Heard on the Hill
What we're hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill
FTC SUCCESS: Thanks to Andrew Ferguson, the new chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, for joining us for his first interview in his new role earlier this week. We’ll have a writeup on our event in our next edition, but you can watch our full interview with him here and can read about his pledge “to keep aggressive merger enforcement” here. A special thanks to the Coalition for App Fairness for sponsoring the sold out event.
BUDGETING BIG WINS: Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) scored a huge win this week with the passage of the House GOP’s budget framework. Prior to the passage, everything looked up in the air for the oft-underestimated Speaker — and Reps. Kevin Hern (R., Okla.) and Lisa McClain (R., Mich.) took to our pages to make the case for the framework’s passage.
MEDIA SAGE’S TAKE: Rep. Ashley Hinson (R., Iowa) spent years working as a local journalist before entering the political arena — and she told the Reporter that she is fully behind President Trump’s restriction of the Associated Press’s access. "As a former journalist, the AP's faux outrage is laughable,” Hinson said. “Where was the anger when Biden went months without press conferences? They were too busy covering it up to worry about journalistic integrity then. The Trump Administration is more accessible and more transparent than any other administration in history, and they are rightly bringing in new outlets and media that Americans now trust after years of bias from mainstream outlets.”
FINS UP: On March 10, the Senate Armed Services Committee is having a hearing on the Pacific theater. Expect substantial questions on the adequacy of the U.S. Naval fleet, a topic Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brought up this week.
RED DRAGON’S BANE: Senate Republicans are looking at investigating Chinese influence in the telecom sector, including Huawei's spinoffs and TP-Link, a Chinese-based manufacturer.
UNDISPUTED CHAMPION OF EDUCATION: Linda McMahon is expected to be confirmed on Thursday. Republicans are not expecting any Democratic votes but also are not expecting any Republican NO votes.
TEARING DOWN ELECTRIC AVENUE: Rep. Tony Wied (R., Wis.) and Sen. Joni Ernst introduced a bill to rescind the funding for the Biden administration’s electric vehicle projects; the pair found that the previous administration allocated billions of dollars with almost no results. Wied told the Reporter that “the fact that the Biden administration was only able to produce 59 EV charging stations nationwide with a $7.5 billion budget is the exact reason why the American people overwhelmingly support President Trump in reducing waste and inefficiencies in our government. As a small business owner, I could have built 1,500 more gas stations with that kind of money. It is time to repeal this funding and put an end to President Biden's wasteful vanity project.”
EU PUSHBACK: 26 financial officers wrote to President Donald Trump this week, praising his decision to withdraw from the controversial Paris climate accords. The financial officers want the U.S. Trade Representative to investigate the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Directive and similar programs, which continue to push ESG policies onto Americans. “Europe might be committed to destroying its own economy with “sustainability” directives, but it better keep its green-washed hands out of ours,” Will Hild, the executive director of Consumers Research, said of the efforts.
THUNE’S WARNING: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) bashed the Senate Democrats’ plan to overturn President Donald Trump’s energy emergency in a floor speech on Monday. Thune warned if “we don’t take action, we are going to be facing some very serious problems in the very near future” and that he is “grateful to have a president who recognizes and acknowledges the energy emergency facing our nation.”
D-E-BYE BYE: The CIA and DNI immediately responded to reports from journalist Chris Rufo that internal chat rooms were rife with sexually explicit content. Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, said that “this behavior is unacceptable and those involved WILL be held accountable. These disgusting chat groups were immediately shut down when [Trump] issued his EO ending the DEI insanity the Biden Admin was obsessed with.” Liz Lyons, the CIA’s Director of Public Affairs, said the agency “will be taking immediate action on this matter.” The DNI’s Alexa Henning told the Reporter that Gabbard ordered agencies to fire the individuals responsible.