Darrell Issa talks ICE and the Middle East’s new moment; meet the anti-Israel nonprofit funding “Terrorist University”
Speaker Mike Johnson delivers yet again, the Deep State’s worst nightmare unveils its plans, and more!
July 8, 2025
Let’s dive in.
INTERVIEW: Rep. Darrell Issa on new ICE legislation, the "time for choosing" in the Middle East, and more
Heard on the Hill
EDITORIAL: Speaker Mike Johnson delivers for America — again
EXCLUSIVE: Anti-Israel non-profit "just steps away" from Congress raises money for Palestinian "Terrorist University"
SCOOP: “The Deep State’s worst nightmare” unveils next steps
K-STREET, 10,000 FEET: An AI moratorium compromise died in negotiations, now the Senate must chart a new path forward
OPINIONATED: Rep. Mike Simpson on the agricultural workforce and Maud Maron talks public safety.
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INTERVIEW: Rep. Darrell Issa on new ICE legislation, the "time for choosing" in the Middle East, and more
by Matthew Foldi
THE LOWDOWN:
Hours after domestic terrorists were arrested after allegedly shooting ICE officers in Texas, Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) announced plans to formally and “unconditionally condemn violent attacks against ICE agents enforcing our laws against criminal illegals.”
Though Democrat Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) recently spoke on the House floor for more than eight hours, Issa said that he doesn’t expect him to take even eight seconds to honor the ICE agents who were nearly murdered for doing their jobs during the McAllen, Texas attack.
Issa’s latest legislative move to back up ICE follows his successful steerage of the No Rogue Rulings Act, which is currently languishing in the Senate awaiting a vote.
While Issa needs the Senate to pick up his bill, he noted that Chief Justice John Roberts seemed to gain a certain inspiration from Issa’s policy in crafting the Court’s CASA ruling.
Hours after domestic terrorists were arrested after allegedly shooting ICE officers in Texas, Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) announced plans to formally and “unconditionally condemn violent attacks against ICE agents enforcing our laws against criminal illegals.”
He told the Washington Reporter that he hopes when push comes to shove, multiple Democrats will sign on. Issa added he "believe[s] in the redemption of souls,” but prominent Democrats from coast to coast are declining to take that route in favor of the opposite tack.
Though Democrat Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) recently spoke on the House floor for more than eight hours, Issa said that he doesn’t expect him to take even eight seconds to honor the ICE agents who were nearly murdered for doing their jobs during the McAllen, Texas attack.
Even closer to Issa’s home, another top Democrat who was on President Joe Biden’s vice presidential shortlist just demanded ICE leave Los Angeles while it was carrying out immigration enforcement. Issa says this puts ICE officers’ lives in danger.
“For Karen Bass to get in the way of totally lawful and core duties of ICE officers, and then to disparage them as that other deputy mayor did, truly puts them even more at risk,” Issa said.
“Any time you diminish the importance and legitimacy of people who go in harm's way, you increase the chances of their harm,” he continued.
Issa’s latest legislative move to back up ICE follows his successful steerage of the No Rogue Rulings Act, which is currently languishing in the Senate awaiting a vote.
Issa said that the recent ruling by a judge that baselessly removed a provision from the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill that stripped funding from Planned Parenthood demonstrates the need for his bill.
Heard on the Hill
HOMELAND VACANCY: Several Republicans are vying for the now-open Homeland Security Committee chairmanship. Those rumored include Rep. August Pfluger (R., Texas) and Rep. Michael McCaul (R., Texas). Rep. Clay Higgins (R., La.) is already circulating his materials to members, according to one reviewed by the Washington Reporter.
I WILL WALK 1,000 MILES: Manny Rutinel, a Democrat challenging Rep. Gabe Evans (R., Colo.), has a curious choice for his cover photo. The Washington Reporter scooped that Rutinel’s cover photo is actually from Canada’s Kootenay National Park. For those keeping track, that’s over 1,000 miles away from and about an 18-hour drive away from Evans’s district.
PEACEMAKER-IN-CHIEF: The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) released a new ad titled “Peacemaker” to coincide with President Donald Trump’s latest meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The ad “highlights President Trump’s historic actions, which will be heralded by generations to come as an essential victory for Western civilization,” the RJC said.
BAD MATH: The Washington Reporter previously covered how Rebecca Bennett, one of several Democrats running against Rep. Tom Kean (R., N.J.), is now claiming that Kean will “rip healthcare away from 20,000 people” in New Jersey’s 7th District. This is notable, because she has previously claimed that 70,213 people would lose their health care, and that 16,000 people would lose their coverage in that district.
RECONCILIATION PART TWO: Senate staff are already putting together an outline for what could be included in a second Reconciliation, including enhanced immigration fees, additional changes to higher education spending, and further tax credits for manufacturers who invest in America.
DEEP STATE IN DEEP SHIT: Members of Congress are looking at investigating whether deep state DOD personnel are undermining President Trump’s directives on providing military aid to allies, the Washington Reporter has learned.
