On The Hill: November 15, 2026

Today, November 15th, we welcome you into Fox 5's On The Hill. I'm Tom Fitzgerald here with you. We're going to begin on the headlines. Airlines hoping to be fully functional at some point today. Authorities are still trying to determine the source behind Friday's massive nationwide ground stop. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says Friday's ground stop likely stemmed from upgrade work to an older system. He still has not ruled out contractor error or equipment malfunction as a cause for the one thing is clear right now though officials say they are certain that there is no evidence of a cyber attack in all of this. What we're working to determine was whether we had incompetence meaning was it user error or installator error from L3 Harris or did they install a faulty router? Well, Duffy says air travel is expected to be fully recovered by Sunday night. He is asking for $50 billion from Congress to upgrade outdated systems. And for more on this, we want to welcome back Mario Parker. He's the managing editor for the economy and government for Bloomberg. Mario, thank you for being with us on kind of a busy week around here. Let's start with this situation here. Thank A lot of these briefings were done from the White House. We haven't heard from the president about this. What are the grades they're getting on handling this? Well, you're seeing some dissent, at least online, from both Republicans and Democrats speaking about this, particularly Democrats who are saying, Hakeem Jeffries in particular, you. who is likely to be the next speaker of the House, in particular is saying that the Secretary Duffy's request for $50 billion doesn't quite pass muster. In the back against the backdrop of what we just saw on Friday. So you mentioned Hakeem Jeffries likely to be the next speaker of House. There's been a lot of what people would probably remember as the second round of elections going on on Capitol Hill right now because there's just jogging going on. Jeffries appears to have a lock on the speakership. You can't quite say that yet for Democrats over in the Senate. Chuck Schumer has come out and said that he has the votes to become majority leader. Later. But he's got somebody on his heels right now. Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen says that he is going to run for that seat. A lot of Democrats across the country, especially progressives, are calling for change in leadership. They want Schumer out as leader. So how much of a chance does Van Hollen have of upending Schumer? Well, right now, Chuck Schumer says he has the votes. He has the record, at least based off of what we saw with the historic election over the last week and a half, two weeks or so as well. That being said. Chris Van Hollen has the support of Bernie Sanders. He has the support of incoming Michigan U.S. Senator Abdul El-Sayed as well. There continues, as you know, Tom, this this election, this midterm election, the backdrop, at least for Democrats, has been just this intraparty fight between the progressive and centrist wings. This at least shows that that fight isn't going away anytime soon. Dams don't break in one fell swoop. They start with cracks. Alyssa Slotkin, you've got Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen, openly challenging. Now, could these cracks become a problem that topple Chuck Schumer's designs on this job? I'm sure. Right. I'm sure right now whether or not this is this will topple him for the designs on the job. I mean, they've got a 55 seat. They got 55 seats right now. Perhaps 10 people are undecided. That leaves another 45 that we don't know exactly which way the winds are blowing. And to your point, you did invoke some of the more centrist as well who are withholding some votes. So we'll they're saying that they need to see a little bit more. There needs to be a quorum. So we'll see what emerges out of that. All right, so Congress was back up on the Hill this past week. I spoke with Congressman Jamie Raskin, who is due to become the new chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Also, Robert Garcia, who's in line to become the new chairman of the Oversight Committee, have both made it very clear there are going to be hearings and there are going to be investigations into the Trump administration. How do they, for lack of a better term, walk and chew gum at the same time when voters clearly said they wanted the economy to be jobless? Well, they're going to have to do both. They're going to have to have a lane where the people that I speak with, they're going to have to have a lane where they're putting forth legislation, whether that's raising the minimum wage, whether that's some more sweetness for overtime as well to show voters that they're trying to take that seriously. And then they say that they're able to connect the dots with accountability as well. Three C's is what I've heard from Democrats, corruption, chaos, and then also just the cost of living. A couple of I's that have been fluttered around as well, too. To investigate. Investigation. And maybe impeachment. Now investigation, they're very quick to talk about. Is impeachment hanging out there or is that a third rail that Democrats have been burned on a couple of times that they don't want to touch again? You can see it right with the investigation. They'll talk about