The Archive

IN THIS EDITION

Wicker sticks his neck out

Republicans get some momentum as they try to pass Trump’s agenda

A progressive influencer enters the chat

Interviewing FCC’s Brendan Carr

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Wicker sticks his neck out

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.

About that group chat… The stunning revelation from The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg that top Trump administration officials used Signal to discuss sensitive military operations dominated Washington this week, and Congress had a starring role in the fallout.

The Senate and House Intelligence committees were already slated to hold their annual worldwide threats hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday, featuring two members of the infamous group chat — DNI Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

Their exchanges with Democrats at those hearings were at times heated, but they maintained that none of the information discussed in the group chat was classified.

Since Republicans control all committees on the Hill, it was doubtful they’d use their broad investigative authority to further scrutinize what pretty much everyone in Congress — Republican or Democrat — acknowledges was a mistake.

Enter Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

Wicker, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined forces with the panel’s ranking member, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), to demand an inspector general investigation into the matter, including classified briefings.

It’s looking like this will end up as the only congressional inquiry about the Signal chat, which makes Wicker’s move even more significant.

I wrote this week about Wicker’s emergence as one of the rare Republicans who’s been willing to publicly break with not just President Donald Trump, but also Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Wicker worked tirelessly to get Hegseth confirmed by the Senate, yet Hegseth has repeatedly done and said things that have prompted Wicker to speak out. See here for a partial list.

It’s been a delicate balancing act for Wicker. He’s one of Congress’ most consistent defense hawks who has a uniquely close relationship with Trump and is almost never subject to the backlash that other Republicans get when they do or say something that’s perceived as challenging Trump.

Based on my conversations with GOP members of the Armed Services Committee, there isn’t much, if any, dissatisfaction with Wicker’s decision. In fact, many are happy that Wicker is willing to stick his neck out so they don’t have to.

Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), a close Trump ally, told me this week that while the scandal will “live a long life on Capitol Hill,” back home in Indiana, “people aren’t focused on that.” That’s often the case with issues related to national security, which is a uniquely “Washingtonian,” if you will, consideration.

One more note about Wicker: The Mississippi Republican continued to challenge the Trump administration this week. In a Thursday afternoon speech on the Senate floor, Wicker did not mince words in a comprehensive takedown of Vladimir Putin and argued the Russian dictator is not interested in peace.

Wicker was referencing the Trump administration’s ongoing negotiations with Moscow about bringing the Ukraine war to an end. Wicker said over and over that Putin is trying to use the negotiations for his own benefit, and cautioned the administration against any sort of sanctions relief. A lot of Republicans on Capitol Hill are terrified of this very possibility.

“We should not support a peace deal that could let Russia up off the mat and reconstitute its army,” Wicker said, adding that “the wrong deal with Russia could allow them to be off to the races sooner” to target a NATO member-nation.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) gave a similar speech this week, as we scooped on Friday. Though McConnell’s was much more pointed. The former Senate GOP leader called out Trump’s negotiating team for its “embarrassing naivete” and said the United States is on track for a headline that states: “Russia wins, America loses.”

What I’m watching: What an incredible Opening Day victory for the Philadelphia Phillies. Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber hitting homers against their former squad, Nats fans going completely silent, and the Fightin’ Phils reminding D.C. who’s boss. Can’t wait to cheer them on later today at Nats Park.

— 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.

Republicans get some momentum as they try to pass Trump’s agenda

It’s been a huge week for news on reconciliation, the wonky process that Republicans are using to push President Donald Trump’s legislative priorities through Congress.

It was one of those times covering Capitol Hill where you can tangibly feel momentum shift in real time.

We knew this three-week period would be a critical stretch for the GOP’s efforts on a bill with taxes, spending cuts, border security funding and defense money.

We kicked off the week with a scoop that Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, tax committee chairs and key administration officials would huddle at the Treasury Department on Tuesday to figure out the path forward.

The House passed a budget resolution locking Republicans into at least $1.5 trillion in spending reductions and giving them $4.5 trillion in room for tax cuts. But as we’d been chronicling, Senate Republicans saw little they liked in that plan. So the week’s big question was how the House and Senate could bridge that divide.

Spoiler alert: They didn’t.

But let’s back up a step on how this unfolded. Tuesday’s big tax meeting rolled around, and we sensed a significant momentum shift from then. Lawmakers will always tell you their meetings made progress. But there were real, tangible signs this time.

For one, Thune embraced the House’s plan to include the debt limit in reconciliation. Thune had informed GOP senators Tuesday that he planned to put a compromise budget resolution on the floor the week of April 7, then told them Wednesday he could move up the timeline by a week.

The House had been throwing lots of barbs the Senate’s way to force momentum and get senators to swallow House reconciliation plans. But after Tuesday’s meeting, House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) praised his Senate colleagues, saying he was “proud of the momentum the Senate is building.” Another tone shift.

