This Week on the Hill: Congressional recess shifts focus to midterm campaign trail

With both chambers of Congress out of session, lawmakers are trading the Capitol for the campaign trail as the midterm elections enter their final stretch.

The shift will be especially visible this week, with a slate of high-profile debates pitting candidates from both parties on the same stage.

In Iowa, Rep. Ashley Hinson (R) will face off against Democratic opponent Josh Turek in a debate moderated by Iowa PBS this Wednesday. The two are running in a competitive race for the Iowa Senate seat.

The following day, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and Democratic progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed will meet for a U.S. Senate debate hosted by Nexstar Group affiliate WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids. The Michigan Senate race is among a handful of closely watched contests that could help determine control of the upper chamber.

President Trump is expected to continue his red states midterm tour, with a stop Monday in Nebraska, as he works to boost Republican candidates ahead of November. Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) is facing independent candidate Dan Osborn.

On the legal front, a federal judge will hold a hearing Thursday to determine whether to extend protections for CNN, MS NOW and Politico after Trump banned the outlets from White House grounds.

The judge had implemented a temporary restraining order to restore their access until the end of the day Oct. 8, but news organizations are seeking a preliminary injunction that would keep the ban blocked as their lawsuit proceeds.

Hinson and Turek take the stage in Iowa Senate debate: The debate comes as Hinson has publicly distanced herself from Trump on several issues, including the military conflict in Iran.

Rogers, El-Sayed face off in Michigan Senate debate: The Republican and Democrat will meet Thursday in Grand Rapids.

Trump campaigns for Ricketts in Nebraska: Trump is expected to make a campaign stop Monday as Republicans look to defend the Cornhusker State’s Senate seat.

Judge weighs next steps in White House media access fight: The legal battle over CNN, MS NOW and Politico’s access to the White House continues as the outlets seek to extend a temporary court order blocking the ban.

Hinson and Turek to clash on debate stage Wednesday

Hinson and Turek will face off Wednesday in what will likely be a highly watched debate as she has publicly tried to separate herself from Trump amid voter frustrations over the rising gas and grocery costs at home.

Hinson has previously called for the House to return to session “immediately” to pause diesel exports, suspend the gas tax and create a diesel relief program for farmers and truckers.

She has also argued that the military conflict in Iran needs to be brought to a “successful and immediate end” and that Iowa residents are “being squeezed” by higher costs at the pump and grocery store. A recent Marist poll found Hinson trailing Turek by 8 percentage points.

“On day one in the Senate, I’ll be ready to file legislation to make no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security permanent. Josh Turek would repeal that middle-class tax relief on day one and raise your taxes to give benefits to illegal immigrants. Iowans won’t let that happen,” Hinson wrote on the social platform X last week.

Former President Obama endorsed Turek late last month, marking the second Senate race he has publicly weighed in on.

If Turek wins in November, he would be the first Democrat to win a Senate race in the Hawkeye State since former Sen. Tom Harkin won his final race in 2008. A Democratic presidential nominee also has not won Iowa since Obama did in 2012.

Rogers, El-Sayed to debate in Grand Rapids Thursday

The debate between Rogers and El-Sayed comes as the GOP nominee is trailing behind his Democratic opponent by several points.

A recent Suffolk University poll published in September found that 47 percent of likely Michigan voters backed El-Sayed, while 40 percent said they support Rogers in the November contest.

Additionally, El-Sayed performed better among younger voters, female voters and Black voters. Rogers held an advantage among older voters, male voters and white voters.

Decision Desk HQ’s forecast shows El-Sayed with a 67 percent probability of winning in November, with Rogers holding a 33 percent chance.

Rogers did not attend a televised debate with El-Sayed last month and said he “ never agreed ” to it, which resulted in the Democrat speaking for one hour next to an empty podium.

Rogers accused the moderator of showing bias toward El-Sayed — a claim the moderator, Fox 2 Detroit’s Roop Raj, has rejected. He requested that Rogers appear for the sake of voters.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned for El-Sayed last month, telling voters, “Remember, the Senate seat is six years. So let’s think about that in the lives of all the people that the leaders here serve, and the good work that can happen over the course of those years, because of the power and the strength of Abdul and that Senate seat.”

Rogers, meanwhile, has sought to appeal to frustrated voters by calling for an immediate end to the military conflict in Iran and a temporary embargo on diesel exports.

Trump is slated to visit Grand Island, Neb., Monday as part of his red-state tour. Last week, he visited Oklahoma, Alabama, Ohio and Texas.

Republicans argue the stops are all a part of the party’s strategy to get as close as they can to replicating their 2024 presidential-year turnout.

But polls show voters across the board are souring on Trump’s policies, threatening Republican chances in what were once thought to be safe red states like Nebraska.

Nebraska’s Senate race has been in the spotlight as rising energy prices under the Trump administration threaten Republicans in agriculture-centric states.

In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash last week, Ricketts acknowledged the economic reality voters in his state are facing.

“There’s no doubt that high fuel prices put a strain on the budgets for every Nebraska family,” Ricketts said. When asked about Trump’s campaign visit to Nebraska, Ricketts replied, “We welcome him.”

Judge to hold hearing on White House media ban case

A judge will hold a hearing Thursday to determine whether to indefinitely extend an order that would give CNN, MS NOW and Politico access to the White House grounds.

In a court filing last week, an attorney representing the outlets wrote that “the White House’s words and actions leave little doubt that it will immediately reinstitute a complete ban of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO if allowed the opportunity.”

The Trump administration is enforcing the ban “unpredictably and inconsistently” and causing CNN “irreparable harm,” the outlets argued.

“Moreover, the ban independently violates the First Amendment by restricting access to and use of a nonpublic forum on viewpoint-discriminatory and unreasonable terms,” the media companies’ attorney wrote, reiterating an argument he made when the outlets initially sued to regain access to the White House.

The president has consistently accused CNN and other outlets of peddling “fake news” and suggested he has a right to keep them from covering him.

Julia Manchester, Max Rego, Sarah Davis, Ryan Mancini and Dominick Mastrangelo contributed.