GOP Candidates Seeking to Replace McConnell Square Off In Debate
The top three Republican candidates running to replace longtime U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell took the stage Monday night at the Henry Clay event center in downtown Louisville for the first Republican primary debate. McConnell, a Republican who has represented Kentucky in the U.S. Senate since 1985, announced earlier this year that he won’t seek reelection in 2026 after more than 40 years in office, creating the first open Senate seat in the state in years.
Rep. Andy Barr, former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and businessman Nate Morris are facing off in the Republican primary, which is among this year’s most competitive. The GOP hopefuls all support President Donald Trump, hoping to land his endorsement in a state that Trump overwhelmingly carried in the past three presidential elections.
The debate offered voters an opportunity to hear the candidates discuss their positions on key issues and outline their priorities as the Republican primary campaign ramps up, WDRB reported.
At one point, the candidates were asked about Trump’s military actions against Iran and at what point should Congress get involved.
“The president has the legal authority as commander in chief to defend the country and Congress has the power to declare war, but Congress does not have the power to prevent the president from advancing our national security,” Barr, who voted against a recent War Powers Act resolution seeking to rein in the president.
“I voted against this dangerous and reckless resolution because it would have sent a dangerous signal, it would have been a gift to our adversaries, but the bottom line is the objectives are being achieved,” he added.
Cameron, meanwhile, took a similar stance. “Lets take a stock of where we were. Under Joe Biden and President (Barack) Obama, you had redlines and the disastrous evacuation from Afghanistan,” he said. “President Trump is about decisive action on behalf of the American people to ensure our national security.
“I am grateful for President Trump and would support his efforts in Iran, and also lets look at what he did with (Venezuelan President Nicolás) Maduro, and taking out a narco-terrorist in Venezuela. This president is on the right track and I’m grateful for his leadership,” he added.
Next, it was Morris’ turn. “I think it’s really simple. I trust this president and I trust this president because of the results he’s gotten for the American people. And I stand by him 100%,” he said.
“And he has been so surgical, so tactical in the way that he’s gone after all these foreign governments and I think that we’re gonna get great results for the American people and I stand by him 100% and we gotta have a senator that’s willing to do that, vote with the president and have the president’s back, especially on foreign policy,” he added.
Another question dealt with Trump’s “aggressive enforcement” of immigration laws.
“Look, folks in neighborhoods all across this commonwealth and this country want to be able to sleep soundly in their homes. Whether it’s Tom Homan or President Trump or others of the administration, they have said specifically that we are looking for ways in which to deport violent criminals in this country so that you don’t have what occurred with Laken Riley. That is important to me,” said Cameron, adding that he would withhold federal funding from sanctuary states and cities.
“I’ve called for a full moratorium on any new immigration until we deport every single illegal that came into this country under Joe Biden,” Morris said. “Folks, we were invaded. They’ve all gotta go back, 100%, and we shouldn’t give a dime of your taxpayer money to any illegal.”
Said Barr: “I have tripled ICE funding and I’ve supported the toughest border security in history because we need to protect the American people first.”
Trump ‘Briefed With Options’ Amid Stalled Iran Talks
The Trump administration on Wednesday continued to express optimism about negotiations with Iran, even as Iranian officials insist that no direct talks have taken place, according to reports.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister said no face-to-face meeting had occurred in Doha and that no direct negotiations with the United States were currently planned.
Despite Tehran’s position, President Donald Trump described the discussions as “very good,” apparently referring to indirect contacts involving U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner communicating through third-party intermediaries.
Vice President JD Vance struck a firmer tone the same day, warning that the United States could escalate its response if Iran refuses to cooperate or takes actions that further destabilize the Middle East.
His remarks underscored the administration’s message that while it remains open to a diplomatic resolution, additional measures remain on the table if negotiations fail.
“If Iran attempts to rebuild its nuclear program, threaten its neighbors and support terrorism, President Trump has options to deal with it,” Vance noted, without elaborating.
