📝 Readback: Postcard from Doral at the House GOP retreat

IN THIS EDITION

DHS fight heats up on the Senate floor

Postcard from Doral

Letting it fly on Fly Out Day

What you missed at our 2nd annual Conference

Launching our swag store

THE TOP

DHS fight heats up on the Senate floor

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.

Quiet shutdown. It might be easy to forget that the Department of Homeland Security is shutdown, unless you’ve been watching the Senate floor these recent days.

That DHS shutdown is now on Day 28. Until last week, we didn’t hear a ton from lawmakers on this, other than reports of Democrats and the White House trading offers. Congress in the meantime has been engulfed with the war in Iran and what to do about it.

But DHS is still shut down, with tens of thousands of federal employees working without pay. Some airports are even asking travelers to give TSA agents gift cards.

Senators erupted last week over how to get over the shutdown. We saw several back-and-forths between Republicans and Democrats — some through the press — as the two sides appear to be nowhere on these talks.

First, there was the meeting dispute on Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), who’s been the GOP’s point person on the talks, said that top Senate Democrat appropriator Patty Murray (Wash.) declined to meet with them and the White House. Murray told us in response that she didn’t know what Britt was talking about, and that Democrats only wanted to meet with White House officials who could actually make concessions.

Then the Senate floor became the center of the action. Democrats and Republicans spent the next two days sparring on the floor with dueling unanimous consent requests.

Democrats tried to fund all other DHS agencies except for ICE and CBP, which are at the center of the shutdown negotiations. Republicans tried to pass a short-term continuing resolution. Both attempts failed, while Thune, Murray, Britt and other senators exchanged tense words.

It’s worth watching a few of the speeches, like Sens. Brian Schatz’s (D-Hawaii) and Eric Schmitt’s (R-Mo.), to get a sense of how each side is framing this fight.

Before voting again on the full-year DHS funding bill, Senate Democrats tried to pass standalone measures to fund TSA, CISA, the Coast Guard and FEMA. Republicans blocked them all.

The Senate left town on Thursday without reopening DHS, ensuring that the shutdown will go at least another week.

What I’m watching. Every Wednesday, I’ve been looking forward to a new episode of “Shrinking.” My fiancé and I have loved the show since the first season. It’s a great combination of hilarious, heart-warming and tragic. As a Los Angeles native, I also appreciate the subtle nods to LAFD throughout this season.

– Samantha Handler

You can find The Readback in your inbox every Saturday at 8 a.m. And don’t hesitate to reach out to [email protected] with feedback. Enjoy The Readback.

Postcard from Doral

DORAL, Fla. — After three days covering the House Republican retreat at the Trump National Doral resort, I didn’t feel like coming home to Washington, D.C.’s ongoing battle with winter. On Thursday, the snow quickly proved me right.

Here’s a dispatch from my time in South Florida.

The messaging. The GOP retreat came weeks after I heard House Democrats make big predictions about taking back the chamber’s majority at their retreat in Leesburg, Va. As expected, Republicans saw it differently and repeatedly said they would “defy history.”

NRCC Chair Richard Hudson, whom I sat down with outside the resort’s Donald Trump Ballroom, said a smaller House map would work against the usual midterm swing to the party out of power.

The other big agenda item was plotting a second reconciliation package. While Speaker Mike Johnson tried to put on a brave face about the chances of another sweeping bill, Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) contradicted him. Smith told reporters at a news conference that it wasn’t realistic to pass another one.

The push and pull between focusing on celebrating the One Big Beautiful Bill and demanding another reconciliation package dominated the retreat.

The president. On the first evening of the retreat, President Donald Trump addressed House Republicans and delivered a plea for Congress to pass the SAVE America Act. The Hill press corps was quickly shuffled into a side room adjacent to the ballroom for a post-speech news conference.

Trump, flanked by his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, gave an update on the war in Iran, which he described as a “short-term excursion.” Afterward, the president turned it over to questions. The White House traveling press pool also joined us, and we got a taste of the chaotic clamor to get Trump’s attention during the Q&A section. Far more aggressive than a presser with House or Senate leadership on the Hill.

The setting: The House Republican retreat was a different experience from the Democratic version. For starters, February in Leesburg, Va., doesn’t come close to March in Miami.

But beyond the weather, press access was drastically better at the GOP retreat. At the Democratic retreat, reporters were confined to a nondescript side room in the Lansdowne Resort. But at Doral, the media were given greater freedom to roam the premises and interview lawmakers. In many ways, reporting from Doral felt just like staking out a House Republican Conference meeting in the Capitol.

The increased access improved my reporting. For instance, I caught a glimpse of Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) on an outdoor patio outside where the member programming was happening. Just like on the Hill, I approached Salazar and asked her questions about her reelection campaign. The chance encounter led to quotes that made my article on her House race stand out.

