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October 22nd, 2025
Reminder: Join us for our next premiere event — a fireside chat with our Editor-in-Chief Matthew Foldi on October 29th at 5:30pm at Microsoft’s D.C. office.
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Let’s dive in.
INTERVIEW: Rep. Mark Alford draws a line in the sand on Schumer Shutdown: “There’s nothing to negotiate”
Heard on the Hill
EDITORIAL: The Department of War’s media guidelines are common sense, and we are signing them
EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Bryan Steil faults Senate Democrats for Capitol Police potentially missing first full paycheck in years
EXCLUSIVE: Graham Platner called healthcare a “basic human right.” He’s not providing it to his staff.
EXCLUSIVE: Trio of GOP appropriators explain why the House won’t negotiate with Senate Democrats on the Schumer Shutdown
SCOOP: Freedom Caucus and House GOP leadership team up amidst unprecedented Democratic obstruction
SCOOP: Secretary Doug Burgum and API make the bipartisan case for permitting reform
SCOOP: NRCC leverages violent, un-American rhetoric of No Kings rallies against Hakeem Jeffries
SCOOP: Trump, Kennedy Center to bestow rare posthumous award to KISS guitarist
OPINIONATED: Rep. Ronny Jackson on President Trump’s America First foreign policy wins, Rep. Scott Franklin takes on the Democrats’ filibuster, and Rep. Vince Fong on how the Schumer Shutdown harms Californians
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INTERVIEW: Rep. Mark Alford draws a line in the sand on Schumer Shutdown: “There’s nothing to negotiate”
by Matthew Foldi
As the Schumer Shutdown careens towards its second month, Rep. Mark Alford (R., Mo.) has a simple message for Senate Democrats and their allies in the media who are hoping that House Republicans will cave.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) “want America to feel pain so that they can put pressure on the Republicans to negotiate,” Alford told the Washington Reporter in an interview. “But there’s nothing to negotiate. And the sooner that Chuck Schumer and Hakeem realize that, the better off America will be.”
Alford explained his reasoning, attacking the “uninformed, ill-informed people in the media who don’t have the basic knowledge of how our appropriations process works” in the process. He went on to show why he is the Chairman of the Communications Task Force for the Republican Study Committee, and why he’s been on a blitz with both traditional and new media outlets.
“They want us to compromise or negotiate,” Alford explained. “‘Can you compromise? Can’t you negotiate? Can’t you meet somewhere in the middle?’ No. There’s nothing to negotiate. That’s what Chuck Schumer doesn’t understand. And the media is starting to really come around. Even some of the national media over the weekend were talking about how Democrats already approved this continuing resolution nine times before. There’s nothing different.”
EDITORIAL: The Department of War’s media guidelines are common sense, and we are signing them
by the Washington Reporter Editorial Board
For weeks, we read breathless stories on how the Department of War’s new media guidelines represent a “threat to democracy” and are a “clampdown on the First Amendment.” At the Washington Reporter, we were concerned — until we actually read the guidelines. Then we realized that the guidelines are common sense and the media freakout is another example of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Our only concern is that the Department of War has waited until October to implement these new changes.
We support these guidelines as sound policy. We have signed them. And we are grateful for Secretary Pete Hegseth’s leadership and his remarkable track record of success.
Let’s be clear: the Department of War is not obligated to subsidize reporting that could undermine our national security. The idea that the Huffington Post or other left-wing outlets are entitled to report damaging information about our national security while wandering around the Pentagon is preposterous. Private citizens aren’t permitted to tour the Pentagon as though it were a public museum — why should far-left journalists be permitted full access, if they won’t commit to basic precautions?
Let us be clear: we are not capitulating. Our reporting will remain as tough and objective as ever. But the guidelines are only “capitulation” to someone who is, frankly, deranged. What are we signing up for? Things like wearing identification badges, prohibiting the inducement of classified disclosures, and not accessing certain areas of the building. God forbid!
Heard on the Hill
PENTAGON PRESS PROMOTION: The Washington Reporter is honored to have been selected [ [link removed] ] to join the Pentagon’s press corps, the most deeply-respected group of journalists covering the Pentagon and national security issues. This is another big day for our growth.
SOCIAL SECURITY UPGRADE: Arjun Mody, the deeply-respected former Senate Republican Conference staff director, will have his hearing to be the deputy commissioner of Social Security on October 29th in front of the Senate Finance Committee. Congressional sources tell us that Mody is expected to be easily confirmed due to his reputation for integrity, his substantial experience, and his expertise at managing organizations.
