Washington Reporter Rep. Mike Rogers gets seven figures of ad backup, Gov.
Kelly Armstrong won big at home, another 340B bombshell hits, and more! Rep.
Mike Rogers gets seven figures of ad backup, Gov. Kelly Armstrong won big at
home, another 340B bombshell hits, and more! ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

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June 18th, 2026


In This Edition

[1] INTERVIEW: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum lays out “blueprint” that
President Donald Trump has for revitalizing cities across America
[2] Heard on the Hill
[3] EDITORIAL: The Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act puts data
at risk while raising costs. Republicans should vote no.
[4] EXCLUSIVE: President Donald Trump gets bipartisan backup for Abraham
Accords expansion
[5] EXCLUSIVE: Bombshell 340B Haitian fraud case sparks growing Capitol Hill
scrutiny
[6] EXCLUSIVE: Grover Norquist wants to help Rep. Ro Khanna pay millions of
dollars in taxes
[7] EXCLUSIVE: Coalition for Affordability & Prosperity urges Congress to
oppose controversial Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act
[8] SCOOP: Plaintiffs’ lawyers donate big to Graham Platner as trial bar
pushes healthcare bills in Congress
[9] SCOOP: Gov. Kelly Armstrong wins big in North Dakota primaries
[10] COLUMN: Mike Fragoso: Take the fight to Schumer with James McDonald
[11] OPINIONATED: Matthew Foldi on why Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling
has earned the full-time job



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1 INTERVIEW Interior Secretary Doug Burgum lays out “blueprint” that President
Donald Trump has for revitalizing cities across America By: Matthew Foldi
President Donald Trump is one of the most famous builders in modern American
history, but Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is quickly putting his own mark on
Washington, D.C. alongside the President of the United States.

Pursuant to Trump’s executive order to make “the District of Columbia safe
and beautiful,” Burgum’s department has made viral progress on restoring some
of the most dilapidated sites in the nation’s capital — and most will spic and
span by the Fourth of July. TheWashington Reporter joined Burgum for a
four-hour ride along as he touted his successful cleanup across four sites: the
roof of the Lincoln Memorial, the top of the Washington Monument, Union
Station, and Meridian Hill Park.

Despite the beautification successes that Trump and Burgum have already
scored, he noted that there are “$4 billion unspent that we inherited from the
Biden administration that never got allocated” that he’d like to see go to
protecting National Parks all across America.