SLEEPER PICK: Last week, the Washington Reporter broke that Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Ohio) fell asleep on camera while Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) spoke on the House floor. Now, Republican state Rep. Josh Williams announced that he’s running against her. Williams has been making the rounds in D.C. for months ahead of his formal announcement.
“OSSOFF MUST GO”: Rep. Mike Collins (R., Ga.) continues to tease a Senate run in Georgia. Collins confirmed that he is still considering a bid, he made it clear that “[Jon] Ossoff must go.”
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EDITORIAL: Speaker Mike Johnson delivers for America — again
by the Washington Reporter Editorial Board
In his growing political epic, Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) sets a goal, is told by Democrats and the media that he can’t or won’t achieve it, and then pulls everything together.
Sometimes this A-Team level of success happens at the last minute, and usually with unnecessary hiccups inflicted by his fellow Republicans. The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) was only the latest in a saga of nail-biting wins befitting a House legend behind the gavel.
This past week, Johnson, President Donald Trump, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D) pulled off a political hat trick, delivering on Trump’s campaign pledges and handing Americans the largest tax cut in history.
In so doing, the GOP’s leading trio showed conservative governance is the future of America and forced every Democrat in D.C. into a difficult position: get along with Republicans or side with their base that is literally demanding blood.
Democrats — progressives and so-called moderates alike — all voted in lockstep against the historic legislation. Had they been successful, Americans would have seen the largest tax increase in history, to say the least, and with the same calls for violence against Republicans.
We at the Washington Reporter would be remiss if we didn’t note that the cowardly Capitol Hill press corps did not press a single Democrat about the attempted tax hike, why they oppose work requirements for Medicaid, or why they oppose school choice provisions, among the litany of other common-sense provisions they fought tooth and nail against.
We could go on. And we will.
The OBBB’s key provisions are both popular and are ones that the Speaker has been backing, including in Washington Reporter interviews, for months. The American people demanded these changes in November. Trump, Johnson, and Thune delivered on those calls for change.
EXCLUSIVE: Anti-Israel non-profit "just steps away" from Congress raises money for Palestinian "Terrorist University"
by Matthew Foldi
THE LOWDOWN:
A radical anti-Israel nonprofit that is located “at the heart of Capitol Hill just steps away from the halls of Congress” is partnering with and hosting fundraisers for a prominent Palestinian university that glorified Hamas terrorists as “martyrs” hours after the October 7th attacks.
Dar Alhurriya, the Palestine House of Freedom, is actively raising money for Birzeit University — a school that has been the subject of multiple congressional investigations due to its ties to Palestinian terrorism.
Dar Alhurriya is located a short walk from the House of Representatives, and its support for Birzeit University strikes many as problematic. Twenty-eight House Republicans demanded that Harvard cut ties with Birzeit, which it did shortly thereafter.
Harvard itself initially dismissed how Birzeit’s Hamas-run student government is not “germane” to its since-suspended partnership with the radical university. But the school itself, just hours after the October 7th terrorist attack, tweeted “glory for martyrs.”
A radical anti-Israel nonprofit that is located “at the heart of Capitol Hill just steps away from the halls of Congress” is partnering with and hosting fundraisers for a prominent Palestinian university that glorified Hamas terrorists as “martyrs” hours after the October 7th attacks, Middle Eastern experts told the Washington Reporter.
Dar Alhurriya, the Palestine House of Freedom, is actively raising money for Birzeit University — a school that has been the subject of multiple congressional investigations due to its ties to Palestinian terrorism.
One expert went as far as to call Birzeit “Terrorist University.” The school’s support for Palestinian terrorists has been a frequent topic of criticism by congressional Republicans, especially House Committee on Education and the Workforce chairman Tim Walberg (R., Mich.).
SCOOP: “The Deep State’s worst nightmare” unveils next steps
by Matthew Foldi
THE LOWDOWN:
Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, is rolling out her latest steps to “tak[e] on the rotted Intelligence Community,” a DNI official told the Washington Reporter.
The DNI created the Director’s Initiatives Group (DIG), which the ODNI consists of the “best and brightest minds from across the intelligence community, including interagency experts, with active members from ODNI, CIA, DIA, NSA, DoD, and FBI, among others.”
Another effort — which is “working to further declassify other examples of the Biden administration's use of the famed ‘domestic terrorist’ label to leverage the security state against Americans who did not agree with the administration” — aligns with the GOP’s ongoing push to keep parental rights front and center in education.
The Reporter previously first covered how Gabbard “add[ed] counter narcotics to counterterrorism center [and] announce[d] leads on over 1,000 illegal immigrants tied to ISIS and gangs.”
For over a decade, President Donald Trump has prioritized rooting out the “Deep State” bureaucrats who have sought to undermine him before he was even first elected.
Now, his administration is rolling out its biggest steps to date in that mission.
Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, is rolling out her latest steps to “tak[e] on the rotted Intelligence Community,” a DNI official told the Washington Reporter.
Under Gabbard, a national security official noted, the DNI has been “the Deep State’s worst nightmare.”
The DNI created the Director’s Initiatives Group (DIG), which the ODNI consists of the “best and brightest minds from across the intelligence community, including interagency experts, with active members from ODNI, CIA, DIA, NSA, DoD, and FBI, among others.”
