Heard on the Hill
What we're hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill
Thanks for reading! Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump’s former acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), linked to our reporting (Exclusive: CFPB Director invested in asset manager he singled out for criticism) about current CFPB Director Rohit Chopra’s many scandals in his latest op-ed in The Hill.
Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus launch: Rep. Claudia Tenney (R., N.Y.) launched the Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus this week, as we previewed a few days ago. One attendee told the Washington Reporter that “Claudia Tenney‘s leadership and long-held support for the formal and rightful recognition of Judea and Samaria (as opposed to the meaningless and non-existent terminology ‘West Bank’) was evident; she was the first member of Congress to be there, greeting folks when the doors opened, and the last to leave.”
Sleepy Schiff: Sen. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) appears to have dozed off during Pam Bondi’s confirmation hearing. Democrats booted Sen. Jon Ossoff (D., Ga.) for being too bipartisan and replaced him with sleepy Schiff.
Anti-Direct File legislation: Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.), alongside Reps. Chuck Edwards (R., N.C.) and Adrian Smith (R., Neb.), rolled out bicameral legislation that would “name the Direct File program as an example of unlawful preparation.” We previously scooped the IRS’s planned nationwide Direct File rollout.
NASA backup: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s love of outer space is legendary. He and former Rep. Bob Walker (R., Pa.) endorsed Jared Isaacman, President Trump’s pick to run the space agency, for the job.
Fighting fire with legislation: Rep Darrell Issa (R., Calif) rolled out the Direct Hire to Fight Fire legislation, which “grants a permanent authority to federal firefighting agencies to streamline the hiring of essential firefighting roles so that no critical position is left unfilled due to bureaucratic red tape,” his office said.
Inauguration donation: The Electronic Payments Coalition is giving $1 million to President Trump’s inaugural committee. It has members in the credit card and banking industry such as Wells Fargo, Visa, and Mastercard.
“Accountability is finally here”: Rep. Ashley Hinson (R., Iowa) and other House Republicans are pushing to prevent federal employees who work from home from getting location-based pay raises. “No bonuses for work-from-home bureaucrats, she said.
She doesn’t even work here: The Congressional Progressive Staff Association sent House and Senate leadership demands for a 32-hour workweek for staff on a rotating basis. When Democrats ran the House and Senate, their offices were closed for years.
Lunch time: The Republican Study Committee (RSC) hosted Stephen Miller and Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith on Capitol Hill this week. A source told us that Miller focused on immigration and tax policy priorities, emphasizing the need to tackle immigration in the first 100 days. Smith outlined plans to make Trump’s tax cuts permanent, emphasizing that previous tax cuts generated more revenue that the CBO projected. For its part, the RSC under Rep. August Pfluger (R., Texas) said that it is committed to working with the Trump administration to focus on priorities like border security, strengthening the economy, and delivering for Americans.