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March 27, 2025
Let’s dive in.
INTERVIEW: Kennedy Center's Ric Grenell slashes millions from Kennedy Center DEI programs, bashes "criminal" spending
Heard on the Hill
Democrats have a Signal problem
SCOOP: Tom Cotton rejects demands from Senate Democrats and liberal journalists to investigate Signal usage
K-STREET, 10,000 FEET: “Toxic” Dick Durbin’s credit card legislation a bill to stay away from
OPINIONATED: Reps. Roger Williams and Mark Alford on federal employees returning to work. Gerard Scimeca on overdraft fees.
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INTERVIEW: Kennedy Center's Ric Grenell slashes millions from Kennedy Center DEI programs, bashes "criminal" spending
by Matthew Foldi
THE LOWDOWN:
Kennedy Center chairman Ric Grenell announced that the latest move by the center is the elimination of millions of dollars of DEI-aligned programs, which will save approximately $2,530,000 every year.
The department’s “Culture Caucus” is one of the casualties of the cuts; the office, which spends approximately $300,000 annually, partners with organizations like “Crushing Colonialism,” which works to “control our narratives in order to crush colonialism” in the “so-called United States.”
The Kennedy Center’s decision to cut ties with programs that support Crushing Colonialism isn’t a surprise, given the group’s public condemnations of “Trump’s fascist agenda.”
Under Grenell, the Kennedy Center is undergoing a transformation to align more with the president’s agenda, while not sacrificing its world-renowned commitment to the arts.
The Kennedy Center is undergoing a fundamental makeover under its new Chairman, President Donald Trump, and new president, Ric Grenell. The latest move is the elimination of millions of dollars of DEI-aligned programs, which will save approximately $2,530,000 every year. In an interview with the Washington Reporter, Grenell confirmed the cuts and blasted the previous administration’s “criminal” mismanagement of the Kennedy Center’s finances.
“What the heck is the Kennedy Center doing funding a group called ‘Social Impact’ when we have $0 in the bank and $0 in reserve?” Grenell asked. Under his leadership, that department [ [link removed] ] is getting massively downsized; its DEI programs are being cut, while its education programs are remaining intact. The department’s “Culture Caucus” is one of the casualties of the cuts; the office, which spends approximately $300,000 annually, partners with organizations like “Crushing Colonialism,” which works [ [link removed] ] to “control our narratives in order to crush colonialism” in the “so-called United States.”
“For the last several months before I got to the Kennedy Center, all staff payroll was being done through debt reserves.” Grenell said of the Center’s finances. “Our new CFO is trying to renegotiate with banks…But at the end of the day, what my management is doing for the Kennedy Center is going through every department, questioning the number of people and the mission for each department, and trying to get us refocused on a common sense mission: bringing arts and entertainment to the Kennedy Center that actually sell tickets. We had spent way too much on programming that doesn't bring in any revenue. And while I'm all for arts education, we can't go into debt to do arts education; my solution is to bring in common sense programming that brings in enough money to use that money for niche programming in the future.”
“No matter what the programming is, whether it's far left or far right or niche, fringe, programming, if it doesn't sell enough tickets, then we’d better have a whole bunch of money in the bank to justify the arts education outreach. I'm all for arts education. I'm all for challenging the status quo and finding ways to educate people on fringe programming. I actually am somebody who enjoys being challenged by art. I collect art that's not always for the masses and I certainly appreciate it. But my my job as the leader is to make sure that the Kennedy Center has a sound fiscal policy, and when you look across the board at the executive pay and the decisions on funding and building operations, I think it's actually criminal for leadership to spend so wildly while asking the public to pay for programming.”
HEARD ON THE HILL
THANKS FOR READING: Elon Musk read our story [ [link removed] ] about Accenture’s contract with the Army raising eyebrows. “It’s a mess,” he wrote. “DoD needs something like what Tesla and SpaceX have (Warp).”
AI ARMS RACE: Former Sen. Cory Gardner (R., Colo.) penned a new op-ed [ [link removed] ] on the importance of winning the global AI race. “It is imperative that our country win the AI race, and winning will require the infrastructure to support the massive energy demands of next-generation technology.”
