September 24, 2024
By Jennifer Harper
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik summarized the general state of the nation on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. Here’s what the New York lawmaker said in a statement to her colleagues:
“This November will be the most important election in our lifetime. As we head home to our districts this October, House Republicans will continue to highlight the stark contrast between the successes of President Trump and the America First Republican policies with the catastrophic failed four year record of Kamala Harris and far Left Democrat leadership,” Ms. Stefanik advised.
“From struggling to put food on the table due to historic and high inflation because of Kamala Harris’ tie breaking vote for the Inflation Expansion Act — to illegal immigrants invading our borders and constant chaos around the world, the failed leadership of Kamala Harris and far Left Democrat policies have put our nation and the American people at risk,” she said.
“The contrast has never been clearer. American families were better off under the successful America First policies of President Trump. With strong Republican leadership across the board in Washington – that means a Republican Senate, a Republican House, and President Trump in the White House – we will be able to implement the successful America First agenda to secure our borders, to get our economy back on track, and return to the successful peace through strength national security policies,” Ms. Stefanik concluded.
NEWS FROM THE U.S. CENSUS
The U.S. Census Bureau and the Osage Nation — a federally recognized American Indian tribal government based in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and home to over 24,000 tribal members — have reached a “historic agreement” on data sharing.
“The agreement, formally signed on August 16, 2024, establishes a framework for the Osage Nation to share administrative data directly with the Census Bureau. Data include education, military service, household information, employment, housing, income and expenses at the aggregate level. This tribal data agreement gives the Osage Nation and Census Bureau an opportunity to improve the quality of their data while protecting the confidentiality of tribal members,” the Census Bureau said in a written statement to Inside the Beltway.
“This is a significant milestone in fostering collaboration and trust between the Census Bureau and the Osage Nation. It allows us to better serve the Osage tribe by developing more accurate and relevant statistical data products for their use in governance, resource management and planning,” Census Bureau Director Robert L. Santos said.
Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, an attorney who has served the Osage Nation in that role since 2014, said he hopes this agreement sets a precedent.
“Our public service mission includes providing statistical data to American Indian tribes and Alaska Natives, and more generally to the people of Indian Country. We hope this is the first of many similar data sharing opportunities with other Tribal Nations,” he said.
“Osage Nation strengthened our sovereignty through successfully implementing our first-ever census,” he said.
“We’re taking it even further with this historic memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Census Bureau, ensuring Osages are fully represented on a federal level. I am proud and grateful to director Santos and his team for understanding that a true partnership is when all voices are heard,” the chief added.
Find the tribe at osagenation-nsn.gov.
FOXIFIED
Laughter and political insight has turned Fox News late-night host Greg Gutfeld into a force to be reckoned with.
A visit by Donald Trump last week — the former president’s first appearance on an after-hours show since 2016 — attracted 5 million viewers, who witnessed the candid and good-humored exchange the former president had Wednesday with Mr. Gutfeld and his fellow panelists, according to Nielsen.
Not only did “Gutfeld!” outdraw its usual late-night competition from Stephen Colbert and others, but it was the No. 1 show on all of broadcast and cable TV for the evening. The 5 million-member audience, Mr. Gutfeld’s highest ever, bested even the season premieres of such major-network heavyweights as CBS’s “Survivor” (4.7 million) and ABC’s “The Golden Bachelorette” (2.8 million).
Fox News daytime programming also outranked the broadcast competition.
“Outnumbered” drew an average daily audience of 1.9 million viewers, “The Faulkner Focus” 1.8 million, and “America’s Newsroom with Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer” “America Reports with Sandra Smith and John Roberts” and “The Story with Martha MacCallum” each averaged 1.7 million daily viewers. The shows outpaced ABC’s “GMA3,” with 1.3 million viewers and NBC’s “Today with Hoda and Jenna,” with 1.2 million.
ONE FOR THE COAST GUARD
The U.S. Coast Guard Academy is among the nation’s top institutions of higher learning.
“For the tenth consecutive year the academy ranked No. 1 in the overall Regional Colleges North category in the 2025 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges magazine. The academy also ranked No. 1 in the Top Public Schools Regional Colleges North, and No. 12 in the Best in Undergraduate Engineering Programs categories in the same publication,” the academy said in a statement to Inside the Beltway.
“The Princeton Review also featured the academy in the Best 390 Colleges publication, a listing of the top 15% of colleges and universities in the nation, and ranked the institution #8 in the Most Accessible Professors category,” the statement said.
“Earlier this year the Academy also received the Carnegie Leadership for Public Purpose Classification designation as one of 25 colleges and universities committed to advance leadership in pursuit of the public good. This recognition was given by the American Council on Education, the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University, and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching,” the statement noted.
POLL DU JOUR
• 87% of registered U.S. voters say their personal financial situation is “very or fairly bad” due to price increases.
• 72% of those in such a situation cite their own inability to save money as a cause.
• 48% cite personal debt; 47% cite their lack of enough money to pay bills.
• 34% cite their current job; 34% cite the state of national politics.
• 18% cite their own “general pessimism.”
• 11% cite the stock market and their investments.
SOURCE: A CBS News poll of registered U.S. voters conducted Sept. 18–20; respondents could cite more than one factor contributing to their financial situation.
Read the article here.
