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Rep. Randy Fine on how the Schumer Shutdown harms seniors, Mark Cuban praises Trump on health care
Sen. Cotton’s plan to protect judges, Schumer’s shutdown gaffe muddles Dem messaging, and more!
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October 9th, 2025
Let’s dive in.
INTERVIEW: Rep. Randy Fine explains why he wants the Nobel Peace Prize named after Trump and why the Schumer Shutdown is devastating Florida real estate
Heard on the Hill
EDITORIAL: To end the Schumer shutdown, Republicans should get out of D.C. and get in front of voters
EXCLUSIVE: Mark Cuban on the “positive” from Trump’s Pfizer collaboration
EXCLUSIVE: In wake of left-wing political violence, Sen. Tom Cotton wants judges and prosecutors to carry concealed firearms
EXCLUSIVE: Pressure from Rep. Pat Harrigan led to a controversial climate activist’s resignation: He “built his career on hyper-partisan attacks and junk science, not objective inquiry”
EXCLUSIVE: Senate Democrats mum on latest Schumer gaffe
EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Durbin’s bizarre defense of Schumer’s latest gaffe
EXCLUSIVE: How Democrats have turned Schumer Shutdown into “a two week Tinder relationship with a lot of regrets”
SCOOP: Bosnia poised to become global munitions manufacturer
SCOOP: How the U.S. Tax Court backlog is punishing American taxpayers
SCOOP: Sean Spicer is the new Captain in town
SCOOP: Trump administration unveils “Super Bowl” of American energy dominance
SCOOP: Shock poll shows Stefanik leading Hochul in governor’s race following Hochul’s endorsement of Mamdani
OPINIONATED: Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks on why the Democrats own the shutdown and Caroline Glick on the lessons learned since October 7th
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INTERVIEW: Rep. Randy Fine explains why he wants the Nobel Peace Prize named after Trump and why the Schumer Shutdown is devastating Florida real estate
by Matthew Foldi
If President Donald Trump successfully brings peace to the Middle East — in spite of Hamas terrorists blowing up his deadline of last weekend for a deal — Rep. Randy Fine (R., Fla.) doesn’t just want him to win the Nobel Peace Prize this year; he wants the prize named after Trump.
“If Trump can make that happen, that it’s an extraordinary achievement, far greater than the Nobel Prize,” Fine said in an interview with the Washington Reporter. “They shouldn’t just give him the Nobel Prize. They should just rename it and call it the Trump Prize.”
But, given Hamas’s unprovoked assault and rampage across Israel on October 7th, nothing is guaranteed, even though Israel and Palestinian terrorist leaders have both ostensibly agreed to Trump’s peace deal.
“There won’t be a lot of sleep in the Fine household until Monday,” Fine said. “The idea that these people who have been held in unbelievable conditions by these Muslim terrorists might be released is extraordinary. If President Trump can bring the hostages home and bring a lasting peace to the Middle East, it will be the greatest diplomatic achievement in American history by far.”
Heard on the Hill
THANKS FOR READING: President Donald Trump shared another Washington Reporter piece on his Truth Social account. This time, it was an op-ed from Rep. Andy Barr (R., Ky.) about why he wants Trump to be on a new $250 bill.
BIDEN DONOR ARRESTED FOR ARSON: The Washington Reporter was first to report how Jonathan Rinderknecht, the alleged arsonist behind California’s wildfires, was a Joe Biden for President donor.
WHY CAN’T WE BE FRIENDS? This week, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) finally found common ground: breaking the monopoly at the American Medical Association. Cassidy said the AMA’s billing system may be driving up health care costs and he questioned whether the group’s advocacy, including on controversial social issues, has strayed from its core mission of supporting doctors and patients. Kennedy is also exploring ways to limit the AMA’s influence over how physicians get paid, while the group stays quiet amid growing scrutiny of its power and politics.
NO MORE TIPTOEING: Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R., Ala.) is the latest Republican lawmaker who wants to formally ban Sharia law in the United States. During a fiery Senate speech this week, the Alabama lawmaker described the dangers of radical Islam and called for anyone who practices Sharia law to be deported immediately.
