President Trump on reconciliation, Leader Thune on cabinet confirmations, Congress backs up Sec. Rubio on deporting pro-Hamas protesters, Sen. Sanders’s town halls are backfiring, and more!
An interview with President Trump; Senate Majority Leader Thune talks confirmations; Heard on the Hill; and more!
March 11, 2025
Let’s dive in.
INTERVIEW: President Donald Trump talks reconciliation, health care, Israel hostage negotiations, and more with the Washington Reporter
INTERVIEW: Majority Leader John Thune breaks down his legislative speed to accomplish Senate GOP’s “shared agenda” with President Trump
Heard on the Hill
EXCLUSIVE: "Free him? More like deport him": Congress backs up Trump administration on deporting pro-terrorist non-citizens
EXCLUSIVE: “Crude, appalling, and inappropriate for a family audience”: How Bernie Sanders’s nationwide town hall campaign is already backfiring
K-STREET, 10,000 FEET: Dick Durbin set to introduce controversial credit card bill: “Republicans should oppose it”
OPINIONATED: Rep. August Pfluger and Rep. Michael Cloud on how President Donald Trump’s Golden Address exposed the Democrats, Doug Kelly on how tech innovation will fuel America’s Golden Age, and Chris Pope on how to thread the needle on Medicaid reform
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INTERVIEW: President Donald Trump talks reconciliation, health care, Israel hostage negotiations, and more with the Washington Reporter
by Matthew Foldi
THE LOWDOWN:
President Donald J. Trump did a phone interview with the Washington Reporter on the 47th day of his second administration.
The President told the Reporter’s Matthew Foldi he still favors “one big, beautiful bill” when it comes to reconciliation.
President Trump said the Israeli hostage negotiations are “a very hard deal to take.”
President Trump noted that the man sitting in the Oval Office over the past four years “didn’t do anything” besides “hurt our country.”
On President Donald Trump’s 47th day in office, the Washington Reporter spoke with him about his thoughts on the continuing resolution, Capitol Hill’s work on pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform, Israel, and accountability for President Joe Biden’s failed withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Hours before the interview, Trump’s official White House account shared the Reporter’s exclusive story about how the Gold Star families in the Abbey Gate Coalition praised the President for extraditing the terrorist “monster” who was the mastermind behind the suicide attack that killed their loved ones.
President Trump’s interview comes fresh off his highly rated Golden Address that saw him masterfully use his patented “Weave” to captivate the crowd and make history with his address.
President Trump previously told the Reporter, “I like you guys.”
Here’s what President Trump told the Reporter about some of the top issues of the day:
Reconciliation:
“I favor one big, beautiful bill, and I think the CR is good because it gives us a lot of time to think about it; the CR we favor, ideally one big beautiful bill.”
Context: Trump wants to push for extending his 2017 tax cuts and major immigration reform, something he campaigned on. The House and Senate are working out their differences to get this done.
Pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform:
President Trump sounded optimistic on the prospects of getting it done before the end of the year, saying “I know [the Senate] is looking at it very very strongly.”
Context: President Trump weighed in on the PBM reform debate last December, promising to “knock out the middleman” to bring down drug costs. Just this week the Senate introduced last year's healthcare package which includes PBM reform along with cancer research.
Israel:
“I think it’s a very hard deal to take, because I was with the hostages the other day, and I think it’s a very very hard deal to take, whether it stands or not, it’s a different question, but it’s very hard for our side to take it, you understand that.”
Context: President Trump was able to secure a hostage deal after 13 months of negotiations between the United States, Israel, Hamas, Qatar, and Egypt. Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff played an instrumental role. This has led to hostages being released.
Afghanistan accountability:
“No [the Biden administration had done nothing to help with the extradition of the terrorist mastermind], they didn’t do anything for four years other than hurt our country.”
Context: In August of 2021 Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, one of the major foreign policy blunders of the Biden administration. President Trump campaigned on holding those responsible for the failure accountable.
INTERVIEW: Majority Leader John Thune breaks down his legislative speed to accomplish Senate GOP’s “shared agenda” with President Trump
by the Washington Reporter
THE LOWDOWN:
Senate Majority Leader John Thune spoke with the Washington Reporter about his breakneck legislative speed, saying President Trump and the Senate GOP have a “shared agenda.”
Thune also told the Washington Reporter that Senate Republicans “want to make the Trump tax cuts from 2017 permanent,” but also believe “permanence makes sense for the economy.”