investigations. They'll talk about oversight. They'll talk about accountability. When it becomes when it comes to impeachment, Democrats are getting a little bit more quiet there. It's just not the sense. The voters, to your point, Tom, have the appetite to have another theatrical show of terms of impeachments after they saw two during the first Trump administration. Mario Parker joining us. He is Bloomberg's managing editor for the economy and government. Two big areas to be in charge of. Mario, we thank you. As we continue here on Fox 5's On the Hill coming up. We're going to take a deep dive on the new look between the administration and what's going on on the Hill. Fox 5 continues right after this. Welcome back to Fox 5's On The Hill. Washington, D.C. has elected a new mayor for the first time in 12 years. Janice Lewis George calls herself a democratic socialist and says she has big plans for the nation's capital. But as a federal district, D.C. is also micromanaged by the president and Congress. President Trump has threatened to take over D.C. if Lewis George was elected. So how is she going to work with President Trump? We're going to start there. Jeanette Dill is the D.C. reporter for Axios. She's kind enough to join us again this Sunday. Good to see you, my friend. So, you know, initially, when Zora Mundami was elected in New York, the president said, whoa, we're going to have to see about this guy. It turns out they appeared to be best friends when they met each other. Is that in the cards for Janice Lewis-George? We're gonna see, this has been the topic that everyone's been wondering. Who is gonna be the person to liaison with the Trump administration in her upcoming mayoralty? And what are the areas they can actually find common ground on? Right now, what we know, Tom, is that Denise Lewis George is talking with the administration, her people at least, about setting up a meeting with the president. We don't have any updates yet on whether anything has been set there as far as I You know, I can talk about some of the areas that they have, or at least she has talked about trying to collaborate, which is housing construction. She's made a big point about speeding up D.C.'s permitting process, other sort of business friendly things, even though she's a democratic socialist, to try and have more housing built in D.C. That could be something of interest to the ears of President Trump, the developer. Um, parks, another example, fountains, another example. Um, we're going to see, you know, if they can actually get something going there on that front. You know, she's been a little quiet, you know, since winning that June primary where she was became the de facto, uh, you know, mayor in waiting mayor Bowser likes to say, we only have one mayor at one time. So what's been going on behind the scenes is she's been assembling this government. That's right. So she has her transition team. She has a man. She has a you know, her job now is to go and hire people. But at the same time, there are meetings taking place between the Bowser administration in the agency level with potential people who will run those agencies in the new administration. That is happening. It's been happening behind the scenes. I'm told there are some moments where, you know, this is a new crop of people taking the city's government. In just in a few months. And so there are new things that they are learning about how the city government runs. And we're going to, you know, this is going to keep going on. So one of the issues that triggered President Trump's emergency takeover of the police department and then when he deployed the National Guard was public safety. On Thursday, we had this tragic mass shooting on P Street and 15th in D.C. with a massive. Police response. The Washington, D.C. Police Department and the responding law enforcement agencies have gotten high marks from a lot of people. And there is the questions about the status of the interim police chief, Jeffrey Carroll. Janice Lewis-Georgia said she's going to pick a new police chief. But do Thursday's events have any impact on that? You know, I'm not sure if Thursdays directly have an impact on this. Obviously, Janice Lewis-George comes from the progressive background, and she will look for a chief that can, I guess, try and fit what she sees the future of public safety and policing in DC, which she has told me in interviews, she wants to have a strong force, but also move cops away from Non sort of sort of interactions where a civil agency official could also or a civil government worker could also handle certain calls. So it seems like she does want to reorder how policing works in D.C. in a certain way. We want to see more specifics. She hasn't committed to a hiring target for MPD, which we know is difficult right now, hiring police officers the past few And so there's a lot that we don't know yet about our public safety, you know, strategy. As we say, shall be continued. Jene, Jill, Doris, from Axios, always a pleasure to talk to you, my friend. We appreciate it. All right. As we continue here, data centers, they were on the ballot almost everywhere across the country, including here in the D.C. region. Coming up, we're going to talk live with Loudoun County Supervisor Julie Brixman about her push for more data center regulations. On the Hill continues right after this. Welcome