SEE YOU LATER: Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) deported a pro-Hamas protester from a Senate hearing. “The only genocide that has happened since October 7th is the genocide that Hamas has perpetrated against the Jewish people…have him removed immediately,” he said.
CALLED OUT: During this week’s cabinet meeting, Vice President JD Vance chided Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) for being the only Senate Republican to vote with almost all Democrats against reopening the government.
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We must protect American leadership in the life sciences and avoid damaging drug pricing policies. Meanwhile, China is making significant strides in clinical trials, drug approvals and new breakthroughs. Now is the time to strengthen American innovation, not hinder it. Learn more.
EDITORIAL: To end the Schumer shutdown, Republicans should get out of D.C. and get in front of voters
by the Washington Reporter Editorial Board
The Schumer Shutdown is a national disgrace. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., NY) put his fear of a left-wing primary ahead of the country. And to make matters worse, sources tell the Washington Reporter that Schumer is keeping the government shut so he can speak at the “No Kings Rally” on October 18th — an event described by a source as “a gathering of mentally-unwell boomer libs.”
The Washington Reporter commends President Donald Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), and Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) for their steadfast courage in refusing to give into the Democrats’ outrageous demands. If the majority party gives into far-reaching policy demands in exchange for a clean continuing resolution, the Democrats will do this time and time again.
Now, Republicans have a great opportunity to put more pressure on the Democrats and increase the chance that Democrats relent and end the shutdown. Rather than hunkering down in the Beltway echo chamber and taking the same vote over and over, GOP lawmakers should seize this opportunity to make the Democrats own the pain of their shutdown. It’s time for our members to get home and hit the campaign trail early — town halls in Ohio barns, diner chats in Pennsylvania, and factory floor visits in Alabama — to explain the human toll of Schumer’s disgraceful behavior.
EXCLUSIVE: Mark Cuban on the “positive” from Trump’s Pfizer collaboration
by Matthew Foldi
President Donald Trump’s historic announcement with Pfizer brought a series of strange bedfellows into the same room: Trump, alongside Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, jointly announced a deal to sell certain drugs directly to consumers.
Trump, who is likely the only person who could get RFK Jr. and the Pfizer CEO in the same room without leading to violence, also won praise from one of his biggest 2024 critics: billionaire Mark Cuban, who was one of Kamala Harris’s most prominent campaign trail surrogates.
Following Trump’s historic announcement, Cuban told the Washington Reporter to “look at the Pfizer stock price. It went up. This can be a positive for sure.” But, Cuban added, “it has a while to go.”
EXCLUSIVE: In wake of left-wing political violence, Sen. Tom Cotton wants judges and prosecutors to carry concealed firearms
by Matthew Foldi
Amidst a surge of left-wing political violence, Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) is introducing legislation, obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter, to allow federal judges and prosecutors to carry concealed firearms.
Cotton’s legislation, which he is introducing with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.), is called the Protecting Our Prosecutors and Judges Act. If passed, it would expand the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, which allows both current and retired law enforcement officers to conceal carry firearms, to include current and retired state, local, and federal prosecutors, as well as federal judges.
The legislation is particularly timely, given a judge’s paradoxical decision to sentence the man who attempted to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh only 8 years in jail — decades less than what the prosecutors sought.
EXCLUSIVE: Pressure from Rep. Pat Harrigan led to a controversial climate activist’s resignation: He “built his career on hyper-partisan attacks and junk science, not objective inquiry”
by Matthew Foldi
A freshman Republican is spiking the football after a controversial climate activist resigned from his position at the University of Pennsylvania.
Immediately following Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Penn’s Michael Mann reposted comments calling Kirk the “head of Trump’s Hitler Youth.” Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.), who represents Penn, was quick to demand “immediate, decisive action” against Mann.
But so too did Rep. Pat Harrigan (R., N.C.) — who sits on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. “Penn doesn’t get to hide behind statements or hand-waving,” Harrigan said after Mann’s latest controversial comments. “Fire him.”
Now — after Mann resigned from his position as Vice Provost at Penn — Harrigan told the Washington Reporter that the move is “long overdue.”
EXCLUSIVE: Senate Democrats mum on latest Schumer gaffe
by Matthew Foldi
As the Schumer Shutdown enters its second week, Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D., N.Y.) latest gaffe is causing headaches for his colleagues in the Senate.
