BIG GUNS: Conservative businessman Nathan Butterfield joined the crowded race to succeed Rep. Kevin Hern (R., Okla.) next year, and he immediately rolled out the endorsement of Tulsa’s Sheriff, Vic Regalado, who said that “Nathan Butterfield is exactly the kind of leader Oklahoma’s First Congressional District needs right now. He represents the core conservative values that have long defined our state: faith, family, work, and the belief that our government works to serve its citizens, not the other way around.”
STAY IN LINE: Rep. Ashley Hinson (R., Iowa) wants lawmakers of both parties to have to stay in the sprawling TSA lines hitting travelers across the country. Following reports that both Reps. Nancy Mace (R., S.C.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.) skipped the lines due to a congressional perk, Hinson said that “neither Republicans or Democrats should be skipping the line while constituents are facing 4+ hour waits across the country. I am working with Senator John Cornyn to put a long-overdue end to perks at airports for members of Congress.”
RUN THE TAPE: Sen. Jon Husted (R., Ohio) proposed a standalone amendment that would require voter ID; ahead of the vote, Husted and Senator Majority Leader John Thune’s (R., S.D.) Senate Republican Communications Center noted how virtually every Senate Democrat has supported some version of photo identification in the past. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) is among the examples, and he is cited as saying that “our objection, as Democrats, is not to a photo ID.”
“CHINA FIRST” MORATORIUM ON AI: Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) weighed in on the debate about a federal moratorium on artificial intelligence, saying that “the emerging chassis of AI must be built by America. We can put appropriate guardrails in place without handing the win on AI to China. A moratorium is China First.”
COMMS MOVES: Charlie Roth, who recently served as Rep. Troy Downing’s (R., Mont.) press secretary, started as Gov. Greg Gianforte’s (R., Mont.) press secretary. Congratulations Charlie!
TRUMP ENDORSED: President Donald Trump endorsed T.W. Shannon’s campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma; Shannon was recently spotted in the pages of the Washington Reporter urging the Senate to confirm Markwayne Mullin as DHS Secretary.
AMERICAN ROYALTY: Reps. Tom Tiffany (R., Wis.) and Tony Wied (R., Wis.) joined the Wisconsin State Society’s (WSS) 2026 Cherry Blossom Reception, honoring the society’s 2026 Cherry Blossom Princess, Charlie Zastrow, who hails from Weyauwega, Wisconsin. Among those spotted were WSS Board President Kate Kros, Bobby Hamill, Melanie Meyers, Maria Giannopoulos, Katie and Anthony O’Boyle, Paul Nolette, Susan Jollie, Wendy Riemann, Render Szymanski, Aidan Strongreen, Jordean Stein, David Bader, Joshua Hartling, Maddisen Grimm, Chris Czarnecki, Eric Gebhart, Otto Heck, Michael Donatello, Tanner Brown, and Courtney Mattison.
