ANOTHER ONE: Keith Sonderling is no longer the Acting Secretary of Labor. The Senate confirmed Sonderling in another win for both President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.). The Washington Reporter’s editor-in-chief, Matthew Foldi, previously urged Trump to drop the “Acting” from Sonderling’s title; a few days later, Trump announced that Sonderling was his nominee to run the Department of Labor full time. Stay tuned for our latest edition that features a series of interviews with Sonderling about his priorities at USDOL.
TAXES ON THE BALLOT IN MONTANA: Aaron Flint, the Republican nominee in Montana’s 1st District, is closing out his campaign by reminding voters that his Democratic opponent, a former lobbyist, “lobbied for higher property taxes.” Flint is dubbing his opponent “Sales Tax Sam Forstag.”
WITTMAN WIN: Rep. Rob Wittman (R., Va.) rolled out a new ad in which he touts his wins for working Virginians. Among those wins is that his “Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act is now LAW, letting families use 529 savings for job credentials, licensing exams, continuing education, and registered apprenticeships.”
RICK SCOTT VS. CCP: Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.) introduced two bills this week to curb the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) influence in American politics. The bills, known as the Know Your Sanctioned Securities Act and the Protecting U.S. Investors from Chinese Military Companies Act, are designed to publicize CCP-tied companies and to bar them from being publicly traded on American exchanges. “Communist China’s military companies want to use U.S. markets and exchanges to fund the CCP’s efforts to attack our way of life using dollars from American investors,” Scott explained. “We can’t let that happen. Communist China has chosen to be our enemy and it’s time for Congress to act by passing these bills to protect Americans from funding an adversary which wishes to destroy us.”
STICKER COST: The White House’s Olivia Wales spotlighting a piece by the New York Post’s Steven Nelson about the cost of the Democratic Socialists of America’s (DSA) agenda. “The Democrats’ embrace of communism and socialism is an existential threat to our country — and very expensive,” Wales noted.
COVID ACCOUNTABILITY CONTINUES: Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) hosted a roundtable called “COVID-19 Hospital Protocols: Real Stories from Real People,” featuring stories from a variety of Americans who were impacted by the flawed hospital protocols during the COVID pandemic. Among those in attendance were Grace Carnathan, Mary Holland, Benny Johnson, Katelyn Johnson, Peggy Hokett, Dr. James P. Miller, Gail Seiler, Brad Seiler, Donna Lowery, Stephanie Williamson, Ralph Lorigo, Darla Smith, Dr. John Littell, Melodie McKeel, Gail Macrae, Karen Hayles, Dr. Randy Grellner, Cori Peth, Nicole Landers, Patti Joyce, Dr. Susan Rohr, Patty Myers, Jenna Hadley Johnsen, Dr. Pierre Kory, Alison Steinberg, Michael Casey, and John Hines.
NEW GIG: Zack Roday joined Think Big as a managing director; Roday was previously at Ascent Media.
A CAUTIONARY TALE: The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’s (FDD) Mark Dubowitz cautioned that “the Democratic Party has declared a financial and sanctions war on the entire state of Israel. Do not mistakenly believe that this is limited to ‘settlements’ — it’s meant to wreck the Israeli economy until Israelis submit to an Hamas-controlled Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.”
FIESTA AT THE WHITE HOUSE: President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month with a party at the White House. Among those in attendance were Victoria Garrastacho, Jeanette Rubio, Sean and Rachel Duffy, Mercedes Schlapp, Bob Unanue, Lianna Farnesi, Viviana and Esteban Bovo, Sam Martinez, Macarena Martinez, Sarah Carter, Lea Padron, Alina Garcia, Catalina Lauf, Mayra Flores, Joseph Humire, Dariel Fernandez, Milena Mayorga, and Sandra Benítez.
A NEW ERA: David Ellison announced the creation of Skydance. “Paramount and Warner Bros. shaped over a century of culture,” Ellison announced. “By combining them, we aren’t rewriting history — we’re equipping these iconic studios with a more powerful engine. Together, we are Skydance: a creative-first home for bold, quality storytelling…we wanted a name that would give the combined company an identity of its own while allowing Paramount and Warner Bros. — and all our extraordinary brands — to remain in the spotlight.”
CONGRATULATIONS!: The Washington Reporter wants to congratulate Lianna Farnesi and Carlos Fanjul on their recent engagement.
WINNER WINNER!: Congratulations to “Backpack” on winning this year’s Fat Bear Week contest, hosted by Secretary Doug Burgum’s Department of the Interior.
SCOTUS PREVIEW: The Washington Times’s Alex Swoyer hosted an event about “Climate Lawfare” alongside Sen. Kevin Cramer (R., N.D.) followed by a panel with West Virginia Solicitor General Michael Williams, Article III Project’s Josh Hammer, and Former Arizona Solicitor General O.H. Skinner. Among those spotted were Brigid Mary McDonald, Hannah Eddins, Grace Newton, Sarah Frances Morris, Mark Fraenkel, Maura Schlee, Matt and Mercedes Schlapp, Jonathan Fahey, Adele Malpass, Bradley Jaye, Alex Isenstadt, Kevin Cirilli, Ford O’Connell, Michael Zona, Tom Buchanan, Kara Westercamp, Carrie Hull, Sammy Jo Baker, Kate and Tripp De Moss, Anne Ferrell Tata, Amelia Crowley, Sean Langille, Kayla Fink, Shawn Matthews, Emily Yu, Jake Tipton, Kate Wall, Mitchell Annis, Mark Frankel, Alexander & Maddy Gonzales, Madison McGinley, Marina Loza, and Sabrina Wilhelm.
HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!: The Washington Reporter wants to wish Gefen Kabik, John Bachman, Melanie Meyers, Lorenzo Riboni, Kiersten Pels, and Comet Carnathan happy birthdays!
