INSIDE D.C. WITH JOHN GIZZI NEWSMAX WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT
Capital Gains Crusade • House Republicans are expected to make cutting the capital gains tax a major part of their agenda this year. With House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., leading the charge, Republicans are likely to invoke the name of former President Bill Clinton and his 1997 tax plan that reduced the highest capital gains tax rate from 28% to 20%. As much as it scandalized liberal Democrats, alumni of the Clinton administration insist that the economic growth it generated was pivotal to the 42nd president leaving offi ce in 2000 with a surplus.
Fetterman’s Future • Aug. 29 is a date on the minds of many Republican and Democrat leaders in Pennsylvania these days. Although Sen. John Fetterman was scheduled to return to the U.S. Senate in late April after being hospitalized for depression following a stroke last year, his health is still an issue. If it doesn’t improve and he were to resign before that date, fellow Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro would appoint a successor. Then a special election
would be held in November that could turn the current 51 to 49 Democrat edge in the Senate to a 50-50 split. Among Democrats mentioned for such an appointment are Scranton
50 NEWSMAX | MAY 2023
Mayor Paige Cognetti and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis. The Republican nominee would almost certainly be hedge fund executive David McCormick, who narrowly lost last year’s GOP primary to Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Another Armstrong • With Colorado moving Democrat in recent years and Republicans holding divisive primaries, talk is growing that the heir to one of the Centennial State’s most illustrious Republican names may run for governor in 2026. Will Armstrong, son of the late and still revered Republican Sen. Bill Armstrong, is widely considered a candidate who could unite the disparate factions of his party. As head of his own private equity fi rm, the young Armstrong also runs a family foundation and is chairman of the board of trustees of Colorado Christian University. Most importantly, Colorado GOP sources tell Newsmax he is respected by both the “establishment” of the party and the rising MAGA movement.
GOP Eyes ‘Boy Wonder’ • Although Geoff rey Okamoto has yet to sign on with any Republican presidential hopeful, the former Trump administration offi cial
and onetime fi rst deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund is widely discussed as a person to watch for Treasury secretary, should Republicans win the White House in 2024. At 38, the so-called “boy wonder” of fi nance held top positions on the staff s of key subcommittees of the Senate Banking
Committee as well as the House Financial Services Committee before becoming Trump’s acting assistant secretary for international fi nance and development in the Treasury Department. At least one Republican presidential prospect is seeking out Okamoto for advice on economic issues.
Dems Target Cruz
• Although Texas Democrats last won a U.S. Senate race in 1988, they see an opportunity to defeat two- term Republican Sen. Ted Cruz next year. A February poll conducted by the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project showed that among likely voters statewide, 46% disapprove of Cruz’s performance and only 40% approve. With just one candidate seeking the Democrat nomination so far (little-known former Midland Councilman John Love III), the fi eld in next May’s primary is expected to grow before the fi ling deadline in December. Reportedly eyeing the race are three-term Rep. Colin Allred and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro. Lone Star State Republicans privately tell Newsmax that the Senate contender they fear most is former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who lost narrowly (50.9% to 48.3%) to Cruz in 2018 and was beaten for governor (54.9% to 43.8%) by Republican Greg Abbott in 2022.
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