Thune said his proudest accomplishment is the “record pace of nominations,” calling it “good team ball.”
The Senate Majority Leader also sounded off on the illicit Chinese vapes entering into the U.S., declaring that “Senate Republicans are united behind working to prevent the Chinese Communist Party from infiltrating our country and threatening our national security interests.”
As Capitol Hill gears up for another week of fun, Americans are gearing up for another week of change in Washington. With government funding and healthcare entering the congressional zeitgeist, Republican congressional leaders have a hefty plate of things to get through — something undaunting to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.).
Thune, the top Republican in the Senate, has sent Democrats’ heads spinning with his breakneck legislative pace. He told the Washington Reporter in an exclusive interview that the “mandate” behind President Donald Trump requires putting the right people in the right places to push through his and the Senate Republicans’ “shared agenda.”
“Obviously you've got an administration that's moving quickly, and we have a shared agenda,” Thune told the Reporter. “With the kind of mandate that President Trump has, you've got to get people in place to do their best to implement his agenda. The Senate obviously plays a key role in all of this.”
Thune also told the Reporter that Senate Republicans “want to make the Trump tax cuts from 2017 permanent,” but also believes “permanence makes sense for the economy.”
“A temporary extension of these pro-growth and pro-family policies is a missed opportunity,” Thune said. “Businesses need certainty while investing in their companies and taxpayers should not fear tax hikes due to congressional inaction.”
Among all his many accomplishments since just January 3 — driven by an energized Senate GOP Conference working nights and weekends over a marathon 10-week session, the longest in 15 years — Thune said his proudest one is the “record pace of nominations,” calling it “good team ball.”
The Senate Republicans have started 2025 at a faster and more productive pace than any Congress in recent memory, perhaps in modern American history.
HEARD ON THE HILL
RISKY BUSINESS: Ibrahim AlHusseini, a board member of a “climate-friendly banking” platform, was indicted by the Department of Justice, which is investigating the company he served on the board of for defrauding investors. AlHusseini has chirped at Elon Musk for years, arguing that Tesla’s brand was “tarnished” in 2022 due to Musk’s takeover of Twitter and his attacks on Anthony Fauci.
ANOTHA ONE: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) dropped what critics called a “misguided” case against Zelle, and banks like JPMorganChase are celebrating. A JPMorganChase spokesperson told the Washington Reporter that “tanks play a crucial role in scam prevention and consumer education, but this is a national security problem that requires a collective effort across the public and private sectors. We look forward to continuing to work with government, law enforcement, banks, social media, telecom, and technology companies to effectively address these crimes at their source.”
CORRECTING THE RECORD: House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R., Mo.) cleared misconceptions on the continuing resolution (CR) during an interview with Maria Bartiromo. Smith said that many of his colleagues who are now in support of this CR have never voted for one before and that the last bill was over 1,000 pages long. The latest CR is fewer than 100 pages and gives Congress time to pass the "big, beautiful bill" that President Donald Trump said he’s looking for in a recent interview with the Washington Reporter.
DECRYPTING CRYPTO: David Sacks, President Trump’s crypto and artificial intelligence czar, hosted a Crypto Summit at the White House where he was joined by top administration officials, including President Trump, Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and others. Loeffler, who was previously the CEO of a crypto company called Bakkt prior to serving in the U.S. Senate, spoke about how crypto can help small businesses. “The hottest ticket in town for crypto last week was the White House summit,” Ron Hammond, the senior director of government relations at the Blockchain Association, told the Reporter. “What was unique about the summit was the White House not only invited industry leaders, but also members of Congress currently leading crypto legislation and the heads of most of the regulators who touch crypto. ‘Night and day difference’ is the phrase every participant reiterated. The last administration rarely engaged the industry and when they tried to do a similar roundtable it was just some staffers and held off campus from the White House. This administration has taken the literal opposite approach and the crypto industry couldn’t be happier to have this kind of engagement and attention from the president and his team.”
SPACE ODYSSEY: Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) announced that he is “calling for an investigation into reports that Joe Biden stranded two of our astronauts in space to deny Elon Musk the credit for saving them.” Issa’s call for an investigation comes amid reports that the Biden administration refused to work with Elon Musk to rescue the astronauts who are stranded in outer space. “We know that Elon’s offers to rescue the stranded astronauts were rebuffed by the Biden administration,” Issa told the Reporter. “We also know Astronaut Whitmore said ‘I can only say that Mr. Musk, what he says, is absolutely factual … I believe him.’ This is the definition of a necessary investigation.”
