Heard on the Hill
What we're hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill
BUDGET BATTLE: Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) and Rep. Kevin Hern (R., Okla.) are working to prevent foreign investment funds that back predatory lawsuits against American companies from scoring major tax breaks — and one GOP leadership aide told the Washington Reporter that the odds are looking good that they’ll succeed. “There is a great chance that closing this loophole gets in the budget bill. It will be a win for Tillis and for America,” we’re told.
PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT: Rep. Joe Neguse (D., Colo.) lost a bet to Rep. Stephanie Bice (R., Okla.) about the NBA playoffs. Neguse now has to display a Bice’s Oklahoma Thunder flag outside his office following the Thunder’s dismantling of the Denver Nuggets. The Thunder are expected to win the NBA championship for the first time this year.
FAUX-TRAGE: Earlier this week, we wrote a piece about how corporations are navigating DEI policies in an era of unified GOP control. Now, a new report shows that in Target’s case, much of the supposed online backlash was AI-generated. “The chorus of online voices trying to bully companies into doubling down on DEI are largely fake,” Will Hild, Consumers' Research’s executive director, remarked about this news.
WHEELING AND DEALING: The Trump administration is working with GlobalFoundries and Qualcomm to invest $16 billion on expanded semiconductor manufacturing in New York and Vermont. Qualcomm’s CEO, Cristiano Amon, noted that “as a strategic supplier of Qualcomm, GlobalFoundries shares our vision for strengthening U.S. chip production capacity. This commitment from GlobalFoundries will help secure a resilient semiconductor supply chain to support the next wave of U.S. technology innovation, especially in areas vital to enabling power efficient computing, connectivity, and edge intelligence."
DOUBLE STANDARDS: Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) became a national storyline with her comments about how we are all going to die. We couldn’t help but notice that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said almost the same thing and that it hasn’t taken off quite as much. “We’re all going to die” if the Trump tax cut passes, Schumer warned.
