First on Fox: House Republican campaign arm targets vulnerable Democrats who ‘voted to shut down’ government

EXCLUSIVE — The House GOP’s campaign committee is taking aim at congressional Democrats for voting against a measure to fund the federal government through Sept. 30 and avoid a government shutdown at the end of this week. 

The National Republican Congressional Committee is launching digital ads against 35 House Democrats who may face challenging or competitive races in the 2026 midterms, when the GOP aims to defend its fragile majority in the chamber.

The spots, shared first with Fox News Wednesday morning, are going up hours after the House, almost entirely along party lines, voted 217-213 to pass a Republican-crafted bill that cuts non-defense spending by roughly $13 billion, boosts defense spending by around $6 billion and gives President Donald Trump more leeway in how to spend the funds.

Thanks to heavy last-minute lobbying by Trump and his allies inside and outside the chamber, the House GOP didn’t need a single Democrat’s vote to pass the bill.

TRUMP-BACKED BILL TO KEEP GOVERNMENT FUNDED CLEARS KEY HURDLE

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., meets with reporters as House Republicans push ahead with a go-it-alone strategy on an interim GOP spending bill that would keep federal agencies funded through Sept. 30, at the Capitol, in Washington, Tuesday, March 11, 2025.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

One Democrat, moderate Jared Golden of Maine, who represents a district carried by Trump the past three presidential elections, voted for the Republican measure.

And the one Republican to vote against the bill, far right Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, is being threatened by Trump and his allies with a possible primary challenge next year when he’s up for re-election.

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The digital ads by the NRCC, which are identical for all the targets, will run online in the districts of Democratic representatives Josh Harder (CA-09), Adam Gray (CA-13), Jim Costa, (CA-21), Raul Ruiz (CA-25), George Whitesides (CA-27), Derek Tran (CA-45), Dave Min (CA-47) and Mike Levin (CA-49) of California; Darren Soto (FL-09) and Jared Moskowitz (FL-23) of Florida; Eric Sorensen (IL-17) of Illinois; Frank Mrvan (IN-01) of Indiana; Kristen McDonald Rivet (MN-08) of Michigan; Don Davis (NC-01) of North Carolina; Chris Pappas (NH-01) and Maggie Goodlander (NH-02) of New Hampshire; Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05) and Nellie Pou (NJ-09) of New Jersey; Gabe Vasquez (NM-02) of New Mexico; Dina Titus (NV-01), Susie Lee (NV-03) and Steven Horsford (NV-04) of Nevada; Tom Suozzi (NY-03), Laura Gillen (NY-04), Pat Ryan (NY-18) and Josh Riley (NY-19) of New York; Greg Landsman (OH-01), Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), and Emilia Syles (OH-13) of Ohio; Janelle Bynum (OR-05) of Oregon; Henry Cuellar (TX-28) and Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) of Texas; Eugene Vindman (VA-07) of Virginia; and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) of Washington state.

The NRCC says there’s a modest ad buy behind the digital spots.

“House Democrats threw a tantrum at the expense of the American people, shutting down the government just to score political points. After months of failure, they’ve learned nothing and doubled down on their embarrassing dysfunction.” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said.

HOUSE GOP CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE CHAIR MAKES PREDICTION ABOUT 2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Democrats disagree.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., center, flanked by Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., left, and Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., the House minority whip, speaks to reporters outside the House chamber as Republicans prepare a spending bill that would keep federal agencies funded through Sept. 30, at the Capitol, in Washington, Monday, March 10, 2025.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“The strong House Democratic vote in opposition to this reckless Republican spending bill speaks for itself,” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the top Democrat in the chamber, told reporters after the vote.

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And House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Pete Aguilar of California took aim at what he called a “partisan” measure and emphasized that “we put up a strong vote in opposition of this bill because this hurts families.”