“One of the most significant pieces of legislation [from Trump’s first term]
was the Great America Outdoors Act,” Burgum explained. “There was a portion of
that which received a permanent authorization called the Land and Water
Conservation Fund. So that’s ongoing. The Legacy Restoration Fund was meant to
go towards deferred maintenance at our parks, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife, but with the majority going to the
National Parks.” That, however, has “expired, and it was riddled with a bunch
of ways that prevented the money actually getting out the door. There’s almost
$4 billion unspent that we inherited from the Biden administration that never
got allocated. We would like to get reauthorization and then get those dollars
out the door. We have huge deferred maintenance issues in the park.” Finish
Reading →
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2 HEARD ON THE HILL Heard on the Hill MOORE-MENTUM: The Washington Reporter
made a rarepre-primary endorsement
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of Rep. Barry Moore (R., Ala.) ahead of his Senate runoff; we argued that
Alabama Republican voters should stand with President Donald Trump and send
Moore to the Senate to succeed Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R., Ala.). We are pleased
to see that voters did just that, handing Moore a decisive victory. CUBAN VS.
KHANNA: Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, a frequent subject of Washington
Reporter interviews, is feuding online with Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) about
healthcare policy — which Cuban has made into one of his hot-button issues. “I
have an idea for you,” Cuban wrote to Khanna. “Get a bunch of Dem donors to buy
or lease or take over a small hospital. Plenty are close to going out of
business. Have it charge ONLY MEDICARE RATES. For everything. Be completely
transparent with every penny you spend so everyone can see what it truly costs
to run a small hospital. See if you can make it work. See what services you can
offer. Do not ask for any government subsidies. It has to operate at least to
break even. There are some hospitals that already do this. It wouldn’t be
unique. If it works out, you can buy another one. Then another one. Till you
have a network. I’ll help where I can. And for those asking the inevitable, I
have tried. As I posted earlier, they all ghosted me after learning how
transparent I wanted to be.” LOCK IN FAM: One of the top aides to Janeese Lewis
George, the likely next Mayor of Washington, D.C., posted that her “mission is
black queer disabled feminist joy and liberation…lock in fam.” UNDETERRED: Sen.
Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) was one of the reported targets of the would-be
assassins from this past weekend’s UFC fight at the White House. Blackburn,
however, is undeterred by the threat on her life. “I will not let maniacs like
this one deter me from celebrating or serving this great nation, and I am
grateful to law enforcement for keeping us safe,” she said. ALL IN THE FAMILY:
Abdul El-Sayed, one of the leading candidates for Senate in Michigan for the
Democrats, has a “queer communist half-sister” who is currently facing felony
charges for spitting on police officers. The Sentinel Action Fund (SAF) tied
that to how one of El-Sayed’s former staffers was arrested for “terrorizing”
University of Michigan leaders. SAF noted that El-Sayed’s “former staffer isn’t
the only person in his circle with radical beliefs and disdain for law
enforcement. His ‘queer communist half-sister’ is cut from the same cloth.”
GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT: Scott Kupor, the Director of the U.S. Office of
Personnel Management (OPM) is out with another reaction video that is on its
way to going viral. Watch ithere
<[link removed]>. FAKE NEWS: Senate
Majority Leader John Thune’s (R., S.D.) team is pushing back against a report
in theDaily Caller that claimed that Thune said that some Senate Republicans
“hate Trump too much to support Save American Act.” Ryan Wrasse, Thune’s
communications director, called the story the “the fakest of fake news.” BIG
BIRTHDAY WEEK: The Washington Reporter wishes a happy birthday to Newsmax’s
Kyra LaMotte, the House Small Business Committee’s AB Langley, the Department
of Education’s David Samberg, Rep. Carlos Gimenez’s Roberto Lugones, and to
Sen. Rick Scott’s Elli Dalton. CONGRATS: Congratulations to Allen English and
Audrey Kittila on their recent engagement! Share This →
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3 EDITORIAL The Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act puts data at
risk while raising costs. Republicans should vote no. By: Washington Reporter
Editors Hill sources tell us the Senate HELP Committee will soon vote on Sen.
Maggie Hassan’s (D., N.H.) Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act.
The bill would put private healthcare data at risk, expand the bureaucracy, and
increase costs. Republicans should vote no.

The bill is marketed as a way to bring down drug prices. It will do nothing
of the sort. By the sponsors’ own estimate, the Congressional Budget Office
pegged the savings at roughly $100 million over a decade, a rounding error
compared to trillions in healthcare spending. And the costs would far exceed
the savings with a new layer of federal paperwork, a new front for patent
litigation, and a fresh opening for the trial bar. Here is why Republicans
should oppose this.

First, the bill creates serious data security risks by requiring the transfer
of vast amounts of confidential health data to the Patent and Trademark Office.
A typical drug application submitted to the FDA can exceed 200,000 pages of
highly sensitive scientific and commercial information. The FDA has extensive
experience safeguarding this material. The Patent and Trademark Office, by
contrast, is primarily focused on public disclosure and lacks the FDA’s
expertise in handling sensitive biomedical data. As Sen. Chuck Grassley (R.,
Iowa), recentlynoted
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, China’s efforts to steal proprietary health care information and intellectual
property continue to grow. This legislation would create new opportunities for
foreign adversaries to gain access to valuable American research and
development data.

Second, the law already polices this conduct. Courts already void patents
secured through inequitable conduct, and the doctrine has been on the books for
generations. Backers point to so-called patent thickets and gaming between
agencies, but they have produced anecdotes, not evidence of a systemic failure
the courts cannot already reach. Republicans should be wary of standing up a
new federal regime on the premise that the existing one might be falling short.
Finish Reading →
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4 EXCLUSIVE President Donald Trump gets bipartisan backup for Abraham Accords
expansion By: Matthew Foldi One of President Donald Trump’s most significant
foreign policy achievements is getting bipartisan support from Congress; a
bipartisan group of lawmakers is introducing the Abraham Accords Expansion Act
of 2026, obtained exclusively by theWashington Reporter, which both supports
Trump’s historic successes with the diplomatic agreement and wants to see it
expanded.

Rep. Craig Goldman (R., Texas), one of the co-chairs of the House Abraham
Accords Caucus, introduced the legislation alongside every co-chair of the
bipartisan House Abraham Accords Caucus.

