Pushback On Trump's Russia Policy, Competitive Midterm Races, DOJ Noncitizen Voting

October 20, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Pushback on Trump's Russia Policy, Competitive Midterm Races, DOJ Noncitizen Voting

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing back on President Trump's overtures to Russia, as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky made the extraordinary move of lobbying members of Congress directly about delayed military aid. Meanwhile, with two weeks until election day, Republicans are pouring money into races in deeply conservative states like Kansas and Mississippi—places they haven't had to fight for in generations—while Democrats see openings across the South. And the Justice Department is escalating its fight with California over allegations of noncitizen voting, filing new criminal charges against 28 people while simultaneously suing the state to stop thousands of ballots from being counted.

The Russia-Ukraine Reversal

President Trump has rolled back pressure on Russia through a series of moves that have alarmed lawmakers in both parties. He directed the Treasury Department to lift sanctions on Russian diesel—an attempt to head off high energy prices ahead of the midterms. He effectively suspended a sanctions bill he just signed into law, named after the late Senator Lindsey Graham. And he told reporters he was willing to sit down with China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin to discuss the war in Ukraine, even if Ukraine's leader is not present.

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What you'll learn

1 (02:13) **Bipartisan Pushback on Trump's Russia Policy** - Senators from both parties criticize Trump's decision to lift diesel sanctions on Russia and a pause in intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
2 (05:53) **Competitive Midterm Races and Party Spending** - NPR's Stephen Fowler reports from Georgia on where both parties are investing resources two weeks before election day.
3 (09:38) **DOJ Noncitizen Voting Fight with California** - The Justice Department escalates its legal battle with California over voter rolls, filing charges against 28 people and an emergency motion against LA County.
4 Standout Quotes
5 (03:05) "She blames Zelensky. She said he's killing our men. And the fact is she said, and it was very poignant, she said, our men are dying. Our men have no legs." - President Trump, citing a Ukrainian woman as reason to end the war.
6 (12:09) "28 people is roughly 0.0001% of California's registered voters." - MPR's Miles Parks, putting the noncitizen voting charges in perspective.
7 (13:01) "When this impacts another administration, you know, or jurisdiction, you automatically have to feel that. If it's happening in Georgia, if it's happening in Colorado or California, we're all watching." - Dana Lewis, Republican election official in Pinal County, Arizona, on the DOJ's California lawsuit.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Emily Fang Stephen Fowler

Show Notes

1Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is taking his concerns about delayed U.S. weapons and intelligence directly to Congress as lawmakers in both parties question President Trump’s approach to Russia.
Republicans are spending heavily to defend traditionally conservative territory as Democrats expand the midterm map two weeks before Election Day.
The Justice Department has charged 28 California voters it says are noncitizens while asking a federal judge to stop thousands of other ballots from being counted.

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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Rebekah Metzler, Megan Pratz, Shannon Bond, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.

It was produced by Iman Maani and Nia Dumas.

Our director is Christopher Thomas.

We get engineering support from Carleigh Strange.

Our technical director is Zac Coleman.

And our Supervising Senior Producer is Vince Pearson.

(0:00) Introduction
(1:54) Trump Russia Ukraine
(5:36) Midterm Latest
(9:20) CA DOJ Election Feud

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