back to Fox 5's On The Hill this Sunday. You know, Loudoun County, Virginia, is known as the data center alley, and not for no reason, because it has millions of square feet of data centers, which is equal to about 920 football fields. Loudoun County Supervisor Julie Brixman held a press conference earlier this week. In broad lens, we're nearly 800,000 square feet of data center development. is right now being proposed. Briskman has taken on a strong stance from the Future of Divinity Centers and she wants to see comprehensive regulations before any more are built. We want to welcome back in Loudoun County Supervisor Julie Briskman to On the Hill. Supervisor, good to see you again. This is a topic that not only is affecting Loudoun County of Virginia, it's also being talked about on the Hill. Right now, where members of Congress are talking about whether or not the federal government needs a larger footprint. But let's start in your backyard right now. How has this debate changed the discussion about what was an economic engine for you in Loudoun County? Why is it suddenly enemy number one in a lot of people's eyes? Well, thanks for having me on again. I appreciate the opportunity. Listen, Loudoun County, you're right, did not become the data center capital of the world by accident, but I think that we've gone a little bit too far, and the reason the narrative is changing is because Loudouners are tired of data centers, power lines, and substations encroaching on their neighborhoods, their backyards even, their schools, our parks, and other public amenities. And really the people of Loudoun County and even across the country have just decided enough is enough. And they would like to see more controls on these industrial uses. We know the governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, is getting more involved in this recently. So should this remain on a local jurisdiction decision plane? Or should the state of Virginia in total drive the car on this? I think it needs to be a partnership. And you mentioned the federal government earlier. I know that our congressman, Suhas Subramaniam, is thinking really hard about what can be done at the federal level because he represents Data Center Alley and he sees some issues. I think it needs to be a partnership because the state regulates certain things that the counties don't regulate. And so we really need the state's support on things like decisions at the SEC on the next era merger. We may want to think about more authorities going to the counties so that we can have more control over how we make our decisions about data centers. And I really appreciate Governor Spanberger's framework on data centers. She's taking a very thoughtful approach. She's thinking about bills. She's thinking, I believe, about executive orders. But she's also saying a statewide moratorium may not be appropriate because she believes, like I believe, that this should be. A local decision, localities should have control over their own land use. But you paid a bit of a price for this recently because you recently were removed from a very important committee. What was behind that in your view and are you being punished for speaking out on data centers? So I was removed as chair of the Finance Committee. I still sit on the Finance Committee, which I have been on since 2020, which gives me great insight into the revenue issues that we're having with data centers. Listen, several of my colleagues have said that this removal was politically motivated, and I tend to agree with them. I think we all recognize political retribution when we see it. And this whole removal from finance chair was set into motion. When word got around that I would be challenging Chair Randall on her mismanagement of data centers in Loudoun County. I think that this really isn't about me. It's about what the constituents of Loudoun County want to see at a board level. They want to see more regulations. They want to see more control. And as chair, I'm going to be focused on those issues and not retaining my own power. So you're not only challenging Phyllis Randall as a political debate, you're challenging her for election. You're running for county executive. The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors has looked at changing some of the rules that had previously agreed to by some of these data centers in terms of grandfathering them. Are these data centers just simply going to go to another part of the state or the region and that revenue will go someplace else? And do you have a replacement for the revenue that would be lost from not having these data centers? Sure. So, you know, listen, I have gone around the state in my role on the Virginia Association of Counties. I talk to unions all the time and I tell them. I would be happy to go elsewhere and help you figure out how to welcome data centers in a regulated way so that other jurisdictions can recognize this revenue. It has been an unbelievable amount of revenue for the county. It's at $1.3 billion a year right now. As I said, I sit on the Finance Committee, and we know that this revenue won't go away for five to seven years. And for me, that gives us time to plan. to diversify our economy, to lean into our tourism industry, to start attracting businesses that actually have a decent amount of jobs, like small manufacturing. We need flex industrial