October 29, 2024
In this edition
A strong national defense is essential to protecting our American way of life.
Veterans On Duty continues the fight back at home, advocating for military and national security policies that will keep America safe, strong, and free. |
In our latest edition, we have an interview with Rep. Mike Waltz, a story about a new shady organization trying to siphon votes from Republicans, our endorsement of President Donald J. Trump, op-eds from Reps. Stephanie Bice, Bryan Steil, and Dan Newhouse, and much more!
| [1] | Interview: Rep. Mike Waltz on his new book and on “making kicking ass great again”
By: Matthew Foldi
Rep. Mike Waltz (R., Fla.) couldn’t predict his role in Congress, but he did “always want to join the military.” In 2018, he became the first Green Beret to serve in Congress, and he’s used his platform to advance a host of pro-military policies and to encourage other veterans to run for office.
Waltz released his third book, Hard Truths, in October, and he spoke with the Washington Reporter about “the most dangerous coalescing of America’s enemies with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea that we've seen since World War One or World War Two, except now they all have nukes” and the importance of “making kicking ass great again.”
There was no “grand strategy here, it was just when I got it done and when the publisher wanted to do it,” Waltz said of the book. “Really what drove me to write it was that I have continuously been asked ‘what is the difference between a Green Beret and a SEAL and a Ranger?’... And then the other question that I would often get asked is ‘how does being a veteran make a difference for you in Congress? How do you apply that to your business, to politics?’” In terms of literary inspiration, Waltz compares his latest book to “Jocko Willink and how he did Extreme Ownership.”
Waltz is locked in a friendly battle royale of sorts with Rep. and recent author Dan Crenshaw (R., Texas), over who can sell more books. “Well, I already pretty much beat Dan in all things, including looks,” he said. “It's a healthy competition with the SEALs, and he's been a great voice for veterans.”
All of Waltz’s proceeds from Hard Truths “will go to both the Green Beret Foundation and the Matthew Pucino Memorial Foundation,” he said. “Matt Pucino was one of my Green Berets who I lost. I talk about his story in the book; he volunteered to go on point, literally, on every single mission…He volunteered to go ahead on a motorcycle or a four wheeler ahead of our armored convoys, so that he could be closest to the ground to see the trip wires.”
Click HERE to read more from our interview with Rep. Mike Waltz about his new book, Hard Truths, and about his work in Congress to make “kicking ass great again.”
| |
[2] |
Heard on the Hill
What we're hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill – please send us more tips!
- A time for choosing: The Washington Reporter stands in solidarity with our colleagues at the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today in opposing Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 campaign. Read our full endorsement of President Donald J. Trump here.
- Surprise pickup down south?: Republican House sources tell us that Caroleene Dobson — the Republican nominee for Alabama’s 2nd district — is within the margin of error as she runs a strong campaign for a seat that Democrats had counted in the bank. Expect more resources to flow to this race in the final week.
- Rohit Chopra under fire: Mick Mulvaney and Eric Pan from ICI slammed Rohit Chopra for Chopra’s speech to Harvard promising to crack down on specific financial services firms. Pan pointed out to Politico “What’s the point of a notice and comment process if you’ve already decided that you know what the outcome is?” Expect even more Congressional oversight of Chopra if Republicans take the Senate.
- Team player: Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) is putting the team on his back, helping out almost 50 House GOP incumbents and challengers in races across the country. His team gave us the full list; read here for our full story.
- Boeing strike continues: The Washington Reporter has covered Congress’s concerns about the national security implications of Boeing’s strike. Last week, Boeing’s union rejected a *35 percent* pay increase — apparently lounging at the casino and the beach beats working. Expect more Congressional hawks to speak out.
- Empire state of mind: Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.), one of the stars of President Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally, raised $500,000 just for Trump this weekend, her team told the Reporter. She’s raised millions of dollars this cycle to date for Republicans up and down the ballot.
- Star power: Former Sen. Al D’Amato, a longtime staple of New York politics, is starring in the latest ad for Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R., N.Y.). D’Amato spotlights how D’Esposito, a frequent contributor to the Reporter, worked “day and night as the chief of the fire department [during Hurricane Sandy] helping people, saving people. That was always Anthony. That was in his blood, long before he ran for public office.” Watch it here.
- Richard Hudson torches Kamala Harris: Rep. Richard Hudson (R., N.C.) blasted Vice President Kamala Harris’s agenda that would devastate “North Carolina jobs, hurt economic growth, and give control to Chinese illicit markets.” Read our full write-up of what Hudson told us here.
- Notable quotable: An op-ed that Matt Brooks, the president of the Republican Jewish Coalition, published with us is cited in Gabe Kaminsky’s latest piece over at the Washington Examiner.