The new efforts, which the Reporter obtained a preview of, are in sync with Trump’s desire for transparency on issues from America’s past and future. One of DIG’s new projects is “interviewing whistleblowers who have first-hand experience and concrete evidence of the politicization of intelligence.
For example, interviewing analysts that can expose James Clapper and other Deep State actors on the Russian Collusion hoax and Hunter Biden laptop scandal.”
K-STREET, 10,000 FEET:
After OBBB, Senate insiders suggest there’s still a path forward for an AI moratorium
by the Washington Reporter
THE LOWDOWN:
During the negotiations around the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), one of the most contentious points of the legislation was an amendment proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) to impose a decade-long federal moratorium on AI.
On the opposite side of the issue, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) became a leading voice against the AI moratorium, introducing an amendment to strike the language from the OBBB.
While Blackburn’s amendment ultimately prevailed in the Senate in a 99-1 vote, the two had initially announced a legislative compromise the day of the Senate’s vote-a-rama.
However, later that day, Blackburn came out against the compromise and encouraged her colleagues to vote against it.
Artificial intelligence (AI) remains a hot topic in the Beltway and across America, especially as the technology evolves and is inserted into everything from our smartphones to social media and beyond. The Senate is, obviously, not immune in this conversation, and the body’s decisions impact the financial side of the AI equation as much as the societal facet.
During the negotiations around the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), one of the most contentious points of the legislation was an amendment proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) to impose a decade-long federal moratorium on AI. Cruz and proponents of the moratorium argue that without this measure, California, Illinois, and other blue states would regulate AI in a manner that would be harmful for the country–something California has already started to do.
On the opposite side of the issue, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) became a leading voice against the AI moratorium, introducing an amendment to strike the language from the OBBB. Blackburn and her allies argued that a moratorium would also block conservative states from passing reasonable regulations on AI, such as Tennessee’s work to protect likeness and identity of performers, and Arkansas’s work to protect children from exploitation.
While Blackburn’s amendment ultimately prevailed in the Senate in a 99-1 vote, the two had initially announced a legislative compromise the day of the Senate’s vote-a-rama, leading Senators to believe that the moratorium would pass in the final package. However, later that day, Blackburn came out against the compromise and encouraged her colleagues to vote against it.
A draft version of the amendment also made its way through D.C. media, which revealed that the compromise would have dropped the 10-year moratorium to a five-year timeframe with carve-outs included to protect state’s rights.
OPINIONATED
Op-Ed: Rep. Mike Simpson: The time is now to secure a legal workforce for American agriculture
by Rep. Mike Simpson (R., Idaho)
Whether we realize it or not, every American depends on agriculture every single day. From the milk in our morning coffee to the produce on our dinner plates, our farmers and ranchers help meet the needs of millions of Americans.
Idaho is home to nearly 25,000 farms and ranches, producing more than 185 commodities. As the representative of one of the most productive agricultural districts in the nation, I have been proud to fight for the interests of farmers and ranchers in Washington. However, as I’ve spoken with farmers over the years, the most common issue brought to my attention is the need for a stable and reliable agricultural workforce.
Agriculture throughout the nation faces a growing workforce crisis. If Congress doesn’t act to reform our agricultural immigration system, all Americans will feel the painful impact.
That said, Americans nationwide felt the impact of President Joe Biden's disastrous open-border policies. Reforming this comprehensive immigration policy to create a stable and legal workforce was impossible under the Biden administration because President Biden's policies created an unprecedented crisis.
President Donald Trump entered the Oval Office and secured the southern border. His administration has taken the necessary steps to remove dangerous illegal immigrants from our communities. It has sent a clear message to these individuals that they are no longer welcome to come into the United States. Our country is once again prioritizing the safety of border patrol agents, rural communities, and American families.
Op-Ed: Maud Maron: Public safety isn't the social experiment that Democrats want it to be
by Maud Maron
For years, far-left politicians have used New York City’s one-party rule to push dangerous ideas and elect extremists like Alvin Bragg and now Zohran Mamdani. They’re not focused on safety or sanity. They’re using their offices to run ideological experiments that put everyday New Yorkers at risk.
The result? Our city is less safe. Law-abiding New Yorkers are fleeing to places like Florida, where former New Yorkers are driving up real estate prices and enjoying safer streets, better schools, and cities where crime victims are prioritized and police are respected.
It’s no secret: Alvin Bragg has turned the Manhattan DA’s Office into a revolving door. He refuses to prosecute entire categories of crime, downgrades violent offenses, and gives repeat offenders a free pass. Now Mamdani wants to go even further. He’s running for mayor on a reckless plan to gut the NYPD and hand law enforcement responsibilities to a made-up “Department of Community Safety.” It’s Bragg’s failed philosophy, just on a bigger scale.
Even more disturbing: Mamdani refuses to denounce violent anti-Israel rhetoric and has a long history of supporting groups like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). He co-founded his college chapter of SJP and still won’t reject calls to “Globalize the Intifada,” even as Jewish Americans are attacked and killed in the U.S.