Schumer’s admission that “every day gets better for us” during the shutdown was greeted with near-total silence from his Senate colleagues, virtually all of whom did not respond to requests for comment from the Washington Reporter.
One exception was Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D., Ill.) office — which told the Reporter that Schumer’s quote “was totally taken out of context.” Durbin’s office then sent a different quote from Schumer that was not the Schumer quote in question.
Other Democratic senators, like Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.), Angela Alsobrooks (D., Md.), Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.), Maggie Hassan (D., N.H.), Gary Peters (D., Mich.), Brian Schatz (D., Hawaii), Mark Warner (D., Va.), Tim Kaine (D., Va.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.), Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.), Jon Ossoff (D., Ga.), Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.), and Jacky Rosen (D., Nev.) did not respond to request for comment.
EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Durbin’s bizarre defense Schumer’s latest gaffe
by Matthew Foldi
Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D., N.Y.) remarks to Punchbowl that “every day gets better for us” during the Schumer Shutdown have caused quite a stir within the Senate Democratic caucus.
Most Democratic senators the Washington Reporter reached out to did not respond to requests for comment — but retiring Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D., Ill.) communications director, Maddie Carlos, did respond, by saying that the quote was taken out of context. Carlos instead sent the “full quote” which included, in part:
“Each day our case gets better and better, stronger and stronger because families are opening their letters showing how high their premiums will clam [sic] if Republicans get their way.”
However, this “full quote” provided by Sen. Durbin’s office did not contain the words cited by Punchbowl, “every day gets better for us.”
EXCLUSIVE: How Democrats have turned Schumer Shutdown into “a two week Tinder relationship with a lot of regrets”
by Matthew Foldi
As the Schumer Shutdown enters its second week, House and Senate Democrats are enlisting journalists to pressure Republicans into caving to their demands, multiple Hill offices told the Washington Reporter.
Numerous local and national media outlets, from Bloomberg to Cal Matters are reaching out to large swathes of House and Senate Republicans with what Hill veterans characterize as barely-disguised Democratic Party talking points.
In one email back-and-forth, obtained by the Reporter, a reporter with Bloomberg outright dismissed how congressional Democrats have botched years of the Affordable Care Act’s implementation.
“Regardless of the IRA’s expiration date for the subsidies and how Democrats handled it, it doesn’t change that the credits ultimately do expire at the end of the year, and some Republicans have shown support for extending the credits,” the reporter wrote to a GOP House office.
SCOOP: Bosnia poised to become global munitions manufacturer
by Holly Spear
The United States and its allies are facing a severe shortage of munitions, threatening Western readiness at a time of escalating global conflict. In July 2025, the U.S. paused shipments of Patriot missiles and 155 mm artillery shells to Ukraine to preserve dwindling stockpiles at home, for example.
The delayed shipment included dozens of Patriot interceptors, nearly 8,500 155mm shells, over 250 precision GMLRS missiles, and 142 Hellfire missiles, highlighting acute vulnerabilities in U.S. inventories depleted by ongoing aid to Ukraine and Middle East operations. Pentagon officials have repeatedly acknowledged the need to “rebuild capacity for sustained deterrence” after decades of underinvestment in ammunition manufacturing, with the FY2025 budget request cutting key conventional precision munitions funding by $1.2 billion from prior levels, prioritizing other areas amid fiscal constraints.
The problem extends beyond America. NATO leaders warned that member nations’ stockpiles remain far below requirements for long-term defense commitments, prompting an urgent call to agree on new weapons and troop goals ahead of the summer summit in The Hague. This follows earlier assessments revealing shortfalls in critical items like 155mm shells, HIMARS missiles, and air defense ammunition, exacerbated by deliveries to Ukraine.
SCOOP: How the U.S. Tax Court backlog is punishing American taxpayers
by the Washington Reporter
For the last decade, the mainstream media has breathlessly followed the efforts by the Democratic Party establishment and liberal bureaucrats to stop President Donald Trump by hook or by crook. But eight months into Trump’s second administration, another victim has emerged: over one-thousand American taxpayers stuck in a deeply backlogged U.S. Tax Court.
