Heard on the Hill
What we're hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill
HARD AT WORK? Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, was spotted at Lobby Bar, “eating oysters until a plane falls out of the sky,” a source told the Washington Reporter. Pictures are here.
STOPPING SCHUMER SHUTDOWN’S IMPACT ON SOLDIERS: The Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC) has been all over the Hill and the D.C. press thanks to the resource it offers to soldiers who are expected to miss a paycheck this week due to Congressional Democrats. The DCUC’s Chief Advocacy Officer, Jason Stverek, had strong words in Breitbart for the politicians behind the shutdown, saying our troops “shouldn’t have to worry about whether their next paycheck will arrive while they’re standing watch for our nation.”
OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES DOA? Congressional sources tell the Washington Reporter that there is firm and growing opposition to extending the COVID-era enhanced ACA subsidies that Democrats are demanding as a ransom for the Schumer Shutdown. Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), Leader John Thune (R., S.D.), and nearly every other Republican in leadership believes the subsidies are terrible healthcare policy and drive up costs. One Hill source told the Reporter that “getting Republican support for the Obamacare COVID bonuses is going to be nearly impossible. The only thing harder will be if Democrats start demanding even worse healthcare policies — like price controls — to go along with the enhanced ACA subsidies.”
ZOHRAN PROBLEMS GROW: Zohran Mamdani still has an election to win, but Republicans are eager to make him — and his radical wife — the new faces of the Democratic Party. The RNC’s Kiersten Pels attacked the duo. “Communist Zohran Mamdani took nearly $13,000 in potentially illegal foreign donations from at least 170 donors — even one from his mother-in-law in Dubai. He still hasn’t returned 88 of the donations that are worth more than $7,000,” Pels noted. “To make matters worse, his wife publicly mourned a pro-Hamas extremist who celebrated the October 7th attacks.”
ALL FOR SHOW: Rep. Madeleine Dean (D., Pa.) recently confronted Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) about the Schumer Shutdown. The Washington Reporter exclusively obtained fundraising texts showing that Dean is now using the altercation to raise small dollar donors. “You might have seen the video of me confronting Speaker Mike Johnson,” she writes in her plea to donors. Pictures are here.
HAVING IT BOTH WAYS: Abigail Spanberger is trying to distance herself from Jay Jones, her violence-inclined running mate. But, she is still selling merchandise on her website featuring him.
GIVE IT BACK: The Buffalo Bills celebrated “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” before getting blown out by the Atlanta Falcons. The New York State GOP wants the Bills to put their money where their mouth is: “Give your stadium back to the Native Americans or stfu,” the party wrote. The New England Patriots now lead the AFC East.
HAPPY 21ST! The Washington Reporter was honored to attend the
21st50th birthday of Newsmax’s host extraordinaire, Bianca De La Garza. Among those present at the Miami Beach party were Rudy Giuliani, Marisela Ramirez, John Bachman, Ford O’Connell, Ed Henry, Ted Goodman, Mike Davis, John Jordan, Jason Quinoñes, Kate Hartson, Lucas Kelman, Jerry Ryan, Katie Matos, Michael Snyder, Erin Parker, Matthew Foldi, and more.