I SEE YOU: Congress is planning on launching investigations into the progressive law firms that President Trump has targeted, starting with Covington & Burling. Expect inquiries to be sent out to both Covington and Covington’s clients.
NATION OF DESTABILIZATION: Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it clear in his press conference [ [link removed] ] with Guyanese President Irfaan Ali that Venezuela’s leadership is sending their worst and darkest to America to destabilize our nation. Rubio pointed to the warm welcome received by a recently deported Venezuelan illegal immigrant who attacked an NYPD cop from Venezuelan Minister of Interior, Justice, and Peace Diosdado Cabello after stepping off a deportation flight in Venezuela.
MANSION SHOPPING: Former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox plans to announce a gubernatorial run in a few weeks.
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.
Democrats have a Signal problem
by Matthew Foldi
Democrats have relied on Signal to conduct sensitive business for years, casting serious doubt on their anger about top Trump administration officials using the app in advance of strikes on Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen, according to an analysis by the Washington Reporter.
The Reporter previously published an editorial urging congressional Republicans to ignore the noise and back President Donald Trump’s national security A-team — and as it turns out, top Democrats haven’t had problems with Signal until it could be politically convenient.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D., Texas) recently told an audience, “we have all these Signal chats.”
“If you don’t have Signal, get on Signal, okay? Do not trust— get on Signal,” she said.
The federal office in charge of ensuring cybersecurity at all levels during the Biden administration recommended that “highly targeted” government officials use apps like Signal, calling it a “best practice.”
Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.) himself relied on the app to speak with the disgraced author of the Steele dossier, according to a report [ [link removed] ] in Fox News. This week, Warner disgraced himself during the Trump administration’s annual threat assessment to Congress, admonishing Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, in tones that many observers viewed as sexist.
Elsewhere in the Senate, Democrats like Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) had praised the Sergeant at Arms for “the recent announcement by your office that the end-to-end encrypted messaging app Signal is approved for Senate staff use.”
Finally, Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform are currently urging potential whistleblowers to contact them via Signal.
“If you prefer, you may report potential wrongdoing via the Signal app by messaging [us],” their site reads [ [link removed] ].
SCOOP: Tom Cotton rejects demands from Senate Democrats and liberal journalists to investigate Signal usage
by Matthew Foldi
Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) is refusing demands from both Senate Democrats and liberal journalists to allow the Intelligence Committee, which he chairs, to join in any investigation into the Trump administration over top national security leaders using Signal, sources confirmed exclusively to the Washington Reporter.
Cotton’s move comes after a banner week for the Arkansas lawmaker. The Reporter previously covered [ [link removed] ] how he banned anti-American Code Pink protesters from the Senate’s annual threat assessment hearing, in which top Trump administration national security officials discussed threats ranging from Iran to China to foreign-funded protesters on college campuses.
Now, Cotton is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with President Donald Trump in dismissing attempts to further investigate his national security team because no further investigation is needed, a Senate GOP aide told the Reporter.
“Everything that happened is already public so there’s nothing to investigate,” the aide said. “This would be a fishing expedition aimed at damaging the Trump national security team and stopping them from doing their jobs.”
The Reporter previously published an editorial urging Republicans like Cotton to ignore the noise about so-called Signal-gate and to continue backing Trump’s top national security team. Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel, John Ratcliffe, and other top leaders earned rave reviews from Republicans on and off the Hill who spoke with the Reporter following hours of their testimonies.
“The left and the media don’t care about group chats with the wrong number,” the piece read. “They’re furious that Trump’s killing terrorists and making America safer.”
The Democrats angry about Trump aides using Signal to coordinate certain aspects of strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists were mostly silent in the aftermath of the failed withdrawal from Afghanistan under President Joe Biden.
That calamity left 13 American servicemembers killed. The successful Houthi strikes left terrorists killed.
K-STREET, 10,000 FEET:
“Toxic” Dick Durbin’s credit card legislation a bill to stay away from
by the Washington Reporter
THE LOWDOWN:
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat, is continuing his courting of Senate Republicans to back his controversial credit card bill, but red warning lights are flashing against backing the bill.
A TrumpWorld source told the Reporter that Republicans should not get on Durbin’s credit card bill.