space for folks that want to start up businesses. So we do need to start planning for this revenue because technology changes or they may want to go to another jurisdiction, but we have time to plan for that. We just need to stop them from gobbling up all of our developable land. If they keep Keep gobbling up our developable land. It constrains us from building housing and diversifying our economy. Julie Briskman is a Loudoun County supervisor, and she's speaking to us with today about the situation in data centers and the place where probably they have more than any other Loudoun County, Virginia. Supervisor, we thank you for spending time with us on the Hill. Thanks so much. I appreciate it. When we come back, we're going to talk about your wallet and how inflation ticked up. Once again, Fox 5's on the Hill is right back after this. Welcome back to Fox 5's On The Hill. There was more bad news for inflation this week. It rose by nearly half a percentage point, pushing it up to around 4%. It is the third straight month of increases. So what does that mean for you, the consumer? What does it mean for the Fed? Michael Bright is returning to us this morning. He is the CEO of the Structured Finance Association. So let's start with inflation because I think that's where everybody's heads kind of go immediately. Obviously, the gas prices are a big part of this, but have we reached a point where the prices have risen to a point where they've now just locked in and might not be coming down? Yeah, it's a real problem. So it. You talked about the last three prints, the last three inflation numbers being way higher than they're supposed to be. I mean, the Federal Reserve targets about a 2% year-over-year increase in the basket of goods that the average consumer buys, and as you pointed out, it's double that. It's near 4%. But this has been going on for years. And the Fed has got to get it under control there. They are at risk of losing credibility in the market, saying we trust that you will keep inflation down. There's a lot of backdrop factors. Federal government spending is a big one. The war is a big one. A.I. build out is there as well. It's just too much spending. Typically, the move from the Fed would be to raise interest rates. However, The president replaced Jerome Powell, the last Fed chair, because he was not bringing interest rates down fast enough. Kevin Warsh now has been keeping them where they are. But I mean, at some point, does, you know, the crack need to break open here and the Fed needs to make this move that won't be politically popular in the White House? Yes. I mean, there's absolutely no ambiguity in that. So they did increase. Warsh did increase 25 basis points. And asserted some independence on the part of the Fed. And I think that that was good. They're going to do more. There's definitely going to be a series of interest rate increases. I think most people expect 75 basis points or a full point over the next several months. And they have to do it. Their hands are tied. Now, we've seen gas prices start to dip down a little bit. Is that an indication of maybe a further drop in gas prices, even though this war with Iran is still going on? You know... The Strait of Hormuz... Because the president did say after the election gas prices were going to come down. Now, the war hasn't ended, but the gas prices are starting to take down. Yeah, there's some more traffic flowing through the Strait. But it's about 20% of the world's oil comes through the Strait of Hormuz. So, you know, there's still tension. There's still conflict. We're getting mixed signals from the White House in terms of whether they want to de-escalate or they're going to continue this war. All of that, the market has to price in. They have to price in... You know, they've been burnt before by talk of, we're going to end this... This war, we're de-escalating, we're not going to do any further bombings, and then all of a sudden that changes. And so the markets have to predict where they think it's going. And so the futures market for oil still is very high. So Democrats rode this wave into the majority based on the economy. People were upset with the economy. If the economy doesn't right itself at some point, do the Democrats wind up getting tarred with a bit of that if it doesn't get fixed? Well, there's only so much you can do if you don't control the executive branch. So they definitely have Congress buy a lot. And I think that they're going to, you know, do the investigations that you were talking about, and they're going to have to pass some bills that attempt to chip away at affordability. But, you know, they still have to be able to work with this White House, and it's unclear, you know, whether that's going to actually come to fruition. So I think they're going to make some steps. They're going to, you know, assert authority. They're going to probably use power of the purse to sort of dial down the Iran war, which could put a little bit downward pressure on oil prices. But I think this is going to be an issue in the 2028 presidential for sure. All right. And we want to thank you, Michael Bright, with the Structured Finance Association, the chief executive officer. We appreciate you for being with us. Great to be here. We're going to take a quick break right now. We're going to continue on the Hill in just a moment here on Fox.