Washington Reporter We back TrumpRx, a poll shows GOP voters oppose a
Nexstar-Tegna merger, and Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Kent Conrad lay out how to
win the AI race

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February 10th, 2026

In this edition


[1] INTERVIEW: How Rep. Erin Houchin's bipartisan bill could lower housing
costs for Americans
[2] Heard on the Hill
[3] EDITORIAL: TrumpRx is a massive win for affordability
[4] EXCLUSIVE: Lawmakers introduce bipartisan bill to help first-time
homebuyers, lower cost of down payments
[5] EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Buddy Carter rolls out legislation to reinforce Trump's
crackdown on illegal immigration
[6] EXCLUSIVE: Reps. Pat Harrigan and Don Beyer introduce bipartisan bill to
useNASA technology to track methane leaks
[7] EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Austin Scott on whistleblower complaint targeting DNI
Tulsi Gabbard: "just another attempt to smear the Trump administration"
[8] EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Ben Cline dismisses "non-credible" whistleblower complaint
againstDNI Tulsi Gabbard: "There is no evidence to support any of these claims"
[9] SCOOP: GOP voters overwhelmingly opposed Nexstar-Tegna merger ahead of Cruz
hearing
[10] SCOOP: Congress backs DNI Tulsi Gabbard following "bunk" whistleblower
report
[11] SCOOP: Trump-Kennedy Center hosts shows to counter historic and current
anti-Semitism
[12] OPINIONATED: Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Kent Conrad lay out how to prevent
China from dominating the AI race
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[1] INTERVIEW: How Rep. Erin Houchin's bipartisan bill could lower housing
costs for Americans
By: Matthew Foldi

When Rep. Erin Houchin (R., Ind.) was 26, she and her husband purchased land
in Indiana that they still live on today — an experience that would be almost
impossible to replicate today, Houchin told theWashington Reporter in an
interview.

"We were building in the Midwest many years ago, when the interest rates were
a lot better," Houchin said. "So we didn't have an interest rate problem. We
also could refinance, which we ended up doing much later. But we had to have a
co-signer on our loan, and we had to have some collateral of some kind, and we
were able to, through family support, have that collateral support, and many
people don't have that, we were very fortunate to."

"But we look back on that time and think, ‘how did we survive?'" she said. "I
think you just find a way to do it."

The Houchin family was able to make the "sacrifice" necessary to afford the
American dream of homeownership. But, Houchin said, that doesn't mean it was
easy.

