The Archive

IN THIS EDITION

Trump’s most endangered nominee gets the spotlight

Schumer’s cause for optimism

Dispatch from the House GOP retreat in sunny Miami

DeepSeek and our first Tech event

THE TOP

Trump’s most endangered nominee gets the spotlight

Welcome to The Readback, our weekend digest featuring the best of Punchbowl News this week – a quick roundup of all our scoops, analysis and Capitol Hill insight you won’t find anywhere else. We’ve also included a few of our favorite outside reads from the week.

Gabbard’s Senate tightrope: Cabinet confirmation hearings are, for the most part, pretty useless.

Yes, they allow senators to publicly question nominees for enormously consequential jobs in the federal government. But in the modern-day Senate, they rarely dictate outcomes. And, let’s be honest, senators often use them for performative reasons.

So when the rare consequential hearing takes place, you want to pay attention. All week, GOP senators were openly acknowledging that Tulsi Gabbard’s Thursday confirmation hearing would most likely dictate the outcome of her bid to serve as director of national intelligence.

Gabbard, as we’ve been reporting, is the most at-risk Cabinet-level nominee. Her controversial past has made it difficult for many Republican senators to be excited about her nomination.

That dynamic was on full display two days ago in Dirksen 106, where I was sitting just 25 feet or so from Gabbard as members of the Senate Intelligence Committee were grilling her.

The first thing I noticed about Gabbard was her stoicism. She was defiant yet not easily rattled. She didn’t return the favor when senators raised their voices or interrupted her. That definitely helped.

The real problem for Gabbard, in the eyes of senators from both parties, was the substance of her responses. As I wrote in yesterday’s AM edition, Gabbard refused multiple lay-ups that would have significantly boosted her chances. We referred to it as a “help me help you” situation.

Republicans were dumbfounded that Gabbard wouldn’t more forcefully condemn NSA leaker Edward Snowden, whom she previously praised. Two GOP senators, including one who’s considered a swing vote, implored Gabbard to acknowledge that Snowden is a traitor. She wouldn’t do it.

At that point, the room became very tense. The crowd of people sitting immediately behind Gabbard — comprised of friends, family and supporters — were often looking around at each other. Some were shaking their heads, presumably at the line of questioning, not at Gabbard’s refusal to answer.

Another interesting wrinkle: I obtained a copy of Gabbard’s initial draft opening statement that was submitted to the committee. It included references to a few things that were ultimately removed from the final version, including a swipe at former President George W. Bush over the Iraq War and allegations that intelligence officials leaked details of their Russia investigation to hurt President Donald Trump.

All told, Gabbard’s session could turn out to be the rare confirmation hearing that actually mattered. Just one GOP “no” vote on the Intelligence Committee would effectively sink her nomination, and multiple Republican senators expressed open concerns about Gabbard’s performance.

The next few days will be pivotal for her confirmation prospects, and we’ll be on top of it.

What I’m watching: Eagles highlights to prepare for the Super Bowl. Including this mash-up of every Saquon Barkley touchdown this season in order of yardage.

— Andrew Desiderio

We’re excited to announce another partnership. Join us on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at Diversity Across the Aisle!

Our team is excited to celebrate the 119th Congress’ members at this bipartisan convening. We hope to see you there. To learn more or RSVP, email DiversityAcrosstheAisle@gmail.com.

Schumer’s cause for optimism

When we sat down to interview Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday, the top Senate Democrat acknowledged his party spent Inauguration Day “really down in the dumps.”

But Schumer wanted to talk about what he saw as a remarkable transformation in the week and a half since President Donald Trump took over for a second term.

Democrats banded together to raise the alarm when Trump’s Office of Management and Budget implemented a federal funding freeze. The controversial move was short-lived and ended up facing court challenges before being rescinded by the administration.

But during the brief freeze, the Democratic response was swift. Schumer recounted how he convened calls with attorneys general and governors to plot out a unified resistance. An earlier news conference scheduled to discuss Jan. 6 pardons quickly became focused on the funding freeze instead.

And Schumer claimed a win when speaking to his colleagues later that week in a caucus lunch, crediting his party with forcing an instant Trump retreat on the issue.

The New York Democrat was happy to talk about the funding freeze because, in his eyes, it was a powerful example of the party sticking together to defeat a Republican proposal. Earlier this month, Senate Democrats split on a hot-button immigration bill and delivered the votes to pass the GOP proposal.

After the Laken Riley Act, some Democrats grumbled to us that the party didn’t have a unified message and leadership should’ve done more. But Schumer sees that as a one-off incident that’s in the rearview mirror.

