The Archive

IN THIS EDITION

Marking 4 years of Punchbowl News as new Congress sets in

Inside the dramatic speaker vote

The Senate’s Throwback Friday

Freedom Caucus plays nice with leadership

THE TOP

Marking 4 years of Punchbowl News as new Congress sets in

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.

Happy beginning to the 119th Congress. As you’ll read here, the Senate and House are now fully in the swing of things.

I wanted to take a quick moment to mark a minor milestone in Punchbowl News history: our fourth birthday.

This is not a monumental celebration by any means. But I will note that, four years ago on Friday, we sent our first newsletter out. At that point, we were just four people – the four founders. Our goal was to serve the Capitol Hill community and anyone who was obsessed with legislative politics.

That’s still our goal – and we’ll never change that. Only now, we have a thriving business with 34 employees. We have reporters focused on financial services, tax policy and technology. We have a business staff focused on events, subscriptions, marketing, advertising, customer service and more.

We have launched The Portal, our new congressional data platform. And in the next few months, you’ll see Enbloc AI, a feature on The Portal that will allow you to better make sense of the massive amounts of data in Washington.

I personally feel blessed to come to work every day with colleagues who love what they do and are driven to be the absolute best at what they do. News moves quickly in Washington. People are hungry for information. We have no time to be complacent and no time to complain.

We are very lucky to have you as a reader and we never take that for granted. Thanks for being along for the ride.

What I’m listening to: Phish’s New Year’s run at Madison Square Garden, which I missed for the first time in many years.

– Jake Sherman

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.

Inside the dramatic speaker vote

Mike Johnson clinched the speaker’s gavel Friday on the first ballot — but not without a little drama. And certainly not without a big assist from President-elect Donald Trump.

For those of us who covered the 15-round speaker vote last year, this race felt tame by comparison. But the day still started off with a heavy dose of suspense as Johnson appeared to lack the 218 votes he needed and was staring down a revolt from conservative hardliners. Even some leadership aides were unsure of the outcome.

Just ahead of the floor vote, though, we started to see some positive signs for Johnson. We scooped that the House Freedom Caucus huddled off campus, where a number of holdouts signaled they were prepared to fall in line, citing their allegiance to Trump. Rep. Eli Cane (R-Ariz.), one of the hardline rebels, told me on his way to the floor that he’d “probably” back Johnson. Meanwhile, Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), another perennial wild card, told reporters she was a “yes.”

Then it was showtime. The clerk began ticking through lawmakers’ names in alphabetical order. Some of the GOP holdouts indeed voted for Johnson. But half a dozen others didn’t vote when called upon even though they were clearly present in the chamber.

Then came the first defection: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who voted for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer. You could hear some audible gasps and “ohs” and “ahs” in the chamber. Eventually, Massie was joined by two others: Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who cast his vote for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas), who voted for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).

At the end of the roll call vote, the clerk returned to the members who did not vote. One by one, they each pulled the trigger for Johnson – including Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who had been a huge Johnson critic. In an unusual move, Reps. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) both walked to the well of the chamber to privately communicate their votes to the clerk, in an apparent bid to avoid having to shout Johnson’s name out loud.

That means it was down to just three holdouts: Massie, Norman and Self. The GOP leadership team began preparing to go to a second ballot, even sending out a whip notice. But Johnson was determined to get it done on the first ballot, and so the vote remained open on the floor.

With Massie seen as a lost cause, Johnson and other HFC members began trying to work over Norman and Self on the House floor. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) then got involved and dialed up Trump, who was in the middle of a game of golf. Johnson led a group of members to a private room off the House floor where Mace passed the phone over to Norman and Self, with Trump on the line.

Trump didn’t make any threats or mentions of primaries. Instead, he implored the duo to back Johnson so they could get moving on the president-elect’s agenda. Trump did, however, remind Norman that he initially endorsed Nikki Haley in the GOP presidential primary.