These taxpayers, owners of conservation easements, have taken advantage of a decades-old tax plan designed to aid natural conservation. In exchange for promising never to develop their real estate further, property owners can deduct the value they could have gained from their taxes.
SCOOP: Sean Spicer is the new Captain in town
by Matthew Foldi
There’s a new captain in town: Sean Spicer, Captain in the United States Navy.
Spicer was honored at the Army Navy Country Club, where Secretary of War Pete Hegseth presided over the promotional ceremony.
“Some people do it for the rank, and some people do it for the people,” the Secretary of War said of Spicer, a longtime veteran of GOP politics; “Sean does it for the people.”
President Donald Trump’s former Press Secretary’s service in the Navy spans a whopping 27 years — a feat in the face of his political endeavors.
“We’ve watched you in the most difficult arenas, be the man this nation needs,” Hegseth said of Spicer.
SCOOP: Trump administration unveils “Super Bowl” of American energy dominance
by Matthew Foldi
The Trump administration’s latest push for American energy independence is akin to the “Super Bowl” for coal, according to Rep. Julie Fedorchak (R., N.D.), one of the House’s top energy experts.
Trump’s Department of Interior (DOI) partnered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to open up 13.1 million acres of federal land for coal leasing; that milestone is more than just a Super Bowl for the energy industry — it is triple the benchmarks set by the landmark One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The Washington Reporter was on scene for the historic announcement, where Secretary Doug Burgum was joined by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and DOE Undersecretary Wells Griffith signed memorandums alongside Fedorchak, Sens. John Barrasso (R., Wyo.) and Cynthia Lummis (R., Wyo.), and Gov. Mark Gordon (R., Wyo.). The policymakers were flanked by a line of coal miners; Lummis reassured the miners that, under the Trump administration, that they’re “not just eye candy.”
SCOOP: Shock poll shows Stefanik leading Hochul in governor’s race following Hochul’s endorsement of Mamdani
by Matthew Foldi
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D., N.Y.) recently endorsed Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani in his campaign to be the next Mayor of New York City, spurning her former ticketmate, disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo in the process.
That move, combined with a series of high-profile Hochul failures, is now propelling Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) to a one-point lead over Hochul, according to a new poll obtained by the Washington Reporter.
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The poll, which was paid for and commissioned by Stefanik’s E-PAC, showed Stefanik leading Hochul, 46.4 percent to 45.9 percent after voters are informed about both candidates. Hochul’s “endorsement of Zohran Mamdani, bail reform record, and cost of living failures” all help propel Stefanik into a lead in the heavily-anticipated showdown that would take place next year.
OPINIONATED
Op-Ed: Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks: The real reason Democrats shut down the government
by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks
Across America, hardworking families are feeling the impact of the Democrat-led government shutdown. Our troops are working without pay, federal employees are being furloughed, essential services are on hold, and critical programs for women, children, and seniors are at risk.
This isn’t because Congress failed to act — it’s because Democrat leaders chose politics over people.
The House passed a bipartisan, bicameral, clean continuing resolution to keep the government open for seven weeks while we finalize full-year appropriations, which is where negotiations occur. It contained no new spending, no policy riders, and ensured stability for our military, veterans, families and farmers. Democrats supported the same kind of measure more than a dozen times under President Joe Biden. But this time, under President Donald Trump, they refused.
Op-Ed: Caroline Glick: What have we learned since October 7th?
by Caroline Glick
October 7th, 2023 was the worst day in the history of the State of Israel and will be remembered as such for all time. But as New York Times columnist Bret Stephens noted in a column analyzing the lessons of that day and the war that followed, “for all its undoubted horrors, this war may ultimately be remembered as liberating.”
Israel responded to Hamas’s day of genocide by waging war to destroy the Iranian axis of which Hamas was a member. Stephens explained how Israel’s war had liberated the peoples of the region.
In Lebanon, thanks to Israel’s decimation of Hezbollah, the people are free from Iran’s proxy for the first time in twenty years. Hezbollah’s decimation fomented the fall of Syrian dictator and Iranian proxy Bashar Assad, providing the people of Syria their first shot at freedom in living memory.
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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.
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