BIPARTISAN CONSENSUS: The top Republicans and Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee wrote to the E.U. Ambassador to the U.S. with "serious concerns" about the E.U.'s lobbying efforts that "bypass traditional diplomatic channels and undermine American public trust in Federal law and policy." The lawmakers wrote that "the FARA filing was required by the E.U.’s financing of a United States firm to create 'one or two funny but informative' TikTok-like videos to criticize the Jones Act.” The lawmakers wrote, “In the FARA filing, the TikTok-like videos were described as part of a broader, multi-faceted, multi-phased lobbying and public relations campaign financed by the E.U. to challenge the Jones Act. That broader lobbying campaign to challenge the Jones Act was outlined in detail in a document included in the FARA filing and is also attached to this letter. We understand that the E.U. lobbying document was removed from the FARA filing shortly after its existence was publicly disclosed."
TULSI IN ASIA: Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), is heading to Asia as part of a multi-nation trip. Gabbard is heading to her native Hawaii to meet with partners in the intelligence community and to visit INDOPACOM. “She brings a nuanced understanding of the complex challenges and opportunities that exist to executing President Trump's America First policies of peace, freedom and prosperity,” her office noted. From there, she will head to India and France.
GOLDEN LEGACY: The Republican Study Committee, led by Chairman August Pfluger (R., Texas), will hold a press conference about bills that codify President Trump’s executive orders later this afternoon. The Reporter will be in attendance.
CAN AI ASK YOU A QUESTION: Rep. Julie Fedorchak (R., N.D.) announced that Congress' AI and Energy Working Group wants input on American energy dominance and AI energy demands, securing America's energy grid, and how to outpace China on AI and energy innovation.
BITCOIN RUSH: Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R., Wyo.) reintroduced the BITCOIN Act on Tuesday, being joined by her Senate GOP colleagues Sens. Roger Marshall (R., Ky.), Bernie Moreno (R., Ohio), and Jim Justice (R., W.V.) as original cosponsors. The bill builds on President Trump’s executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
A message from our sponsor.
Medicaid helps provide security to our friends and neighbors, providing high-quality care for more than 72 million Americans, including children, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities.
Congress should vote against efforts to reduce Medicaid funding and instead focus on policies that strengthen access to 24/7 care.
EXCLUSIVE: "Free him? More like deport him": Congress backs up Trump administration on deporting pro-terrorist non-citizens
by Matthew Foldi
THE LOWDOWN:
President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it crystal clear that the Trump administration will locate and deport “terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.”
Trump made the declaration following the announced deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a non-citizen student at Columbia University who is poised to be deported due to his direct support of Hamas, according to the administration.
A senior State Department official told the Washington Reporter that the group Khalil “was negotiating on behalf of, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, has been explicitly pro-Hamas and pro-terrorism.”
Other lawmakers, including then-Sen. Rubio (R., Fla.), have long advocated for deported pro-Hamas protesters who are in America on visas.
President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it clear this week that the Trump administration “will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.”
Trump made the declaration following the announced deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a non-citizen student at Columbia University who is poised to be deported due to his direct support of Hamas, according to the administration.
“Shalom Mahmoud,” Trump wrote, adding that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “proudly apprehended and detained” Khalil. Trump blasted Khalil as “a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University” and said his arrest “is the first arrest of many to come.”
A senior State Department official told the Washington Reporter that Khalil “was one of the illegal encampment negotiators with [Columbia University] in April 2024 and was involved in the Barnard Library takeover.”
“The group he was negotiating on behalf of, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, has been explicitly pro-Hamas and pro-terrorism,” the State official said.
In 2023, Khalil was a political affairs officer with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The United Nations itself has said that at least nine of UNRWA’s employees “may have been involved in the seventh of October attacks” and human rights groups like UN Watch have criticized UNRWA for how thousands of its “teachers in Gaza celebrated the October 7th Hamas massacre.”
Republicans want funding to UNRWA zeroed out over the organization’s employee participation in the anti-Semitic attack. Rep. James Comer (R., Ky.) and the House Oversight Committee even investigated the Biden administration’s decision to resume funding to UNRWA following the reports of UNRWA employee participation in the October 7 massacre.
EXCLUSIVE: “Crude, appalling, and inappropriate for a family audience”: How Bernie Sanders’s nationwide town hall campaign is already backfiring
by Matthew Foldi
THE LOWDOWN:
Rep. Bryan Steil (R., Wis.) wrote to Gov. Tony Evers (D., Wis.) to ask if the state of Wisconsin will investigate whether Sanders broke the law by featuring a far-left punk rocker at his Kenosha town hall who went into graphic detail about the anatomy of God.