- Another notable quotable: RealClearEnergy picked up our piece about Power the Future’s bombshell “Green Fail” report.
- On notice: Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) is warning that the FBI “ignored my questions about its probe into Tehran’s malign effort at election interference” in a must-read op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.
| | | [3] | Exclusive: “Dirty tricks operation” spending $500,000 in top races
By: Matthew Foldi
A newly-registered group that Republican strategists call a “dirty tricks operation” is spending upwards of $500,000 in four key House and Senate elections to attack Republican nominees and encourage voters to support Libertarian nominees.
Save Western Culture says on its website that “America is the last great protector of global freedom and the fortunes of western culture. We must save America.” Its homepage includes exhortations to “eliminate foreign threats to our nation” and “protect children from the LGBTQ gender mafia.”
The group is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to tank Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and Larry Hogan in Maryland, along with Tom Barrett in Michigan and Laurie Buckhout in North Carolina. When the Reporter tried to contact Save Western Culture using the contact form on its website, the form was unable to be submitted.
Click HERE to read more about a shady group spending big money to siphon votes from Republicans to Libertarian Party spoiler candidates.
| |
[4] |
Exclusive: Rep. August Pfluger introduces bill to prevent federal bureaucrats from undermining the next president
By: Matthew Foldi
Rep. August Pfluger (R., Texas) is hoping to prevent career bureaucrats within the administration from undermining the next presidential administration, with new legislation he rolled out this week, obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter.
The Stop Resistance Activities by Federal Employees Act (STRAFE) Act would “require the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to develop and implement mandatory training for covered Federal employees regarding compliance with directives from the President, Vice President, and other political appointees, and for other purposes,” according to the bill.
Pfluger’s bill would require trainings for covered employees which explain prohibited activities that obstruct the administration’s policies; it also inflicts penalties that could include fines or “removal, reduction in grade, debarment from Federal employment for a period not to exceed 5 years, suspension, or reprimand.”
Click HERE to read more about Rep. August Pfluger’s latest legislation, which would prevent federal bureaucrats from undermining the next president.
| | | [5] | Scoop: Sen. Tom Cotton criss-crossing America to flip the Senate
By: Matthew Foldi
Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) is traveling America and working to flip the Senate as he runs to chair the Senate Republican Conference, the number three position in the upper chamber.
Cotton has quietly campaigned in virtually every consequential Senate race of this cycle. In Montana he worked with the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) to boost now-nominee Tim Sheehy in the primary, and to cajole “Maryland Matt Rosendale” to the sidelines.
Cotton traveled to Montana last month to rally for Sheehy, but it’s far from his only stint on the campaign tour this year.
Click HERE to read more about Sen. Tom Cotton’s nationwide campaign swing to help Republicans flip the Senate.
| |
A strong national defense is essential to protecting our American way of life.
Veterans On Duty continues the fight back at home, advocating for military and national security policies that will keep America safe, strong, and free. |
| [6] | Republicans push back on Democrats’ call to expand IRS direct file: “clear conflict of interest”
By: Matthew Foldi
After 57 Democratic Representatives and Senators sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) urging the agency to expand the controversial “direct file” program to include Americans overseas, Republicans pushed back, slamming both the IRS for its power grab and Democrats for enabling the agency to create a single-choice filing system run by the government.
“The IRS wants to be the tax collector, auditor, enforcer, and now tax preparer — a judge, jury, and Lord High Executioner,” Sen. John Barrasso (W., Wyo.) said in an interview with the Washington Reporter. “The private sector has provided taxpayers with free file options for years…The IRS is recklessly spending money on an unnecessary program that puts Americans and their private data at risk. It gives the government full control over the tax filing system. Republicans will continue to push policies that shrink the size of this supersized IRS.”
Barrasso led a push over the summer that “blast[ed] the IRS for wasting taxpayer dollars on an illegitimate and unnecessary direct file tax preparation program,” his office said.
The IRS’s latest move was met with condemnation from tax policy experts. “The IRS should prioritize answering the 74 of 76 taxpayer service calls it failed to answer in the Treasury Inspector General’s report,” Mike Palicz, the Director of Tax Policy at Americans for Tax Reform, told the Washington Reporter. “Instead, the IRS is focused on becoming its own version of software companies that already exist.”
Click HERE to read more about Republicans’ opposition to the IRS’s attempts to act as the “judge, jury, and Lord High Executioner” of your tax preparation.
| | | | [7] | Democrat’s record of opposing deportation for a teenager who impregnated his sister could jeopardize his candidacy
By: Matthew Foldi
The prosecutorial record of Democrat Carl Marlinga, a failed House candidate, former prosecutor and judge, is under scrutiny in the final days of the 2024 election, with a specific focus on his opposition to deporting a teenager who impregnated his 12-year-old sister in 1998.
