AFFORDABILITY AND PROSPERITY: Republican strategists are launching a new, seven-figure funded nonprofit focused on making the case to voters that Republican policies make America more affordable. The Coalition for Affordability and Prosperity will be led by Chuck Flint, former chief of staff to Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.), and it will make a formal launch next week.
PENTAGON AI FIGHT: Congress is looking into the public feud between the Department of War and Anthropic, with widespread skepticism from Congressional Republicans towards Anthropic’s demands to restrict the use of its tools. Sources tell the Washington Reporter to expect oversight from the relevant committees, including the Senate Armed Services Committee.
PRIMARY SEASON: While Texas has received most of the attention, Arkansas and North Carolina are also holding primaries next Tuesday, March 3. Expect big wins from incumbent Republicans in each state. The Washington Reporter will be ramping up our election coverage as more primaries come.
MISPLACED PRIORITIES: Effie Phillips-Staley, a Democratic candidate challenging Rep. Mike Lawler (R., N.Y.) recently said in an interview that “Palestine” is the most “consequential foreign policy issue of our time.” In that same interview, Phillips-Staley also raised eyebrows for bragging about her “social justice” work. “I’ve worked in the nonprofit sector at the intersection of social justice and the arts…Much of my nonprofit work has been centered on…social justice across the board,” she said.
BIDEN DOJ FALLOUT: Amidst reports that the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) potentially targeted top Trump officials, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and FBI Director Kash Patel, the Republican Attorneys General Association’s (RAGA) executive director, Adam Piper, said that “The Biden administration’s lawfare knew no bounds; they spied on Republicans and now, shockingly, reportedly violated a sacrosanct cornerstone of the legal system: attorney-client confidentiality. It is beyond unconscionable for federal officials to spy on Americans through their lawyers. RAGA, and some current and former Republican Attorneys General, have also been victims of these politically motivated and unconstitutional investigations. Thank you to FBI Director Patel for exposing this and for holding those at the FBI accountable.”