- ALL ABOARD IN NEBRASKA: Labor Secretary and friend of the Washington Reporter Lori Chavez-DeRemer made a stop in Nebraska as part of her 50-state “America At Work” tour, visiting Union Pacific Railroad to spotlight the company’s investments in jobs and economic growth amid its pending merger with Norfolk Southern. Chavez-DeRemer praised the rail giant’s role in keeping American commerce moving and signaled the Trump administration’s willingness to work with industry to get major projects across the finish line. “We want America to be number one, and that’s what we’re focused on,” she told Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena, adding that the administration wants to help companies navigate compliance as they expand. “This next merger is a big deal, and we want to make sure that we can help you get all the way across the country and do all of those things.”
- GENESIS MISSION MILESTONE: The National Nuclear Security Administration inked a major contract with Amazon Web Services for a pilot to “validate core AI concepts and will inform the design of the broader initiative.” Administration sources tell the Washington Reporter that the Genesis Mission is one of the administration’s top priorities to demonstrate how AI can save the government trillions while making it work better, so expect more action and praise to come for the companies leading the way on this innovation.
- FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER CONTROVERSY: A little-known judicial agency made a big splash this week after Mike Fragoso’s article in the National Review showed how the Federal Judicial Center (FJC) published a “Reference Manual” to help judges “understand climate science.” To say the manual is biased would be an understatement: it’s written to encourage judges to rule in favor of climate plaintiffs suing energy companies. Sources on the Hill tell us that the article has made the rounds quickly among staff on the Appropriations Committee who are asking why taxpayers should fund an agency acting like a far-left political organization.
- HEALTH CARE CONTROVERSY: During this week’s hearing held by the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee chaired by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.), the Democrats’ witness repeatedly failed to answer questions from Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) about whether men can get pregnant. Following the hearing, the American Association of Pro Life OBGYNs set the record straight: “the FDA’s own data shows that roughly 1 in 25 women who take mifepristone will end up in the emergency room. We also know that there is a 4x higher risk of complications than with surgical abortions – and this is under controlled circumstances where women are examined by a physician, and the drugs are not given beyond 9 weeks of gestation,” it noted.
- SENATE SHENANIGANS: Seth Bodnar, the President of the University of Montana, is reportedly looking at running for Senate as an independent as part of a plot by former Sen. Jon Tester (R. Mont.) to unseat Sen. Steve Daines (R., Mont.) next year.
- FCC FACT CHECK: Rep. Darren Soto (D., Fla.) claimed to be “fighting to protect the 1st Amendment and news stories about Trump’s rampant corruption,” but FCC Chairman Brendan Carr pushed back on Soto’s claim, noting that Soto “repeatedly pressured the Biden FCC to block the sale of a Florida radio station due to the political viewpoints of the owners Dems argued that blocking it was key to their electoral odds. The deal didn’t go through.”