John Ondrasik, the man behind the hit group Five for Fighting, told the Reporter that the Grace saga is “frankly just boring.”
Laura Jane Grace, the singer, put on a show that was “crude, appalling, and inappropriate for a family audience,” Steil wrote to Evers.
Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I., Vt.) nationwide town hall is already backfiring. Rep. Bryan Steil (R., Wis.) wrote to Gov. Tony Evers (D., Wis.) to ask if the state of Wisconsin will investigate whether Sanders broke the law by featuring a far-left punk rocker at his Kenosha town hall who went into graphic detail about the anatomy of God.
Laura Jane Grace, the singer, put on a show that was “crude, appalling, and inappropriate for a family audience,” Steil wrote to Evers. Her song in question included “numerous sexually explicit lyrics and adult content.”
“As Governor, are you conducting a review if any laws or regulations were violated in allowing adult content and lyrics to be performed at a State-owned facility with children in attendance?” he wrote.
K-STREET, 10,000 FEET
Dick Durbin set to introduce controversial credit card bill: “Republicans should oppose it”
by the Washington Reporter
THE LOWDOWN:
Illinois Democrat Senator Dick Durbin is poised to reintroduce a controversial credit card bill that could have disastrous effects on the U.S. economy.
The bill would require the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to regulate network competition in credit card transactions. However, this bill has potential downsides of slowing down the economy, resulting in a potential $227 billion economic activity loss and approximately 156,000 jobs lost, according to an Oxford study.
A person close to President Donald Trump told the Washington Reporter that “Dick Durbin opposed all of Trump’s nominees” and that the Illinois Democrat “is now opposing his pro-American growth agenda by introducing a Big Retail/woke credit card act.”
Durbin’s home state of Illinois recently passed a similar bill, providing corporate megastores with a massive financial windfall while mom and pop shops and other small businesses were left out to dry. On top of that, consumers in Illinois were left footing the bill of the legislation.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) is poised to reintroduce a controversial credit card bill that could have disastrous effects on the U.S. economy.
Durbin is set to reintroduce the Credit Card Competition Act to the Senate, a bill he brought to the upper chamber last Congress.
The bill would require the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to regulate network competition in credit card transactions. However, this bill has potential downsides of slowing down the economy, resulting in a potential $227 billion economic activity loss and approximately 156,000 jobs lost, according to a 2025 study from top global economic forecaster Oxford Economics Research.
A person close to President Donald Trump told the Washington Reporter that “Dick Durbin opposed all of Trump’s nominees” and that the Illinois Democrat “is now opposing his pro-American growth agenda by introducing a Big Retail/woke credit card act.”
“Republicans should oppose it,” the person said.
Durbin’s home state of Illinois recently passed a similar bill, providing corporate megastores with a massive financial windfall while mom and pop shops and other small businesses were left out to dry. On top of that, consumers in Illinois were left footing the bill of the legislation.
The Illinois law would prohibit credit card companies from imposing interchange tax fees on tips and sales taxes associated with commerce in the state. It’s projected that ten large retailers will absorb over 21 percent of the estimated $118 million reduction in the fees.
Additionally, 1.3 million small businesses in Durbin’s home state would only expect to save only $56 on average — each — and the same businesses would have to pay more money to upgrade their payment systems.
OPINIONATED
Op-Ed: Rep. August Pfluger and Rep. Michael Cloud: President Donald Trump showed how Democrats have lost their way
by Rep. August Pfluger and Rep. Michael Cloud
In a single evening, the American people witnessed a stark contrast between two visions for our nation. President Donald Trump’s Joint Address to Congress highlighted remarkable Americans who have overcome extraordinary challenges, while Democrats showed exactly who they are: a party that has completely lost its way.
As the President recognized heroes in the gallery, Democrats couldn’t even muster the basic decency to stand. When 13-year-old Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel, battling brain and spine cancer while pursuing his dream of working in law enforcement, was made an honorary Secret Service Agent, Democrats remained seated. The President acknowledged Allyson and Lauren Phillips — the grieving mother and sister of Laken Riley, whose tragic murder inspired legislation signed into law this January — and Democrats couldn’t be bothered to pay respect.
