BIPARTISAN WIN: Rep. August Pfluger’s (R., Texas) bipartisan bill that would combat illicit xylazine made it out of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Pfluger introduced the legislation along with Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D., Calif.), Gus Bilirakis (R., Fla.), Chris Pappas (D., N.H.), Scott Fitzgerald (R., Wis.), and Deborah Ross (D., N.C.). The Senate version was introduced by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D., Nev.).
ELECTION 101: Kalshi launched a midterm hub, which currently gives Republicans a 56 percent chance of maintaining the Senate. “Prediction markets don’t care about spin or partisanship. They cut through polarization and show you what the wisdom of the crowds actually believes, backed by real money, not rhetoric,” Tarek Mansour, the co-founder and CEO of Kalshi, said. “That kind of clarity is rare right now and that’s what people are getting with the Midterms Hub.”
MESSAGE DELIVERED: Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) brought a simple message to his latest interview with Punchbowl. Grace Carnathan, Johnson’s communications director, posted a picture of Johnson with his report, “Unmasked: How Biden Health Officials Purposely Turned a Blind Eye Toward COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Signals,” outside of the Punchbowl office.
AIR WAVES REINFORCEMENTS: Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R., Mich.) is getting backup from GLFC, which is out with a new ad praising him for his common sense, and contrasting it with the failures of Democratic leadership in Michigan. “Common sense. Built in Michigan. Mike Rogers,” it says.
INSIDE THE PRAYER BREAKFAST: Sen. Tim Scott (R., S.C.) hosted South Carolina’s annual Prayer Breakfast. Carly Moran was in the room, and her takeaways from it are that it’s important to “tell someone you love them”; “reach out to who you disagree with”; and to “let the love of God guide your steps.”
DINNER WITH THE MCCORMICKS: Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) and his wife, Dina Powell McCormick, hosted a star-studded dinner at their Georgetown home, featuring Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Tony Sayegh, Rep. Barry Moore (R., Ala.), Nick Luna, Cliff Sims, Arthur Schwartz, and Taylor Budowich.
TO THE ADMIN: Parker Armstrong is now the Deputy Booking Director at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Armstrong was a longtime vet of Rep. Erin Houchin’s (R., Ind.) office.
HIGH STAKES IN MICHIGAN: Rep. Shri Thanedar (D., Mich.) is one of several Democratic incumbents facing a DSA-backed challenger. Should Thanedar lose, Callie Strock with Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R., La.) office noted that it would be a huge blow to the bipartisan Congressional Sneaker Caucus.
NEW ROLE: Tatum Wallace joined Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R., Ark.) office as his new communications director. Wallace will also be comms director for the Senate Intelligence Committee. She is an alum most recently of Sen. John Cornyn’s (R., Texas) office.
HAPPY BIRTHDAYS: The Washington Reporter wants to wish happy birthdays to Morgan Impink, Lauren Bryan, Samantha Feigelson, and Lacey Bowersox happy birthdays!