Exclusive: Karoline Leavitt on President Donald Trump and the incoming administration

Exclusive with incoming White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the latest problem at the CFPB, a pricey recount Democrats lost, op-eds from Senator Jack Johnson, Bonnie Glick, and more!

December 2, 2024

In this edition

1. Interview: Incoming White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt: “The next four years are going to be the most transformative time in our nation's history”

2. Heard on the Hill

3. Exclusive: CFPB Director invested in asset manager he singles out for criticism

4. “Time to go back to a merit-based system”: Congress praises Walmart’s massive DEI rollback

5. Exclusive: Democrat-requested House recount costs taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars; Republicans stopped “illegal recount method”

6. Scoop: NRCC launches "largest ballot curing effort in California history"

7. Op-Eds: Senator Jack Johnson on Tennessee’s landmark child protect case at SCOTUS, Daniel Turner on how President Donald Trump’s National Energy Council can restore American energy dominance, Nicki Neily on why Linda McMahon is a perfect pick to run the Department of Education, Bonnie Glick and Josh Teigen on how Trump can use American energy to secure our global alliances, and Doug Blair on President Joe Biden’s legacy of lies

8. What we’re reading

Exclusive with incoming White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the latest problem at the CFPB, a pricey recount Democrats lost, op-eds from Senator Jack Johnson, Bonnie Glick, and more!

Interview: Incoming White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt: “The next four years are going to be the most transformative time in our nation's history”

by Matthew Foldi

The youngest person ever to be named White House Press Secretary, 27-year-old Karoline Leavitt is no stranger to making history. During the 2022 cycle, she was one of the Republican Party’s youngest nominees for Congress.

In an interview with the Washington Reporter, Donald Trump’s incoming press secretary said that the president’s historic 2024 campaign was only the beginning of what she predicts will be four years of victories.

“The next four years are going to be the most transformative time in our nation's history,” she said. “We have the Senate, we have the House, and President Trump is going to take real bold action to make a monumental change for our country and for generations to come.”

During Trump’s first term, Leavitt worked with then-Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, “help[ing] her prepare for many of her briefings,” she said. Since Trump announced Leavitt as his press secretary, she’s been watching tape like an NFL player.

“I've gone back and watched a lot of C-Span briefings dating back to Dana Perino’s time in the Bush White House,” Leavitt said. “Dana and Ari Fleischer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, were great. And of course, Kayleigh McEnany [was great].”

“What I've learned in talking to them and watching their past briefings is that you have to be yourself, you have to be honest, and know that your job is to relay the president's message,” she added. “It's not about me, it's about President Trump and speaking on his behalf and relaying what he wants to say and what the White House is doing directly to the American people.”

Heard on the Hill

• Party time: We're excited to announce that we are hosting a Christmas Party along with our friends at the Manhattan Institute, during which MI's president, Reihan Salam, and our editor-in-chief, Matthew Foldi, will share their 2025 happenings. Sign up HERE before it’s too late.

• Party with us: If you or your organization has a Christmas party or gala you want us to do an item on, please invite us! Our intrepid editor-in-chief Matthew Foldi has made it his mission to attend as many as possible in 2024. Please email him at matthew@washingtonreporter.news.

• Reid Hoffman gone? Reports that Microsoft Director and left-wing billionaire Reid Hoffman may be leaving America out of distress that President Trump won have led to some raised eyebrows and laughs among Hill tech watchers. It’s safe to say that Hoffman is unlikely to serve as Microsoft’s liaison to the Trump administration.

• Biden, plastics, and the UN: Hill sources say to expect substantial Republican pushback for the Biden administration’s last-ditch effort to work with the United Nations to ban common plastics (really?), including “single use plastic straws.” Our sources say the Trump administration will put an end to this on Day 1.

• Juul staffing up — with Democrats? A lobbying disclosure for vape-manufacturer Juul Labs caught our eye. As most firms are hiring Republicans in the wake of Trump’s win, Juul’s latest lobbying payment was to Fulcrum Public Affairs, which was started by former Podesta lobbyists; the payments were for lobbying services from former staffers of Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.).

