This has been a monumental year for the Washington Reporter. We interviewed President Trump multiple times, we were nominated for a Cronkite Prize, and we broke major campaign news including that Platner was leaving the race.

We’re proud to announce another major milestone.

One of the nation's top investigative journalists, Tayte Christensen, is joining the Washington Reporter. Tayte's work has appeared in leading national publications, and her reporting on Graham Platner helped expose his debauchery that led to his downfall.

Tayte's investigative reporting will make our newsroom even stronger and help us continue delivering the serious, unbiased reporting that our readers respect.

-Brian Colas, CEO

Keith Krach on President Trump’s successful AI push, and what “victory” looks like against China

By: Matthew Foldi

One year ago, President Donald Trump rolled out his AI Action Plan, which focuses on the three pillars of innovation, infrastructure, and international diplomacy and security. At the core of Trump’s plan is the need to ensure American dominance in the field over adversaries like China.

The AI Action Plan also builds off of the successes that Trump had in technology innovation during his first term; Keith Krach was at the forefront of many of those decisions in his role as Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment in the Department of State. Krach most recently served as the CEO of Freedom 250, which led many of the nationwide celebrations of America’s independence.

In an interview with the Washington Reporter, Krach explained that “the architecture of the AI Action Plan is right, and President Trump’s administration has moved from strategy into execution.”

“The plan correctly treats AI as a full ecosystem, with action on innovation, data-center permitting, power and grid capacity, cybersecurity, full-stack AI exports, and adoption across the national-security enterprise,” Krach explained. “Now,” however, “comes the harder phase: delivery. Projects must move from announcements to operating systems. America needs faster permits, more reliable power, secure semiconductor capacity, a larger technical workforce, strong protection for models and data, and allied deployments that are commercially successful. I would also put a public scorecard behind the plan — milestones for infrastructure, energy, talent, security, adoption, and international partnerships. We will not win the AI race with a document. We will win by building, deploying, and exporting the most trusted and capable ecosystem in the world.”

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Secretary Markwayne Mullin is making America safer and stronger

By: Washington Reporter Editors

One of the best decisions President Trump has made in his second term was selecting Markwayne Mullin to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Just look at DHS’s record since Secretary Mullin took over to get a clear picture of how he has already made America safer with his calm, steady leadership.

First off, DHS is one of the most toughest jobs in the Administration. Secretary Mullin oversees border security, immigration enforcement, counterterrorism, cybersecurity, the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, and dozens of other responsibilities that touch nearly every aspect of national security. And he oversees these functions as the Democratic party and the institutional left has declared war on immigration enforcement with literally thousands of lawsuits directed against the government.

To do this role well requires someone who can make decisions, manage a massive organization, and never lose sight of the department’s core mission of security.

Secretary Mullin has done exactly that.

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Investigative journalist Tayte Christensen joins Washington Reporter

By: Washington Reporter Editors

The Washington Reporter is proud to announce that investigative journalist Tayte Christensen has joined our newsroom as a special guest reporter, marking another major milestone as we continue our rapid growth.

Tayte is a highly-accomplished and published writer and investigative journalist whose work has appeared in Townhall, the Washington Examiner, and the Daily Caller. She is a native of Bentonville, Ark., and a graduate of Hillsdale College.

Tayte joins our fast-growing team. We are hiring additional roles for both reporting and business development. If you are interested in working with us, email your resume to [email protected].

Look for Tayte’s stories to appear soon at the Washington Reporter.

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House Republicans want Gov. Mikie Sherrill to answer for her “alarming announcement” on noncitizens voting in New Jersey

By: Matthew Foldi

Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D., N.J.) recently admitted that her state has thousands of noncitizens on its voter rolls — and that several hundred even voted. While Sherrill was quick to lay the blame at the feet of her predecessor, Gov. Phil Murphy (D., N.J.), Republicans in Congress want her to answer for the failures.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R., N.J.), Sherrill’s fellow New Jerseyan, led a letter alongside 18 of his colleagues to Sherrill, asking for answers about New Jersey’s “alarming announcement that a failure within the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission’s voter-registration system improperly added approximately 6,600 noncitizens to the State’s voter rolls and enabled roughly 400 of those individuals to cast ballots in elections.” The effort was obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter.

“According to information released by your administration, these individuals expressly answered ‘no’ when asked whether they were United States citizens while applying for driver’s licenses or identification cards,” the GOP lawmakers wrote. “Despite those answers, a software failure reportedly transmitted their information for voter registration between June 2023 and June 2024. This was not a minor clerical discrepancy. It was a catastrophic breakdown of the most basic safeguard in our election system: ensuring that only eligible American citizens are registered and permitted to vote. How do you know this was just a software glitch and not a nefarious act?”

Van Drew and his colleagues, Reps. Chris Smith (R., N.J.), Randy Fine (R., Fla.), Nicole Malliotakis (R., N.Y.), Tony Wied (R., Wis.), Mike Lawler (R., N.Y.), Abe Hamadeh (R., Ariz.), Pete Stauber (R., Minn.), Claudia Tenney (R., N.Y.), Nick Langworthy (R., N.Y.), Ben Cline (R., Va.), Eli Crane (R., Ariz.), Clay Fuller (R., Ga.), Max Miller (R., Ohio), August Pfluger (R., Texas), Dan Meuser (R., Pa.), Tom Tiffany (R., Wis.), Stephanie Bice (R., Okla.), and Tim Moore (R., N.C.), want Sherrill to respond by August 21 to a series of their questions.