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[2]
Heard on the Hill

* CONGRESS TO FCC: Around one-quarter of House Republicans wrote to Brendan
Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), urging the
FCC to not lift the television ownership cap. Over 40 House Republicans, led by
Rep. Dan Meuser (R., Pa.), "also urge the Commission to reject any merger or
FCC waiver that violates the statutory Cap and fails to serve the public
interest."
* DEFUND ICE 2.0: Senate Republicans are increasingly prepared to fight it
out with Democrats over the Democrats' demands to fund the DHS appropriations
bill. Republicans are convinced that, in the long-term, defending ICE is a
political winner. Senate Republican leadership has been sharing polls showing
that a solid majority of Americans still favor deporting all illegal aliens.
"Defund ICE is the new defund the police" said one Senate source.
* WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM: Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) hosted a hearing about
media ownership in the digital age. Among the witnesses were Newsmax's CEO,
Chris Ruddy, who argued that President Donald Trump is getting bad advice from
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr when it comes to the Nexstar-Tegna merger.
* NATSEC CONCERNS: Former Sen. Richard Burr (R., N.C.), the chairman of the
Coalition for Smarter Regulation of Nicotine (Regulate Smarter), cautioned that
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has more work to do when it comes
to cracking down on illicit vapes that China is flooding America's markets
with. "At home and abroad, the downstream consequences of a misguided
regulatory approach toward nicotine are playing out in real time and
demonstrate the far-reaching impacts that jeopardize public safety and foster
criminal activity," Burr noted. "Unlike other illegal products that operate in
the shadows, the illicit nicotine product market in the United States is
operating in plain sight. We encourage FDA to continue their enforcement
efforts and act with urgency to deliver product decisions on applications
awaiting review so adult consumers have more legal options and retailers get
the clarity they need."
* HERE'S TO THE HARPERS: State Affairs's Caroline Bryant and Ethan Harper,
the chief counsel to Sen. Eric Schmitt (R., Mo.), tied the knot this weekend at
Bethesda's Fourth Presbyterian Church. Among those in attendance were former
Sen. Ben Sasse (R., Neb.), Alex Sasse, Gefen Kabik, Emily Jacobs, Jeremy Hunt,
Jonah Wendt, McKenna Wendt, Haley Strack, Peter Berkowitz, Dylan Gresik, Jesus
Osete, Austin Rogers, and Chris Zhen.
* LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL: On Saturday, friends packed into Georgetown Piano
Bar for a lively birthday bash celebrating Stephen Lewerenz, Luke Wilt, and
Andre Torres. Among those spotted were Marisela Ramirez, Grace Newton, Meg
Tome, Ryan Schmelz, Alex Miller, Haley Talbot, Blake Kernen, Zach Halaschak,
Hunter Lovell, Bryn McCarthy, Eric Fejer, Hannah Eddins, Matthew Donnell,
Sterling Stockwell, Joe Gulla, Anna Margaret Burnett, Gigi Powers, Olivia
Fahrmann, Sarah Young, Anna Rose Moore, Kathleen Bochow, Carolyn Holran, Bryce
Billiot, Ben Sharp, Perry Mains, Mitchell Shea, Aliza Fassett, Ben Sumner, Nate
Lerner, Paycen Brouillette, Gardner McCabe, and Sarah Gallagher.
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[3] EDITORIAL: TrumpRx is a massive win for affordability
By: Washington Reporter Editors

As former Republican Hill staffers who've lived through countless budget
fights and health care debates, we know how hard it is to get a real policy
win. TrumpRx is one of those rare wins. It's already lowered costs for patients
in the most tangible, obvious way imaginable. And the president deserves our
praise for getting this done.

TrumpRx is the product of sustained negotiations and dealmaking with
industry, backed by a White House that put affordability first. It's arguably
the most consequential health care achievement not just for this
administration, but for any administration in recent history.

It's also something Democrats never would have done. Not because they don't
talk about drug prices, which they do, but because their instinct is always
more price controls and government. A serious public-private partnership that
forces real price concessions through negotiation rather than regulation is
something that is foreign to the Democratic Party.

Just as important politically, TrumpRx takes one of the Democrats' favorite
attack lines off the table. For years, they've claimed Republicans can't
deliver lower drug prices. That Democratic attack is now disproven.

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[4]
EXCLUSIVE: Lawmakers introduce bipartisan bill to help first-time homebuyers,
lower cost of down payments
By: Matthew Foldi

A bipartisan group of lawmakers will introduce legislation to empower
first-time homebuyers by allowing them to use leftover tax-free 529 plan funds
to buy or build their first homes, giving buyers more options to use
tax-advantaged savings.

The First-Time Homebuyer Empowerment Act, a copy of which was obtained
exclusively by theWashington Reporter, will be introduced by Reps. Tracey Mann
(R., Kansas), Mark Alford (R., Mo.), Tom Barrett (R., Mich.), Lou Correa (D.,
Calif.), James Moylan (R., Guam), John McGuire (R., Va.), Russ Fulcher (R.,
Idaho), Sharice Davids (D., Kansas), and Nancy Mace (R., S.C.). It comes among
a bipartisan push to lower the cost of housing — especially for first-time
homebuyers. Lawmakers want to remove barriers for first-time homebuyers,
especially when it comes to putting down large down payments.

"Homeownership is the heart of the American Dream," Mann told the Reporter.
"The ability to provide a safe, stable place to raise a family is so important
for the future of our country. Today, too many young Americans feel that owning
a home continues to become more and more out of reach. Our legislation gives
people more flexibility on how to use their savings, opening up pathways for
more Americans to own equity in their homes."

