Good morning, it's Thursday, Oct. 1. The Senate left for the campaign trail after blocking two crowd-pleasing bills, one on lawmakers' stock trades and one on your power bill.

Also in today's issue: $500 checks in the mail, DOJ targets Minnesota judges, last troops leave Iraq, Hegseth's general shake-up.

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Two of the most popular ideas in Washington went down in the Senate on Wednesday, and the people who blocked them say they did it to protect you. Hold that thought, because that claim is the whole story.

Start with your electric bill. The Energy Information Administration expects the average home to pay about 18 cents per kilowatt-hour this year, up from roughly 17.3 cents last year. One reason is the wave of giant data centers that power AI. They need new power lines and plants, and those costs can land on everyone's monthly bill.

The Ratepayer Protection Act was meant to push that cost back onto the tech companies. It passed the House 417 to 3. On Wednesday it got 57 votes in the Senate and failed.

The second bill was about trust. A YouGov/Economist poll this spring found 76% of Americans say members of Congress shouldn't trade stocks; only 6% say they should. The Stop Insider Trading Act would have barred lawmakers, their spouses and their dependent children from buying new stocks. It failed 53 to 47, with every Democrat voting no.

Now look at why 57 and 53 weren't enough. Most bills in the Senate need 60 votes to move forward. That's the filibuster, a rule that lets the minority party stall legislation. Republicans hold 53 seats, so they need at least seven Democrats on most bills. They got four on the power bill and none on the stock bill.

Here's the honest truth: both sides have a point. Democrats say the power bill only asks states to "consider" making data centers pay and requires nothing. They say the stock bill lets lawmakers keep the shares they already own, exempts the president and vice president, and carries an unrelated rule requiring photo ID at the polls. Republicans answer that a partial fix beats no fix. Majority Leader John Thune accused Democrats of denying Republicans a win before the election.

And this is where things get complicated. The House added the voter ID rule, turning an ethics bill into an election fight. A stricter stock ban from Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, covering the president and banning ownership outright, cleared committee last summer but never got a floor vote. Each party backed the version that fit its campaign message.

The calendar explains a lot. The bills' Senate champions include Jon Husted of Ohio, rated by CQ Roll Call as the most vulnerable senator in the country, and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, also in a tight race. Then the Senate confirmed Keith Sonderling as labor secretary and left town until after the Nov. 3 election.

Congress comes back in November for the lame duck session, the weeks between an election and the start of a new Congress. If either bill returns with firmer rules and no voter ID rider, it would signal both sides actually wanted a law. If neither moves, Wednesday's votes were mostly campaign material, and your power bill keeps doing what it's doing.

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Nearly 1 million Americans are getting $500, as the Treasury began sending refunds Wednesday to people in 30 states who buy Affordable Care Act coverage through HealthCare.gov without federal help. Each payment comes with a letter from President Trump saying the Biden administration overcharged enrollees through exchange user fees. The money goes to individuals, not households, mostly to people earning above 400% of the poverty line, and no application is needed. Some health experts dispute the overcharge label, noting the fees pay for HealthCare.gov and its call center. For many families, the bigger number is next year's premium: insurers want a median 15% increase for 2027 after extra federal subsidies expired, according to KFF. Open enrollment starts Nov. 1.

The Justice Department filed a misconduct complaint Wednesday against all but one of Minnesota's federal trial judges, after most spoke to The New York Times about how the government behaved in court during its immigration surge. The department asked the 8th Circuit appeals court to remove two judges, Patrick Schiltz and John Tunheim, appointed by a Republican and a Democratic president, from Homeland Security cases. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the government, like any litigant, deserves impartial judges. Schiltz says he followed ethics rules, and February judiciary guidance lets judges speak up for judicial independence. Earlier this year he listed 96 court orders he said ICE had violated. The case tests whether the government can remove judges over public comments.

The last American troops left Iraq on Wednesday, ending a 12-year mission against the Islamic State group. It is the second full U.S. withdrawal since the 2003 invasion; the first came in 2011. The Trump administration carried out an agreement the Biden administration negotiated in 2024, which set Sept. 30 as the final date. About 4,500 U.S. service members died in Iraq over two decades, most of them before 2011. The exit comes at an awkward moment. The U.S. is seven months into a war with Iran, which backs powerful militias in Iraq that celebrated the departure. Kurdish officials in the north voiced worry. Iraq now has to hold off both a weakened ISIS and Iranian influence on its own.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday the Pentagon is cutting about 1 in 5 generals and admirals: roughly 10% fired and another 10% of top jobs eliminated. Speaking to troops at Quantico, Virginia, he called it accountability. Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona called it a purge of experienced leaders. Hegseth also announced a new four-star command for drones and robotic weapons, plus a 120-day study of future warfare led by Elon Musk, Newt Gingrich and Palmer Luckey. There is a real debate underneath: critics say too many top officers slow decisions, while others say the military needs them to manage allies and new technology. Making these changes in the middle of a war is the part to watch.

That was the House vote in September for the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill meant to keep data center grid costs off household power bills. Members from the most liberal to the most conservative backed it. On Wednesday it fell three votes short in the Senate.

P.S. Should members of Congress be banned from owning stocks? Hit Reply — one word is enough.