The acceleration of the Senate’s plans is all possible because Republicans are planning – at least for now – to stop trying to agree on everything and just get on with the actual policy decisions of a final reconciliation bill, essentially. They plan to keep the House’s reconciliation instructions for around $1.5 trillion of spending cuts, but set a far lower $3 billion floor in the Senate. Spending instructions will differ, too.

While the big-picture reconciliation story heats up, I’m also tracking all the latest as Republicans work to nail down their tax package.

House Ways and Means Committee Republicans had a big day of meetings Wednesday, including hosting White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett at their weekly lunch to talk about the economic impact of the GOP’s tax plans, as we scooped.

What I’m watching: I’m a little behind but just finished up season three of The Traitors, which was the best one yet. Also, go Phillies!

– Laura Weiss

A progressive influencer enters the chat

Twenty-six-year-old Kat Abughazaleh drew a lot of attention this week after she announced her intention to challenge Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) for her Chicago-area seat.

Abughazaleh, who has cultivated a large online following, is taking a nontraditional approach in her campaign. She’s shunning television ads and hoping to reach voters via social media.

Abughazaleh is also bringing the heat not just to Republicans, but to the Democratic Party as well. In fact, in her launch video she blasted Democratic leadership for “cowering to Trump” and called for a more aggressive approach to counter the Trump administration.

I spoke with Abughazaleh this week. She talked about what she wants to see Democrats do and how she plans to plot the defeat of a long-time incumbent like Schakowsky. We’ll note Schakowsky, who is 80, has not yet announced reelection plans.

While many Democrats are distancing themselves from progressive ideas at the moment, Abughazaleh argued the party should normalize and embrace bold ideas from the left.

In fact, she even challenged the notion from many in her party that they need to move more to the center to bring back working class voters and other voters that moved towards President Donald Trump.

“We tried that in 2016 and it didn’t work. And we tried that in 2024 and it didn’t work,” Abughazaleh said about Democrats moving to the middle.

Abughazaleh also made it clear that she wasn’t specifically going after Schakowsky, who has a record of championing progressive causes throughout her career.

“She has consistently been progressive before it was popular with the majority of who’s in power,” Abughazaleh said. “I just think part of the reason we are in this mess with Trump is the Democratic Party hasn’t taken primaries seriously or alternatively, been so worried about consolidating power … that they discourage primaries.”

Meanwhile, Schakowsky told us she was confident she would retain her seat if she decides to run again. The veteran lawmaker also highlighted her long ties to her constituents in the district and hit Abughazaleh for just recently moving to Chicago.

But Schakowsky, who said she’ll make a decision in a “timely” manner, added that she welcomes any competitor who wants to try for the seat.

“She has every single right to run,” Schakowsky told us. “I also believe that if I decide not to, there will be lots of other players who decide to run.”

What I’m watching: I just started “Good American Family” on Hulu, which is based on the interesting and twisted real-life case of Natalia Grace and the Barnett family.

– Mica Soellner

Interviewing FCC’s Brendan Carr

Brendan Carr has been making a lot of news since taking over as chair of the Federal Communications Commission earlier this year, so I’ve been wanting to chat with him for a bit now.

I was very excited that we got an interview with Carr — who’s caused a frenzy among his supporters and opponents alike — for our first Quarterly Tech newsletter of the year. You can listen to the podcast here.

In addition to our weekly premium newsletter, which covers everything going on in tech across Washington, we offer a special edition every quarter that goes out to all Punchbowl News subscribers. It usually features an exclusive interview with a big newsmaker, so Carr fits that bill perfectly.

And, unsurprisingly, he made news.

Carr told us he’s going to probe Disney and its subsidiary ABC over their diversity, equity and inclusion policies. He also revealed that the White House has been convening meetings with players across the government and the Hill on spectrum policy, and that he has been involved in said talks.

He also said there aren’t “limits” on President Donald Trump’s ability to remove FCC commissioners, which probably didn’t sound that great to his Democratic colleagues.

Carr defended his media probes against CBS, ABC, and NBC, as well as NPR and PBS, as many Democrats and civil society groups say he may be chilling speech. His space agenda has also generated concerns about the FCC favoring Elon Musk’s Starlink, which Carr also dismissed.

Carr knows he’s been polarizing.

“There’s haters out there? This is news to me,” he quipped.

He noted he wants to match the “pace and cadence” in which Trump has been redirecting Washington.

In the interview, Carr claimed he wants to “make telecom policy great again.” The acronym may not turn out as catchy as Trump’s MAGA, but the agenda is just as likely to animate friends and foes alike.

What I’m watching: I’ve been catching up on Gene Hackman movies ever since the legendary actor passed away last month. I’ve been rewatching some of my favorites and catching up on some of his films that I’ve missed over the years. The latest I’ve watched was Runaway Jury, with Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz and John Cusack. Next up: The Firm.

– Diego Areas Munhoz