📝 The Readback: Canada CODEL

IN THIS EDITION

24 hours with senators in Canada

Saying goodbye to Connolly

Checking back in on the reconciliation ad battle

In Dublin with Bernie Sanders

THE TOP

24 hours with senators in Canada

Welcome to The Readback, our weekend digest featuring the best of Punchbowl News this week. Here, we share 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.

O Canada — If you’re a reporter in Washington, Congress is truly the best beat. The daily access on Capitol Hill to the powerful people you cover is second to none, maximizing our ability to scrutinize the branch of government that’s most accountable to the voters.

But I’ve always believed it’s important to get away from the Capitol every once in a while, especially when it’s not campaign season. For one, lawmakers are often less guarded when they’re away from the stuffy halls of the Capitol complex. And so much of what lawmakers do, especially in the national security space, occurs far away from D.C.

There’s so much value in traveling with lawmakers to foreign countries. It’s one thing to hear them talk about an abstract concept on the Senate floor. It’s another to see them up-close and personal in the places around the world where those issues matter the most. It’s also fascinating to see how much they cling to — or shun — the back-home politics of a particular issue.

And on a personal level, I’ve learned a ton on these trips. I’m a better Hill reporter than I otherwise would be if I had never covered a CODEL.

So I was glad to be able to accompany a bipartisan Senate delegation to Canada last week, led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). As I wrote, the trip was an unusual peace mission of sorts, coming amid President Donald Trump’s hostility toward Canada. Not just because of tariffs, but also his harsh rhetoric. The senators’ goal was to cool tensions between the two longtime allies and encourage Canadian tourism to the U.S., which has plummeted.

The rhetoric I’m referring to, of course, is Trump’s frequent musings about making Canada the “51st state.” (As an aside, has Trump considered that making Canada the 51st state would almost certainly add two Democrats to the Senate?)

Those of us who cover American politics have become numb to these sorts of comments from Trump. And, honestly, Trump’s insults toward Canada are pretty tame compared to his rhetoric on other topics, so it’s easy to just brush them off. I certainly have.

But one thing I learned on this trip to Ottawa is that Canadians don’t view it the same way. Yes, they’re offended by the open flouting of their sovereignty. But more than that, they see a betrayal by their closest ally and friend, the United States.

Case in point: One of the best ways to better understand the topics I’m covering on a CODEL is to talk with the reporters based in that country and pay attention to their questions.

At the end of the trip, the senators held a press conference at the U.S. embassy in Ottawa. I was struck by how the Canadian reporters framed their questions. One said Trump was “determined to destroy” key Canadian industries and that it was “difficult to see” a path forward on trade issues despite the senators’ optimistic tone.

Another reporter pressed the senators on Trump’s national emergency declaration to impose tariffs on Canada, which relies on an argument about fentanyl coming into the U.S. from Canada. The reporter noted that while fentanyl is a problem, very low percentages are entering the U.S. from Canada, so the logic is flawed.

I asked Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) about all of this after the press conference. Kaine was fixated on the reporter who said Trump wants to “destroy” Canada’s aluminum and steel industries. Here’s what Kaine told me:

It’s also worth noting that Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), the lead Republican on the trip, told me that while he doesn’t understand why anyone would be offended by the “51st state” talk, he wants the “offending” — read: Trump’s antagonism — to stop.

That’s Senate diplomacy for you: Trying to reassure foreign leaders despite the guy in the Oval Office.

What I’m watching: The best team in baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies! I hope this incredible run they’re on continues, but I must admit there are some warning signs, especially with the bullpen.

— Andrew Desiderio

You can find The Readback in your inbox every Saturday at 8 a.m. And don’t hesitate to reach out to readback@punchbowl.news with feedback. Enjoy The Readback.

Saying goodbye to Connolly

On Tuesday, hundreds of people packed into a church just outside D.C. to remember late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). I was there too.

Connolly died last week at 75, just six months after announcing his diagnosis of esophageal cancer.

The service was held at a church in Reston, Va., with several people sharing their memories of Connolly.

James Walkinshaw, a Fairfax County supervisor and former Connolly staffer, also spoke. Walkinshaw was Connolly’s pick to succeed him in Congress.

Paul Laudicina, who first met Connolly in high school and reconnected with him when they were working for Joe Biden in the Senate, spoke about the Virginia Democrat’s early life. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) interrupted his Virginia Beach family vacation to give a eulogy.

Why did I go to the funeral? I knew Connolly for 16 years and always enjoyed talking with him about politics and policy. He was a whip-smart politician who had a great sense of people. Connolly could read his colleagues, understood their motives and what made them tick.

No members of the House Democratic leadership were in attendance at the funeral.

In the meantime, the House Democratic Caucus is jockeying to replace Connolly atop the House Oversight Committee. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) announced his candidacy earlier this week. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) has hinted that she will run. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), who has stepped in for Connolly, will also be in the mix.

