News & Brews July 21, 2025
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Shapiro’s story on HR policies in Vereb scandal doesn’t hold up
Broad + Liberty reports, “Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration is refusing to provide copies of the human resources policies that would support its central defense [in the Mike Vereb scandal]: that Shapiro was kept in the dark for months about sexual harassment allegations … because those policies prevented him from being informed.” And while Shapiro has claimed his administration is led by ‘two strong women,’ records show that both those women—chief of staff Dana Fritz and chief legal counsel Jennifer Selber—knew of the allegations against Vereb early on, yet he remained in his position for several months.
Dems target GOP over Trump in Pa. & beyond
The Hill reports that Democrats are using President Trump’s legislative agenda to target Republicans in battleground states, including Pennsylvania. “The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) launched a slate of new digital ads targeting Republicans … in Virginia, New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.” The ads accuse “MAGA Republicans” of “selling us out.”
‘Jabs already flying’ in (possible) Pa. gov’s race
The Inquirer reports that Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity—who has not announced her candidacy for governor but speculation abounds that she will—is already the target of criticism. “Two powerful labor union associations, the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council and the Pennsylvania Laborers’ District Council — both of which endorsed Garrity in her reelection bid for treasurer in November — issued warnings earlier this month that if Garrity … challenges their ally Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro they will never support her again.” Union leader Ryan Boyer posted, “Should Treasurer Garrity make the foolish decision to challenge our Governor, she will never again have the support of the Philadelphia Building Trades. Not even for county dog catcher.” The pro-Shapiro statement isn’t really a surprise from the union, but several GOP lawmakers thought it went too far and called on Shapiro to denounce it—which, of course, he didn’t.
Still no state budget
The Post-Gazette reports, “One legislative vote early in the week [last week] sanctioned the spending of about $50 billion, a second vote days later erased more than 99.9% of that spending, and few people watching closely were surprised.” The story is referring to the $50 billion spending plan the state House passed, which the Senate (rightly) had no interest in advancing. On Wednesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to strip just about all of the spending out of the same bill. “It was, observers said, merely an exercise. The point was to get the bill in position in the legislative process where — once a deal is reached — it can be loaded up with the amounts that the top leaders agree to and then voted through.” What will this “deal” be? That’s still a mystery.
DNC chair talks politics in Philly
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin sat down with the Inquirer during a recent trip to Philly, where he “talked about the 2026 midterm strategy, the boost he thinks Gov. Josh Shapiro will bring … and whether the Republican praise for Sen. John Fetterman … makes him nervous.” It appears one thing they didn’t talk about (or that didn’t get reported in the story if they did) is why the DNC thought it was ok to simply void the election of its vice chairs because it didn’t like the outcome—kind of like how Dems picked VP Kamala Harris as their nominee even though she never stood for a vote. Oh well; guess ‘protecting democracy’ isn’t that important to the DNC.