Brendan Carr, one of two Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioners Donald Trump appointed who is still in office, has long been one of the most vocal opponents of President Joe Biden’s initiatives, such as the $42 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, which is an “absolute failure,” he told the Washington Reporter. “Not a single person has been connected to the internet through that initiative,” he lamented.

Carr, a longtime telecommunications professional, has been an FCC commissioner since 2017. In that time, he’s gone through policy fights on net neutrality, a potential TikTok ban, quests for more spectrum, and more. 

Click HERE to read FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s prescription for fixing the FCC and his concerns about the administration’s attacks on Musk.

House: 

• The House is out of session.
• Congress will turn its focus to the Farm Bill and funding the government. We spoke with Sen. John Boozman (R., Ark.) about his thoughts on the Farm Bill, and with Rep. Tom Cole (R., Okla.) about his thoughts on this year’s appropriations process. Rep. Tracey Mann (R., Kan.) recently published an op-ed with us about the need to “pass a Farm Bill now.”
• On Wednesday, the Oversight Committee will be on the ground in Lahaina, Hawaii, for a hearing on “Assessing the Federal Government’s Response to the 2023 Maui Wildfires.”
• On Friday, the Judiciary Committee is hosting a field hearing on the “Biden-Harris Border Crisis: California Perspectives.” The Washington Reporter will be on the ground covering it in California this week.
• Next week is China week; there will be about two dozen bills countering the Chinese Communist Party’s aggression.

Senate:

• The Senate is out of session.

What we’re hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill – please send us more tips!

• De Minimis pushback: An obscure trade provision, “Section 321 de minimis entry procedures,” is starting to get substantial focus on the Hill and downtown. The provision essentially allows low-value goods, like those shipped from Chinese companies including Temu, to enter the U.S. tariff-free, and there is legislation to tighten the provision to crack down on Temu’s advantage over U.S. manufacturers.
• Rep. Jeb Hensarling on fiduciary requirements: Jeb Hensarling, the former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal making the case for a fiduciary requirement to combat woke investment; his piece is making the rounds among Hill staff who work on ESG issues. Hensarling is one of the rare members respected by both the populist and traditional free market wings of the party, so don’t be surprised to see his advocacy make an impact.
• All hands on deck: There will be a House GOP member call tomorrow morning to discuss the path forward on Speaker Mike Johnson’s continuing resolution. Speaker Johnson’s plan is a CR until March and to attach the SAVE Act, a bipartisan measure that strengthens enforcement of America’s elections by eliminating the ability for non-citizens to vote. Republicans want Democrats to answer for why they have a problem with this provision.
• COVID accountability hearing: The COVID Select Committee, helmed by Rep Brad Wenstrup (R., Ohio) announced its long-awaited hearing featuring former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D., N.Y.) on September 10; it will hone in on Cuomo’s controversial March 25 “must admit” order that sent COVID-positive patients to nursing homes, we’re told. Similar policies were implemented by Democratic governors like Gov. Tim Walz (D., Minn.); Cuomo was not alone in undercounting COVID death tolls. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D. Mich.) also faced similar allegations.
• China on deck: Next week is China week, we’re told. There will be about two dozen bills countering the Chinese Communist Party’s aggression.
• Red flags on campus: Congress is focused on anti-Israel groups planning rallies for the October 7 anniversary. Rep. Tim Walberg (R., Mich.), a top Republican on the Committee on Education and the Workforce told the Washington Reporter that “we’re already seeing some groups on campuses planning celebrations to commemorate the slaughter. This all underscores the importance of continuing to expose antisemitism embedded within academia and holding failed leadership accountable.”
• Empire State of mind: Top Republicans will descend on New York in the coming weeks. Sen. JD Vance (R., Ohio) will headline an event on September 12; Eric Trump and John Ratcliffe, the former Director of National Intelligence, are special guests at a September 17 event, and Reps. Steve Scalise (R., La.) and Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) will star at an October 1 event featuring other Republicans from New York’s delegation.
• Radar item: A House GOP leadership aide tells us to expect both pro-Israel and anti-Chinese Communist Party resolutions in the coming weeks that will put Democrats on defense.