Durbin’s courting of Senate Republicans comes at an odd time in the senator’s career — he spent the last eight years attacking President Donald Trump and Republicans, including two impeachment conviction votes against the president in his first term.
It is unclear if Durbin has the political capital and standing with Republicans to shore up any support for his CCCA.
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat, is continuing his courting of Senate Republicans to back his controversial credit card bill, but red warning lights are flashing against backing the bill.
Durbin has been trying to shore up support for his Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA), which he is looking at reintroducing into the upper chamber.
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 TrumpWorld source told the Reporter that Republicans should not get on Durbin’s credit card bill.
OPINIONATED
Op-Ed: Rep. Roger Williams and Rep. Mark Alford: Bringing federal workers back to work for Main Street America
by Reps. Roger Williams and Mark Alford
Under President Donald Trump's leadership, federal agencies are finally returning to work. Agencies across the federal government are cutting bloated, unnecessary programs and are refocusing on their founding mission of serving the American people.
Last Congress, the House Committee on Small Business investigated the Biden-Harris Small Business Administration (SBA) and saw firsthand how drastically President Joe Biden and his administration damaged the integrity of our government through poor policy and inept leadership. This included failing to reimplement an in-person work policy for federal employees after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Simply put, the Biden administration failed Main Street America. This legacy of failure earned federal agencies a DOGE redesign, starting with a return to in-person work and the much-needed sale of excess federal properties.
Without the luxury of working from home after the pandemic, American small businesses returned to work — allowing Main Street America to function again. Federal employees, however, remained stagnant while their multimillion-dollar offices collected dust. When Americans needed help from the SBA, they faced unanswered phone calls and wasted hours on hold. For small businesses in desperate need of answers from the agency, this meant slower loan processing, unbearable bureaucratic wait times, and poor communication. Any small business with this disastrous record of customer service would be out of business. Yet, somehow, it is acceptable for the government.
Our Committee investigated the SBA for these failures. Our investigation was continually met with half-truths from President Biden’s SBA Administrator, Isabella Casillas Guzman, and countless unanswered questions. We sent two letters to Administrator Guzman (March 2024; August 2023) and brought her to testify before the Committee to discuss issues, including the SBA’s telework policies. We pressed her on why the SBA would request a $42 million funding increase for rent, while at the same time it was reported that the SBA buildings were only at “50 percent occupancy on any given day.”
We also questioned why employees were only expected to work in-person two out of every ten days in 2023 and four out of ten days in 2024. Her answers were abysmal and often inconsistent with the SBA’s stated policies.
Unsatisfied with her paltry response, the Republican members of the Committee joined us on a visit to the SBA. There, we witnessed the insanity of liberal telework policy that left rows and rows of desks empty during the workday — a sight unacceptable in any private company or small business. The SBA’s offices remained dormant and unutilized this way until President Trump’s SBA Administrator, Kelly Loeffler, was confirmed. On her first day in office, she went viral on X for showing the world exactly how empty the SBA has been for four years.
With President Trump’s day-one commitment through a signed Executive Order, Administrator Loeffler mandated that all federal employees return to work, effective immediately. She demanded that SBA employees return to work, and the vast majority complied.
Op-Ed: Gerard Scimeca: Three cheers for overdraft fees
by Gerard Scimeca
Like the sanitation crew in the aftermath of an outdoor music festival, the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans are now investing a generous portion of their energies cleaning up the mess left by Joe Biden’s army of activist bureaucrats.
A month after America roundly rejected Biden’s policies at the polls, the outgoing administration published its Fall 2024 Unified Agenda that included a swarm of 11th hour regulatory rules and bureaucratic proposals. A whopping 53 regulations met the definition of “economically significant” for having an impact of $200 million or more on the economy.
The regulations showered down on D.C. with an intensity that would have made Pharaoh release the Israelites. Thankfully, many of these rules were never finalized, meaning Trump appointees can happily let them die on the vine. The rest leave Congress a mere 60 days from their enactment to either let stand or erase from the books through the Congressional Review Act (CRA).
One regulation of priority to the GOP House is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule mandating banks cap overdraft fees at $5.00, an action as absurdly beyond the bureau’s authority as the Coast Guard regulating pet groomers. Compounding the absurdity is that this cap will directly harm the people it is most purported to help.

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