Heard on the Hill
What we're hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill
Congratulations are in order! David Sacks, who introduced Mark Cuban to the Washington Reporter, was named as President Donald Trump’s AI Czar; we are confident that he will do a better job than Kamala Harris did in that role. Bonnie Glick and Erik Bethel just published an op-ed with us about why Sacks is the man for the job.
TikTok lands conservative law firm: Jones Day, the powerful conservative law firm, is representing TikTok and ByteDance in their lawsuit against the Biden administration. “TikTok is a Chinese Communist Party spy app that harms American children,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) said of the development.
Drowning in debt: Gov. Andy Beshear (D., Ky.) was picked to helm the Democrats’ gubernatorial efforts ahead of a potential 2028 presidential bid of his own. His state party is currently over $40,000 in debt.
Negotiation time: Senate Democrats made a counter offer to Republicans on the potential end of year health care package, including a new pay for using PBM reform and not the Biden administration’s home health staffing mandate, along with increased funding for community health centers. The GOP counteroffer on health care was sent back to Democrats; it included PBM delinking for Medicare.
Incoming education hearing: The House’s Oversight and Education and Workforce Committees are debating over who will get to grill the Biden Department of Education over its disproportionate scrutiny of faith-based and career colleges, advocates in the field tell the Reporter.
End of an era: Run GenZ, the organization leading the way to elect young Republicans to state and local offices across America, hosted its conference in Crystal City this weekend. The group’s longtime executive director, Mason Morgan, got multiple standing ovations when announcing that he is stepping down after helping grow the organization into a powerhouse.
Stefanik sendoff: Virtually the entire House GOP conference made its way to Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R., N.Y.) Christmas party last week; it’s her last one before she takes off to New York to defend America and western civilization against the hordes at the United Nations.
America First’s big night: America First Legal’s Christmas party saw conservative heavyweights like none other than Mark Levin come to Butterworth’s on the Hill. The group is poised to be a power player in the second Trump term.