Heard on the Hill
What we're hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill
ENDING WOKE CAPITAL: Manhattan Institute’s James Copland published an op-ed in the New York Post pointing out how the big three passive investment funds have been pushing companies to embrace progressive policies — and how the SEC can fix this by encouraging passive funds to vote the same way they invest: passively. Copland’s op-ed made the rounds on the Hill, with one Senate source praising it as “a pretty simple fix to the woke business problem that doesn’t require legislation.”
WALBERG’S LATEST: Rep. Tim Walberg (R., Mich.), the chair of the House’s Education and Workforce Committee, announced an investigation into K-12 anti-Semitism.
GENESIS LAUNCH: Michael Kratsios, President Donald Trump’s science advisor, was at the White House this week to celebrate the launch of the Trump administration’s Genesis Mission, which the Department of Energy describes as “a national initiative to build the world’s most powerful scientific platform to accelerate discovery science, strengthen national security, and drive energy innovation.”
HHS DELIVERS WIN FOR PATIENTS: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released its new Hospital Price Transparency Rule, which experts view as an essential step to fulfilling President Trump’s commitment to ensuring price transparency across healthcare. Cynthia A. Fisher, the founder of PatientRightsAdvocates.org, explained why the move is so important: “By requiring hospitals to post actual prices in standardized, accessible formats, this rule empowers patients with financial certainty and the freedom to compare costs — driving competition and lowering prices…For five years, too many hospitals have evaded the law through obfuscation and omission. We call on Secretary Kennedy and Administrator Oz to ensure strong accountability and robust enforcement through substantial fines for executives who continue to hide prices.”
COUNTERING TERRORISM: The Trump administration made history, designating multiple chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations. Sebastian Gorka, the Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council (NSC), explained why the decision matters. Branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, including its Egyptian offshoot, are the “progenitor of all modern Jihadists, al Qaeda, ISIS and Hamas included. As we left the Oval, President Trump explicitly instructed us to inform the World of his tectonic act.” National security experts like the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’s Mark Dubowitz, predict that “the Muslim Brotherhood Executive Order is the start, not the finish, of the [counterterrorism] and lawfare campaign against this dangerous Islamist movement.”
AI INVESTMENT BOOM: Amazon announced plans to invest up to $50 billion to expand supercomputing infrastructure and AI usage for U.S. government agencies. As part of that move, “Amazon Web Services (AWS) will build and deploy the first-ever AI and high-performance computing (HPC) purpose-built infrastructure for the U.S. government,” the company said.
ENERGY 101: Rep. Brett Guthrie (R., Ky.), the Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, sat with Puck for a discussion on American energy policy. Among those in attendance were Chris Russo, Victoria Garrastacho, Kristin Whitman, Mollie O’Dell, Lance West, Doug MacGillivray, Matt Gorman, Andrew Wills, Sumi Somaskanda, Matt Glassman, Jared Powell, Lauren Gillis, Kelly Hudak, Jonathan Van Buren, Kent Knutson, David Leiter, David Abadir, Alex Nason, Brielle Hopkins, and Alex Allaire.
LEGENDARY BIRTHDAY: The Monocle, one of the go-to restaurants for senators and their staff, celebrated its 65th birthday in style, featuring a lively dance floor and take-home monocles for those in attendance. Among those spotted were Grace Newton, Hannah Eddins, Abby Mathis, Matthew Foldi, Melanie Meyers, Caleb Alford, Jesse Oney, Blake Kernen, Josie McLaurin, Brett Richards, Anderson Helton, Grace Murkowski, Trenton Hoekstra, Lauren Ashton, Luke Diel, Val Hart, and AnnaGrace Stallings.