Why we’re nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, Rep. Ralph Norman on reconciliation, and more
White House lets American Jews it has their back, Glenn Youngkin’s win is Wes Moore’s loss, and more
June 27, 2025
Let’s dive in.
INTERVIEW: Rep. Ralph Norman lays out red lines on reconciliation, predicts "we'll get there"
Heard on the Hill
EDITORIAL: The Washington Reporter nominates President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize
EXCLUSIVE: RNC launches election integrity intervention against "Russia hoaxer Marc Elias"
EXCLUSIVE: Top Democratic candidate raised money for group "at the center" of anti-ICE riots, pro-terrorist organization
SCOOP: White House's "Dream Team" assures Jewish Americans that Trump has their back
K-STREET, 10,000 FEET: HUD relocating to Virginia, in win for Glenn Youngkin, loss for Wes Moore
OPINIONATED: Rep. Mike Simpson on the need to pass the One Big, Beautiful Bill, Stephen Moore on America’s tort tax, Terry Campo on the strength of American innovation, and David Scott on an unfair trade loophole that harms American farmers
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INTERVIEW: Rep. Ralph Norman lays out red lines on reconciliation, predicts "we'll get there"
by Matthew Foldi
Rep. Ralph Norman (R., S.C.) has a red line when it comes to reconciliation, but he predicted in an interview with the Washington Reporter that the House and Senate will “get there,” with a little cajoling from President Donald Trump.
However, Norman has some lines in the sand, namely the Biden-era subsidies to green energy companies. Some in the Senate are trying to keep those in. “If that’s in, I’m out,” Norman said. “I’m not doing it. I won’t vote for that…I don't care how long they keep us up here. We'll stay up here through July 4, all of August. I don't care, but the day is over when we're going to keep spending. Young people like you will not have a future if we keep doing that.”
“The Inflation Reduction Act gave car manufacturers that make the cars run on batteries a $7,500 credit,” Norman said. However, “you have to let the American people decide what car to buy. It's not that complicated. The wind and solar panels that are going up all over the country, that's not sustainable. I'm in the Solar Caucus, but you shouldn’t be getting a subsidy.”
Another red line for Norman is keeping in work requirements for Medicaid — which he fought for in the version passed successfully by the House. If people who “choose to lay on the couch and eat potato chips and collect a government paycheck” are going to receive Medicaid, he said, “I'm done. I'm not voting for that. That's what we had to fight for.”
Likewise, Norman said, illegal immigrants should not receive payments from programs like Medicaid. “If you're not a legal resident, should you be getting a paycheck if you have never paid into the system? No.”
The stakes, Norman said, are incredibly high; “we’ve got one chance in a lifetime with reconciliation to make this happen.” The South Carolinian has communicated his position to both James Blair and to Karoline Leavitt, who made the case to House Republicans this week that Trump wants the bill on his desk ASAP. Norman would like to see Trump himself make more of a proactive case himself.
Heard on the Hill
UNIONS ON NOTICE: Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) put public sector unions on notice. Following the event, Mary Katharine Ham, a senior advisor to Public Labor Unions Accountability Committee (PULAC), told the Washington Reporter that “public sector unions are doing insane things on union time, and they’re hosing American taxpayers in the process. Whether it’s making absurd demands to wear spandex at work, secure designated smoking areas, or cry about the height of their cubicle panels, one thing is clear…they’re ripping off taxpayers and we’ll be holding them accountable.”
FAKE NEWS: Kiersten Pels, the National Press Secretary of the Republican Party, told the Reporter that she doesn’t “care what CNN’s Natasha ‘Russia Hoax’ Bertrand says” about the damage America struck on Iran’s nuclear facilities. “I think common sense suggests that when a 30,000-pound massive penetrator bomb hits an Iranian nuclear site, it’s been destroyed,” Pels said.
IRAN IMPEACHMENT? The Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC is all too eager for House Democrats to try and impeach President Trump a third time, this time over his successful strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. “What's next? Impeachment over securing the border? Or for turbocharging the economy and lowering taxes?” the group asked.
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EDITORIAL: The Washington Reporter nominates President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize
by the Washington Reporter Editorial Board
We at the Washington Reporter are proud to nominate President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Peace through strength” isn’t an empty phrase to generate buzz or win votes. It isn’t an outdated maxim of the Cold War or a Reaganite battle cry. Peace through strength is the American foreign policy philosophy.
Peace through strength is speaking softly while carrying a big stick, and it’s the hallmark of America’s worldwide persona.
Not only does President Trump understand that philosophy, he enacts it. And his work averting a nuclear Iran is only the beginning of his foreign policy legacy.
The Reporter believes this award to President Trump is long overdue, but his success with Iran and Israel solidifies the need for his recognition. President Trump’s feat with Iran alone was something fifty years of presidents would not do, and something he accomplished in less than two weeks. Not only that, he accomplished the military action without leaks or needless casualties.
