PRIVATE CREDIT REALITY: John Finley, Chief Legal Officer at Blackstone, is pushing back on the narrative that retail investors shouldn’t have access to private credit or that the market is headed for trouble. In a new RealClearPolitics op-ed, Finley cites data and underscores a basic point: investors routinely trade liquidity for higher returns. The piece is starting to circulate on Capitol Hill.
COAL CONTINUES TO DELIVER: The same week that House E&C’s Energy Subcommittee held a hearing on Winter Storm Fern, coal electricity trade group America’s Power flagged their recent analysis showing dispatchable fossil generation met nearly 90 percent of incremental peak demand during the winter storm (keeping the lights on!). The coal fleet alone saved ratepayers an estimated $1.15 billion in a single peak day in January, underscoring President Donald Trump’s efforts to keep “beautiful clean coal” online.
ILLINOIS CREDIT CARD CHAOS CAMPAIGN: The Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) launched an ad campaign in Illinois urging the state to repeal its “Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act” more commonly known as the “credit card chaos act.” The Illinois law forces customers to use payments other than credit cards for tips for workers and is facing legal challenge in the Seventh Circuit.
NCTC VACANCY: While Washington State Republican Joe Kent helmed the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) for much of the second Trump term, his fellow Washington Republican, Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R., Wash.) is taking himself out of the running. “I’m very happy working for the great people of Eastern Washington,” he said.
ONWARD AND UPWARD: Charlie Roth, Rep. Troy Downing’s (R., Mont.) had a star-studded farewell party as she prepares for her next big move. Among those in attendance were Kate Vittone, Beau Brooks, Logan Luse, Matthew Foldi, Victoria Vincent, Bingo Luse, Micah Rea, Robert McIntosh, Griffin Neal, Mark Fraenkel, Jeff Fix, Kevin Sayegh, Erika Bone, Russell Cox, Blayne Callas, Jillian Haggrity, Sam Havard, Alex Pareigis, Daniel Rankin, Spencer Talley, Miranda Dabney, Marisela Ramirez, Melanie Meyers, Lorenzo Riboni, Alex Broughton, and Kit Ramgopal.
AG-VENTURE TIME: Veronica Wong, the longtime staff of Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), is heading to the Department of Agriculture. Issa hosted a crew of Issa alums and friends at his town house to send Veronica off. Among those in attendance were Jonathan Wilcox, Sally Lindsay, Giulia DiGuglielmo, Issa, Becca Glover, SK Yallourakis, David Cook, Tyler Grimm, Jennifer Haynes, Mark Erste, Matthew Foldi, Levi Lall, Wiley Severyn, Steve Castor, Jason Scism, and Carson Rudy.
BIRTHDAY ROUNDUP: Happy birthday to another great crew of Washington Reporter readers! Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs, Mike Rogers’s Alyssa Brouillet, Newsmax’s Nana Sajaia, the Kyiv School of Economics’s Tymofiy Mylovanov, and the Trump administration’s Steve Witkoff turned or are turning another year wiser.
