Heard on the Hill

What we're hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill

• Party time: Republicans lead Democrats on Gallup’s party identification survey for the first time in over 30 years.

• About time for this about face: John Ratcliffe, the new CIA Director, announced that his agency now favors the lab leak theory for the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), the leading proponent of this theory, said in response that “the important thing now is that we have to make China pay for unleashing this plague on the world.”

• Path clearing: Sen. Martin Heinrich (D., N.M.) announced he will not run for Governor of New Mexico, giving former controversial Interior Secretary Deb Haaland a much clearer path to her party’s nomination.

• Reminder: Erick Erickson reminded his readers of one of his basic rules of media bias following a series of stories about how President Donald Trump’s crackdown on DEI is actually harmful: “When a Democrat is in charge, the press looks at who benefits from policies. When a Republican is in charge, the press finds victims of the policies.”