House Democrats are asking the federal government to crack down on memes generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Led by Rep. Shontel Brown (D., Ohio), a group of Democrats is requesting that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) “expeditiously consider” a proposal that would punish political campaigns or “their agents” if either use artificial intelligence to “fraudulently misrepresent other candidates or political parties.”

FEC chairman Sean Cooksey told the Washington Reporter such a request will be denied under his tenure. 

“Your First Amendment rights don’t disappear because you use an AI image generator to express yourself,” he said. “While the FEC will continue to enforce the campaign finance laws on the books, I oppose any effort to suppress political speech by regulating a technology that few agencies even understand. Our elections should be decided at the ballot box after a free exchange of arguments and ideas.”

Click HERE to read more about FEC Chairman Sean Cooksey’s response. We interviewed Chairman Cooksey HERE.

Vice President Kamala Harris has never spoken with the 13 families whose loved ones were killed by a suicide terrorist during the Biden-Harris administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. That didn’t stop her from trying to attack President Donald Trump for honoring the servicemembers’ sacrifices when he attended a memorial event at Arlington National Cemetery last week. 

Trump joined the families of the 13 killed servicemembers last week, to memorialize the third anniversary of a deadly suicide bombing outside of Abbey Gate in Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai International Airport. Although the former president was invited by the servicemembers’ families, Harris called Trump’s attendance a political ploy that made him unfit to ever “stand behind the seal of the President.”

The Gold Star families’ defenders tell the Washington Reporter that Harris will regret turning Trump’s presence into a media firestorm. “Kamala picked a fight with the wrong families,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), told the Reporter.

Click HERE to read more about what actually happened in the runup to President Donald Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery.

Months before President Donald Trump rolled out his “no tax on tips” policy, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law that would impact customers who tip using credit cards; small business owners across the state tell the Washington Reporter that they’re concerned about being “guinea pigs” while bigger businesses will be able to sort through the chaos.

Click HERE to read more about how a little-noticed provision in Illinois is impacting small businesses.

Almost three years ago, in the midst of a shocking foreign policy failure, 13 American servicemembers were killed in action and many were wounded during the Abbey Gate terrorist attack, which occurred in the midst of the chaos of President Joe Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.

It was the deadliest attack on Americans in Afghanistan since 2011, and it shouldn’t have happened.

Today, I’m remembering these brave heroes who gave “the last full measure of devotion” to protect our country.

Click HERE to read more from Maj. Derrick Anderson about what America’s surrender in Afghanistan means to him and to countless other veterans of America’s longest war.

Vice President Kamala Harris owes the American people a simple answer: does she still want to prosecute Americans for the “crime” of smoking menthol cigarettes, thereby causing havoc in the black community and imposing a massive new burden on law enforcement? Or, as with some of her other positions, has she conveniently flip-flopped just weeks before the election? 

While this issue may have flown under the radar, Americans deserve an answer before early voting starts later this month. 

Here’s why this matters: in 2022, the Biden administration’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a plan to criminalize menthol cigarettes, a type of cigarette that makes up about 40 percent of the market and is particularly popular among black Americans. Its original decision was lauded by Michael Bloomberg, a megadonor to both Biden and Harris’s presidential campaigns.

Click HERE to read more from us on why Kamala Harris needs to let voters know if she still supports singling menthol cigarettes out for a ban, and how such a misguided policy could tank her party in November.

• Wall Street Journal: Fight Wokeness With Small Government, by Rep. Jeb Hensarling.
• Washington Free Beacon: Biden-Harris Admin Sued for Stonewalling Gazan Aid Probe, by Adam Kredo. 
• The Spectator: Trump honors fallen soldiers of Abbey Gate, by Amber Duke. 
• National Review: Climate Activism Coming to a Courtroom Near You, by Kayla Bartsch.
• Protect the Public’s Trust: Biden-Harris Caught ‘Trump-Proofing’ DOJ with Midnight Appointments, by Protect the Public’s Trust.
• Axios: Anti-DEI movement gaining steam as Ford exits LGBTQ+ index, by Nathan Bomy. 
• Daily Caller: EXCLUSIVE: Gold Star Families Had Trouble Getting Trump Into Arlington Until House Speaker Intervened, by Henry Rodgers.
• Washington Free Beacon: Biden and Harris ‘Never Once Reached Out’ to Relatives of Soldiers Killed in Bungled Afghanistan Withdrawal, Families Say, by Alana Goodman.