📝 The Readback: DOD budget mania

IN THIS EDITION

Budget mania at the Pentagon

Inside another embattled House retirement

Fly out Day: Fitzpatrick takes aim at two-party system

From the Hill to the Misty Mountain

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Budget mania at the Pentagon

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.

DOD budget. Tuesday was a big day for military budget watchers.

And for dedicated defense journalists, it was an important opportunity to get our questions on the Defense Department’s spend plan answered. Newsrooms, including ours, that rejected the Pentagon’s media demands had to be there. More on that later.

The agency finally rolled out the details behind its record-breaking $1.5 trillion FY2027 spending request, a stunning 44% increase over current funding levels.

Leading military officials held a series of news conferences in the Pentagon to make the case for what Acting Defense Department Comptroller Jay Hurst described as a “generational investment.”

The spending plan, as my colleague Anthony Adragna and I have detailed extensively, is a risky gambit: it hangs $350 billion of new funding on the passage of a partyline reconciliation bill, hardly a sure thing in this Congress.

Hurst defended his approach and hinted at the contingency planning DOD has in place should reconciliation not pan out. Basically, he said defense leaders would talk to Congress to figure it out.

But Hurst also fielded a lot of reporter questions about what could be coming in a separate supplemental request that would cover ongoing operations in the Middle East amid the war in Iran.

Hurst’s presentation was followed by rundowns from each of the military services: the Navy, Air Force and Army.

Behind the scenes. Most of the reporters attending the briefings were previous members of the Pentagon press corps who gave up media credentials following DOD’s new, restrictive reporter rules back in the fall. Those changes are being challenged in court.

Defense officials gave us temporary building access to cover the rollout.

DOD does the same thing for Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Iran news conferences. But for those, reporters get assigned seats in the briefing room. Previous media badge holders are generally put in the back of the room, while the Pentagon’s new press corps is seated in the front.

On Tuesday, seating was first come first serve, and we all crowded the front.

What I’m watching. I am still slogging my way through the TV series “Lost,” and I have finally made it to the last season.

– Briana Reilly

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Inside another embattled House retirement

After weeks of closely covering the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.), I was moments away on Tuesday from a hearing where I hoped to learn what sanctions the panel would recommend for the embattled lawmaker.

The federal government has charged Cherfilus-McCormick with allegedly diverting millions of dollars from Covid-19 disaster relief funds to improper uses, including her 2021 special election campaign. An Ethics subcommittee investigation also found Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of more than two dozen ethics violations.

The Florida Democrat, who has denied all wrongdoing, was in big trouble. The storyline created a major headache for the House Democratic Caucus. A member under indictment for corruption while the party rails against GOP abuses of power wasn’t a good look.

Senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus had tried to convince Cherfilus-McCormick to resign. She had rebuffed the requests.

Then Tuesday came. While I was sitting in the press area of the Ethics hearing room in the Longworth House Office Building, just ten minutes before the hearing was slated to kick off, news broke that Cherfilus-McCormick resigned.

I quickly obtained Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation letter while reporters around me scanned around in disbelief. Once a lawmaker resigns from the House, the Ethics panel no longer has jurisdiction over them.

It’s commonplace for lawmakers facing serious investigations to step down before Ethics hands down a negative decision. But to resign almost directly before a committee hearing? Now that’s not something you see every day.

There was tremendous interest in the hearing, and every media seat in the Ethics Committee hearing room had been filled. We were all surprised by Cherfilus-McCormick’s last-minute gambit.

Cherfilus-McCormick’s decision also seemed to deflate the Ethics leaders who shuffled into the hearing room shortly after 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

“In light of Ms. McCormick’s resignation earlier today, the Committee on Ethics has now lost jurisdiction on this matter,” Ethics Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) said in a defeated tone. “There will not be a sanctions hearing.”

“Nobody’s happy,” Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (Calif.), the top Ethics Democrat, said. “I don’t think any of us are happy at what we’ve gone through, but I am extremely proud to be associated with all of you.”

Both lawmakers noted the committee staff had been investigating Cherfilus-McCormick’s conduct for years. The hearing lasted just four minutes, with Guest gaveling it out after brief opening statements. It wasn’t how we thought things would proceed, to say the least.

Democratic leaders said Cherfilus-McCormick did the right thing by stepping down. Now, Florida’s 21st District will be vacant for the foreseeable future.

Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation added to the mounting list of members who’ve gotten in trouble and have had to resign, such as Reps. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.). Just another wild stretch in the House of Representatives.

