Welcome to The Drain Pipe, your guide to what’s driving the news in Washington this week.
Silicon Valley Resents ‘Flyover Country.’ Increasingly, ‘Flyover Country’ Resents Silicon Valley Too.
Many Americans are disillusioned with the neoliberal concept of America as an economic development zone for immigrants. Lately that disillusionment has curdled into anger.
Silicon Valley gobbles up Americans’ water and electricity for its data centers and their location data for its Flock cameras. Young men entering the workforce watch entry-level jobs in the country’s richest and most dynamic sector go to Indians on H-1B visas and wonder if Americans are getting enough in return.
Enter Ankit Gupta, a general partner at Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator, who provocatively dismissed Vice President JD Vance’s call for American companies to hire Americans as “DEI.”
“It’s giving flyover country,” Gupta sniped to a critic.
Gupta apparently resents the people in Bowling Green, Ohio, Milburn, Oklahoma, and Clarksville, Arkansas, whose bulldozed land makes his novel drug discovery machine whirr.
As buildings topple and electrical grids strain to make way for Gupta’s vision of the future, is it any surprise that many resent him back?
Gupta’s comments reverberated in Washington, prompting rebuttals from Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson.
“The purpose of the American economy is to promote the general welfare of American workers, not provide jobs for the rest of the world,” Ferguson said.
Our enduring love for Indian American patriots like our Iliad-toting Second Lady shouldn’t blind us to the drawbacks of Big Tech’s addiction to H-1Bs. Globalism gave us cheap electronics from Shenzhen and generic drugs from Mumbai, but we lost idealism, patriotism and a shared sense of purpose. And increasingly, we’re not even getting a cheaper cost of living. While those Big Tech monoliths could lower property taxes, how does that benefit the ever-growing share of Americans whose wage growth trails property price growth?
Conservative activist Leo Brent Bozell Jr. wrote in a 1962 op-ed that economic freedom is good, but only to the extent that it doesn’t interfere with the everyday citizen’s ability to cultivate virtuous lives. As more Americans begin to find that the free market doesn’t seem to be heading toward the good life, it makes sense that some leaders like Vice President JD Vance and Senator Josh Hawley — as you’re about to find out — are embracing a more Bozellian view.
THE EXECUTIVE
TK President’s schedule: https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/calendar/
‘Little Detour’ Bobs And Weaves
Washington turns to Tehran this week as the Iran War becomes a hot war again with the first U.S. strikes since July 30, just a week after the Trump administration prominently publicized a pivot to mostly economic levers.
U.S. officials told the press that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.
“I can confirm that earlier today U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz,” Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, said in a statement.
“Last week, CENTCOM completed clearing sea mines from the strait’s international shipping routes. U.S. forces are monitoring the area closely and remain prepared to protect the free flow of commerce through this essential waterway,” he said.
The development signals that financial pressure may not speedily bring about a conclusion to the “little detour” that began six months ago. In fact, the secondary sanctions do not target Iran’s most powerful trading partner, China, and may have been designed to simply stall more dramatic developments until after the midterms.
But hawks at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies argue that the U.S. should “drop the hammer” on any country that gives Iran access to hard currency — including China and European countries — threatening to widen the war far beyond the Middle East, where the war has already exacted a costly toll on America’s Gulf allies.
Trump must grapple with a difficult paradox, the same vise that tied the U.S. to Vietnam, the enemy’s capacity for losses. Iran has suffered $270 billion in damage, yet accustomed to decades of economic sanctions, shows no sign of surrender. Some argue sanctions have historically empowered the IRGC.
Where’s The Beef, Pt. 2
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins signaled that major news regarding the beef industry would be announced “starting Monday.”
An executive order last Wednesday expanding imported lean beef trimmings at a low tariff rate by 600 million pounds through the fall. But the beef must be sold at 25% below market price.
Cattle farmers promptly rebelled at being undercut by foreign beef made artificially cheaper through price controls. Rollins previewed the administration’s solution, including eliminating red tape to better allow ranchers to process their own beef.
THE LEGISLATIVE
Both the House is back in session today. Meanwhile, the Senate will be in-and-out of pro-forma sessions until Sept. 14.
More Fauci Fallout
Sen. Rand Paul has released a new tranche of documents subpoenaed from the National Institutes of Health, including revealing emails and texts from Anthony Fauci.
The Daily Caller News Foundation beat Paul to the punch on Friday, revealing a connection between the CIA and Fauci’s National Institute on viruses with bioterrorism potential, apparently skirting the line between civilian and bioweapons research. The DCNF also revealed another email in which Fauci implored a senior aide to delete his email griping about a journalist who presciently warned in 2012 that gain-of-function research risked triggering “doomsday.” Fauci particularly bristled at the journalist’s warning that it would jeopardize the reputation of the NIH.
On Saturday, Paul released the full set of documents revealing more details about the pull that Fauci and his chosen clique of virologists had on the intelligence community’s understanding of the origins of COVID, Fauci’s “back channel” about EcoHealth Alliance with convicted felon David Morens, and Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb’s role consulting the CIA on COVID.
An America-Only Congress
One thing we can expect this legislative session are clashes over whether America’s politicians will actually be representative of America’s citizens, or of foreign interests.
“If you’re holding power in the federal government, you cannot have one foot in America and one foot somewhere else,” Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina posted on X last Saturday.
“We introduced a constitutional amendment ensuring any individual holding citizenship, nationality, or allegiance to a foreign country is barred from serving in Congress, on the federal bench, as President or Vice President, or in any Senate-confirmed role unless they formally and permanently cut their foreign ties,” Mace continued, referring to her June proposal.
That proposal came a month after she proposed another constitutional amendment. This one aims to bar anyone who’s not a “natural born citizen” from holding any federal office.