What I’m watching: College basketball conference tournaments as we approach Selection Sunday for March Madness. We’re getting close to some of the most exciting days of the sporting calendar. Get excited to start filling out those brackets! Nothing compares to the optimism of getting your picks in (quickly followed by the disappointment of seeing your bold predictions fail on the first weekend).

– Max Cohen

Letting it fly on Fly Out Day

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), was our guest this week on Fly Out Day. Lankford sits on a bunch of important Senate committees, including Finance, Homeland Security, Intelligence and Ethics, which made him an ideal guest to discuss the war with Iran, the SAVE America Act, shutdown dynamics, plus our favorite: the filibuster!

As Punchbowl News CEO Anna Palmer pointed out, there are few shows that would devote as much time as we do to the filibuster!

Lankford brought the Oklahoma flair to our Capitol Hill townhouse with his Braum’s ice cream store swag. I’m excited to try it out next time I am in the Sooner State.

Some highlights from the Fly Out Day conversation and roundtable discussion:

— Lankford’s thoughts on Iran and what’s next in the conflict. Plus, the cost of the war.

— How Lankford really feels about the filibuster and why it is important for the Senate.

— Lankford’s thirty second pitch to voters. And what he heard at a Dollar Tree store!

— Will he endorse in the contest to replace Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-Okla.) seat?

— Is he feeling the Hern?

— Igor Bobic, senior politics reporter at HuffPost, on what reeks during his That’s Not Gonna Fly submission.

— A very classic weather-inspired That’s Not Gonna Fly from Anna right before the snow started falling!

— Check out what Anna and fellow founder Jake Sherman are watching next week!

What I’m listening to. Harry Styles! Last week he released “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally” and it has been a great vibe for long runs and workouts. I highly recommend a few listens… it has lots of layers!

– Haley Talbot

What you missed at our 2nd annual Conference

Punchbowl News’ second annual summit earlier this week was quite the feat to pull off. And we did; a true team effort that required all hands on board.

We host plenty of newsmaker conversations and social events all year, but the Conference is the Super Bowl of them all. PS: You should come to one if you’ve never been before.

This year’s summit brought an impressive lineup of speakers from Congress, government and industry for conversations on policy, politics and the news driving Washington.

The congressional speakers included Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Angus King (I-Maine) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), and Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.).

On the industry side, billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and Northrop Grumman CEO and President Kathy Warden were among the speaking guests.

We even had a couple of sessions on sports and a live recording of Fly Out Day. There was something for everyone.

As one with insatiable wanderlust, the travel conversations were my favorite. I shifted in my seat uncomfortably as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy talked about some of the outdated systems at the Federal Aviation Administration that could affect flight safety. I’ll have to block that out the next time I board a plane and remember that air travel still remains the safest and most effective way to get me to the other side of the Atlantic or south of the Sahara.

Check out the full video of the Conference here.

In the meantime. We have several other events listed above coming up this month. We’d love to see you there as we continue to grow the Punchbowl News community. Bookmark and check our events page frequently for updates on what’s coming up and how to RSVP.

What I’m watching: I just finally finished all seasons of “Slow Horses” on Apple TV and already can’t wait for the sixth season… if only to watch River Cartwright’s endless heart-pounding runs and Jackson Lamb’s killer one-liners.

I’ve also committed with three friends to do something creative for at least 10 minutes a day for the next 40 days. It will probably mostly involve writing short stories or poetry, but I may try out my hand at drawing.

– Elvina Nawaguna

Launching our swag store

In year five of Punchbowl News, bringing new activations to our conference earlier this week marked a new era for the company.

Pink Room. We brought our Fly Out Day Pink Room to life with a dedicated pop-up for attendee photo opps, fun rapid-fire interviews and real-time session reactions from our reporters.

Swag Store. A VIP swag experience provided attendees with giveaways and a first look at our newly launched swag store. From pocket tees and quarter-zips to hats, mugs, sweatpants and even pickleball paddles, members of our community can now don exclusive Punchbowl News merch. Check out our store.

New year, new Portal. Our team was busy showcasing the new and improved Portal, our game-changing legislative intelligence tool. The revamped platform, now live, makes it easier to orient your day and move quickly through legislative activity.

From a daily snapshot of votes and transcripts available within an hour of a hearing concluding to insights into when members vote against their party, a lot has changed since we launched last year. Schedule a call with our team to learn more.

What I’m watching. I will be watching Selection Sunday this weekend as March Madness takes shape. Admittedly, I have not been closely following this college basketball season, but my competitive juices will be flowing as I aim to win our men’s and/or women’s Punchbowl News bracket challenge.

– Dave Rosenzweig