Heard on the Hill
What we're hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill
KEEP IT LOCAL: A Senate source flagged that a new organization, Keep it Local Media, flooded the Hill with placards objecting to the Nexstar-Tegna merger. The fliers went out right before FCC Chairman Brendan Carr testified before the Sen. Ted Cruz-helmed (R., Texas) Commerce Committee. The coalition is leaning on a powerful ally: Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, whose warning that President Donald Trump would not have won if these policies had been in place ten years ago features prominently in its messaging. The Washington Reporter has interviewed Chairman Carr on multiple occasions; read one of our latest interviews with the chairman here.
RECONCILIATION 2.0? Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R., La.) comments that the House should pass another reconciliation bill raised eyebrows in government affairs circles, as the conventional wisdom had been that the Republican majorities are too tenuous to pass another reconciliation bill. The Washington Reporter hopes that Speaker Johnson — who is always underestimated — is right and that the conventional wisdom is wrong.
PADILLA VS. MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS: Sen. Alex Padilla (D, Calif.) objected to a measure from Sen. Jim Justice (R., W.Va.) that would back a monument on the National Mall for Medal of Honor Recipients. Justice’s bill, which passed the House by unanimous consent, is already paid for — but Padilla objected, as Justice’s communications director Will O’Grady explained, because he “wanted [two] new Smithsonian museums: One for Hispanic service members. One for female service members. Justice’s memorial was paid for in full. These new museums proposed by Padilla would be millions of dollars. The whole objection by Padilla was patently absurd.”