It’s not immediately clear if any members of Congress have dual citizenship. However, that wouldn’t be without precedent.
For example, Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — who was first elected into federal office in 2012 — revoked his Canadian citizenship in May 2014. However, that was less than a year after “Canadian Ted” found out that he had dual citizenship, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Additionally, ex-Republican Rep. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota — who was first elected into federal office in 2006 — revoked her Swiss citizenship in May 2012.
Both Parties May Flock Towards Ending Mass Surveillance
Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley revealed in a letter to Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley last Wednesday that he’s using his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism to investigate the company’s use of data generated by its artificial intelligence surveillance cameras.”
“In Missouri, the St. Charles County Police Department terminated its contract this month after an audit revealed that a civilian employee had run Flock searches for personal reasons, completely unrelated to their law enforcement duties,” Hawley wrote.
“Sadly, my home state is not an outlier,” Hawley continued. “In Milwaukee, prosecutors charged a police officer who allegedly searched his girlfriend’s license plate 124 times and her former boyfriend’s plate 55 times, entering ‘investigation’ as his justification each time. Worse still, the officer was not caught by the company’s audit systems — he was caught because a private citizen looked up his own plate on a public website.”
Flock reports having over 120,000 cameras across 49 states in its network.
A spokesperson for Flock told Axios — which first reported Hawley’s letter — that the company “looks forward to working with Senator Hawley and the Subcommittee to provide additional context about how our technology works.”
Angst against mass surveillance has quickly become bipartisan.
Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — who caucuses with the Democrats — announced on X last Wednesday that he “will soon be introducing legislation [to stop Flock and AI mass surveillance].”
COMMITTEES TO WATCH:
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence — Committee Business to Consider: Review of the 9/11 Commission Report — Monday, Aug. 31, 1:00pm
House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee — Countering Houthi Terrorism: Protecting U.S. Interests and Security in the Red Sea — Tuesday, Sept. 1, 10:00am
House Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs — “No Flame, More Pain: How State and Local Bans on Natural Gas Increase Costs” — Wednesday, Sept. 2, 10:00am
House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology — Powering the Nuclear Renaissance: Accelerating U.S. Leadership in Advanced Nuclear Reactors — Wednesday, Sept. 2, 10:00am
House Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government — “‘Subject to the Jurisdiction Thereof’: Birthright Citizenship and the Fourteenth Amendment, Part II” — Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2:00pm
House Subcommittee on the Environment — Reliable Water in the Digital Age: Examining Legislation to Strengthen Drinking Water Systems and Protect Ratepayers — Thursday, Sept. 3, 9:00am
House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee — Industrial Base and Workplace Development for Trades — Friday, Sept. 4, 1:00pm
THE JUDICIARY
The Supreme Court is adjourned until Oct. 5. However, two legal developments this week provide a glimpse at what people can expect during the 2026-2027 term:
Feds Are Allowed To Enforce Election Laws Again
SCOTUS sided last Monday with Trump’s March executive order pertaining to election integrity.
The executive order titled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in American Elections“ requires state/local election officials to provide feds lists of eligible voters and those they intend to send mail-in ballots to within 60 days of the election.
SCOTUS’s intervention came after a Massachusetts district judge sided with 23 states — plus D.C. — against the executive order.
“The States lack standing to challenge for much the same reason: It does nothing to them,” the curium wrote in the Aug. 24 decision. “This provision directs the Attorney General to ‘prioritize[ the investigation and prosecution of those who violate existing federal laws by issuing ballots to ineligible voters. Setting prosecutorial priorities lies within the President’s Article II power. And his decision to prioritize the prosecution of certain offenses does not inflict a traditionally recognized harm on the States.”
Changing Rulings Like Some People Change Genders
U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked SCOTUS last Friday to decide whether the Trump admin’s 2025 ban on transgenders serving in the military is constitutional.
“After President Trump returned to office, the Department of War adopted a policy similar to one it had adopted eight years ago,” Sauer wrote. “Under this policy, individuals with a history of gender dysphoria or related interventions are generally disqualified from military service. The Department adopted the policy because Secretary Hegseth determined, as Secretary Mattis had before, that ‘the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints’ on such individuals ‘are incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service.’”
The request came after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted in June to uphold an order from a lower court freezing the ban, with one judge “conclud[ing] that the Hegseth Policy is both arbitrary and based upon animus.”
Regardless, should this ban make its way through the valley of gavels, Americans won’t have to worry about transgenders “switching sides” again on the front lines.
MISCELLANEOUS
Will The Real Huey Long Please Stand Up?
The online commentariat is still talking about Vice President JD Vance’s rally in his Ohio hometown on Aug. 22, specifically his invocation of former Louisiana political boss Sen. Huey Long’s messaging.
“[Long] once said, ‘every man a king’ was the goal of his political program. But no man is a king if their castle is under siege by criminals. No man is a king if they can’t take their family out to dinner without being mugged or having their car jacked,” Vance said during the event.
Vance’s decision to invoke the left-wing populist left many liberals, libertarians, and neocons scratching their heads in the week that followed.
Initially poised to challenge President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1936 Democratic primary, Long was shot within the Louisiana State Capitol in September 1935, dying days later at the age of 42.
However, while one can argue Long’s “Share Our Wealth” program sounds straight out of Bernie Sanders’ agenda, Vance’s use of the program’s slogan may signal a willingness to bend market forces in such a way that keeps the American public “king” instead of continuing the laissez-faire neglect of presidents past.
Like what you’re reading? If so, please consider upgrading to a paid State of the Day subscriber or sharing this with a friend. You’d be supporting this newsletter and helping keep independent journalism alive.
If you are already a paid subscriber, make sure to join the conversation in our subscribers-only chat below.
