Speaker Johnson’s Reporter sit down, President Trump’s Golden Address, and more!

In this edition, Speaker Mike Johnson dishes on the latest news; you won’t miss the praise of President Trump’s Golden Address; Heard on the Hill; and more!

March 6, 2025

Let’s ride.

1. INTERVIEW: Speaker Mike Johnson on Dem half-baked astroturfing, President Trump’s Golden Address, reconciliation, and more: "We keep winning"

2. ICYMI: “The golden speech for the Golden Age”: Praise pours in for Donald Trump’s “historic” Golden Address

3. Heard on the Hill

4. EXCLUSIVE: Gold Star families thank President Donald Trump for extraditing terrorist “monster”

5. EXCLUSIVE: Congress for all: Reps. Bryan Steil and Stephanie Bice roll out ADA accessible ramp with disabled veterans

6. EXCLUSIVE: Reps. Beth Van Duyne, Pat Fallon, and Harriet Hageman on why reconciliation must pass, DOGE and Elon Musk, and more

7. K-STREET, 10,000 FEET: Credit Card Kung Fu: Big Banking credit cards’ biggest threat are fintech startups

8. OPINIONATED: Rep. Tim Walberg on President Trump keeping his promise to Jewish students; Matt Haller details why Lori Chavez-DeRemer is the right pick to lead DOL; and Michael Fragoso on how to win a DOGE-related government shutdown

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Interview: Speaker Mike Johnson on Dem half-baked astroturfing, President Trump’s Golden Address, reconciliation, and more: "We keep winning"

by Matthew Foldi and the Washington Reporter

THE LOWDOWN:

• House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) sat down with the Reporter’s Matthew Foldi to discuss reconciliation, President Trump’s Golden Address, and more.

• Johnson called out the legacy media for shifting from drags against his ability to pass a reconciliation bill to making wild claims that a budget bill will destroy the country, calling it “total misinformation.”

• Legislation-wise, Johnson said that House Republicans may look to pass the SAVE Act “as a standalone” bill and that he thinks the bill will pass the legislation. The speaker also said House Republicans are looking to stand up for law enforcement and pass the Police Act, saying the lower chamber GOP has “a lot of votes that comport with common sense.”

• As for Rep. Al Green’s (D., Texas) disturbance during President Trump’s Golden Address, Johnson said the outburst was “a gift” to the GOP but was “really shameful.”

Amid the legacy media’s hyper scrutiny of President Donald Trump and Republicans writ-large, a stalwart Louisiana man stands in defiance of the half-baked narrative the Democrat-controlled machine continues pushing on deaf ears.

That man is House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), a devout Christian conservative man and key ally of President Trump in the lower chamber.

Johnson, who is busy working hard to Make America Great Again with his fellow GOP colleagues, took time to speak with the Washington Reporter’s own Matthew Foldi after the president’s legendary Golden Address on Tuesday night and the House passing its budget resolution, which many in the media believed would be impossible.

Johnson noted that “most of the Hill press corps and the media” are “rooting” for the GOP to “fail,” and that their “game is to try to create a division in our conference.”

“We ignore them and get the job done. They don't seem to understand that we're constantly underestimated,” Johnson said. “It's, in my view, not a bad thing to be underestimated. I don't really mind it that much.”

“Sometimes I think the media equates the length of our decision process with indecision and it's exactly the opposite,” Johnson continued. “What we're doing is working with the body, going through these deliberate processes, so that by the time we get to the end product, everyone's comfortable with it, and they can vote for it. So, we're misunderstood and we're underestimated, but that's okay.”

“We keep winning,” he added.

Johnson called out the legacy media for shifting from drags against his ability to pass a reconciliation bill to making wild claims that a budget bill will destroy the country, calling it “total misinformation.”

“We apparently shocked the Democrats. They didn't think this could actually happen, but it is, because we're going to fulfill these big campaign promises and deliver the America First agenda,” Johnson said.

“I think that the biggest piece of misinformation, obviously, is on Medicaid. They made that their cause célèbre. They had signs on the floor during the president's speech. The president has been crystal clear that we are going to save and preserve Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid, and we've all said the same thing at the same time, there's an enormous amount of fraud, waste, abuse and inefficiencies in all those programs, including Medicaid. So one estimate is $50 billion a year is lost in Medicaid fraud alone. And so we have a moral obligation to fix that. We have a moral obligation to make sure that Medicaid is going to beneficiaries who are actually eligible to receive it.”