Democrats still don’t have a clear party leader as they enter Trump’s second term. But Schumer is betting the anti-Trump coalition will have plenty to rally around as the president seeks to implement substantial changes in how government works.

Next on the agenda for Schumer? Fighting Russell Vought, Trump’s OMB nominee.

What I’m reading: Brock Colyar’s engaging New York Magazine piece recapping the inaugural festivities and what they revealed about the “New Young Right.”

– Max Cohen

Dispatch from the House GOP retreat in sunny Miami

DORAL, Fla. — A belated hello from the annual House Republican retreat, this year set in the sunny outskirts of Miami at President Donald Trump’s golf resort in Doral.

You never know what you’re going to get at these retreats. Last year, my colleague Max Cohen and I were at the Greenbrier in West Virginia. Basically, we spent most of our time holed up in a windowless press room after going through a rigid security screening. (I’m also sure you’ve heard about the infamous boxed lunch that was offered, which included a singular block of cheese.)

This year, though, the vibes were quite different. We had free range to roam around Trump’s resort and some reporters even caught a glimpse of the president enjoying his own golf course on Monday.

Members were casually walking around the main clubhouse, golfing in the afternoon and some even checked out the pool area. And the best part of these retreats is being able to socialize with lawmakers outside of the Capitol.

But when it comes to the actual substance of the retreat, it’s unclear how much progress was really made in terms of House Republicans’ plans for reconciliation.

Trump told members on Monday night that he still didn’t care if they passed one bill or two bills, which doesn’t give Speaker Mike Johnson much of a stamp of approval for his plans.

Lawmakers attended several workshops featuring committee chairs and elected leadership to discuss their plans going forward as well as how to expand their narrow majority in 2026.

But some members walked away from the retreat feeling unsure about meeting Johnson’s timeline of passing a budget resolution by Feb. 24. Several hardliners, who could be a thorn in leadership’s side, even skipped the retreat completely.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) criticized his colleagues who attended the retreat, saying that he was meeting with constituents instead of “spending $2k to hear more excuses for increasing deficits and not being in DC to deliver border security $ ASAP.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who attended the retreat, also aired her grievances after she departed the Sunshine State.

She said in an X post that Republicans do not currently have a plan and leadership didn’t offer one. Greene also said she hopes to hear a framework next time they meet as a conference.

The main takeaway? Leadership has a lot of work to do next month.

What I’m listening to: I’ve been listening to Kelsea Ballerini’s album Patterns before I see her perform at Capital One Arena next week.

– Mica Soellner

DeepSeek and our first Tech event

When I opened my laptop Monday, the stocks for some heavy-hitter tech companies were spiraling down and everyone was asking themselves: What is DeepSeek?

The Chinese app that shook the artificial intelligence world made waves in both Wall Street and Washington this week. DeepSeek’s owners say they were able to develop a model that competes with AI giants like Chat GPT for a fraction of the cost.

That development had investors and policymakers alike asking themselves whether all of the long-held assumptions over AI — it needs a ton of energy, a lot of data centers, and really expensive chips — were wrong.

But this is what I was thinking Monday: What are we going to talk about in our first Punchbowl News Tech event tomorrow?

You see, we launched our dedicated Tech weekly newsletter on Jan. 5 and now were preparing for our first event on Tuesday morning.

Ben Brody, my newsletter partner, Dave Clarke, our editor and I were tasked with hosting some current — and hopefully future — subscribers at our Capitol Hill townhouse for breakfast and chatting about tech issues.

I think our newsletter has been doing amazingly well so far. But we still wanted to do a good job in our inaugural event to show folks that we’re serious about being the leading news source for the intersection between the tech world and Washington.

So back to Monday. After trying to catch up with the DeepSeek news and asking sources what this all meant, Ben and I wrote a short but precise item on it for the Midday newsletter.

We read about it some more and all three of us thought it had to be the lead of our conversation the next day.

Tuesday turned out great. Our townhouse’s first floor was flocked with people from the industry who told us they were excited about the newsletter.

We ended up having quite a productive conversation and it seems like DeepSeek really was on top of everyone’s mind.

It wasn’t only DeepSeek we talked about. We chatted about privacy legislation, the Republican reconciliation bill, the administration’s approach to tech and more. So thanks to everyone who showed up and we hope more of you sign up for our Sunday Tech newsletter and attend our future events!

What I’m reading: During my few off hours in this busy start of a new administration, I’ve been fascinated by “A History of the World in 6 Glasses.” Tom Standage takes the reader on a voyage of world history through the perspective of some era-defining drinks: Beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and soda. Who knew beer had such an impact on ancient Egypt’s culture and that coffee, in many ways, made The Enlightenment possible? A great read.

— Diego Areas Munhoz