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THE TOP
The Khan road tour continues
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.
Now, let’s hear from Ben: On Wednesday, I broke a story about the events that Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan was doing with members of Congress this month and the fascinating dynamics around that.
There’s a lot of interest in Khan right now and it showed. Our story received pickup by other outlets, both online and TV.
I’ve covered Khan since long before last month’s “60 Minutes” profile, which treated her like a folk hero. So I was a little stunned when reporting our story made me see her current position, and more importantly her timeline for staying there, differently.
First came the accusations from Khan opponents — a pretty wide swath of the business community at this point — that she was engaged in out-of-bounds political campaigning.
That reaction didn’t really shock me, although invites to these events came from congressional offices, not campaigns. But it is the height of campaign season for the lawmakers she flew to visit, especially Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who’s running for Senate.
Plus, the knock on Khan is she’s a partisan operator wrecking an independent agency to punish Big Business. Frankly, many supporters, including some populist Republicans, would say that’s what they like about her.
I should’ve remembered the whispers I’ve been hearing from that same business community: They fear they’ll be groaning under Khan for a while still.
Yes, despite her expired term. Despite the Republican senators’ regrets about their votes to confirm her before. Despite business leaders seeming to have the ear of both presidential candidates right now.
That’s where I really got jolted. Supporters of Khan were quick to remind me she can stay until a successor is confirmed.
Sure! Since last month, she’s technically already been on borrowed time. I had imagined, though, that a successor’s moment would come soon.
Maybe not. Even in the worst scenario for Khan, the next president is going to have to battle to confirm every nominee. It’s likely to take months to select Khan’s replacement, negotiate with moderate senators and find floor time not already spoken for.
Even better for Khan, the next president could just sort of… forget her for a while. Punt on the party factioning. Let a functioning agency continue to whir for a half-year or three.
Presidents don’t love their predecessor’s appointees going off-road. Khan could still be gone before Valentine’s Day or demoted to a regular commissioner.
It does take an extra moment, though, to replace a government official who, against all odds, has attained somewhat of a celebrity status.
We’ll have more on my story about Khan in the inaugural episode of The Readback podcast this morning. More on that below and listen here.
What I’m reading: “The Atlantic” story on college students who have never read full novels before. Or, at least, I’m reading the tweeted reaction to it. I’ll get to the full article this weekend. Probably.
– Ben Brody
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.
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Senate GOP leadership race hits the campaign trail
If you can believe it, it’s been seven months since Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced he wouldn’t seek another term as GOP leader.
And during every congressional recess since, the candidates running to succeed McConnell have crisscrossed the country to campaign and raise money for Senate GOP candidates and incumbents. That’s in addition to dozens of one-on-one meetings with sitting Republican senators.
The October recess is proving to be no different. But now, the stakes are much higher. When senators return to Washington after the Nov. 5 election, Republicans will huddle behind closed doors and vote — in a secret ballot — for their choice to lead the conference, either as majority leader or minority leader.
It’s currently a three-man race, but most senators believe it’s between Senate Minority Whip John Thune and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who challenged McConnell last time around, has his own reelection to worry about and isn’t hitting the road for GOP candidates like Thune and Cornyn are.
October blitz: I wrote this week about what Thune and Cornyn are up to this month and, unsurprisingly, they’re hitting all of the major Senate battleground states to campaign with the GOP candidates as well as help them fill their campaign coffers.
Most of these races feature a vulnerable Democratic incumbent and a GOP challenger. National Republicans have recruited these challengers in an effort to break from their party’s recent trend of nominating poor candidates who lose the general election in what should be winnable states for the GOP.
The GOP challengers are in constant communication with Thune and Cornyn, we’re told — mostly initiated by the South Dakotan.
Depending on how many of them win their respective races, this bloc of challengers could potentially swing the leadership race one way or the other. So it makes sense that Thune and Cornyn are hitting the road and getting as much face time as possible with them.
The suspense: We can’t predict who will win, though GOP senators tell us they think Thune has a natural edge because he’s the sitting whip. Cornyn, meanwhile, also served as whip and has a longer history of national fundraising for the party.
Thune has two public endorsements — Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.). Cornyn doesn’t have any yet. But don’t read too much into this, because most senators don’t feel a need to stake out a position just yet. Also, because it’s a secret ballot, many senators might never reveal their preference.
