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October 31st, 2025
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Let’s dive in.
INTERVIEW: Rep. August Pfluger on how the “conservative conscience of Congress” is navigating the Schumer Shutdown
INTERVIEW: Rep. Stephanie Bice on the Schumer Shutdown’s damage to American energy producers and Native Americans
Heard on the Hill
EXCLUSIVE: Sens. Bill Cassidy, Jim Banks roll out legislation to repeal Biden-era ESG mandates for fiduciaries
EXCLUSIVE: NRSC memo explains to Senate stakeholders across the country how Schumer Shutdown is devastating Democrats
EXCLUSIVE: “ODNI and the FBI are united in working with Congress” following Charlie Kirk’s assassination, rejecting New York Times report
SCOOP: Former Homeland Security Secretary backs Ted Cruz’s Stop FUNDERs Act to prosecute funders of political violence
OPINIONATED: Rep. John Faso on the New York prosecutors who actually do their jobs, Doug Blair on how the left’s gerrymandering push is backfiring, Jared Whitley on how consolidation in the weight loss drug space could jeopardize Trump’s wins, and Eric Ventimiglia on a campaign finance scandal roiling the Maine Senate race
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INTERVIEW: Rep. August Pfluger on how the “conservative conscience of Congress” is navigating the Schumer Shutdown
by Matthew Foldi
As Chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), Rep. August Pfluger represents what he calls the “conservative conscience of Congress”; the RSC is the largest caucus of House Republicans, and under Pfluger’s leadership it now boasts a new podcast and a sprawling messaging apparatus.
Throughout the Schumer Shutdown, Pfluger and his caucus members have been everywhere; most recently, they jointly hosted a press conference with House GOP leadership and welcomed Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R., La.) on the Right to the Point Podcast, both of which were covered by the Washington Reporter.
Pfluger explained his new media approach in an interview with the Reporter: “the way that people receive information and where they go to find truth is now less and less from the mainstream media, and it’s more and more the people that they trust who will bring the facts to them,” he said. “And that’s why we choose to communicate through you and through others, because we know that there are millions of people who are so fed up with the ABCs and the CBSs and the NBCs that they just say ‘we’re not going to go there anymore, because we don’t believe what we’re being told.’ You can go to every interview that Mike Johnson has done with George Stephanopoulos and everybody else and see the spin.”
INTERVIEW: Rep. Stephanie Bice on the Schumer Shutdown’s damage to American energy producers and Native Americans
by Matthew Foldi
As the Schumer Shutdown careens into its second month, Republicans are growing increasingly frustrated between the contrast of President Donald Trump securing peace deals and trade deals abroad, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) continue their historic obstruction.
Rep. Stephanie Bice (R., Okla.) painted a bleak picture of the GOP’s attempts to negotiate in the legislative branch, while the executive branch continues its work apace. “It’s easier to negotiate with Hamas evidently than it is to negotiate with Democrats right now,” she told the Washington Reporter in an interview.
“You can bring peace to the Middle East, but you can’t get the government back open,” Bice said. “It’s actually pretty remarkable. We are willing to have conversations around those important topics, including health care, but we’re not going to be forced or held hostage by Democrats to do things that are unreasonable, and that’s what they’re asking right now. They’re asking us to spend $1.5 trillion on a variety of health care initiatives, and some that are not health care-driven, in order to open government back up. And that’s just not tenable.”
The Democrats’ demands, Bice explained, stand in contrast with what she’s seen both from her fellow Oklahoman on the Appropriations Committee and from Trump.
Heard on the Hill
ANOTHER TRUMP WIN: Amgen announced that it will increase both U.S. investment and job creation due to President Donald Trump’s tax bill.
BIPARTISANSHIP AMIDST THE SHUTDOWN: Nature Is Nonpartisan hosted a reception at Union Station celebrating the launch of the Senate Stewardship Caucus with Co-Chairs Sen. Martin Heinrich (D., N.M.) and Sen. Tim Sheehy (R., Mont.). Spotted: Sen. Steve Daines (R., Mont.), Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.), Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D., Nev.), Sen. John Hickenlooper (D., Colo.), Benji Backer, Collin O’Mara, Mike Reszler, Zach Hartman, Joel Pederson, Laird Hamberlin, Andrew Mills, Leslie Jones, Jerome Foster II, Pasha Majdi, Ben Cassidy, and Amelia Joy.
SPOOKY DECORATIONS: A liberal Supreme Court justice in Maryland, appointed by Gov. Wes Moore (D., Md.) — a potential presidential candidate — is under fire for a left-wing array of Halloween signs in his front yard. Supreme Court Justice Peter Killough is currently involved in ruling on a high-stakes environmental case, and legal experts flagged that his lawn display that features tombs for concepts like “climate science” may cast doubt on his partiality.
