia Democrat who was granted anonymity to speak frankly. 'There is not one person I can see who I would deem the front-runner.'
State Sen. Sharif Street, chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, has expressed interest in running for Evans' seat. A second Democrat granted anonymity to speak freely said Street could kick off his campaign as early as Tuesday, though other Democrats said an official announcement could come later. State Rep. Morgan Cephas, who is close to the city's influential building trades unions, is eyeing the seat as well, as is progressive state Rep. Chris Rabb.
'Me and my team are strongly considering a bid,' Cephas told POLITICO Monday. 'But first and foremost I wanted to express my overwhelming gratitude to the work that Congressman Evans has done for the city of Philadelphia.'
Rabb said in a text that 'I am seriously considering running for this seat.'
State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, another progressive, said his supporters have 'encouraged me to consider a run.' But he said he has 'nothing to announce,' adding that 'today is about Dwight Evans' and 'honoring his legacy.'
In a sign of how hotly contested the race could become, some Democrats are already attacking Street publicly and privately before he jumps into the contest.
J.J. Balaban, a Democratic consultant who lives in Evans' district, said he opposes a potential bid by Street because in 2021 he worked with a powerful Republican to craft a proposed congressional redistricting map. His plan was not ultimately successful.
'Any good Democrat should hope it's not Sharif Street because of how he tried to sell out the Democratic delegation,' said Balaban. 'We would have fewer congressional seats if he had carried the day.'
Street did not immediately respond to a request for comment. At the time, Street defended his work with Republicans, saying 'it's our job to negotiate the best that we can.'
Street has made some recent efforts to make inroads with progressives, including by endorsing liberal Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner in his successful primary reelection campaign this year over a more moderate challenger.
The extent to which Evans does — or doesn't — get involved in helping determine his successor will also shape the race. A Democrat familiar with Evans' thinking said he is 'going to wait and see what the field will look like' before deciding whether to endorse a candidate in the primary.
'Plenty of time to make a decision,' the person added.
Rumors have swirled for months about Evans' future, and some Democrats speculated that he might step down in the middle of his term, which would have given power to the city's Democratic ward leaders to choose a nominee for a special election. But Evans said Wednesday that he 'will serve out the full term that ends Jan. 3, 2027.'
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WASHINGTON (AP) — It's become tradition. Congressional leaders from both major political parties blame each other for a potential government shutdown as the budget year draws to a close. But this year, the posturing is starting extraordinarily early. The finger-pointing with more than two months to go in the fiscal year indicates the threat of a stoppage is more serious than usual as a Republican-controlled Congress seeks to make good on its policy priorities, often with no support from the other political party. Democratic leadership from both chambers and the two panels responsible for drafting spending bills met behind closed doors recently to discuss the strategy ahead. The leaders emerged demanding that Republicans work with them but were careful to avoid spelling out red lines if Republicans don't. 'We are for a bipartisan, bicameral bill. That's what always has been done,' said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. 'The onus is on the Republicans to help us make that happen.' On the Republican side, lawmakers describe the Democrats as itching for a shutdown. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Schumer had threatened a shutdown should Republicans pass a bill to roll back $9 billion in public broadcasting and foreign aid funds. Republicans subsequently passed those cuts. 'It was disturbing to see the Democratic leader implicitly threatening to shut down the government in his July 'Dear Colleague' letter, but I'm hopeful that he does not represent the views of Senate Democrats as a whole,' Thune said. Where things stand on government funding The federal government is operating on a full-year continuing resolution that provided about $1.7 trillion in spending for defense and non-defense programs. The funding expires Sept. 30. President Donald Trump requested a comparable amount for the coming fiscal year, but the Republican proposed dramatically overhauling how that money is distributed to include more for defense and border security and significantly less for health, education, housing and foreign assistance. So far, the House has approved two of the 12 annual spending bills. The Senate has yet to approve any, but those bills that have advanced out of the Senate Appropriations Committee are enjoying bipartisan support while the House bills are generally advancing out of committee on party line votes. This week, the Senate is expected to consider the appropriations bill to fund military construction projects and the Department of Veterans Affairs, generally one of the easier spending bills to pass. One or two others could get added to the package. Congress got off to a late start on the funding process. Republicans prioritized Trump's tax and spending cut bill. 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Some liberal groups threatened to hold protests at various events Schumer was planning to promote a new book, and some of those events ended up being postponed due to security concerns. The Democratic frustrations have only grown stronger in the ensuing months. First, the Democrats watched the Trump administration slow-walk or block hundreds of billions of dollars from going out in part through the work of its Department of Government Efficiency. Then they watched as Republicans passed Trump's big tax and spending cut bill without any Democratic votes. Finally, they watched as Republicans this month canceled $9 billion in foreign aid and public broadcasting funds when much of it had been previously agreed to on a bipartisan basis. Meanwhile, Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, declared that the appropriations process 'has to be less bipartisan.' Democrats complain that much of the work taking place in the House has been a waste of time, since those partisan bills have no chance of getting 60 votes in the 100-member Senate. 'At this point in time, why have appropriations if they can just unilaterally through rescissions whack it all away?' said Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill. 'I think what you're seeing is more frustration than I've ever witnessed.' Republicans position for impasse Republicans control all the levers of power in Washington. That could make it harder to blame Democrats for a shutdown. But in the end, any bill will need some Democratic support to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. 'Our concern is that from their standpoint, they want to have a shutdown,' Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said of Democrats. '… The Democrats see it as a way to derail the agenda that we're putting through.' Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2-ranked Republican in the Senate, said Republicans were determined to hold votes on the 12 spending bills. He said that Schumer 'had unilaterally shut down the appropriations process' in previous years by not holding such votes, moving instead to negotiate directly with GOP leadership in the House and then-President Joe Biden's Democratic administration on an all-encompassing spending package. 'If Democrats walk away from this process again, simply to protect wasteful Washington spending,' Barrasso said, 'they will be the ones sabotaging the Senate and shutting down the government.'