Norman and Self were back on the floor about 15 minutes later, where they asked the clerk to switch their votes to Johnson — enough to deliver him the gavel. But the way the speaker vote played out should be a warning sign to Johnson about just how difficult it will be to govern with a historically small majority.

And it’s clear he’ll be on a tight leash. Perhaps not so coincidentally, the number of initial holdouts on the House floor was nine – the exact number of Republicans it will now require to trigger a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair.

What I’m watching: I am watching season 3 of “The Traitors.” It might be the best reality show on television. And Alan Cumming is a legend.

– Melanie Zanona

The Senate’s Throwback Friday

If you were one of the relatively few people who were hanging around the Senate chamber while the House speaker drama was unfolding, you may have thought you were transported back in time.

That’s because several former senators were milling around the Ohio Clock Corridor and the Senate floor on what can best be described as the “first day of school.” It’s the day every two years when newly elected and reelected senators are sworn in for a six-year term.

As a Senate history nerd, I found it the ultimate people-watching exercise. And I’ve covered many of them in years past.

A sampling: Former Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who joked to me that he had forgotten his way around the Senate, was here to accompany his successor, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), for her swearing-in to a second term.

Corker was a very popular member of the GOP Conference despite coming out against Donald Trump. We spotted Corker giving Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) a bear hug on the Senate floor.

The eccentric former Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) was on hand to accompany Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) for her swearing-in.

We also spotted former Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), the incoming chair of the Senate Leadership Fund, the GOP leadership-aligned super PAC.

Former Sens. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and Phil Gramm (R-Texas) were also spotted in the building, along with Ohio GOP Gov. Mike DeWine. DeWine served in the Senate from 1995 to 2007. Dewine will soon need to appoint a replacement for Vice President-elect JD Vance.

Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) was also on hand, though that shouldn’t surprise Senate dwellers. Lott, now a lobbyist, comes in frequently.

What I’m watching: I recently finished the second season of “Shrinking” on Apple TV. It’s a fantastic show with an A+ cast, including Harrison Ford, one of my favorite actors.

— Andrew Desiderio

Freedom Caucus plays nice with leadership

The House Freedom Caucus has suddenly become leadership friendly…for now at least.

After several members of the ultra-conservative group said they were uncommitted to backing Speaker Mike Johnson for another chance at the gavel, they all threw their support behind him in the end except for two unusual suspects: Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Keith Self (R-Texas).

We were closely monitoring several members, including Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) and HFC Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) to see if they would lead to another chaotic speaker showdown similar to last Congress. We saw some of these members skip their first opportunity to vote when their names were called only to vote for Johnson in the end.

So what changed?

Well, first off, President-elect Donald Trump’s endorsement certainly played a heavy hand in getting Johnson over the finish line. He boosted Johnson on TruthSocial last week and lobbied Norman and Self to switch their votes at the last minute, giving Johnson the speakership in just one ballot round.

Secondly, HFC really had no alternative candidate. Sure, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) were thrown out as possible alternatives to Johnson, but we’ve been down this road before. Neither Emmer nor Jordan were able to secure the majority of votes last Congress when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was thrown out by hardliners in his own party.

But this doesn’t mean Johnson is necessarily going to be best buds with the Freedom Caucus. Shortly after they backed him, HFC board members sent a letter to their colleagues with a list of demands they expect from the speaker.

Those demands include quickly reversing Biden-Harris administration decisions, implementing hardline border security policies and ensuring only U.S. citizens can vote in elections (this is already the law of the land).

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who led the short-lived rebellion against Johnson, quickly put out a statement saying the speaker has not yet proven that he will set this Congress up for success.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), former HFC chair, said he also had “reservations” about Johnson’s record as speaker and echoed the demands laid out by the board.

Welcome to the 119th Congress. Which could end up looking similar to the 118th Congress.

What I’m reading: I just finished On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist by CNN foreign correspondent Clarissa Ward. Highly recommend for anyone interested in our global conflicts and frontline reporting.

– Mica Soellner