• 340B challenges in Minnesota: Most Hill policy staffers are familiar with the controversial 340B program which allows hospitals to sell drugs at full price while pocketing a massive discount. A report from Minnesota that traces 340B spending caught our eye, as it showed a massive use of opioids like oxycodone, hundreds of millions in “administrator fees,” and missing data. Expect substantial and increased oversight of this program in the next Congress.

• Pardon me? President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden did not come as a surprise to many outside the White House press corps, but it is damaging Biden and the Democratic Party just as he is getting ready to head for the exits. “Do Democrats still think no one is above the law?” Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) asked in response to the wide-ranging pardon.

• Power down: Eleven Attorneys General, led by Texas’s Ken Paxton, filed an antitrust lawsuit against BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, alleging that the giant asset managers are using their combined market power to fuel higher energy prices. According to Consumer’s Research’s executive director Will Hild, the suit shows that “there is verifiable proof that the big 3 asset managers have worked in tandem to leverage their combined ownership power to pressure coal companies into submitting to their Net-Zero goals.”

Exclusive: CFPB Director invested in asset manager he singled out for criticism

by Matthew Foldi

Rohit Chopra has hundreds of thousands of dollars invested with one of the largest asset managers in the world, Vanguard, a company he called a “natural oligopoly” during a widely-panned speech at Harvard Law School.

Chopra, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and a board member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), was under fire for prejudging Vanguard, the Washington Reporter previously reported last month.

These revelations, confirmed by Chopra’s latest financial disclosure forms obtained by the Reporter, come as investors such as Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen have accused the CFPB of “debanking” political opponents. “My partner, Ben’s father, has been debanked…for having the wrong politics,” Andreessen said on Joe Rogan’s podcast. “For saying ‘unacceptable things’ under current banking regulations.”

“Time to go back to a merit-based system”: Congress praises Walmart’s massive DEI rollback

by Matthew Foldi

Walmart is receiving rave reviews from members of Congress for rolling back its sprawling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.

The retail giant announced late last month that it is pulling out of a gay rights index, not renewing a commitment for a racial equity center, and abandoning preferential treatment to certain groups when it determines its suppliers. It is “time to go back to a merit-based system,” Rep. Claudia Tenney (R., N.Y.) told the Washington Reporter.

Incoming members of Congress are eager to highlight the importance of merit in hiring. “The only way organizations will survive, be it companies or governments, in this increasingly competitive world is to hire and fire based on merit,” Mike Haridopolos said. “Walmart has clearly recognized this. Anything short of this will result in subpar organizations who are not putting their best and brightest positions of leadership.”

Walmart’s DEI rollback marks a shift by many in corporate America against the rise in wokeness, which spiked in 2020. Lowe’s, Harley Davidson, and Tractor Supply Co. are other mega corporations that scaled back their woke capitalism approaches in 2024.

Exclusive: Democrat-requested House recount costs taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars; Republicans stopped “illegal recount method”

by Matthew Foldi

A recount of Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’s (R., Iowa) narrowly-won election is set to cost taxpayers at least $23,163.24; during the legal battle, Miller-Meeks’s team stopped the Democrats from employing an “illegal recount method,” it told the Washington Reporter.

Miller-Meeks faced a spirited rematch from failed Democratic candidate and former engineering intern Christina Bohannan, who came within several hundred votes of unseating Miller-Meeks this cycle, after losing by over 20,000 votes in 2022. However, Bohannan’s team attempted to employ a series of legally questionable moves which were defeated by Miller-Meeks’s campaign.

Scoop: NRCC launches "largest ballot curing effort in California history"

by Matthew Foldi

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has launched a “record-breaking ballot curing operation” in California in response to the state’s slow-moving ballot counting efforts.

Op-Ed: Sen. Jack Johnson: Why Tennessee is taking our fight to protect children all the way to the Supreme Court

by Sen. Jack Johnson

On December 4th, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States will begin hearing oral arguments about Senate Bill 1. I’m grateful for the Supreme Court’s decision to take up this issue. Senate Bill 1 reflects Tennessee’s commitment to safeguarding our youth from irreversible, harmful, and unproven medical procedures. It is essential to preserve the right of states to legislate on issues that affect our children and our communities.