Earlier, a Wall Street Journal report claimed that Trump had been briefed on several military options, including “all-out war,” but Trump said he wanted to give diplomacy more time.
Vance additionally stated that the US “dropped bombs on Iran because it fired on ships, and we used leverage to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.”
He went on to suggest that the U.S. could take that course of action again.
Vance also said the current talks are “to discuss the details and flow of maritime traffic.”
The vice president, addressing U.S. military personnel at a naval base in Virginia on Wednesday, also said that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back decades.
“If you look at what our own intelligence says about their nuclear program, they are further away from developing a nuclear bomb than they have ever been since basically the last 20 or 30 years,” Vance said, though he stopped short of Trump’s claim that the program had been “totally obliterated.”
“What the president asks you to accomplish is to destroy the defense industrial base of that country, so that if they ever decided to rebuild their military, or if they ever decided to rebuild that nuclear program, they would be harmless to do it. You did that exactly as well,” Vance added, per the Times of Israel.
The VP went on to say that Trump is now “negotiating from a position of strength because of you.”
“If the Iranians try to rebuild the nuclear program, the President’s got options. If the Iranians try to threaten their neighbors or fund terrorism, we’ve got options,” Vance continued.
“But what we must never do is drop bombs just for the sake of dropping bombs. And that is what the president will never ask you to do,” Vance added.
“He’ll ask you to go to war, yes. But when he asks you to go to war, he’ll tell you exactly what you’re going for,” the veep noted further.
“And I think that is what you should expect out of your political leadership.”
“What I noticed about the people who are attacking the administration for negotiating is that they are the very same people who, for example, encouraged us to just go a little bit further and just drop a few more bombs in places like Afghanistan,” he said.
“If you go back to the mistakes that were made, those very same people refused to say what we were dropping bombs for,” he added.
“We dropped some bombs a couple of days ago… Because the Iranians were shooting at commercial ships… We applied some leverage, and we’ve had free commercial transit for the last three days,” Vance told the naval personnel.
UPDATE: House Passes Key Bill In Nod To Trump Admin
Washington — In a closely watched vote, the U.S. House of Representatives has approved the SPEED Act, legislation aimed at accelerating federal permitting for large-scale artificial intelligence data centers and supporting power projects.
The bill passed Friday by a narrow 218-to-213 margin, highlighting sharp partisan divides even as lawmakers on both sides recognize AI’s critical role in national security and economic competitiveness.
The SPEED Act targets reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. It would shorten environmental reviews that have stalled major construction projects for years and cut the statute of limitations for related lawsuits from six years down to just 150 days.
Supporters argue these changes are essential to meet exploding demand for data centers and reliable energy as AI technologies advance rapidly.
Republican lead sponsor Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas called the measure a national imperative: “The expansion of AI computing power for both civilian and military use is a national imperative.” He stressed the need for the U.S. to maintain its technological edge, especially against China.
The legislation drew public support from major tech players including OpenAI, Micron, and Microsoft.
Passage came after last-minute drama. Some conservative Republicans pushed for amendments protecting prior executive actions on offshore wind and other green energy limits. Democrats largely opposed the final version, with Rep. Scott Peters of California warning it codifies a “broken permitting status quo.” He said a more bipartisan approach may need to come from the Senate.
The House action pairs with a new Trump administration initiative: the U.S. Tech Force. This two-year program will recruit about 1,000 engineers and technical experts to modernize federal AI systems in partnership with companies like Amazon Web Services, Apple, Google, Nvidia, Oracle, and Palantir.
Together, the SPEED Act and Tech Force aim to address two major bottlenecks for American AI leadership: regulatory delays and specialized talent shortages. The bill now heads to the Senate, where further negotiations are expected.
This development intensifies the national debate over balancing rapid AI growth with environmental safeguards and partisan priorities in the race for global technological supremacy.
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