It is abundantly clear that the Nobel Peace Prize deserves to go to President Donald J. Trump. While we at the Reporter are sure that there are others who have contributed greatly to world peace, none of them prevented a nuclear Iran.
And, after his first term’s accomplishments for peace — such as the Abraham Accords — were completely ignored by the Nobel committee,
It’s time to recognize President Trump for the work he has done.
EXCLUSIVE: RNC launches election integrity intervention against "Russia hoaxer Marc Elias"
by Matthew Foldi
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is launching its latest election integrity salvo, and “Russia hoaxer Marc Elias” is squarely in its sights.
The Washington Reporter can exclusively confirm that the RNC, under the leadership of Chairman Michael Whatley, is formally intervening in a case to defend Wyoming House Bill 156, a law that requires documentary proof of citizenship to vote.
In the case in question, Equality State Policy Center v. Gray, Elias is using a left-wing group to sue Wyoming’s Republican Secretary of State, Chuck Gray.
If Elias’s case is successful, it could be easier for non-citizens to vote.
Across the country, Republicans have made it a priority to prevent non-citizens from voting. The House recently passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act — introduced by Rep. Chip Roy (R., Texas) — which would require provide documentary proof of citizenship at the time of registration.
Gray told the Reporter that he welcomes the backup from the RNC.
“We welcome this motion to help us in defending Wyoming's common-sense, conservative election integrity law requiring proof of citizenship for registering to vote,” he said. “We need all hands on deck to combat radical left-wing DNC attorney Marc Elias' attacks on any and all conservative election integrity reforms, including Wyoming's common-sense proof of citizenship requirement.”
EXCLUSIVE: Top Democratic candidate raised money for group "at the center" of anti-ICE riots, pro-terrorist organization
by Matthew Foldi
One of the Democratic Party’s top Senate candidates helped raise money for an organization that is “at the center” of violent anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles.
In an unearthed blog post, obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter, Mallory McMorrow, a far-left Democrat running in Michigan’s open Senate race, helped raise money for a series of left-wing organizations, including the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA).
McMorrow’s blog, which posted shortly after President Donald Trump’s 2016 win, directs viewers to a Jezebel page that is “A List of Pro-Women, Pro-Immigrant, Pro-Earth, Anti-Bigotry Organizations That Need Your Support.”
Several of the groups are so radical that they could jeopardize McMorrow’s chances to win next November, while simultaneously boosting her in a Democratic Party primary. CHIRLA, as the Washington Examiner reported, is “at the center of” the recent violent riots in Los Angeles.
“The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, one of the activist organizers at the center of the Los Angeles protests, received millions in taxpayer dollars through government grants, including federal funding for immigration assistance services,” the Examiner’s Mia Cathell found.
SCOOP: White House's "Dream Team" assures Jewish Americans that Trump has their back
by Matthew Foldi
The Trump administration invited a group of Jewish Americans to hear from its top staffers who are working to combat the rise in antisemitism that is happening across America.
Hours after New York Democrats nominated a mayoral candidate who expressed sympathies for those who want to “globalize the Intifada,” top Trump staffers told those assembled that this White House has their back.
Speakers included Will Scharf — President Donald Trump’s ever-present Staff Secretary — the Department of Justice’s Harmeet Dhillon and Leo Terrell, the Department of Labor’s Keith Sonderling, as well as Sebastian Gorka, Martin Marks, Pastor Paula White, and several others.
Scharf scored particularly loud applause from the audience when he told them that it is nonsensical for any Jew in America to not fully back the Second Amendment, especially in the wake of a Palestinian activist murdering two Israeli diplomats just blocks from the White House.
“Jewish Americans can rest assured that they have the Dream Team working to fight and eliminate antisemitism in our country,” the Republican Jewish Coalition’s (RJC) Sam Markstein told the Washington Reporter. “From President Trump on down, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, Harmeet Dhillon, Leo Terrell, and more, this administration is working every single day, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Jewish Americans, to defeat the scourge of the world’s oldest hatred.”
K-STREET, 10,000 FEET:
HUD relocating to Virginia, in win for Glenn Youngkin, loss for Wes Moore
by Matthew Foldi
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — Gov. Wes Moore (D., Md.) suffered another stinging defeat this week when the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it will relocate its sprawling headquarters to Alexandria, Virginia, bringing thousands of jobs to the area that could have gone to Maryland.
The Washington Reporter was on-site for the historic announcement, in which HUD Secretary Scott Turner was joined by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R., Va.), who has been poaching scores of large and small businesses from both Washington, D.C. and from Maryland during his time in office.
Turner, when asked by the Reporter if moving HUD’s headquarters to Maryland, said that “our answer is simple: we looked all over the DMV, and Alexandria, this building that we’re sitting in, was where we chose.”
“Thank you to the governor for his leadership and his enthusiasm, thank you to [GSA Commissioner Michael Peters],” Turner said.