When President Trump recognized Payton McNabb, whose volleyball career ended after suffering a traumatic brain injury when struck by a biological male competitor, Democrats chose politics over compassion. The President also honored Mark Fogel, an American history teacher imprisoned overseas since 2021 and finally brought home, alongside his 95-year-old mother who lobbied tirelessly for his release. Democrats didn’t rise to celebrate his freedom.
The only moment that seemed to animate Democrats? When Ukraine was mentioned.
Apparently, standing for foreign nations is acceptable, but honoring American citizens who’ve endured unimaginable hardships is not.
Op-Ed: Doug Kelly: Tech innovation will fuel America’s Golden Age
by Doug Kelly
In his address to the joint session of Congress, President Donald Trump emphasized America’s future strength, security, and prosperity. Achieving that future depends on America winning the global tech race against China — and that requires urgent action by the administration and Congress to accelerate innovation.
America’s unmatched talent for innovation has been the driving force of American growth and leadership since our founding. From electricity and aviation to semiconductors and the internet, innovation and ingenuity have long powered our economy, safeguarded our national security, and advanced our democratic values globally.
Today, technology isn’t just an important industry — it is the foundation of American power and prosperity. The U.S. tech sector generates over $2 trillion annually, fueling small businesses, empowering entrepreneurs, and ensuring our military remains the most advanced on Earth. And tech’s share of the economy is expected to rise dramatically in the coming years.
Yet American technological leadership is no longer assured. In fact, it’s actively under threat.
Just two decades ago, America led in 60 of 64 critical technologies, according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). Today, that number has plummeted to seven. Meanwhile, China has surged from dominating only three of these fields to controlling 57. This staggering reversal illustrates China’s ambition and the threat it poses to America’s future prosperity and security.
This isn’t happening by accident. Rather, it's the direct result of China’s strategic planning, sustained investment, and clear national mission to dominate critical technologies. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pouring $2.8 trillion into boosting their technological capabilities while stealing upwards of $500 billion annually in American intellectual property and technology. They have homed in on artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, semiconductors, and biotechnology as strategic priorities. They understand what some in Washington seem to have forgotten: in the 21st Century, technology is geopolitical power.
Op-Ed: Chris Pope: How to thread the needle to reform Medicaid
by Chris Pope
Congressional Republicans have suggested that Medicaid could make up much of the savings needed to offset the cost of renewing Trump’s tax cut. The GOP has only a slender House majority, and many of its members are reluctant to cut benefits for existing enrollees. But the growth rate of Medicaid spending is so rapid, that merely slowing the ability of states to unilaterally expand the program would generate enormous savings.
The highest priority for the newly-elected Republican Congress is to renew major provisions from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which are soon to expire. House Republicans have proposed $4.5 trillion of tax cuts in a budget blueprint, towards which they have set a target of $2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has been tasked with finding $800 billion of the reduction in spending. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries suggested this would mean “slashing and burning things like Medicaid to the ground.”
But even if such a “cut” were entirely concentrated on Medicaid, it would only partially diminish the increase in the program’s spending over a 10-year period. Instead of rising from $656 billion in 2025 to $1,025 billion in 2035, the annual cost of Medicaid to federal taxpayers would increase only to $845 billion. That is to say, the program’s growth rate would be reduced from roughly 4.5 percent per year to 2.2 percent — just above the target rate of inflation.
Medicaid has been expanded more than any other federal program over recent years. As recently as 2013, it cost only $265 billion. The cuts proposed would not roll back the expansion of the program by the 2010 Affordable Care Act. They would not even undo the program’s Covid-era growth. In fact, it would still leave 2032 Medicaid spending higher than the Congressional Budget Office projected as recently as 2022.
The growth in Medicaid spending has been concentrated in Democratic states. New York’s per capita spending on Medicaid increased by more from 2019 to 2023 ($1,698) than the entire cost of Florida’s program ($1,521). Its program now costs three times as much.
And yet, it is very difficult for the GOP Congress to reform the program. Republicans have a majority of only 3 in the House, and 39 of those represent states that voted for Kamala Harris in 2024. In the past, Republicans have struggled to substantially trim Medicaid spending — even when they had larger majorities and planned hard in advance to do so.
Most House Republicans were not even in Congress in 2017, the last time the GOP attempted Medicaid reform, and know little about the program. Medicaid is a complex system of federal grants to finance medical services for low-income Americans, which differs greatly from state to state. Even House members who support Medicaid cuts in principle will likely feel differently when they hear from hospitals, nursing homes, doctors, and patient groups about the specific effects on their districts.