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[5] EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Buddy Carter rolls out legislation to reinforce Trump's
crackdown on illegal immigration
By: Matthew Foldi

Rep. Buddy Carter (R., Ga.) introduced legislation, obtained exclusively by
theWashington Reporter, to assist the Trump administration in its crackdown on
illegal immigration.

Carter's No Sanctuary Cities Act would ensure that dangerous individuals
don't slip through the cracks because of sanctuary city policies. The bill
requires state and local governments to cooperate with federal immigration
authorities by sharing custody and release information, holding certain
detainees for up to 48 hours when requested, protecting officers who comply,
and punishing jurisdictions that try to block or limit that cooperation.

Carter's home state of Georgia has been rocked by the battle over illegal
immigration; Laken Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University, was murdered
in 2024 by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. Her murder led to the
bipartisan passage of the Laken Riley Act, that requires the Secretary of the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take illegal immigrants who have been
charged in the United States with theft into custody.

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[6] EXCLUSIVE: Reps. Pat Harrigan and Don Beyer introduce bipartisan bill to
use NASA technology to track methane leaks
By: Matthew Foldi

The NASA Reauthorization Act led to a bipartisan bill that would instruct
NASA to "use the satellites and data infrastructure it already runs to deliver
more accurate methane measurements, without adding new regulations or expanding
enforcement authority," one of its sponsors told theWashington Reporter.

Reps. Pat Harrigan (R., N.C.) and Don Beyer (D., Va.), are introducing the
Methane Monitoring Science Act of 2026, obtained exclusively by the Reporter,
which builds off of what Harrigan described as a "common-sense, high-impact R&D
measure that directs NASA to evaluate and integrate its existing methane
characterization assets, including satellite hardware, public-private
partnerships, and data systems, to sharpen the competitive edge of American
energy."

But, Harrigan noted, "to maintain our competitive edge, U.S. industry will
increasingly depend on the accurate monitoring of methane emissions across the
entire natural gas supply chain. Currently, we have a ‘blind spot.' Today's
methane characterization technologies are often fragmented or limited in their
ability to deliver the complex, real-time measurements required by a modern
economy. This technical gap puts America's carbon advantage and our energy
dominance at risk. If we cannot measure it, we cannot defend our lead in places
like Europe."

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[7] EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Austin Scott on whistleblower complaint targeting DNI
Tulsi Gabbard: "just another attempt to smear the Trump administration"
By: Matthew Foldi

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard is getting backup from
key lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee, after a highly-classified
whistleblower complaint alleging that she restricted the distribution of an
intelligence report for political purposes came out.

The "whistleblower complaint against Director Gabbard is just another attempt
to smear the Trump administration," Rep. Austin Scott (R., Ga.), the chair of
the subcommittee on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that
oversees the DNI, explained to theWashington Reporter. This is Scott's first
public defense of Gabbard amidst the fallout from the whistleblower complaint.

"The media conveniently omits the fact that both the Biden-era [Intelligence
Community Inspector General] Tamara Johnson, and current IC IG, Chris Fox,
determined the complaint to be non-credible," Scott added. Gabbard's own team
made similar points to the Reporter in rejecting the report; one GOP senator
who viewed the report described it as "bunk."

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[8]
EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Ben Cline dismisses "non-credible" whistleblower complaint
against DNI Tulsi Gabbard: "There is no evidence to support any of these claims"
By: Matthew Foldi

Rep. Ben Cline (R., Va.), one of the Republicans on the House Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence, is the latest to explain exclusively to the
Washington Reporter why he is backing Director of National Intelligence (DNI)
following a whistleblower complaint that has already been dismissed as "bunk."

"The whistleblower complaint alleging that Director Gabbard improperly
restricted the distribution of an intelligence report has been reviewed, and
both the Biden-era Intelligence Community Inspector General and the current
inspector general found it to be non-credible," Cline exclusively told the
Reporter.