LAUNCH PARTY: The Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) held its Summit on Ending Christian Persecution at the Kennedy Center, featuring a mix of administration officials, lawmakers, and faith leaders gathered to highlight global threats to religious freedom. Matt Schlapp, CPAC’s Chairman, and Mercedes Schlapp, CPAC Senior Fellow, led the event, joined by Jenny Korn, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Faith Office, Rep. Chris Smith (R., N.J.), a longtime religious freedom advocate; Rep. Riley Moore (R., W.Va.); and former Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), President Trump’s nominee as Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, Sebastian Gorka, Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism. Others in attendance were Erik Prince, Chairman of Unplugged Technologies and founder of Blackwater, Lara Logan, investigative journalist and war correspondent, Jack Posobiec, Senior Editor at Human Events, David and Jason Benham, Chris Craigman, and Jordan Sekulow from the American Center for Law and Justice. CPAC also launched its Center for Faith and Liberty during the confab.
BILLIONS FROM OVERSEAS: Americans for Public Trust released a bombshell report [ [link removed] ] about how just five charities from foreign countries have donated almost $2 billion to advocacy efforts in America that focused heavily on pushing left-wing talking point on climate.
BRIGHT SPOT FOR SCHOOLS: Alums for Campus Fairness (ACF), led by Executive Director Avi Gordon and Managing Director Trey Meehan, drew a high-wattage lineup of university leaders for a Capitol Hill event honoring institutions that have distinguished themselves in the fight against campus anti-Semitism. The panel discussion featured chancellors Andrew Martin of Washington University in St. Louis, Daniel Diermeier of Vanderbilt University (and formerly of the University of Chicago), and Kent Syverud of Syracuse University. Politico’s Ben Jacobs moderated a discussion in which the academics took frank stock of their successes and shortcomings in navigating the spike in anti-Jewish hate since October 7th, 2023. It was a stark counterpoint to the defensive crouch other university leaders have assumed in contentious congressional hearings on the same issue. Among those spotted were Dalia Calvillo of Christians United for Israel, Robin Bailey-Chen of Hillel, Grace Keathly of Passages Israel, and Todd Silberglied of the Israel on Campus Coalition. Hill staffers and federal relations professionals also turned out, including representatives from Florida International University, The Ohio State University, and colleagues from Lehigh University.
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EXCLUSIVE: Sens. Bill Cassidy, Jim Banks roll out legislation to repeal Biden-era ESG mandates for fiduciaries
by Matthew Foldi
Sens. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) and Jim Banks (R., Ind.) want fiduciaries to prioritize profits over left-wing ideology, just like they used to, according to new pieces of legislation obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter.
The two lawmakers, who both serve on the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, want fiduciaries to prioritize “what is best for the workers’ hard-earned savings,” as Cassidy explained.
Cassidy, for his part, is introducing the Restoring Integrity in Fiduciary Duty Act, a piece of legislation that protects American workers’ retirements from progressive activists by reinforcing the boundaries of which fiduciaries may act within.
Prior to President Joe Biden’s tenure in the White House, these sorts of measures were commonplace. However, Biden repealed measures put in place during the first Trump administration that protected retirees’ accounts from untested investment strategies favored by many in the ESG world.
A message from our sponsor.
President Trump promised to protect Medicare for seniors — but the No UPCODE Act would cut Medicare Advantage by billions of dollars. This after cuts from the previous administration have already reduced benefits and increased costs for millions of beneficiaries. Protect seniors. Stop the No UPCODE Act.
EXCLUSIVE: NRSC memo explains to Senate stakeholders across the country how Schumer Shutdown is devastating Democrats
by Matthew Foldi
As the Schumer Shutdown enters its second month, tens of millions of Americans who receive SNAP benefits are poised to see those cut as soon as this weekend — and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is out with guidance, obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter, that lays out why Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) is squarely to blame for these cuts.
“As the Schumer Shutdown drags on and the SNAP deadline approaches, it’s important for Senate Republicans to drive home our message both nationally and in battleground states: Democrats are demanding free health care for illegals over paychecks and benefits for working American families and our troops,” the memo reads. “This week alone, Schumer and Senate Democrats voted against paying essential federal workers, against funding SNAP benefits for 42 million Americans, and against paying our military.”
The memo goes on to contrast how Senate Republicans and Democrats are approaching the shutdown and its consequences, while also giving a state-by-state overview of how the “Schumer Shutdown is hurting families, threatening benefits, and putting illegal aliens ahead of Americans across the country and in Senate Battlegrounds.”
EXCLUSIVE: “ODNI and the FBI are united in working with Congress” following Charlie Kirk’s assassination, rejecting New York Times report
by Matthew Foldi
Top officials in the Trump administration’s intelligence community tell the Washington Reporter that reports of disunity between the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the FBI, following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
In the wake of a story in the New York Times spotlighting alleged divisions between Joe Kent, the head of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), and FBI Director Kash Patel, officials representing their agencies told the Reporter that reports of a feud are drastically overhyped.