One of the most striking developments in 2024 is how far left the Democratic Party has shifted.

In their vision for America, men can identify as women, women as men, men can compete in women’s sports, and children can undergo permanent, irreversible surgeries under the guise of “gender affirming care.”

Op-Ed: Daniel Turner: Three immediate ways for the National Energy Council to restore American energy dominance

by Daniel Turner

President-elect Donald Trump’s “big three” energy picks at the Department of Interior (DOI) with Doug Burgum, at the Department of Energy (DOE) with Chris Wright, and at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with Lee Zeldin, combined with the creation of a National Energy Council, have America poised for not only an energy renaissance, but for a return to the dominance of his first administration.

The announcements are in line with the voices of voters, who spoke with a loud voice against high prices for food and goods, which have been exacerbated by Biden-era policies aimed at curtailing traditional energy.

When the Energy Council convenes in January, there are three immediate actions to increase productions and to reduce prices.

Op-Ed: Nicki Neily: Education Secretary Linda McMahon is a win for parents

by Nicki Neily

President Donald Trump’s nomination of former Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Linda McMahon to serve as America’s next Secretary of Education caught many in Washington, D.C. by surprise, given her nontraditional background. But make no mistake — McMahon’s skill set is sorely needed to turn around a failing department, and American families are going to benefit enormously.

As the steward of a wildly successful multinational business, McMahon demonstrated that she has the acumen to identify a customer base and deliver a high-quality product.

Op-Ed: Josh Teigen and Bonnie Glick: We must unleash American energy to secure our alliances

by Josh Teigen and Bonnie Glick

There’s an old expression: Where you stand depends on where you sit. This plays out in international affairs quite explicitly in the area of natural resources, especially with oil and gas as countries seek to power the future while ensuring reliable supplies and suppliers.
Case and point, America. We are blessed geographically to be both abundant in natural resources and doubly blessed to be far from global military conflicts. This is not the case for many of our allies in Europe, in the Pacific, and in the Middle East.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, America’s natural gas exports to Europe have skyrocketed. The following year, in 2023, the U.S. was the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter in the world, with Russian exports at roughly one-third the American level. The more gas the U.S. exports to compete with our adversaries, the lower the global prices for allies’s imports will be.

Op-Ed: Doug Blair: President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son caps a pathetic career with another broken promise

by Doug Blair

Late last night, President Joe Biden issued a “full and unconditional pardon” for his son Hunter Biden, illustrating once again why he will go down as one of the most corrupt presidents in American history and the biggest liar to sit at the Resolute Desk.

What we’re reading

• Washington Free Beacon: WATCH: 'It's Still a No, It Will Be a No': All the Times the White House Said Biden Wouldn't Pardon Hunter, by Thaleigha Rampersad.

• New York Post: ‘Different’? You bet, Dad — just the latest chapter of spoiled man-child Hunter Biden coasting on his family name, by the New York Post.

• The Spectator: The ‘Harris Fight Fund’ fundraising emails reveal a campaign without shame, by Grace Curley.

• National Review: Emily and Tom Hand Commemorate the Anniversary of the November Hostage Deal, by Haley Strack.

• Daily Caller: Anti-Israel Protesters Arrested After Disrupting Thanksgiving Celebration, Again, by Jaryn Crouson.

• Washington Examiner: Billionaire Hansjörg Wyss ups giving to Democratic dark money-tied news network, by Gabe Kaminsky.

• National Review: Can Trump’s ‘Drill Baby, Drill’ Energy Policy Revitalize This Struggling Louisiana Parish? by Ryan Mills.

• City Journal: “I Represent Science”: Anthony Fauci’s autobiography unwittingly reveals his transformation from an open-minded scientist to an imperious, unaccountable public-health bureaucrat, by James Meigs.

• National Review: Biden Administration Awards $6.6 Billion Loan to EV Maker Accused of Defrauding Investors, by James Lynch.