THANKS FOR READING: President Donald Trump shared another of our articles on Truth Social; this time it was our editorial about how TrumpRx is a major win for affordability.
STEPPING UP: Rep. Ben Cline (R., Va.) is forming an organization to fight back against the Democrats’ attempts to gerrymander Virginia into having only one Republican member of Congress. His group will spend “what it takes” to stop Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D., Va.) and her allies, he said.
GOOGLE ON GROWTH: Following the White House’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge announcement, Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s Global Head of Data Center Energy, explained how the company is backing up the Trump administration’s affordability pledge. Among its commitments are “paying for 100% of the power our data centers use and any new infrastructure costs directly driven by our growth,” “creat[ing] local and long-term jobs,” and “invest[ing] in efficiency and reliability.”
CLOSING THE GAP: Health care giant Lilly just announced it is launching an Employer Connect platform, giving new options to help close the access gap in U.S. obesity care; this new platform expands choice, empowering employers to coordinate with independent program administrators to develop flexible, transparent solutions that enable employee access to obesity management medicines. Lilly CEO David Ricks previously did an interview with the Washington Reporter detailing the company’s America First investment strategy.
DON’T SKIP ARM DAY: Sen. Tim Sheehy (R., Mont.) helped Capitol Police escort a protester out of a hearing, using the strength he picked up during years as a Navy SEAL.
OKLAHOMA UPDATE: President Donald Trump is tapping Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.) to run the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), leaving Mullin’s seat open in the near future. The Washington Reporter immediately heard from GOP voices across the spectrum that Rep. Stephanie Bice (R., Okla.) could be a perfect fit to replace Mullin.
PRO-IRAN OUTLETS ATTACKING TRUMP: Anna Kelly, a White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary, rejected reports from the Middle East Eye that the Departments of War and State are on different pages about Operation Epic Fury. Kelly called the report a “BS hack job from a pro-Iran outlet,” adding that “the entire administration is fully aligned on executing President Trump’s goals in Operation Epic Fury.”
WE’LL TAKE 20: AIPAC announced that it is commemorating Operations Epic Fury and Roaring Lion by rolling out a series of coffee mugs.
RICK SCOTT ON CODE PINK: Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.) confronted a Code Pink agitator in the Senate halls, asking her if she thinks that “it’s okay for people saying they want to destroy us, and ignore it? They build 100 missiles a month! How can you be this stupid?”
FAKE NEWS: Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) rejected a report that Sen. Tim Scott (R., S.C.) and his top aide Jennifer DeCasper aren’t taking their jobs seriously atop the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). Cotton called the reporter “fake news” and said that “Tim and Jennifer are doing a great job. In fact, he just received a hearty round of applause at our lunch with Republican senators. As a senator up for election this year, I’m glad that Tim and his team are running the NRSC.”
MONTANA MOVEMENT: The Democratic consultants who are working for purported Independent Senate candidate Seth Bodnar are planning to force Democratic candidate Reilly Neill out of the race, a Montana source told the Washington Reporter. Their message to Neill is that “she can go the easy way or the hard way. We will crush her like a bug.”
FACT CHECKED: Rep. Tom Cole (R., Okla.), the Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, addressed House Democrats in a floor speech following their ongoing refusal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). “Personally, I’d find it unconscionable if my vote was the reason someone was sleeping in their car, or if my vote was the reason someone couldn’t pay their mortgage this month,” Cole said, admonishing his colleagues from across the aisle.
CONGRATS: Melanie Meyers, who has long been one of our most loyal readers, was just promoted to be the Deputy Finance Director at the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC). Congrats on a well-earned promotion, Melanie!
BIG BIRTHDAY WEEK: Both Alexa Henning, the deputy chief of staff for Tulsi Gabbard at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and Dan Conston, a partner at Watchtower Strategies, turned another year older and wiser this week. Henning was instrumental in getting Gabbard through a contentious confirmation process, and has been running point at ODNI for over a year. Conston has the distinction of hiring our editor-in-chief, Matthew Foldi, for his first job in D.C. as the Rapid Response Director of the Conston-led Congressional Leadership Fund.