THANKS FOR READING: Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy discussed our reporting about how Democratic campaign staffers were caught partying during the Schumer Shutdown during his latest appearance on Fox and Friends. Watch his interview here [ [link removed] ].
SPECIAL DELIVERY: The Secretary of Labor visited federal firefighters, who are working without pay during the Schumer Shutdown, to bring them some much-needed donuts.
NIXON FOREVER: The Nixon Foundation held its annual Grand Strategy Summit in Washington, D.C., headlined by the Washington Reporter’s Matthew Foldi, who moderated conversations with Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), President Juan Guaidó, and Bonnie Glick. Among those spotted were Paul Foldi, Rob Lockwood, John Gizzi, Jonathan Wilcox, Giulia DiGuglielmo, David Cook, Madison Hartley, and many others.
LAUNCH TIME: Dwayne Carson announced the launch of CARSON CONSULTING, his own public affairs firm specializing in pro-growth policies and regulatory reform for industries powering local communities across the country. Carson was most recently Senior Director, Federal Affairs at Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America.
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EXCLUSIVE: Graham Platner called healthcare a “basic human right.” He’s not providing it to his staff.
by Matthew Foldi
A prominent Democratic Senate candidate who reportedly [ [link removed] ] has “a lot in common” with Adolf Hitler is also under fire for campaign trail hypocrisy when it comes to failing to provide health insurance for his campaign staff.
Graham Platner is a self-described communist running for U.S. Senate in Maine who has previously described health care as a “basic human right”; but he is not paying for his staff’s health insurance, a Washington Reporter review of his campaign finance disclosures shows.
Platner’s campaign raised over $3 million in his highly-touted campaign for Senate, but despite how he rails against the current health insurance system as a “disaster,” he does not appear to provide the type of coverage to his employees that he seems to believe is a necessity.
EXCLUSIVE: Trio of GOP appropriators explain why the House won’t negotiate with Senate Democrats on the Schumer Shutdown
by Matthew Foldi
Three appropriators walk into a recording studio during the Schumer Shutdown, and the result is the latest podcast from the Republican Study Committee (RSC), obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter.
Reps. Riley Moore (R., W.Va [ [link removed] ].), Mark Alford (R., Mo.), and Robert Aderholt (R., Ala.) joined for a rare remote episode of the RSC’s Right to the Point podcast, which Alford — a former longtime local newsman — anchored once again.
Right from the onset, Alford made his position clear to his colleagues across the aisle and across the Hill.
“We are not going to negotiate,” Alford said. “We have done our part on the Appropriations Committee. We have passed all 12 appropriation bills out of committee. It was a hard fought battle with the Democrats offering numerous amendments during this process. We got three passed off the House floor, sent them over to the Senate to be in conference and they’ve done nothing with that. They’d rather shut down the government than give us seven extra weeks till November 21st to get our funding done for 2026 return to regular order.”
SCOOP: Secretary Doug Burgum and API make the bipartisan case for permitting reform
by Matthew Foldi
Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum made an impassioned case for President Donald Trump’s America First energy policy at a conference hosted by the American Petroleum Institute (API), telling a packed room that, under Trump, “we’re doing what people said was impossible.”
“This is a bipartisan issue,” API’s CEO Mike Sommers stressed on stage with Burgum, who told Sommers and the assembled crew of energy advocates that “the permitting you’re working on is central; it’s nothing short of prosperity at home and peace abroad.” He added that if people want to work on something “meaningful” in their lives, permitting is the way to go.
The well-coiffed Burgum also laid out the case for the Trump administration’s agenda. “At the highest levels we’re looking at a couple metrics,” he said. On critical minerals, policymakers look at the periodic table and ask “how fast can we get secure on those supply chains?” On artificial intelligence, he made it simple: “we need more gigawatts.”
SCOOP: NRCC leverages violent, un-American rhetoric of No Kings rallies against Hakeem Jeffries
by Matthew Foldi
Across America, Democratic lawmakers and candidates teamed up with the Communist Party of America, the Democratic Socialists of America, and other assorted left-wing groups to protest the existence of a king that America hasn’t had in 250 years.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) praised the No Kings protest, which Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) recently exposed as being, in part, a George Soros-funded astroturf movement, as being “American as motherhood, baseball, and apple pie.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is already latching on to Jeffries’s praise of the radical movement; in a video obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter, the NRCC compiled footage of No Kings protests across America, in which attendees eagerly embraced political violence, celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk, claimed that ICE agents need to be “wiped out,” and more.