Goldman’s legislation comes as Trump continues working to remake the world in
his image, and the Middle East has been no exception. The legislation wants the
Special Presidential Envoy for the Abraham Accords to expand members of the
Abraham Accords into regions like Central Asia and South Caucasus nations. That
would drastically expand the impact of Trump’s diplomatic win, which already
saw Israel normalize relations with Arab nations like the United Arab Emirates
(UAE), Bahrain, and Morocco during his first term.

The Abraham Accords further expanded already during Trump’s return to the
White House when Kazakhstan announced its intention to formally join the
Accords in 2025. Finish Reading →
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5 EXCLUSIVE Bombshell 340B Haitian fraud case sparks growing Capitol Hill
scrutiny By: Michael Cobbs A massive healthcare fraud case
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involving a Florida clinic and the federal 340B drug discount program is
generating fresh scrutiny on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are warning that
weak oversight and limited transparency may be creating opportunities for abuse.

The controversy follows a bombshell Fox News Digital report
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by Robert Schmad detailing the case of Jean Jethro Alexandre, a Haitian
national who was convicted in a healthcare fraud conspiracy involving more than
$58 million in false claims submitted to Medicare, Medicaid and private
insurers. According to federal prosecutors, Alexandre and his co-conspirators
recruited fraudulent patients, paid kickbacks, obtained fake prescriptions for
HIV and AIDS medications, and then profited from insurance reimbursements
generated through the 340B Drug Pricing Program.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) weighed in
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fraud and posting “This is outrageous. Arkansans’ tax dollars are being used to
make Somali and Haitian scammers rich. It’s a reminder that Congress needs to
pass my Welfare Fraud Deterrence and Recovery Act immediately.”

The case has quickly become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate surrounding
the federal program, which allows qualifying healthcare providers to purchase
drugs at steep discounts. It is also an example of the Trump Administration’s
successful anti-fraud work, a topic that theReporter exclusively reported
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is strongly supported from the American public.

The Reporter has also interviewed multiple
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Congressmen who have expressed concern about fraud in the 340B program. Finish
Reading →
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6 EXCLUSIVE Grover Norquist wants to help Rep. Ro Khanna pay millions of
dollars in taxes By: Matthew Foldi Grover Norquist, the president of Americans
for Tax Reform (ATR), wants to help Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) combat what
Khanna calls the “moral failure of our time.”

Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley in Congress, recently called for a five
percent wealth tax on the American people, calling “wealth inequality” the
“moral failure of our time.”

In a letter obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter, Norquist wrote
directly to Khanna asking him to put his money where his mouth is.

“Your estimated current wealth is $232,700,000 according to the publication
NOTUS, News of the United States. The median American household net worth is
$192,900 according to the Federal Reserve.” Finish Reading →
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7 EXCLUSIVE Coalition for Affordability & Prosperity urges Congress to oppose
controversial Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act By: Ava
Nicholson The Coalition for Affordability & Prosperity
<[link removed]>is urging the Senate Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to reject legislation that supporters
say would target patent abuse in the pharmaceutical industry, arguing instead
that the proposal would raise costs, encourage litigation, and undermine
American innovation.

In an exclusive letter obtained by Washington Reporter, Coalition for
Affordability & Prosperity Executive Director Chuck Flint called on Committee
Chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) and Ranking Member Sen. Bernie Sanders
(I., Vt.) to oppose the Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act,
which is expected to receive consideration in the Senate HELP Committee.

“This would do nothing to help patients while creating new regulatory
burdens, inviting costly litigation, weakening intellectual property
protections, and exposing sensitive American research and development
information to competitors,” Flint wrote.

The Coalition for Affordability & Prosperity argues that lawmakers seeking to
reduce prescription drug costs should focus on increasing competition and
transparency rather than altering the nation’s patent framework. Finish Reading
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8 SCOOP Plaintiffs’ lawyers donate big to Graham Platner as trial bar pushes
healthcare bills in Congress By: Michael Cobbs Plaintiffs’ attorneys are
emerging as a significant source of financial support for Democratic candidate
Graham Platner, according to areview
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filings, raising new questions about the influence of the trial bar as Congress
debates legislation that could benefit the legal industry.

FEC records <[link removed]> show Platner has
accepted thousands of dollars from attorneys affiliated with prominent personal
injury, mass tort and class-action law firms.

