Heard on the Hill
What we're hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill
RISKY BUSINESS: Ibrahim AlHusseini, a board member of a “climate-friendly banking” platform, was indicted by the Department of Justice, which is investigating the company he served on the board of for defrauding investors. AlHusseini has chirped at Elon Musk for years, arguing that Tesla’s brand was “tarnished” in 2022 due to Musk’s takeover of Twitter and his attacks on Anthony Fauci.
ANOTHA ONE: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) dropped what critics called a “misguided” case against Zelle, and banks like JPMorganChase are celebrating. A JPMorganChase spokesperson told the Washington Reporter that “tanks play a crucial role in scam prevention and consumer education, but this is a national security problem that requires a collective effort across the public and private sectors. We look forward to continuing to work with government, law enforcement, banks, social media, telecom, and technology companies to effectively address these crimes at their source.”
CORRECTING THE RECORD: House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R., Mo.) cleared misconceptions on the continuing resolution (CR) during an interview with Maria Bartiromo. Smith said that many of his colleagues who are now in support of this CR have never voted for one before and that the last bill was over 1,000 pages long. The latest CR is fewer than 100 pages and gives Congress time to pass the "big, beautiful bill" that President Donald Trump said he’s looking for in a recent interview with the Washington Reporter.
DECRYPTING CRYPTO: David Sacks, President Trump’s crypto and artificial intelligence czar, hosted a Crypto Summit at the White House where he was joined by top administration officials, including President Trump, Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and others. Loeffler, who was previously the CEO of a crypto company called Bakkt prior to serving in the U.S. Senate, spoke about how crypto can help small businesses. “The hottest ticket in town for crypto last week was the White House summit,” Ron Hammond, the senior director of government relations at the Blockchain Association, told the Reporter. “What was unique about the summit was the White House not only invited industry leaders, but also members of Congress currently leading crypto legislation and the heads of most of the regulators who touch crypto. ‘Night and day difference’ is the phrase every participant reiterated. The last administration rarely engaged the industry and when they tried to do a similar roundtable it was just some staffers and held off campus from the White House. This administration has taken the literal opposite approach and the crypto industry couldn’t be happier to have this kind of engagement and attention from the president and his team.”
SPACE ODYSSEY: Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) announced that he is “calling for an investigation into reports that Joe Biden stranded two of our astronauts in space to deny Elon Musk the credit for saving them.” Issa’s call for an investigation comes amid reports that the Biden administration refused to work with Elon Musk to rescue the astronauts who are stranded in outer space. “We know that Elon’s offers to rescue the stranded astronauts were rebuffed by the Biden administration,” Issa told the Reporter. “We also know Astronaut Whitmore said ‘I can only say that Mr. Musk, what he says, is absolutely factual … I believe him.’ This is the definition of a necessary investigation.”
BIPARTISAN CONSENSUS: The top Republicans and Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee wrote to the E.U. Ambassador to the U.S. with "serious concerns" about the E.U.'s lobbying efforts that "bypass traditional diplomatic channels and undermine American public trust in Federal law and policy." The lawmakers wrote that "the FARA filing was required by the E.U.’s financing of a United States firm to create 'one or two funny but informative' TikTok-like videos to criticize the Jones Act.” The lawmakers wrote, “In the FARA filing, the TikTok-like videos were described as part of a broader, multi-faceted, multi-phased lobbying and public relations campaign financed by the E.U. to challenge the Jones Act. That broader lobbying campaign to challenge the Jones Act was outlined in detail in a document included in the FARA filing and is also attached to this letter. We understand that the E.U. lobbying document was removed from the FARA filing shortly after its existence was publicly disclosed."
TULSI IN ASIA: Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), is heading to Asia as part of a multi-nation trip. Gabbard is heading to her native Hawaii to meet with partners in the intelligence community and to visit INDOPACOM. “She brings a nuanced understanding of the complex challenges and opportunities that exist to executing President Trump's America First policies of peace, freedom and prosperity,” her office noted. From there, she will head to India and France.
GOLDEN LEGACY: The Republican Study Committee, led by Chairman August Pfluger (R., Texas), will hold a press conference about bills that codify President Trump’s executive orders later this afternoon. The Reporter will be in attendance.
CAN AI ASK YOU A QUESTION: Rep. Julie Fedorchak (R., N.D.) announced that Congress' AI and Energy Working Group wants input on American energy dominance and AI energy demands, securing America's energy grid, and how to outpace China on AI and energy innovation.
BITCOIN RUSH: Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R., Wyo.) reintroduced the BITCOIN Act on Tuesday, being joined by her Senate GOP colleagues Sens. Roger Marshall (R., Ky.), Bernie Moreno (R., Ohio), and Jim Justice (R., W.V.) as original cosponsors. The bill builds on President Trump’s executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.