Johnson also took aim at the Democrats’ low-effort astroturfing campaign targeting GOP town halls with hecklers, protesters, and opponents.

ICYMI: “The golden speech for the Golden Age”: Praise pours in for Donald Trump’s “historic” Golden Address

by Matthew Foldi and the Washington Reporter

THE LOWDOWN:

• President Donald Trump delivered a masterful Golden Address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, bringing in golden reviews after its completion.

• President Trump artfully utilized his patented “Weave” rhetorical style, captivating Americans in the Capitol and at home.

• President Trump’s Golden Address also sent his detractors to their therapists — as well as Texas Democrat Rep. Al Green out of the chamber.

President Donald Trump delivered a masterful address to a joint session of Congress as his historic second term pushes forward into its third month — and the praise is already pouring in.

“The Weave” was strong with the president as he carried his speech through a variety of topics, alternating between touching moments like inducting a child cancer survivor into the Secret Service and highlighting guests like Payton McNabb — who suffered a traumatic brain injury playing volleyball against a transgender man — to pointed policy jabs and digs at Democrat lawmakers — including “Pocahontas” herself.

The speech captivated listeners, energized Americans, and sent his detractors to their therapists. And the reviews are as golden as President Trump’s speech.

HEARD ON THE HILL

• NEXT SEASON CANCELED?: Government employees tell the Washington Reporter that the fate of Voice of America (VOA) and America’s government run-media is now in the hands of Kari Lake, a woman who they say “hates the media.” Insiders at U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) told the Reporter that they’re dealing with a nightmare scenario: Trump’s pick for VOA Director (who is held up by rules keeping Lake out of that role) is now in an even more powerful position after Trump named Lake as his Senior Advisor overseeing the entire agency. “I don’t know if she’s trying to save us or destroy us,” one said. “She brought in DOGE and doesn’t seem interested in making friends” at the agency.

• BIG APPLE BORDER CZAR WANTED: The House Oversight Committee’s Made-for-TV hearings featuring the Democratic mayors of four sanctuary cities have led some to wonder whether Tom Homan needs a New York City-specific sidekick. If the Big Apple’s mayor, Eric Adams, wants to be reelected, he needs “to work hand and hand with federal partners, rid the city of illegal criminal migrants and take our city back. He must be the change agent he promised in 7 months,” a veteran New York politico told the Reporter, adding that Adams “needs an NYC border czar with relationships in D.C., who is respected by law enforcement and has zero interest in his reelection.”

• BARNARD’S BIPARTISAN BLASTING: Rep. Ritchie Torres (D., N.Y.) is the latest elected official to blast Barnard College following masked protesters taking over parts of campus. “If colleges like Barnard had a clear policy of expelling students who take over private property, the hostile takeovers would end in a heartbeat,” he said. “The lack of accountability is an open invitation to lawlessness and disorder on college campuses.”

• LEVEL PLAYING FIELD: Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) brought in a group of conservative influencers and content creators immediately following his one-on-one interview with the Washington Reporter. Johnson’s office said that it hopes to use these relationships to ensure that misinformation about the Republicans’ agenda is stopped before it started, but told those in attendance that when they believe Republicans are in the wrong, they should feel free to say so.

• TAKING CARE OF OUR TROOPS: Rep. Jen Kiggans (R., Va.), herself a veteran, reintroduced her Pay Our Troops Act “to ensure that our servicemembers and their families do not go without pay in the event of a government shutdown.”

• PSALM 23:4: Rep. Sylvester Turner (D., Texas), who was serving his first term in the House of Representatives, passed away at the age of 70 following President Trump’s joint address to Congress.

EXCLUSIVE: Gold Star families thank President Donald Trump for extraditing terrorist “monster”

by Matthew Foldi

THE LOWDOWN:

• Hours before President Donald Trump gave his first joint address to Congress of his second term, he called the members of the Abbey Gate Coalition.

• The families of the 13 service members who were killed on August 26, 2021, first came to national prominence when Biden repeatedly stared at his watch as the coffins with their loved ones rolled by. Several of the families endorsed Trump in his 2024 campaign, and met with him repeatedly throughout the country and appeared at his rallies.

• In contrast with the actions taken by Trump, the coalition noted that “we have been stonewalled, lied to, deceived and kept in the dark during the administration of Joe Biden.”

• The coalition specifically thanked Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) for spearheading their cause from Congress. Issa, one of the Congress’s top watchdogs, “walked along with us and has also been by our sides,” the coalition wrote.