“We looked all over and we were very deliberate, and we were very serious about our search,” Turner also said.
HUD’s selection is undoubtedly a blow to Maryland, which has already suffered a historic credit downgrade under Moore’s watch — a fact that Youngkin was quick to bring up.
OPINIONATED
Op-Ed: Rep. Mike Simpson: Why it’s time to send the One Big Beautiful Bill to President Trump’s desk
by Rep. Mike Simpson
Opportunities like this don’t come around often. Right now, Congress has the chance to pass legislation that delivers on the American First agenda that Idahoans and millions of Americans voted for last November. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a substantial opportunity we have in front of us, and it is of the utmost importance we get this passed and to President Trump's desk.
The budget reconciliation package — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — is the legislative vehicle to advance President Donald Trump's full commonsense policy agenda. To put it simply, this package is truly one big, beautiful bill that reflects the promises President Trump campaigned on and won with.
The mainstream media has made a lot of noise, which we have heard since this reconciliation process began. However, if there is one thing sure, more than 77 million Americans voted for the legislation standing before us in Congress.
For Idahoans, two of the biggest concerns in 2024 were getting our economy back on track and securing the southern border. This bill tackles both.
It includes the largest tax cut in history for working and middle-class families, boosting their take-home pay and wages. If passed, this would deliver up to a $12,200 increase in annual take-home pay for a typical Idaho family of four.
Op-Ed: Stephen Moore: America’s tort tax is hurting consumers. Reform can fix that
by Stephen Moore
The legal profession includes many principled advocates. But the business model embraced by a growing number of trial lawyers — one driven more by contingency fees than justice — has helped turn the courtroom into a profit center, not a forum for fairness.
The tort tax they impose on America is considerable. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform, the average family of four has its yearly expenditures increased by nearly $5,000 because of the costs imposed by the trial bar on the productive sectors of the economy.
The pursuit of “jackpot justice” corrupts the judicial system. Yet, because it’s portrayed on TV and in movies as a noble, virtuous undertaking in which the underdogs ultimately vanquish evil, rapacious businesses that have committed some foul deed against an unsuspecting public, we too often think of these massive payouts as justified, even virtuous.
The advent of hidden third-party litigation funding, in which well-heeled individuals and organizations with no fiduciary obligation to the injured party covertly “invest” in lawsuits in exchange for a portion of any settlement or verdict, is exacerbating the issue. By some estimates, hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, are now underwriting often-frivolous lawsuits.
It is the dark money of the legal system. Anonymous third parties fund lawsuits, reap enormous profits, and pay little or nothing in taxes. Usury laws do not apply to them, and the interest rates they charge are often exorbitant. Even when plaintiffs win, they often receive only a fraction of the settlement after their “investors” are repaid.
Op-Ed: Terry Campo: Competition is America’s strategic edge
by Terry Campo
For generations, the engine of American greatness has been its unrivaled capacity to innovate. We’ve led the world not because we protected monopolies — but because we empowered startups, risk-takers, and inventors to challenge the status quo.
That edge is under threat.
Today, a handful of mega-corporations, especially in Big Tech, are consolidating power at the expense of competition. They dominate markets, dictate access to essential infrastructure, and stifle the very dynamism that built our economy. Their success, once celebrated, now comes at a cost: suppressed innovation, rising dependency, and growing national vulnerability.
That must change.
Antitrust enforcement isn’t just about consumer prices or corporate structure. It’s about protecting the future of American innovation. It’s about ensuring that the next generation of builders can rise — not be blocked, bought out, or buried.
Encouragingly, the incoming Trump administration appears to understand this. Both the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are signaling a return to serious antitrust enforcement. They’ve committed to upholding stricter merger guidelines and holding even the most powerful firms accountable when they cross the line. It’s a shift that couldn’t come soon enough.
Op-Ed: David Scott: How an unfair trade loophole hurts workers and taxpayers
by David Scott
In 2002, recognizing the need for jobs in economically depressed Grover, North Carolina, we founded Cheyenne International. We take pride in crafting high-quality, American-made tobacco products, employing hardworking people who value community and take pride in their work. However, a decades-old trade loophole threatens our business and the livelihoods of our dedicated employees.
The "double duty drawback" loophole allows foreign tobacco companies to receive an excise tax refund on exports without ever paying the tax in the first place. This benefit is exclusive to foreign tobacco companies; American consumers and tobacco companies, like ours, pay the full tax bill.
Cheyenne International would love nothing more than to receive the same advantage as massive multinational cigarette companies. Yet, as a small U.S.-based company, we lack international manufacturing facilities or the financial resources to build overseas factories solely to exploit this loophole.
This raises a critical question: As a company headquartered in Grover, North Carolina, employing 190 workers and supporting local causes like public education, family services, and veterans, why are we giving a leg up to massive foreign corporations while leaving American businesses to struggle?
