GOP Digest — August 28, 2026 | Cruz Eyes 2028 as Rounds Blocks Trump's Postal Board Picks

Mike Rounds holds every Postal Board nominee until rural mail gets fixed:

Trump has nominated four new governors to the 11-member USPS board, two of whom — Jeffrey Brodsky and William Gallo — are headed for a floor vote. Rounds said in an Aug. 7 floor speech he is placing holds on every nominee until leaders "take steps to fix mail service in South Dakota"; his office confirmed Wednesday it is "in talks" with the White House, and USPS has told the delegation it will upgrade a Sioux Falls facility.

Supreme Court clears Trump's mail-in voting order:

The Court on Monday lifted another court's temporary block on Trump's March executive order setting new mail-in voting standards, ruling the plaintiffs had sued too early because USPS had not begun implementing them. The Postal Service has since published its enforcement plans; under the order, states must upload lists of mail-eligible voters and non-conforming ballots will not be delivered. Democratic states have filed a fresh lawsuit.

John Fetterman: "Our party has a socialism problem":

The Pennsylvania Democrat named Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and Maine nominee Troy Jackson, who carries the endorsement of the state's Democratic Socialists chapter. A New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena University poll of Pennsylvania registered voters, fielded April 28–May 7 and again Aug. 17–21, found 73 percent of Republicans in the state view Fetterman favorably, while about 6 in 10 registered Democrats view him unfavorably.

2028 Democrats line up behind El-Sayed:

Pete Buttigieg headlined a unity rally for the nominee who split the primary against Rep. Haley Stevens; Gavin Newsom flew in for a two-day swing and a 30-minute sit-down, pronouncing El-Sayed "not a wild ideologue." Kamala Harris and Sen. Mark Kelly reached out in the days after his win, and El-Sayed himself texted Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. Michigan is slotted fifth on the DNC's 2028 primary calendar.

GOP committee spat stalls NASA bill as Trump pushes a moon base:

Talks between Cruz's Senate Commerce Committee and Rep. Brian Babin's House Science Committee have broken down over Senate language laying groundwork for a base near the lunar south pole's Shackleton crater and extending the International Space Station through 2032. Trump visits Johnson Space Center in Houston today to award the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the Artemis II crew.