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As the Senate considers CFPB nominee, mobile billboard calls to protect open banking

By: Matthew Foldi

As the Senate Banking Committee held a confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump‘s nominee to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a watchdog rented a mobile billboard that drove around Washington, D.C. to make the case for the importance of open banking.

One of the first priorities of the CFPB and its likely new chairman, Brian Johnson, will be finalizing Rule 1033 — commonly known as the Open Banking Rule — which the Washington Reporter has covered extensively throughout its deliberation.

The watchdog group Save Our States, which previously launched BanksVsAmerica.com to highlight how big banks were “attempting to destroy President Trump’s affordability agenda, as well as his plans for innovation and crypto expansion by demanding the ability to ration data and add new hidden fees for online transactions,” positioned a mobile billboard on Capitol Hill to mark the hearing and remind Johnson and the CFPB about the importance of protecting Open Banking; Save Our States’s billboard was obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter.

Trent England, the Executive Director of Save Our States, explained to the Reporter why his campaign is important to American consumers. “Adding new tolls and rationing to banking data directly conflicts with President Trump’s goal to make the U.S. the innovation capital of the world, which is the path to financial freedom and opportunity for all Americans,” England explained. “I’m optimistic that a swift confirmation for Brian Johnson will let CFPB finalize an open banking rule that stops any new fees or limits and keeps American consumers in charge of their own banking.”

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Rep. Julia Letlow vows to continue crackdown on illegal Chinese vapes in the Senate

By: Washington Reporter Editors

Rep. Julia Letlow (R., La.), who is poised to become a leading conservative in the U.S. Senate, says combating the flood of illegal Chinese-made vaping products will remain one of her top priorities if elected.

In a recent interview with the Washington Reporter, Letlow said she plans to continue the work she began in the House to crack down on illicit vape products that she argues threaten children, undercut American businesses, and expose weaknesses at the nation’s borders.

“I’ve fought to crack down on illegal Chinese-made vapes because they’re targeting our children, undermining American businesses, and too often entering our country illegally,” Letlow told the Reporter’s Matthew Foldi. “That’s a public health issue, a border security issue, and a national security issue. I’ll continue leading that fight in the U.S. Senate and work to keep these dangerous products out of our communities.”

Letlow has been one of Congress’ most outspoken advocates for stronger enforcement against illegal vaping products manufactured in China. She has introduced legislation aimed at strengthening enforcement and has repeatedly warned that bad actors are exploiting gaps in federal oversight to flood the U.S. market with unauthorized products.

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“She knows exactly what he’s going through”: Kamala Harris backing Troy Jackson resurfaces 2024 problems for Democrats

By: Matthew Foldi

The Democrats’ Maine nightmare is starting to look a lot like 2024, and that bodes poorly for their new Senate nominee, Troy Jackson.

In the span of a few days, Jackson went from a failed gubernatorial candidate to the Democrats’ sudden Senate nominee after Graham Platner’s campaign fully imploded. Despite Platner’s historically high vote count in the primary, and his success in forcing Gov. Janet Mills (D., Maine) into early retirement, Democrats wanted him out of the race once it became clear that he was unlikely to beat Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine) in November.

The problem was that Platner had already clinched the nomination. However, Democrats had an escape valve they immediately activated, and Platner withdrew just hours before it was too late to replace him.

Following several hastily-organized debates that gave Republicans even more ad fodder, Jackson became the prohibitive favorite to win the several hundred votes needed to replace Platner in November.

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Op-Ed: T.W. Arrighi: The world will miss my friend and former boss, Lindsey Graham

By: T.W. Arrighi

This is not an obituary in any traditional sense. There are scores of family, friends, staffers, colleagues, and constituents who knew Senator Lindsey Graham a lot longer, and a lot better than I did. This is just one former staffer’s attempt at making sense of the shocking loss of a man who had a major impact on his life and career, and who didn’t fully grasp that impact until the first tear left his eye last Sunday morning.

Among the hundreds of texts, DMs, calls and comments I have received and read following Lindsey’s passing, one sentiment followed many of their condolences: “I had no idea…”

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Op-Ed: Kayleigh Kozak: Does your state protect your family from sexual predators?

By: Kayleigh Kozak

Most Americans believe the sex offender registry tells them exactly what potential threats live in their neighborhood. Parents use it before buying a home, choosing a school, or letting their children play outside, trusting that it provides a complete picture of potential danger.

It doesn’t.

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Op-Ed: Pat Hogan: Trump is right to question Spain, and Crescent Dunes shows why

By: Pat Hogan

President Donald Trump recently made it clear that he is fed up with Spain. After Spain refused to stand firmly with the United States and Israel against Iran and continued to fall short of its NATO commitments, President Trump said he wanted “nothing to do with Spain,” and called for cutting off trade.

Most Americans saw those headlines as another foreign policy dispute.

But I immediately thought of Spain’s participation in one of the greatest frauds ever perpetrated against the American taxpayer. And the outrage that Spain has never paid us back.

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