What we’re hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill – please send us more tips!

• Goldman Sachs and antitrust: Goldman Sachs became the latest financial services firm to exit the international Climate Action 100+ network — a group that had caught the eye of Republicans on Capitol Hill and state attorneys general. Hill Republicans were surprised that Goldman Sachs remained in Climate Action 100+ long after other U.S. firms had left over antitrust concerns, with one Senate Judiciary Committee staffer noting, “what on earth [was Goldman] thinking [staying in Climate Action 100+ so long]? Are they looking to come to the Hill and explain why companies should illegally coordinate to cut off funding for oil and gas?”
• Another one bites the dust: After Columbia University president Minouche Shafik resigned Republicans are renewing focus on Northwestern University’s president, Michael Schill, we’re told. Northwestern announced plans to dole out almost $2 million in scholarships solely to Palestinians and is facing legal action from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on behalf of the Young America’s Foundation for what they call its “illegal, discriminatory program to appease protestors on campus.” 
• Raining on the parade: Hours before the DNC kicks off, Reps. James Comer (R., Ky.), Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), and Jason Smith (R., Mo.) released their long-awaited report about President Joe Biden’s family influence peddling scheme. The report details at length how “President Biden knew about, participated in, and benefited from his family’s influence peddling conspiracy. While President Biden to date has avoided accountability for his corruption, the Committees are dedicated to ensuring that political influence is not for sale and that those entrusted to hold public office are committed only to promoting the country’s interests, not their own.” Read their full report here. 
• Dating app troubles? House Republicans are looking at moving Rep. David Valadao’s (R., Calif.) “Dating App Bill.” However, some conservatives are worried that the provisions could enable the trial lawyers and cause confusion. 
• Cornhusker cash: Sen. Pete Ricketts (R., Neb.) is hosting Sen. JD Vance (R., Ohio) at a Trump campaign fundraiser in Nebraska this week, a source familiar with the planning told us — and he’s bringing in the big guns: Sen. John Thune (R., S.D.) will be joining as a special guest. Thune, who is running to helm the Senate GOP next year, spoke with us earlier this summer about his vision for Republicans in the Upper Chamber. Read that here.
• Counter punching: Donald Trump’s campaign plan to roll out surrogates at the DNC in Chicago at his namesake Trump Hotel to counter the Democrats’ messaging on border security, safety, and the economy. The group will include Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.), Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.), and Rep. Byron Donalds (R., Fla.), we’re told. 
• Barrasso bucks: Sen. John Barrasso (R., Wyo.) will headline fundraiser for Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake in Wyoming on August 26th. Barrasso, the only candidate for Senate GOP Whip, has been building his fundraising game for incumbents and challengers. We spoke with him about the 2024 Senate map and much more last month. Read here.
• Trump tax cut push: Rep. Kevin Hern (R., Okla.) led a group of Ways and Means Committee Republicans, including the committee’s chairman, Rep. Jason Smith (R., Mo.), along with Reps. Ron Estes (R., Kan.), Blake Moore (R., Utah), and Randy Feenstra (R., Iowa), to Atlanta for a tax reform roundtable, where the group met with business leaders from American multinational companies to discuss how to maintain competitiveness, with an emphasis on finally providing much-needed certainty in our tax policies. Hern told the Reporter that “no matter what happens this election, it’s on Congress to deal with the expiration of essential [Tax Cuts and Jobs Act] provisions coming at the end of 2025. It’s my priority to ensure that the United States of America is the best place in the world to do business.” We’ve got pictures here. 
• Alarms raised on Senate funds for French nuclear company: Some of our national security sources are flagging how Senate Democrats obligated up to $10 million for the commercial deployment of a state-owned French nuclear company. Orano, the French company, has been actively pursuing direct partnership with China for over a decade, and one former senior Trump administration foreign policy expert cautioned that “the technology suggested for the set-aside of $10 million poses significant environmental and nuclear security risks, as it could potentially be exploited by adversaries for nuclear weapons development.”
• Jewish Voices for Trump kicks off: Ahead of the DNC, prominent Jews are launching a new coalition. Jeff Bartos, a founding member of Jews for Trump, told the Reporter that the group’s work will be key in helping deliver his home state of Pennsylvania for Trump, and he praised the former president’s work “moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, rejecting the disastrous Iran nuclear deal, brokering the Abraham Accords.” Trump, Bartos said, “was the most effective president in history for the U.S.-Israel relationship.”