"There is no evidence to support any of these claims, which are based on
unverified assertions rather than documented intelligence or firsthand
confirmation," Cline added. "These allegations are just attempts by Democrats
to distract from the great work being done by the Trump administration.
Director Gabbard continues to carry out her national security responsibilities,
and congressional oversight should be based on facts and established processes,
not speculation or politically driven narratives."

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[9] SCOOP: GOP voters overwhelmingly opposed Nexstar-Tegna merger ahead of
Cruz hearing
By: Matthew Foldi

As the Senate prepares to examine whether to loosen longstanding limits on
media consolidation, a new national poll obtained exclusively by theWashington
Reporter shows the Republican base is overwhelmingly opposed to the proposed
Nexstar-Tegna merger, a deal critics like Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy warn would
raise consumer costs, reduce local news coverage, and concentrate unprecedented
control over local television in the hands of a single company.

The findings come just days before Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) is set to hold a
hearing Tuesday on whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should
loosen its national television ownership cap, which is currently set at 39
percent of U.S. households. Lifting or waiving that cap would allow Nexstar
Media Group to complete its acquisition of Tegna, expanding its reach to more
than 80 percent of American television households, more than double what the
current cap permits.

According to a new survey conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, Republican
primary voters oppose the Nexstar-Tegna merger by a 68 percent to 7 percent
margin. After voters were informed about the practical effects of the merger,
including higher prices, reduced local coverage, and increased centralized
control, opposition surged to 96 percent, with more than eight in ten
Republican voters saying they strongly oppose the deal.

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[10]
SCOOP: Congress backs DNI Tulsi Gabbard following "bunk" whistleblower report
By: Matthew Foldi

Lawmakers are defending Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard
following a highly-classified whistleblower complaint alleging that Gabbard
undertook a series of politically-motivated moves within the intelligence
community (IC), which was recently fact-checked by theWashington Reporter.

One senator who directly viewed the whistleblower's allegations described the
complaint as "bunk," the Reporter can confirm. Following widespread criticisms
of both the complaint and of its coverage, which first came from the Wall
Street Journal, a senior GOP aide remarked to the Reporter that it appears "the
complaint really was liberal BS."

Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence, noted that he has "reviewed this ‘whistleblower' complaint and
the inspector general handling of it. I agree with both inspectors general who
have evaluated the matter: the complaint is not credible and the inspectors
general and the DNI took the necessary steps to ensure the material has handled
and transmitted appropriately in accordance with law."

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[11] SCOOP: Trump-Kennedy Center hosts shows to counter historic and current
anti-Semitism
By: Matthew Foldi

The Trump-Kennedy Center (TKC) hosted a pair of shows geared toward combating
anti-Semitism.

Back to back, the TKC hosted Enduring Music: Compositions from the Holocaust,
which was sponsored by the Counter Extremism Project, and a stage reading of
the play October 7, which was written by a pair of Irish producers and based on
interviews with survivors of the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack in Israel.

Prior to the Enduring Music performance, the TKC hosted a VIP dinner; among
those in attendance were Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Martin Marks, the President of
Yeshiva University Rabbi Ari Berman, and Counter Extremism Project Ambassador
Mark Wallace.

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[12]
OPINIONATED


Op-Ed: Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Kent Conrad: Don't let permitting red tape
cost America the AI race
By: Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Kent Conrad

China is building the power grid of the future. Meanwhile, America lags,
slowed by regulations and permitting delays. Without a modern power grid, the
U.S. risks falling behind China in a race that will define the next century of
technological and economic growth.

Over the past decade, Beijing has aggressively expanded its energy capacity
at a pace Washington has struggled to match. Over the last few years, China has
added more than 11 times the generating capacity of the U.S. It has outpaced
the U.S. in generating electricity for more than 14 consecutive years and is on
track to add 60 percent additional capacity by 2040.

This divergence is no accident. China treats energy as a strategic national
industrial project, while the U.S. relies on an aging grid pieced together over
decades. China invests hundreds of billions of dollars more into its energy
systems, including more than 18,000 miles of ultrahigh voltage transmission
lines. Over the same time frame, the United States hasn't built a single mile
of comparable systems.

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