Happy Wednesday AND happy July, Beacon readers! Mariah Thomas here. An update for you all: this week, I checked “Whitefish Woody Weekend” off my ongoing summer bucket list. Those wooden boats?! So sleek. Maybe next summer I’ll try to catch a ride in one. For the moment, though, I’m just looking forward to a long holiday weekend, and I hope you all are too.
Enough on my summer updates… Time to dive in with some other news items.
Amid a somewhat chaotic election cycle and the school year’s end, there’s a small slew of things I’ve been following along with involving members of our federal delegation that I just haven’t had the chance to write about in full yet. On that list:
The Supreme Court’s decision (which dropped yesterday) in National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) v. Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Montana Sen. Steve Daines’s America the Beautiful Act
A bipartisan housing reform package — and more specifically, the VA Home Loan Awareness Act, introduced by Montana’s other senator, Tim Sheehy
So, for today’s daily roundup, I’ve got a quick rundown on where all those news items stand.
Perhaps it makes the most sense to begin with the newest news: the Supreme Court’s ruling in NRSC v. FEC. As a refresher, that case aimed to do away with party expenditure limits set by the Federal Election Campaign Act, which has been on the books since 1971. The NRSC, which is tasked with getting Republicans elected to the U.S. Senate, pressed the issue as one of free speech, arguing party expenditure limits stop partisan committees from coordinating with candidates to push a unified message.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court agreed with the NRSC’s framing — a move which now allows for unlimited spending by political parties on behalf of their candidates. The ruling ostensibly gives national Republicans an upper hand over Democrats, POLITICO reports. Montana’s senior Sen. Daines served as the NRSC’s chairman in 2024 and helped deliver a Republican Senate majority and flip Democrat Sen. Jon Tester’s seat red. As chairman of the organization, Daines also helped continue the NRSC’s efforts in the legal challenge, and he heralded the Court’s decision in a statement Tuesday.
“Today’s ruling is a victory for free speech, the rule of law, and free and fair elections,” Daines said. “The law will no longer restrict candidates or political parties from reaching voters and will restore coherence and balance to our election system.”
Beyond expressing support for the Supreme Court’s Tuesday ruling, Daines has also been working on his America the Beautiful Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation to reauthorize the Great American Outdoors Act, which Daines authored in 2020. One of the critical pieces of the 2020 legislation was a Legacy Restoration Fund, which dedicated funds annually to address national parks’ maintenance backlog. The America the Beautiful Act would renew that funding through 2031, investing $6.65 billion over five years for national park repairs. The national park maintenance backlog sat at an estimated $24 billion at the end of fiscal year 2025.
The legislation passed out of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources committee June 17 — and when it did, Daines lauded its bipartisan support and called for its passage.
“As we look forward to America’s 250th anniversary, what better way to celebrate our national parks, the crown jewels of America, than by signing America the Beautiful into law?” Daines said. “Let’s get it to the President’s desk.”
The bill has 66 cosponsors in the Senate, indicating a high likelihood of passage when it does make it to the floor. It’ll also have to get through reconciliation in the U.S. House before making it to the president’s desk.
And speaking of bills making it to the president’s desk… A bipartisan housing package in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed both the Senate and House last week. The legislation aims to boost housing supply and homebuying, along with limiting large investors’ ability to buy single family homes.
The package that passed includes a Sheehy-sponsored bill, the VA Home Loan Awareness Act. Sheehy co-sponsored the bill with Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat. The legislation aims to provide veterans with more information on the VA Home Loan program, and on their potential eligibility for it.
“The VA Home Loan Awareness Act ensures our veterans and their families can take advantage of the benefits they rightly earned through their service and sacrifice for our nation,” Sheehy said in a June 23 press release. “I’m proud to see this historic, bipartisan legislation pass both chambers of Congress and look forward to President Trump signing it into law.”
But the president has yet to put his pen to the legislation, which he called a “yawn” on Monday. He has said his Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act is more important and has pushed for that bill’s passage. The SAVE America Act would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, but has faced roadblocks in the Senate, where a group of Republicans have declined to eliminate or reform the filibuster to pass the act. It needs 60 votes to move forward.
What does that mean for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act? Well, the president doesn’t need to sign it in order for it to become law. At the 10-day mark, if the president takes no action and Congress is in session, the bill automatically becomes law. We’ll see if President Donald Trump takes any action on it before that time frame is up.
And… that’s what I’ve got on those three items. But before I let you all go onto the rest of the Daily Roundup, I do have one more bonus item, which landed in my inbox yesterday.
The Patriot Games, an athletic contest for students across the country aged 14-17 with a $250,000 scholarship prize pool at stake, is looking for applications. The event is slated for Aug. 9-11 and is part of a “broader series of signature events taking place across the country as Americans come together to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday and inspire the next generation to help write the next chapter of the American story.”
Our very own U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, in a press release yesterday, encouraged Montana students to apply before the deadline of July 10.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to step onto the national stage and represent their state and country,” Zinke said.
Okay… that’s really it from me for today. Onto the rest of Wednesday’s Daily Roundup!
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