President Donald Trump’s latest Washington Reporter interview

The App Store Accountability Act, championed by Rep. John James (R., Mich.), is Congress’s latest effort to protect children by regulating how app stores operate. The bill would require major app marketplaces to verify users’ ages and obtain parental consent before minors can download or purchase apps.

Proponents argue this is common sense. There are age restrictions for buying alcohol, so why shouldn’t there be enforced age restrictions for downloading apps? And as social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues in The Anxious Generation, excessive time online and on social media can have real negative effects on teens.

But like many bills that sound good on the surface, the current version of the App Store Accountability Act carries serious unintended consequences.

The Trump administration should counter a flood of illegal Chinese vapes and e-cigarettes that are taking over the American market without any approval or oversight from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 71 Republican lawmakers told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer in a letter. 

“These [Chinese vapes] are a threat to national security,” the lawmakers said in their letter, which was obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter. “The Department of Justice has reported that unauthorized vapes are frequently smuggled from China and sold near schools and military bases, putting minors and service members at risk. The Drug Enforcement Administration has investigated vape shops in proximity to military installations and found that many are owned or operated by foreign nationals suspected of deliberately targeting military personnel.”

The Reporter has covered the dangers of illicit vapes from China, as well as the Trump administration’s successful efforts to counter them. 

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) initially dismissed warnings about tens of millions of dollars in wasted taxpayer funds before reversing course under new leadership, following pressure from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), administration sources told the Washington Reporter. 

OSC confirmed approximately $30 million in unnecessary personnel costs at the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA). The waste stemmed from the agency’s failure to draw down a temporary staffing expansion long after workloads had returned to normal.

HHS’s first formal response, under former Secretary Xavier Becerra in November 2024, asserted that no further action was needed — despite acknowledging awareness of the concerns. The department relied on the Inspector General’s decision not to investigate, framing the matter as routine operational management.

A pair of Wisconsin Republicans has introduced legislation to ensure violent criminal offenders remain behind bars.

The Securing Our Streets (SOS) Act, inspired by President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, and obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter, is being introduced by Reps. Tony Wied (R., Wis.) and Tom Tiffany (R., Wis.); the legislation would require states to ensure that violent repeat offenders serve at least 85 percent of their sentences, among several other provisions. The bill eliminates loopholes that have previously allowed early release for repeat violent criminals, which “undermine justice and public trust,” Wied noted.

“Violent repeat offenders deserve to be behind bars, not roaming our streets,” Wied told the Reporter. “For far too long, soft-on-crime policies have allowed criminals to use our prison system as a revolving door and return to the streets only to commit the same violent crimes again and again. During last night’s State of the Union address, President Trump called for Congress to ensure these offenders are finally held accountable, and I am proud to introduce the SOS Act to do just that.”

Sen. Tim Sheehy (R., Mont.) is fighting back against what he is calling a politically motivated hit piece from New York Times reporter Mike Baker, which takes aim at both his campaign financing and Bridger Aerospace, the aerial firefighting company he founded before leaving to run for Senate.

Sheehy said Baker’s inquiry implied the company is “struggling” or in financial distress. His response was blunt: “the claim of a ‘struggling’ company is detached from reality.” Sheehy published his full written responses to Baker publicly, saying experience has shown the Times “often omits context to fit a false narrative.” He went further, accusing Democrats of running a coordinated campaign against the company during his Senate run, calling it “Democrat-orchestrated stock manipulation and fraud,” and made clear this attack is no longer just about him. “The NYT is no longer attacking me,” he wrote. “They are out to hurt the hardworking employees of Bridger Aerospace who are all stockholders.”

Since Sheehy stepped down as CEO in July 2024 to focus on his Senate campaign, Bridger Aerospace under CEO Sam Davis has posted record quarter after record quarter. Third quarter 2025 revenue hit $67.9 million, up 5 percent year-over-year, while net income jumped 26 percent  to $34.5 million. Nine-month revenue reached $114.3 million, a 38 percent increase over the prior year. The company revised its full-year 2025 revenue guidance upward to $118-$122 million, above the original top-end of $111 million. 