Hours before President Donald Trump gave his first joint address to Congress of his second term, he called the members of the Abbey Gate Coalition. The coalition is a group of Gold Star families whose loved ones were killed by a suicide bomber during President Joe Biden’s failed withdrawal from Afghanistan, to deliver a significant update: in only 40 days, his administration caught and extradited the terrorist mastermind behind the plot that killed their children.

The Washington Reporter exclusively obtained the letter in which the coalition thanked President Trump after his Golden Address for the “absolute quick manner in which they found and extradited the “monster” that planned and facilitated the bombing with Abdul Raham al-Logari, [which was responsible] for the murders of our sons and daughters at the Abbey Gate bombing.”

The families of the 13 service members who were killed on August 26, 2021, first came to national prominence when Biden repeatedly stared at his watch as the coffins with their loved ones rolled by. Several of the families endorsed Trump in his 2024 campaign, and met with him repeatedly throughout the country and appeared at his rallies.

Several spoke from the main stage at the 2024 Republican National Convention, with many regarding their remarks as some of the convention’s most powerful.

“It took only 40 days, just 40 days only, to locate, and extradite the terrorist that was a major part of the bombing at Abbey Gate,” the group noted. “President Trump and his intelligence apparatus…wasted no time in finding this individual, passing the information to the Pakistan Government to arrest this terrorist and start the process of bringing him to justice here on American soil.”

One of the call’s participants told the Reporter that Trump suggested that Muhammed Sharifullah will be in for a rude awakening on American soil.

EXCLUSIVE: Congress for all: Reps. Bryan Steil and Stephanie Bice roll out ADA accessible ramp with disabled veterans

by Matthew Foldi

THE LOWDOWN

• GOP Reps. Bryan Steil and Stephanie Bice built an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ramp for disabled visitors.

• Construction on the ramp began last August. Standing on the new ramp, Bice told the Reporter that “months ago, this was actually a sidewalk.”

• Steil added that “you need to be able to petition the government; it is one of your First Amendment rights, and we need to make sure that everyone has an accessible and available way to come into the United States Capitol.”

Despite the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Congress remained frustratingly inaccessible to disabled Americans, including veterans, until Reps. Bryan Steil (R., Wis.) and Stephanie Bice (R., Okla.) of the Committee on House Administration stepped in last year.

Starting last August, construction began on an ADA-compliant ramp for disabled visitors and even parents with baby strollers to be able to use. Construction was completed in December, but Steil and Bice led a bipartisan rollout of the ramp today, alongside Democratic Reps. Joe Morelle of New York and Steny Hoyer of Maryland.

Constructing a ramp has been an issue item for years, but no action had been taken until Bice, who leads the committee’s Modernization Subcommittee, got to work. Standing on the new ramp, Bice told the Reporter that “months ago, this was actually a sidewalk.”

“It was pretty surprising that we did not have a permanent ADA dropoff and pickup zone,” she said. Bice’s efforts were so successful that they inspired similar measures by the Senate. Of those, she said that they “showed that it can be done.”

“It required a lot of coordination, we had to work with the Architect of the Capitol, the Sergeants at Arms, and others to make it accessible, but we proved we could do it in a relatively short amount of time,” Bice said.

Steil added to the Reporter that “you need to be able to petition the government; it is one of your First Amendment rights, and we need to make sure that everyone has an accessible and available way to come in to the United States Capitol.”

“It’s obviously a historic building, and accessibility has been a real challenge for disabled individuals to come to the United States Capitol, and number one among those is disabled veterans,” Steil said. “So I am pleased today to be joined by [Paralyzed Veterans of America] … Small changes like this can have a big impact.”

While no one doubted that this change was needed, it took the leadership of Bice and Steil to make it happen.

EXCLUSIVE: Reps. Beth Van Duyne, Pat Fallon, and Harriet Hageman on why reconciliation must pass, DOGE and Elon Musk, and more

by Matthew Foldi

THE LOWDOWN

• Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R., Texas) hosted fellow Reps. Pat Fallon (R., Texas), and Harriet Hageman (R., Wyo.) on the Republican Study Committee’s “Right to the Point” podcast.

• In the episode exclusively obtained by the Reporter, the lawmakers talked about everything from budget reconciliation to American energy independence.

• Van Duyne, who chairs the RSC’s Budget Committee, noted that “if we don't have those extensions we do risk 90 percent of taxpayers paying more in their taxes than ever before in our nation's history.”

