Heard on the Hill
What we're hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill
CASSIDY BACK TRUMP ON HEALTH CARE: Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) rolled out a Trump-aligned health care agenda in the waning days of the Schumer Shutdown: “President Trump is right,” the Louisiana doctor explained. “We should give this money directly to patients, not just insurers. My plan, Federally Pre-funded Flexible Spending Accounts, does this. It’s like a pre-paid debit card for your health, and it gives you better value for every federal dollar.”
CANDID CAMERA: Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, who is running for Congress against Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R., Pa.), was “caught swiping on her phone on stage at a Veterans Day ceremony — just like her hero Joe Biden checked his watch at Dover,” the National Republican Congressional Committee noted.
HISTORIC SUMMIT: Days before Syria’s president Ahmed al-Sharaa visited President Donald Trump in D.C., a bipartisan group of policymakers met to map out what a Trump-inspired Middle East could look like. Speakers and attendees at the conference, which was hosted by the Polaris National Security Foundation and the N7 Foundation included Sens. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) and Joni Ernst (R., Iowa), as well as Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, Frank Fannon, the former Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources, Oren Eisner and Agnès von der Mühll, Deputy Chiefs of Mission at the French Embassy to the United States, and more. Following the conference, Cale Brown — Polaris’s Chair — told the Reporter that “President Trump’s break from tired policy perspectives that prevailed as the Middle East moved from crisis to crisis has paved the way for a new era in the region. His bold action in destroying Iran’s nuclear program, in showing openness to new leadership in Syria, and most recently in achieving a historic peace deal in Gaza, have created conditions such that hopes for greater integration and prosperity in the region are reachable. At this summit we aspired to look beyond — while not discounting — the obstacles to focus on the opportunities ahead and in so doing, create more momentum for positive outcomes in the Middle East.”
ACCOUNTABILITY IS COMING: Sens. Rick Scott (R., Fla.) and Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) wrote to the director of California’s Department of Parks and Recreation asking for “all records referring or relating to the Palisades and Lachman fires.” Reality star Spencer Pratt praised the senators’ work: “Gavin Newsom’s State Parks agency is being investigated by the Senate for burning down my town.”
WORKERS OF THE WORLD DO NOT UNITE: There is no class solidarity between the staff of the RNC and of the DNC — which has still not been working in person for five days a week. Kiersten Pels, the GOP’s National Press Secretary, wondered whether her counterparts across the aisle are operating a “political committee or a daycare.”
FLURRY OF ENDORSEMENTS: With about a year to go until the 2026 midterms, Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) endorsed a series of his colleagues in recent days, including Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R., Iowa), Zach Nunn (R., Iowa), Scott Perry (R., Pa.), Rob Bresnahan (R., Pa.), Ryan Mackenzie (R., Pa.), Tom Kean (R., N.J.), Derrick Van Orden (R., Wis.), and Juan Ciscomani (R., Ariz.). Johnson also endorsed Mark Lamb, who is running in an open GOP seat.