DON THE BUILDER: Rep. Randy Fine (R., Fla.) wants Congress to have explicit statutory authority for a White House Ballroom via his Build the Ballroom Act.
STOLEN VALOR: FBI Director Kash Patel pushed back on Gov. Tim Walz’s (D., Minn.) efforts to take credit for raids on alleged fraudsters in Minnesota. “This FBI and DOJ with our DHS partners drafted and executed every search warrant today,” Patel said. “But go ahead and take credit for our work while we smoke out the fraud plaguing Minnesota under your governorship.”
MAGA MAJORITY EXPANDS: The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) rolled out the latest members of its MAGA Majority program. They are Jim Desmond, Aaron Flint, Brinker Harding, Greg Cunningham, Carrie Buck, Marty O’Donnell, Eric Conroy, and John Braun. “House Republicans are on offense, and this latest round of MAGA Majority candidates proves we’re not slowing down,” NRCC Chairman Rep. Richard Hudson (R., N.C.) told the New York Post’s Ryan King of the move.
THEY’RE HIRING: The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is hiring an influencer and creative partners manager.
KNOT TIED: The Department of Justice’s Gates McGavick and the White House’s Jacki Kotkiewicz got married in Florida. Among those in attendance were Danielle Alvarez, Johanna Persing, Jaxon Croy, Zach Parkinson, Victoria LaCivita, Chris Gustafson, Nick Ballas, Emma Hall, Mike Joyce, Pat McManus, Matt Middleton, Chad Gilmartin, Robert Schultz, and more.
PARTY TIME: Americans for Free Markets hosted a White House Correspondents’ Dinner Weekend Reception (featuring tastings from Krug Champagne reserves) at Bresca with special guests and advisors, including former Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) and former House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R., Texas). Among those spotted were David Ibsen, Fox Business Network’s Todd Piro, Nick Anthony, John Ashbrook, Tim Doyle, Michael Duncan, Rich Edson, Brian Graff, Aaron Harison, James Hohmann, Alexandria Hoff, Ed Lawrence, Mark Meredith, Larry O’Connor, Kerry Picket, Billy Rielly, Madeline Rivera, Fox News’s David Spunt, Paul Teller, Chloe Trapanotto, Kaylee McGhee White, and Christina Wurm.
PROMOTION: Ron Kovach is now Rep. Marlin Stutzman’s (R., Ind.) Deputy Chief of Staff.
WOMEN IN JOURNALISM HONORED: A star-studded group joined the latest honorees at the 13th Annual Washington Women in Journalism awards. The recipients were Shannon Bream, Judy Woodruff, Missy Ryan, and Priscilla Alvarez. Among those in attendance were Reps. Nicole Malliotakis (R., N.Y.), Debbie Dingell (D., Mich.), former Rep. Joe Crowley (D., N.Y.), Story Partners’s Gloria Story Dittus, Washingtonian’s Cathy Merrill, National Retail Federation’s Matt Shay, American Beverage Association’s Kevin Keane, Johnson & Johnson’s Jane Adams, National Association of Manufacturers’s Erin Streeter, American Petroleum Institute’s Mollie O’Dell, PhRMA’s Robby Zirkelbach, Association of Equipment Manufacturers’s Kip Eideberg, Microsoft’s Fred Humphries, Southern Company’s Jeanne Wolak, Delta’s Heather Wingate, Animal Health Institute’s Martha Scott Poindexter, Punchbowl News’s Anna Palmer, Consumer Brands Association’s Rhonda Bentz, Invariant’s Heather Podesta, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Alayna Treene, Fox News’s Jacqui Heinrich, Venturehouse Group’s Marc Ein, Chicago Sun-Times’s Lynn Sweet, Puck’s Julie Ioffe, NBC News’s Andrea Mitchell, and ABC News’s Martha Raddatz.