Following the high-profile crime, Marlinga, who was then serving as a Macomb County Prosecutor, opposed the deportation of the teenager; he further called the incident a “youthful sexual experimentation.” His remarks were condemned immediately by health care advocates.
“When you're having sexual intercourse with your sister, that is not youthful experimentation,” Patricia Fresard, the head of the prosecutor office's sex crimes unit, said at the time. “There is something terribly wrong there.”
Click HERE to read more about how Democrat Carl Marlinga’s record as a prosecutor looms large over his repeat House candidacy. | |
[8] |
Exclusive: “I don’t have an interest in deporting anybody”: Republican debuts ad slamming opponent’s border policies
By: Matthew Foldi
Democrat Curtis Hertel, Jr. is under fire in the closing days of the 2024 election for telling Michiganders “I don’t have an interest in deporting anybody.” His opponent, Republican Tom Barrett, is seizing on the remarks.
In a new ad, obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter, Barrett closes his campaign out with a contrast between himself and with Hertel on the issue. “Your congressman should fight for you, not illegal immigrants,” he says.
Click HERE to read more about how Tom Barrett is making illegal immigration a winning issue in his House race. | | | | [9] | Op-Ed: Rep. Stephanie Bice and Rep. Bryan Steil: We’re making Congress the “People’s House”
By: Rep. Stephanie Bice and Rep. Bryan Steil
As we approach Veterans Day, it is important that we honor America’s servicemembers for their dedication, sacrifice and patriotism. Without their steadfast commitment to defending our county, we would not enjoy the freedoms that we hold dear. This day gives us an annual opportunity to pay tribute to these brave men and women, but their allegiance to America deserves year-round attention.
As Members of Congress, we have the privilege of meeting with veterans who travel from across the country to visit our nation’s Capitol and share their experiences and views. We consider these meetings invaluable. They inform the way we think about and work to address veterans’ issues in Congress.
However, for many veterans a trip to Capitol Hill is much harder than it should be.
Click HERE to read more from Reps. Stephanie Bice and Bryan Steil about their work to make Congress accessible to everyone.
| | | | | | | [10] | Op-Ed: Rep. Dan Newhouse: The Biden-Harris assault on western America must end
By: Rep. Dan Newhouse
Since day one of the Biden-Harris administration, the American West has been under attack. Between stringent regulations, land withdrawals intentionally designed to lock up resource-rich swathes of land in the West, and a relentless assault on American energy production, the Biden-Harris administration has implemented policies that make it tougher for Western America to achieve prosperity.
Luckily, the region has many allies in Congress. The Congressional Western Caucus, of which I serve as Chairman, has consistently pushed back against an administration determined to make life more difficult for the families, small businesses, and industries that help drive our nation’s economy. The Western Caucus is comprised of members of Congress who believe in local control and private property rights, while ensuring that public lands remain open and accessible.
If the administration truly cared about Western Americans, then they would prioritize policies that unleash energy production on federal lands, streamline permitting for all industries, and get government out of the way of those who want to provide for themselves. Instead, we’ve seen the opposite. Time and time again, the Biden-Harris administration has ignored local perspectives while implementing a top-down environmental agenda that will only do more harm than good.
Click HERE to read more from Rep. Dan Newhouse about his efforts as Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus to fight against the Biden-Harris administration’s attacks on rural Americans. | |
| [11] | Op-Ed: Matt Brooks: Jewish voters must get out and vote
By: Matt Brooks
It’s such a cliché to say that this election is “the most important election of our lifetimes,” but in 2024, it’s true. Republicans know it and Democrats know it. You can see it in the desperate, ad hominem attacks on President Donald Trump and down ballot GOP candidates. You can hear it in the mainstream media’s breathlessly positive coverage of Vice President Kamala Harris’s rare public appearances, and in their silence about the serious problems in this country that the Harris-Biden administration has caused, intensified, and ignored.
That sense of urgency about the 2024 election is real — and visceral, especially for American Jews. Our country’s security – and our community’s safety — are truly hanging in the balance. That is why the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) has engaged in the largest ever effort to identify, persuade, and turn out Jewish voters in the key battleground states, where a small shift in votes can have an historic impact.
Click HERE to read more from RJC president Matt Brooks about the stakes of the 2024 elections.
| |
****
About the Washington Reporter
We created the Washington Reporter to give Republicans in Congress an outlet for insights to help you succeed, and to cover the toughest policy fights that don't get the attention they deserve. We hope you'll send us tips, story ideas, and feedback–and please subscribe.
|
Washington Reporter
3033 Wilson Blvd.
Suite E - 536
Arlington, Virginia 22201
© 2024 Washington Reporter. All rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions
Unsubscribe
|
