Ascend Consulting

Elevating your organization’s influence and impact through government relations and grant funding.

07/23/2026

The House just passed the FY2027 NDAA — 216-212, a $1.15 trillion national defense authorization. That’s roughly $250B above last year’s bill.

A few things worth knowing if you’re tracking this:

→ 5-7% pay raise for servicemembers, with junior enlisted at the top end

→ $28.6B for military construction and family housing

→ Continued funding for “Golden Dome” missile defense and rebuilding munitions stockpiles

→ A companion reconciliation package adds ~$60B more for the Pentagon

The bigger story, though, is the vote itself. NDAA has historically been one of the most bipartisan bills Congress passes every year. This one squeaked through on a near party-line vote — a real signal of how much defense policy is now tangled up with the fight over Iran and the federal budget topline.

This is a House bill, not a law. The Senate hasn’t even taken up its own version yet — they blocked procedural consideration earlier this month over the same budget concerns. Until both chambers pass identical language and the President signs it, none of these provisions are final.

07/13/2026

Today, we remember Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who passed away this weekend at age 71.

A dedicated public servant, Senator Graham served the people of South Carolina and our nation for over two decades. We were especially grateful for his leadership when he was the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee where he prioritized anti-exploitation and child protection legislation.

Our thoughts are with his family, his staff, and all who knew him.

07/10/2026

Severe weather costs the U.S. an estimated $115 billion in 2025. Congress is now weighing legislation to help forecasters get ahead of it including the wildfires and flooding that have been increasing concerns in the U.S. recently.

The Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act (H.R. 5089 / S. 3923) is a bill that impacts every America, and we have been working to reauthorize and update NOAA's core research and forecasting programs through FY2030 — with upgrades to radar, expanded commercial weather data partnerships, statutory backing for tornado research program VORTEX-USA, and modernized alert systems for floods, storms, and hurricanes.

It also looks beyond emergency response, funding better soil-moisture monitoring and seasonal forecasts to help farmers and water managers plan for an increasingly unpredictable climate.

The bill has cleared committee in both chambers but still needs full passage before reaching the President's desk. Read more here: https://www.ascendconsultingdc.com/weatheract/

07/04/2026

Happy Independence Day! 🇺🇸

In 1776, fifty-six men sat in a hot, windowless room in Philadelphia — bitter rivals, deeply divided, betting everything on an army that was already retreating. What got the Declaration signed wasn't agreement - it was mutual respect.

Our CEO breaks down the Seven Keys to Leadership, Influence, and Change the Founders left us — and why they still hold up 250 years later.

Read the full piece: https://substack.com//note/c-287919225?r=4g8whk&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action

06/30/2026

Last week the House advanced the KIDS Act as a "landmark" bipartisan package of 17 bills on kids' online safety. There's one problem: the Senators who wrote KOSA say it isn't KOSA at all.

The House version strips out the duty of care — the provision requiring platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent harms like self-harm promotion and exploitation, with real legal accountability when they fail. In its place: annual audits. An audit can document a problem. It can't compensate a harmed child or create liability.

Sens. Blackburn and Blumenthal— KOSA's co-authors, with 75 Senate co-sponsors behind them — have called the House package "dead on arrival."

Read the full breakdown on our site → https://www.ascendconsultingdc.com/the-kids-act-is-not-kosa-and-the-senate-champions-are-saying-so/

06/03/2026

OMB just proposed the biggest rewrite of federal grant rules in more than a decade.

On May 29, the Office of Management and Budget published a proposed rule overhauling 2 CFR Part 200 — the Uniform Guidance that governs how virtually every federal grant dollar is awarded, conditioned, and terminated. This impacts nonprofits, state and local governments, universities, hospitals, and for-profit entities receiving federal funds.

Comments are due July 13, 2026. Our overview and the link to comment are on the Insights page of our website www.AscendConsultingDC.com

AscendConsultingDC

05/15/2026

🏛️ Sine Die, Missouri!

Today marks the end of the 2026 Missouri legislative session — and what a session it was. The gavel falls at 6 p.m. in Jefferson City, and Ascend Consulting was proud to be in the room advocating for our clients every step of the way.

This year, our team worked in more than a dozen state legislatures across the country, fighting for the policies and outcomes that matter most to the organizations we serve.

MoLeg

05/07/2026

Spring lobby days with our clients are one of the most meaningful parts of our year at Ascend.
These aren’t just meetings. They’re momentum.
Every conversation, every briefing, every moment spent connecting a constituent story to a policy priority moves the needle.

Here’s to the long hallways, the packed schedules, and meaningful work.

04/30/2026

Last week we convened another powerful ATIP Policy Roundtable in the Senate sponsored by our partner focused on two of the most urgent fronts in the fight against trafficking: protecting children in foster care and holding Big Tech accountable.

We were grateful to have Assistant Secretary Alex Adams keynote the event and highlight the foster care system remain among the most vulnerable targets for traffickers — and the roundtable made clear that policy solutions must reflect that reality. Participants examined the gaps that make foster youth disproportionately at risk and what legislative action can close them. The GRACIE Act closes one of the biggest gaps in child welfare impacting an astounding 37.4% of US children.

Equally urgent was the conversation around technology platforms. 7 bipartisan members of Congress joined us including our Senate sponsor Marsha Blackburn. Traffickers increasingly rely on social media and digital infrastructure to recruit, exploit, and control victims — often in plain sight. The roundtable brought together lawmakers and advocates to press the question: what more can and should Big Tech do?

The message from the room was clear — voluntary measures are not enough. Accountability must be built into law.

Thank you to for sponsoring the event and to every participant who brought their expertise, passion, and commitment to this critical work. We are also grateful to for providing our networking lunch. The conversations held in rooms like this one shape the policy that protects the most vulnerable among us.

The first ATIP was held four years ago in this room with just 13 orgs and it was good to be back! I included the TBT photo from 2022 (last photo).
📷 .rohan.artistry

04/15/2026

The FY27 President’s Budget Request is out, but Congress holds the pen.

🔗 Read our full analysis at the link in our bio.

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