“The ODNI and the FBI are united in working with Congress to strengthen our nation’s counterintelligence efforts to best protect the safety, security, and freedom of the American people,” an ODNI official told the Reporter.
Specifically, the official added that when it comes to the efforts to solve the case about Kirk’s assassination, “the FBI and intelligence community under the direction of President Trump will leave no stone unturned in the investigation of the assassination of our friend, Charlie Kirk.”
SCOOP: Former Homeland Security Secretary backs Ted Cruz’s Stop FUNDERs Act to prosecute funders of political violence
by Matthew Foldi
Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) scored yet another major endorsement in his fight to pass legislation designed to dismantle the web of far-left NGOs that is seemingly ever-present behind the funding of anti-American rallies across the country.
Cruz’s Stop FUNDERs Act, which would help law enforcement dismantle this network, has already been endorsed by FBI Director Kash Patel and by Tysen Duva, nominee for Assistant Attorney General For The Criminal Division, among other law enforcement officials.
Now, Cruz can add former Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf to its backers.
During a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Political Violence, Cruz described his legislation as a move that “adds rioting as a predicate offense to RICO to enable the Department of Justice to use the full tools that have been directed at the mafia to go after the corrupt enterprise, because at the end of the day, the thug who is engaged in violence is committing criminal acts, but the billionaire who is trying to tear down this country by writing checks to fund it bears, in many ways, far greater responsibility.”
OPINIONATED
Op-Ed: Rep. John Faso: The prosecutors who New Yorkers should be talking about
by Rep. John Faso
As George Soros’s Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg continues to make national headlines for refusing to enforce our laws, it’s easy to forget that New York’s criminal justice system doesn’t begin and end in Manhattan. Across the state, prosecutors are quietly doing the hard work of keeping their communities safe, and two of them — Orange County DA David Hoovler and Nassau County DA Anne Donnelly — deserve our support now more than ever.
While Bragg’s office has become synonymous with leniency and political grandstanding, Hoovler and Donnelly represent the opposite approach. They stand with victims and law enforcement, and they understand that their job is to enforce the law and ensure justice for those who break it.
In Orange County, District Attorney David Hoovler has reduced overall crime by more than 39 percent since 2013, leading more than 2,100 drug indictments and 626 illegal gun prosecutions. A former police detective and U.S. Department of Justice trial attorney, Hoovler combines real-world law enforcement experience with a results-driven approach that protects victims and keeps violent offenders off the streets.
Op-Ed: Doug Blair: The Left’s gerrymandering game is finally backfiring
by Doug Blair
The word of the year is “redistricting.” Everyone’s doing it!
Redistricting normally happens every ten years, following the census. But thanks to recent Supreme Court rulings and shifting political control in key legislatures, states can now revisit their maps mid-decade.
Texas kicked off the 2025 trend with a mid-decade redistricting push that could hand Republicans up to five additional congressional seats.
Several red states followed Texas’s lead — among them Missouri, North Carolina, and Utah. But Democratic stronghold California cried foul, placing Proposition 50 on the ballot to let voters decide whether “independent commission” maps should be replaced by safer, Democratic ones.
Even purple states like Virginia could join in on the redistricting action if Democrat Abigail Spanberger wins the governor’s mansion this November.
Op-Ed: Jared Whitley: Consolidation in weight loss R&D would jeopardize President Trump’s drug pricing wins
by Jared Whitley
A muscular, populist approach to government is typified by President Teddy Roosevelt’s philosophy to “speak softly and carry a big stick.” Amidst a new century, new technology and new lifestyles demanded a new approach to government — a “New Nationalism” which frequently put him at loggerheads with corporate America and even his own party. In articulating this, he said [ [link removed] ]:
“I stand for the square deal. But when I say that I am for the square deal, I mean not merely that I stand for fair play under the present rules of the game, but that I stand for having those rules changed so as to work for a more substantial equality of opportunity…The American people are right in demanding that New Nationalism, without which we cannot hope to deal with new problems.”
As he’s spent the last 100 years looking down on his successors, he must be delighted to see that one of them has finally picked that stick back up.
Op-Ed: Eric Ventimiglia: How a Maine Senate candidate cashed in on getting “big money out of politics”
by Eric Ventimiglia
Recent revelations of self-dealing by a major D.C.-based fundraising firm that generates millions online for liberal causes and candidates have raised serious ethical concerns about the consultants involved and exposed the hypocrisy of one of the largest advocacy groups in the space, End Citizens United (ECU).
Founded in 2015 by Democratic political consultants Jake Lipsett, Greg Berlin, and Charles Starnes, ECU’s stated mission [ [link removed] ] was “fixing our democracy by getting big money out of politics.” The group was named for and focused on overturning the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. FEC, which, on free speech grounds, negated certain campaign finance restrictions and allowed corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited money on elections.
However, recent reports indicate that rather than limiting money in politics, ECU’s founders have instead raised hundreds of millions of dollars and kept most of it for themselves.

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