Of course, there’s that old quip by former Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) about leadership races that you should keep in mind. I’m paraphrasing here, but it goes something like this: I wrote 27 thank-you notes for 24 votes.
The implication here, obviously, is that three members told Alexander privately that they’d be voting for him but didn’t follow through. A secret ballot is what allows that to happen. Thune and Cornyn are well aware of this dynamic.
What I’m watching: It’s #RedOctober, and the Phillies start their first playoff series later today with the New York Mets. I’m cautiously optimistic, but don’t tell my Dad I said that.
— Andrew Desiderio
Introducing The Readback podcast
As a modern media company, Punchbowl News goes everywhere our audience is. Since our launch in January 2021, that meant a morning podcast recapping our AM newsletter.
Now, we’re excited to launch a second podcast product: The Readback. Each Saturday, we will highlight a standout perspective from The Readback newsletter. I’ll be your host.
The podcast episodes will include an interview with a Punchbowl News reporter who will take us behind the scenes of a notable story they worked on during the week.
One of the most engaged portions of our audience is podcast listeners. Countless Hill friends tell us that they wake up daily to Jake and Anna’s dulcet tones on the Daily Punch. They listen first thing in the morning when they get up, during their commute to work or even in the shower.
We’re happy to give Punchbowl News listeners another chance to plug into our reporting outside of the business week.
We’re hoping The Readback podcast can replicate the success of the newsletter itself, which thrives on providing a direct route into the brains of our journalists with a more casual tone. Please listen to the first episode, featuring our tech reporter, Ben Brody, and let us know what you think.
My podcast journey started around seven years ago in the soccer world. Back then, I was a blogger in my spare time for a fan-run soccer website that covered my favorite team: Fulham FC. The host of a leading Fulham podcast reached out to me and asked me to co-host a Friday afternoon pre-match show.
Many seasons of heartbreak and triumph later, I still co-host Cottage Talk with my good friend Russ Goldman. We stream live on YouTube, X and Facebook most Sundays, and I’ve learned valuable lessons on how to think on my feet, respond succinctly to questions and engage with listeners.
I can’t wait to bring my soccer podcasting chops to the political world and take our audience deeper into the news-gathering process of our high-octane team.
What I’m reading: “The Insurrectionists Next Door,” a recent Atlantic piece by Hanna Rosin about her neighbors and their direct connections to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. It’s a captivating piece of first-person journalism that hasn’t escaped my mind since I finished reading it.
– Max Cohen
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How security concerns have swept the Hill
This week, Max and I dissected how Capitol Hill is responding to the uptick in threats and the fraught political environment hanging over Washington, particularly since the two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump.
We spoke with over a dozen lawmakers on both sides of the aisle before they left for recess about what they’re doing to shore up security on the campaign trail. Some of them, including more high-profile members, declined to comment on the record over safety concerns.
I’d say what we found was a bit distressing but not surprising.
U.S. Capitol Police told us they’re on track to exceed the 8,000 threat reports they received in 2023. USCP only releases this data once a year and actually began making numbers like these public after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Capitol Police noted that threats against members and staff tend to increase during election years, around controversial bill debates on the Hill and in the midst of global conflicts.
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) talked about how she’s dealt with disruption from pro-Palestinian protesters. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), meanwhile, recalled a threat his wife received during last year’s contentious speaker race when he opposed Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-Ohio) bid.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who has served in public office for nearly two decades, talked to us about how he’s had to rethink what venues he uses and decrease the amount of public town halls he holds.
“One of my favorite things as a member was to host lots of town halls, lots of very visible public meetings, parades, all these other things,” Huffman told us. “There’s no doubt that [the uptick in violent threats] has had an effect on pretty much all of that.”
But House leaders are also being proactive about the need to ensure members are staying safe.
House Democrats launched a task force last year to investigate member security.
Additionally, the House Administration Committee has been working with Capitol Police on how to close any gaps or loopholes when it comes to safety.
Both Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) and Ranking Member Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) told us they’re in constant contact with Capitol Police and have held member presentations regarding security.
The committee is also making efforts to help Special Assistant U.S. attorneys better prosecute threats against members.
What I’m reading/watching/listening to: I’ve been rewatching Pretty Little Liars because it’s a classic and we’re also officially in spooky season. I’ll say this show has aged better than others.
– Mica Soellner
Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. Political ads courtesy of AdImpact.
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