What I’m reading. Corina Knoll’s New York Times dispatch on a former U.S. Capitol Police officer falsely accused of planting pipe bombs before the Jan. 6 insurrection. A harrowing but important read about the impacts of misinformation.

– Max Cohen

Fly out Day: Fitzpatrick takes aim at two-party system

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) tore into America’s two-party system on the latest episode of Fly Out Day, arguing it is “inherently divisive.”

Fitzpatrick, who co-chairs the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus with Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), said he registered as a Republican at 18 because he had, and still has, admiration for former President Ronald Reagan, to which host Jake Sherman eloquently reminded the congressman that “he’s dead.” It doesn’t get much more candid than this, folks.

“He sort of reflected to me, he was inclusive, he was aspirational, he appealed to the better angels of our nature,” Fitzpatrick said.

However, the lawmaker said he no longer believes in the United States’ two-party system.

“Over the years, even before I got here, [I] have sort of rejected the two party system,” he said. “I think it’s so incredibly divisive.”

He also cited George Washington’s 1796 farewell address as an early warning about factionalism, noting the founding father’s skepticism of a two-party system.

“And here we are 250 years later, and people can’t even have Thanksgiving dinner without arguing red versus blue, which is insane… I don’t like the two party system. I really don’t,” he said. “That’s why I’ve gravitated towards the Problem Solvers [Caucus.]”

A moderate Republican known for bipartisan dealmaking, Fitzpatrick took it a step further on Fly Out Day, saying he’d leave the GOP and “100%” become an Independent if Pennsylvania had open primaries.

He even expressed hope that others would break from party labels.

“I want everybody to be Independent,” he said.

Fitzpatrick cited former Presidents John F. Kennedy, Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, arguing today’s political climate is so polarized that none would be able to win their party’s primaries today.

“What does that say? The parties don’t mean anything,” he added.

Here are some other highlights from the episode:

Trump approval. Fitzpatrick gave his perspective on President Donald Trump’s plummeting approval rating.

FISA. Fitzpatrick explained why he voted “no” on FISA, the nation’s international surveillance authority.

Pennsylvania politics. Fitzpatrick commented on Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s presidential outlook.

What I’m listening to. I’ve always been a fan of “The Marías,” but a while back I saw the lead singer, María Zardoya, had started her own solo project, “Not for Radio.” I first stumbled on her track “Back To You” and have been diving deeper ever since. She said the project was created “with the intention of not writing any pop songs.”

– Rachel Scully

From the Hill to the Misty Mountain

“Suddenly calling in sick,” I texted the rest of the Punchbowl News crew on Thursday.

I wasn’t feeling nauseous. In fact, I was approaching the security line at the Capitol.

I had, however, read on X that Andy Serkis, the actor who played Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” movies, among many other roles, would be on the Hill.

I was joking, but only somewhat. Long before I dropped being a reporter into every conversation, LotR fandom was a good chunk of my personality.

The books, which were my father’s favorites from his own youth, were the first really hefty reading I did. I curled up with them during a rainy summer. The real mist melded in my young imagination with Smaug’s mountain and the Shire.

I saw the movies on opening nights and had yearly marathon rewatch parties of the extended editions into college. In a series with heavy-hitters, it’s Serkis’ performance as both Gollum and Sméagol that’s always been my favorite acting.

I wasn’t sure, though, I’d actually approach Serkis on the off-chance I saw him.

I take seriously my adult responsibilities to chronicle the public’s business fairly, not to abuse my access. It was possible Serkis was here as an advocate on an issue I cover. I’m sure he’s been dealing with fans who can’t keep it cool for decades too.

And it was a busy day. At the House vote, Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.) said he wouldn’t be joining a key AI bill. It was a serious blow to its chances of bipartisanship. I needed to write it up quickly.

As I hustled to my laptop, an old tech policy strategist called out my name. We said surprised “hellos,” and then he gestured to his right.

“Ben, meet Andy Serkis,” he said. I turned to see a familiar face, now framed in a salt-and-pepper beard.

I did not keep my cool. My old source mercifully suggested a picture. I’m beaming in it.

Serkis was on the Hill promoting a version of “Animal Farm” he directed, though it sounds like he has some thoughts on artificial intelligence in the background. Trying not to babble about my own history, I instead babbled that I wished more movies premiered in D.C. He pretended to agree.

I sent Serkis on his way, hopefully just a little later than any other jaded reporter might have.

But I’ve thought since then of how grateful I am for the reminder of those misty days.

What I’m reading. There’s a frustrated food and dining reporter inside me, and I’m planning to dive into The Atlantic feature story on “the best free restaurant bread in America.”

– Ben Brody