• Additionally, the House Republicans also discussed how President Joe Biden “demoniz[ed]” the energy sector, in Van Duyne’s words, how President Donald Trump is finally securing the border, and what their comfort foods are.

Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R., Texas) has had a front-row seat to budget reconciliation for over two years from her perch on the powerful Way and Means Committee. In the latest episode of the Republican Study Committee’s (RSC) Right to the Point podcast — obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter — Van Duyne took the moderator’s chair and asked her fellow RSC members, Reps. Pat Fallon (R., Texas) and Harriet Hageman (R., Wyo.) for their thoughts on everything from reconciliation to American energy independence.

Van Duyne, who chairs the RSC’s Budget Committee, noted that “if we don't have those extensions we do risk 90 percent of taxpayers paying more in their taxes than ever before in our nation's history.”

“I think that is a horrible thing, considering we've got a new administration that was voted on in November to secure our border,” she said. Both Fallon and Hageman agreed with her that reconciliation must pass, and that it will pass.

“We're in the majority, we need to act like it. I'm very optimistic that we're going to come together and we're going to get that reconciliation bill passed because we have to,” Hageman said. “We don't have any option if not.”

Fallon added, “If we do nothing, then we will allow the largest tax increase in American history to occur, and ironically, under unified Republican governance.”

The trio also discussed Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts, which all are supportive of. Fallon sits on the Oversight Committee’s DOGE Subcommittee, and he said he could play bingo with how predictable the Democrats on the subcommittee are.

“You cannot get through five minutes of your Democrat on the DOGE Subcommittee without saying billionaire, unelected billionaire oligarch, or Elon Musk,” he said. “They're full throttle with the demonization and villainization of Elon Musk.”

Hageman was even more strident in her criticisms.

“Keep in mind the that this was a money laundering operation,” she said. “They give all of this money to these NGOs, and NGOs are turning around and giving it right back to Democrats…I think the DOGE stuff is absolutely incredible.”

“I think that we ought to take every single thing he identifies, slap a preamble on it, say we are cutting every single agency by the amount that's identified in the attached report, and that they cannot fund any more programs like this ever,” Hageman continued.

Additionally, the House Republicans also discussed how President Joe Biden “demoniz[ed]” the energy sector, in Van Duyne’s words, how President Donald Trump is finally securing the border, and what their comfort foods are.

Below are highlights from the latest episode of the Right to the Point podcast, lightly edited for clarity. Listen to the latest episode, and all of the other ones, here.

K-STREET, 10,000 FEET

Credit Card Kung Fu: Big Banking credit cards’ biggest threat are fintech startups

by the Washington Reporter

THE LOWDOWN:

• America’s largest banks don’t want payment data to be freely accessed by consumers and have blocked fintech competitors from gaining access to this data;

• This data includes account and routing numbers — the same numbers printed on Americans’ checks;

• This could mean that the largest financial institutions have complete control over where and how consumers spend their money — such as blocking spending to conservative causes;

• Section 1033 is a solution to level the playing field and protect consumers’ autonomy over where they spend their money.

America’s banking system is a global powerhouse that the world’s economy hedges on for stability. Our largest banks hold more money than the majority of nations on Earth, yet these same banks don’t want customers’ payment data to be freely accessed by financial technology (fintech) services. President Donald Trump recently called out the Bank of America CEO for debanking conservatives. And many conservatives have expressed frustration with large banking institutions censoring or de-platforming based on their First Amendment rights.

The motive for this move comes down to one simple factor: credit cards. Innovative fintech apps like Venmo and CashApp, as well as cryptocurrency, are direct competition to legacy banks’ credit card businesses. These credit cards are huge cash cows for these banks, with Americans’ credit card debt standing at a whopping $18.04 trillion in Q4 2024, according to the Federal Reserve.

This number is remarkably higher than the $927 billion of credit card debt in America prior to the COVID pandemic. Additionally, TransUnion calculated that the average credit card debt per consumer rose from $6,380 to $6,580 between Q3 and Q4 of 2024.

Typically, these large banks have blocked apps from getting consumers’ payment data: account and routing numbers — the same numbers physically printed on Americans’ checks. This is the equivalent of not being able to cut a check to whomever you want or need.