“Sometimes you have to be violent,” one attendee claimed. “If I had the chance, I would” murder Stephen Miller, another said.
SCOOP: Trump, Kennedy Center to bestow rare posthumous award to KISS guitarist
by Matthew Foldi
President Donald Trump and the Kennedy Center are poised to make history with a rare posthumous induction of an all-American music industry icon into the prestigious circle of Kennedy Center Honors.
Ace Frehley, the co-founder and lead guitarist of KISS, was poised to receive the center’s honor this year alongside his fellow bandmates, but tragically died after a sudden fall.
After the Kennedy Center announced plans to honor Frehley and his bandmates this summer, the guitarist called the plans “a dream come true that I never thought would materialize.”
Following his death, tributes immediately poured in for Frehley from across the music industry.
John 5, the Mötley Crüe guitarist, remarked that one of the last things that Frehley ever said to him was how “excited” he was to attend the Kennedy Center’s prestigious awards ceremony.
OPINIONATED
Op-Ed: Rep. Ronny Jackson: President Trump is restoring America’s role as the leader of the free world
by Rep. Ronny Jackson
Over Columbus Day weekend, the entire world watched as President Donald J. Trump did what no other leader had managed in eons: brokered a peace agreement between Israel, Hamas, and most of the Arab world. The deal wasn’t luck. It was the result of a disciplined approach to foreign policy that treats peace as something earned through strength, not wished for or just talked about.
For decades, Middle East foreign policy has been defined by lack of action and by false promises. Administration after administration pledged peace but lacked the leverage and skill to deliver results. President Trump, the master negotiator, broke this cycle. During his first term, he achieved historic progress through the Abraham Accords, proving that lasting peace in the region is possible. But that momentum evaporated under Joe Biden’s weak leadership. Now, the world is once again witnessing President Trump restore that progress, taking the first step toward a new era of peace and stability in the Middle East.
Unlike the career politicians who have built their reputations on empty rhetoric, President Trump came to office with a much different background. As a businessman, he developed negotiation skills that created a new approach to American leadership. Rather than following the traditional playbook, he has prioritized American interests while securing tangible outcomes.
Op-Ed: Rep. Scott Franklin: The Democrats’ filibuster comes at America’s expense
by Rep. Scott Franklin
We are now more than two weeks into the government shutdown with no end in sight. Much of what Americans are hearing from the media is misleading. This shutdown is not the result of Republicans refusing to negotiate. It is the result of Senate Democrats playing political games while American families and federal workers pay the price.
House Republicans and one Democrat voted on September 19th to keep the government fully funded. We passed a clean continuing resolution to prevent a shutdown, keeping funding roughly flat through November 21. This bill also extended critical programs like Women and Infant Children (WIC) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which expired on September 30th. Senate Democrats continue to block it in the upper chamber.
Rather than focus on restoring funding for our troops and federal workers, Senate Democrats keep making unrelated demands. Their primary excuse to keep the government shut down accuses Republicans of failing to negotiate on healthcare. That claim is a red herring. The Obamacare subsidies they cite were an emergency measure designed to help families locked down during the pandemic. They are scheduled to expire at the end of the year and were never intended to be part of the short-term spending bill.
Op-Ed: Rep. Vince Fong: The Schumer Shutdown needs to end. Each month Washington stalls, California loses $9 billion
by Rep. Vince Fong
We’re now almost a month into a completely avoidable government shutdown — and the cost to the American people is growing by the day. Every month Washington stalls, California’s military families, workers, vulnerable communities, and small businesses pay the price. We must reopen the government immediately and that requires Senate Democrats to be adults in the room and prioritize governing for all Americans, not just the progressive wing of their party.
Despite nearly a dozen opportunities to reopen the government, Senate Democrats continue to vote against a clean, short-term funding extension — choosing political theater over practical solutions and hurting the very people they claim to protect.
What’s especially frustrating is that Senate Democrats have previously supported clean, temporary funding bills — voting for them 13 times over the past several years, including a nearly identical bill in March. Yet now, they’re holding the government hostage over a demand for $1.5 trillion in new, partisan spending — a reckless ask for just four weeks of funding.

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