President Donald Trump has awarded three brave U.S. Army soldiers the Medal of Honor: Master Sergeant Roderick (Roddie) W. Edmonds, Staff Sergeant Michael H. Ollis, and Command Sergeant Major Terry P. Richardson. 

The president began the White House medal ceremony with a story about Edmonds. Edmonds was held in a German prisoner of war camp after his 1,200 soldier unit was captured during the Battle of the Bulge. The battle is known as Germany’s last major offensive on the Western Front and while it proved costly for Edmonds and his troops, it ultimately exhausted Germany’s last offensive strength on the Western Front. 

“Roddie was the top ranking infantry man in the camp, he was number one, meaning he was responsible for the lives of his fellow service members,” Trump said. “On July 26, 1945 a Nazi SS officer issued an order over the camp loudspeaker… he said that only American Jews were to show up to roll call following this morning. He added that all who disobeyed this order will be shot.”

A vulnerable House Democrat “shamelessly” took credit for funding a local fire department “that she tried to block,” according to Republicans who are trying to oust her this November.

Rep. Laura Gillen (D., N.Y.) narrowly unseated Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R., N.Y.) in 2024, but her voting record has left her open to criticisms from both parties — and Republicans are eager to flip her seat back in November.

Most recently, Republicans told the Washington Reporter that Gillen took “credit for funding for the Bellerose Fire Department that she tried to block.” Maureen O’Toole, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) added that “voters deserve better than a politician who thinks she can vote no and still claim a win.”

A new survey from Consumer Action for a Strong Economy (CASE) finds that credit card costs rank near the bottom of voters’ affordability concerns, as groceries, healthcare, and housing top the list.

CASE, an Alexandria-based 501(c)(4) that advocates for free-market consumer policies, shared the survey results Wednesday with members and staff in both parties on Capitol Hill.

The survey, conducted by GrayHouse, asked voters to name their single largest affordability concern. Groceries led at 27 percent, followed by healthcare at 20 percent, and housing at 19 percent. Credit card costs were cited by just 5 percent of respondents.

Whether you’re a waitress in Tamaqua, a doctor in Danville, a farmer in Lebanon, a senior in Williamsport living on a fixed income, a small business owner in Bloomsburg, or finishing a shift at a coal mine in Schuylkill County, President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have remained focused on delivering policies that put the American worker and family first. 

Because of the Working Families Tax Cuts, families across Pennsylvania’s 9th District are seeing real results. Bigger paychecks. Less taxes. Lower energy costs. A stronger Main Street economy. In 2025, we set the policies. In 2026, we deliver the payoff, and if we keep the current team in place to finish the job, that success will continue into the years ahead.

The Biden years: Inflation, deficits, waste, and decline — now is time for the Trump turnaround

Forrest Gump famously quoted one of his mother’s favorite expressions: “stupid is as stupid does.”  

You may recall that Netflix was attempting to acquire Warner Brothers. This mega-deal drew criticism due to market-power concentration and the attendant negative consequences for consumers. These mergers always promise greater efficiencies and lower costs for consumers. Unless you’ve been living under a bridge, you know that rarely happens.  

Having written recommending additional scrutiny concerning any Warner Brothers merger, I take to my iPad again. In that piece I asserted that the deal should not be approved unless or until the new owners show a real commitment to cleaning up the rampant bias at CNN. Any merger will need the approval of the Trump administration to go forward. The Justice Department is currently reviewing the proposed $72 billion merger. Warner Brothers currently owns HBO Max and the combined companies would have dominated the streaming business.  

Lawmakers are kicking the tires on legislation that purports to expand protections for bank depositors, but is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This thinly-veiled corporate welfare would result in average Americans and small businesses paying more down the road.

At issue here is the deceptively named Main Street Depositor Protection Act, which would greatly expand government-backed coverage of certain business deposits for businesses through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Currently, deposits are insured up to $250,000 so that if a mismanaged bank goes bust, the FDIC still gives depositors their money, up to the cap.

But this bill would increase that threshold by well over an order of magnitude — to $10 million for businesses’ non-interest-bearing transaction accounts. The bill’s sponsors may be well-intentioned, but this would double down on a failed policy that creates a significant moral hazard.