OPINIONATED

Op-Ed: Rep. Tim Walberg: President Donald Trump is keeping his promise to Jewish students

by Rep. Tim Walberg

“‘F&*! her,’ a classmate commented on a post under my name and photo, mocking me for speaking about the hostile campus climate,” said Eden Yadegar, a Jewish student at Columbia University, as she recounted the evil, anti-Semitic hatred she faced while speaking at a roundtable held by the Education and Workforce Committee one year ago.

After helping shed light on the growing antisemitic cancer attacking college campuses, Eden, my guest at last night’s Joint Session of Congress, is still facing this hate.

As Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, I know Eden’s story isn’t the exception. I have heard firsthand how Jewish students felt isolated and unsupported by their schools and the government agencies charged with protecting them as they faced threats from their classmates and teachers. Through the Committee’s investigation — during which more than 400,000 pages of documents were obtained, some via the first subpoenas to universities in the Committee’s 157-year history — we know that many colleges have turned a blind eye to the anti-Semitism occurring on campus.

Given what the Committee uncovered and the continuous headlines of widespread campus disruptions, the Biden-Harris administration took action, right? Wrong. It pandered to the far left.

For months, the Biden-Harris administration promised to sign an order that would combat anti-Semitism only to further delay. Eventually they released a 60-page toothless document that failed to focus on the threats the Jewish population faced.

What did that get Jewish students? Well, protestors from Columbia illegally entered and occupied Hamilton Hall, smashing windows and destroying furniture. Columbia said it would expel the students arrested for taking over Hamilton Hall; instead, it let them off the hook and lifted their suspensions. A few weeks ago, there was a disruption of a History of Israel class where flyers inciting the murder of Jews were distributed.

Columbia leaders have made public and private promises to Jewish students, faculty, and Members of Congress that the university would take the steps necessary to combat the rampant anti-Semitism on its campus. Columbia has failed to uphold its commitments. But that is coming to an end.

Op-Ed: Matt Haller: Why a leading business organization is supporting Trump’s Labor nominee, Lori Chavez-DeRemer

by Matt Haller

Every one of President Donald Trump’s nominees have been confirmed to date, a streak poised to continue after a Senate committee advanced former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R., Ore.) to lead the U.S. Department of Labor.

Her nomination wasn’t always a sure thing. Chavez-DeRemer was seen as an unconventional pick for a Republican administration, enjoying support from the Teamsters and their president, Sean O’Brien. Her legislative record included co-sponsorship of the union-backed Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which was fiercely opposed by the business community, including the organization I represent.

One headline from Politico even declared, “business groups wary of Trump’s pro-union Labor secretary pick.”

As the head of one of these business groups, the International Franchise Association (IFA), we took a different approach. In fact, IFA was one of the first organizations to throw our support behind Congresswoman Chavez-DeRemer. Our announcement turned some heads (a Bloomberg headline put it “Major Business Lobbying Group Endorses Trump’s Labor Pick”), but Chavez-DeRemer validated our early support during her testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP).

Op-Ed: Michael Fragoso: Winning a shutdown

by Michael Fragoso

While congressional leadership works to extend current government funding past its looming deadline, Democrats are threatening to prevent any stopgap in order to fight President Donald Trump and Elon Musk as they reform the executive branch. In other words, they’re threatening a shutdown. Shutdown fights are well worn and predictable, but if Republicans stick together, this is one from which they can come out ahead.

Congress has the power of the purse, which it traditionally exercises through a whole-year appropriations process. It’s messy and, given the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, bipartisan It has also been a while since Congress has passed regular appropriations.

Instead, Congress finds itself funding the government through continuing resolutions, or CRs. A CR, at its most basic, extends the date for which the prior funding levels apply.

As a CR runs out, Congress approaches a shutdown. For example, the current CR expires on March 14, so if Congress does not pass a new CR extending that date, the government will shut down.

Shutdowns rarely have winners and they always have losers. The most notorious examples were the Gingrich-led shutdowns that President Bill Clinton successfully hung around Republican necks in 1995 and 1996. A lesser-remembered example was in January, 2018, when Democrats forced a technical shutdown over DACA. Democrats caved immediately and the debacle weighed down ongoing immigration-reform efforts.

A shutdown played right is played to make the other side the instigator because it’s the instigator of the shutdown who loses.

This is so because, unlike in the regular appropriations process, the politics of a CR are rather straightforward. A CR just keeps the government going; it’s inertia. Large changes in spending or policy aren’t contemplated. Forcing a shutdown over a CR means affirmatively stopping the train as its cruising along, and voters can identify the guys with horses, guns, and bandanas.