Connolly did not indicate who he wanted to replace him before his passing.

What I’m watching: Warfare, a gripping movie about a group of SEALS in Iraq in 2006.

– Jake Sherman

Checking back in on the reconciliation ad battle

Now that House Republicans have passed their sprawling reconciliation package, the fun part starts for campaign enthusiasts like me. Yes, it’s time for another update on the battle of the airwaves.

I scooped a string of new ad campaigns that launched this week from liberal outside groups, all targeting vulnerable House Republicans for supporting the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It’s instructive to analyze these ad buys to understand what Democrats see as the politically toxic aspects of the reconciliation bill.

The main themes of attack: Republicans are cutting health care funding and killing clean energy jobs.

Let’s start with Medicaid. Democrats have zeroed in on Medicaid cuts for months now as their main gripe with the Republican bill. Outside group Protect Our Care has honed in on the health care provisions during its $10 million “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign.

The latest in this campaign came this week with ads accusing 11 politically endangered House GOP lawmakers of supporting Medicaid cuts while backing “another huge tax break to billionaires.”

The messaging aligns with a wider populist push from Democrats in response to President Donald Trump’s gains with working-class voters.

Clean energy tax credits. Democratic groups are also slamming Republicans for attempting to repeal clean energy tax credits that were a part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Hardline conservatives pushed for these tax credits to be removed in reconciliation.

Ads from groups like Protect Our Jobs and EDF Action are framing the GOP effort in stark economic terms.

In an ad from Protect Our Jobs this week, a Republican electrician criticizes GOP incumbents for killing “thousands of jobs” and turning their backs on constituents. EDF Action’s billboard campaign directly named the number of jobs in GOP districts that could be cut if the reconciliation bill passes.

We’ll have to wait and see how Republican groups respond to these attacks. In the immediate aftermath of the bill’s passage through the House, the GOP has focused its messaging on the package’s tax cuts and immigration provisions.

What I’m watching: Still processing the incredible season finale of “The Rehearsal.” Nathan Fielder is a genius. After watching Fielder save 150 lives in the “Miracle Over the Mojave,” check out his CNN appearance with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown.

– Max Cohen

In Dublin with Bernie Sanders

Seeing lawmakers out in the wild is like seeing your teacher in the grocery store when you’re in high school – you can’t picture them out of the bubble you know them from.

So it was weird and surprising when I saw Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in line for my flight to Dublin, Ireland, on the Thursday before Memorial Day.

No, it wasn’t a reporting trip like my colleague Andrew Desiderio’s. I was merely taking a well-deserved vacation with my wife and friends after weeks of relentless reconciliation coverage.

I had Guinness pints in my head, not the iconic senator’s tirades against billionaires and millionaires.

A frenzy broke out at gate D32 of the Dulles International Airport.

We could hear whispers all around us, travelers excitedly and confusedly saying, “It’s Bernie…what is he doing here?”

Sanders was flanked by his wife Jane and his chief of staff, Misty Rebik.

The sight of Rebik made me immediately think this was a work trip, not just a vacation for the Sanders couple.

Interestingly enough, Sanders and I were flying United. A few weeks ago, when asked by Bret Baier about him flying private in his tour with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Sanders responded with, “You think I’m gonna be sitting on a waiting line at United?”

Well, there he was waiting for a United flight!

Anyways, after a brief Google search, I found out the U.S. senator would deliver the keynote speech at the Robert Tressel Festival, Ireland’s main trade union festival. So on brand for the ardent union supporter.

While in Dublin, Bernie and Jane Sanders would also hold an event to speak about the current state of American politics the following Tuesday. So I immediately knew that lightning wouldn’t strike twice and we’d fly back together since I planned to return to D.C. that Tuesday.

Sanders boarded ahead of me and sat in business class. I didn’t see the senator for the remainder of the flight or when we touched ground the next morning in Dublin.

And so I thought, “There it is, a little story about a Capitol Hill reporter who has had dozens, if not hundreds, of interactions with a senator randomly boarding an international flight with him. Good Readback item.”

Epilogue. But that wasn’t it! On my second day in Dublin, I was walking up Dawson Street, and who did I see coming down the iconic street leading into St Stephen’s Green? Bernie Sanders.

Sanders was again accompanied by Rebik and held hands with Jane as they walked through a welcome respite from the typical Dublin drizzle.

I had to say something this time.

“Sen. Sanders, funny seeing you here in Dublin,” I said.

“Yes, how’re you doin’?” Sanders said in a little less grumpy version of his Hill self.

What I’m reading: While in Dublin, I was able to grab a beautiful copy of “Dubliners” by James Joyce at the Trinity College library’s gift shop. Joyce is known for being tough to read, and this short-story collection is supposedly one of his easiest. I’m excited.

– Diego Areas Munhoz