Jim Antle, the magazine’s executive editor, brings to life the pages of the Washington Examiner’s magazine in the show Inside Scoop. Each episode features exclusive insight from the article authors and expert analysis.
Antle gives his analysis on the cover story about how the One Big Beautiful Bill came to be and Republicans plotting to rebrand for midterms.
“Many people wanted to have three, four bills, and President Trump and I caucused very early on and we were both very clear with the House leadership and the Senate leadership that it needed to be one bill,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the Washington Examiner. “That’s why he named it One Big Beautiful Bill … It’s big. It’s the president at his best.”
“The bill was branded as a single piece of legislation to be passed through reconciliation,” Antle said. “That worked in terms of getting it across the finish line and becoming law. There is just one big, beautiful problem, however: the name of the bill doesn’t focus on what’s in it.”
He notes this messaging gap has forced Republicans to rethink how they present the law to voters, especially with high-stakes elections looming.
“As Republicans try to defend their majorities in Congress… there is a lot more emphasis on trying to sell the different components of the law,” Antle explains.”The rebrand has focused on sort of renaming this legislation the ‘Working Families Tax Cut,’ so it does include an extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, which lowered marginal tax rates. But it’s also emphasizing these more working class friendly tax provisions on tips, for seniors, for auto loans.”
Next in the show, Antle speaks with Nathan Pinkoski, a senior fellow at the Center for Renewing America, about why the New Right loves Nixon. For younger conservatives — who didn’t grow up with the negative perceptions of Nixon from the Watergate scandal — Pinkoski believes Nixon represents something missing from today’s carefully scripted politics.
“You see this combative spirit, this kind of aesthetic of popular combativeness, which a lot of young people admire, but you also see, I think, on the other hand, a kind of authenticity. … it comes across as very frank,” Pinkoski said. “That, I think, runs against a sense that many people have that our politics are very much carefully managed.”
He also sees in Nixon a preview of the battles that would later define the Trump era.
“What we have are these interagency fights, these bureaucratic quarrels and what we can call the deep state,” Pinkoski said. “These networks, both inside and outside of government, that work to destabilize elected officials and punish them if they go away from the interagency consensus.”
Finally, our in-depth report by Dominic Green examines how Britain’s new prime minister is facing the same old problems. Andy Burnham, who takes office with broad public support but inherits a long list of challenges, faces an economy burdened by sluggish growth and mounting debt, along with pressure to address illegal migration, strained public services, rising crime, and deep social divisions. If Burnham has a comprehensive plan, he’s keeping it from the public.
“In his first days as prime minister, Burnham temporarily cut sales tax on fuel bills, capped bus fares, and cut business taxes on pubs and clubs,” Green said. “He did not give details on how the government would cover the lost income, beyond talking about “growth.”
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With economists warning that difficult decisions on taxes, spending, and borrowing lie ahead, Green wonders if Burnham’s political appeal will translate into lasting results—or whether Britain could soon find itself searching for another prime minister.
Tune in each week at washingtonexaminer.com and across all our social media platforms to go behind the headlines in the Washington Examiner’s magazine show, Inside Scoop.