Among them is Stephanie O’Connor of Douglas & London P.C., a firm known for
personal injury, mass tort and class-action litigation. Records show O’Connor
contributed $1,000 to Platner’s campaign.

Joseph P. Awad of Awad & Baker, a New York personal injury firm, contributed
a total of $7,000 through two separate donations, according to FEC filings.
Finish Reading →
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9 SCOOP Gov. Kelly Armstrong wins big in North Dakota primaries By: Matthew
Foldi As Republican leaders around the country work to shape the GOP in their
image, one governor’s endorsement success rate stands out for its Trump-like
margin.

Gov. Kelly Armstrong (R., N.D.) isn’t even on the ballot this year, but he
emerged as a major winner. While Armstrong hasn’t even been running the show in
Bismarck for two full years, he went 19-20 in endorsements that saw incumbents
ousted and his preferred challengers win all across North Dakota.

Armstrong’s 95 percent endorsement success rate would have been a perfect 100
had fewer than two dozen votes switched in a Grand Forks-based special election
for state representative.

While Armstrong became a mainstay in Washington, D.C. during his time in
Congress, in which he served as one of President Donald Trump’s top defenders,
he had spent years running the North Dakota GOP prior to his ascension to
Congress. Finish Reading →
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10 COLUMN Mike Fragoso: Take the fight to Schumer with James McDonald By: Mike
Fragoso In his memoir, The Long Game, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) recounts
how, following the 2016 elections, he “spoke with President [Donald] Trump
about the Scalia vacancy.” He “urged [Trump] to name the best-qualified
conservative candidate, since filling this slot would almost certainly lead to
a show-down over the question of filibustering Supreme Court nominees.” Knowing
both that he’d need to nuke the filibuster to fill the seat and that he had a
mere 52-48 margin, “if any question existed as to the nominee’s fitness for
office, it might result in the nomination’s defeat.”

Trump went on to nominate Neil Gorsuch, D.Phil. (Oxon.), and the rest is
history. McConnell argued persuasively to moderates like Sens. Lisa Murkowski
(R., Alaska), John McCain (R., Ariz.), and Susan Collins (R., Maine) that if
Democrats won’t confirmthis guy they won’t confirm anyone. It worked and the
filibuster was abolished. Thanks to Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D., N.Y.) alternating
devotion to and fear of his party’s progressive base, the pieces were
positioned for McConnell’s ultimate checkmate with Brett Kavanaugh and Amy
Coney Barrett.

Schumer seems to have learned nothing from this episode while Trump may
remember its lesson. The selection of James McDonald to replace DNI-designate
Jay Clayton as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York is a
Gorsuch-like move in Trump’s quest to abolish the blue slip.

McDonald is no Palm Beach insurance lawyer. A partner at Sullivan & Cromwell,
McDonald is platinum plated — a pick right out of the Eisenhower
administration. He ran enforcement for the CFTC, was an AUSA, and worked in the
George W. Bush White House Counsel’s office. He clerked for Jeff Sutton, king
of the conservative judicial establishment, and the Chief Justice. Beyond
credentials, McDonald’s law firm represents the New York financial institutions
whose generous donations over the decades have allowed Schumer to ascend from
an abortion obsessive representing Brooklyn in the House to the heights he
currently occupies. In other words, if Schumer won’t agree to McDonald, he
won’t agree to anybody. Finish Reading →
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11 OPINIONATED
Op-Ed: Matthew Foldi: Drop the “Acting” for Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling.
It’s cleaner. By: Matthew Foldi You don’t need to drive 500 miles around
Florida with Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling to know that he’s got what
it takes to helm the sprawling Department of Labor (DOL). I happen, however, to
have done just that — and saw firsthand why he is the best pick to run DOL.

From Tampa Bay to St. Petersburg to Boca Raton to Orlando, Sonderling visited
ReliaQuest, where hespoke
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with employees about the Trump administration’s artificial intelligence
agenda, City Furniture, where he pitched the Working Families Tax Cuts to a
receptive audience, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tampa Bay, where he took
to the basketball court to talk with students about why healthy living is a
slam dunk, and Alexander D. Henderson University School — a school of the
future where kindergartners learn to do CT scans where hespoke
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about how to train tomorrow’s workforce with students, administrators, and
trustees. Finish Reading →
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