The Archive

IN THIS EDITION

Mike Johnson’s weird week

The long and winding Senate GOP leadership race

House Republicans’ open warfare

Why we can’t let Gruenberg off the hook

Picture of the week

Mike Johnson’s weird week

Happy Saturday morning.

Welcome back to The Readback, your weekend digest from Punchbowl News where our reporters take you behind the bylines of our top stories this week. Look for The Readback in your inbox every Saturday.

Now let’s get to it…

Mike Johnson is 227 days into his speakership and there have been a lot of interesting moments — growing pains, let’s say — during these seven months.

But this week, there were two instances that truly caught us flatfooted.

Netanyahu’s trip to Washington. Johnson has been the main driver in the effort to bring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington to address a joint meeting of Congress.

This serves both Johnson and Netanyahu’s political purposes. Johnson, like every Republican speaker, has been eager to display his closeness with the prime minister of Israel. Plus, the issue divides Democrats, which suits Johnson well from an internal political perspective.

Netanyahu is under intense political pressure in Israel. In the post-Oct. 7 world, Netanyahu has been subject to withering criticism for the massive security lapse, his inability to get the hostages released and the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. More than 30,000 Palestinians have died since the war began.

The image of Netanyahu speaking to Congress for the fourth time would be powerful evidence of the premier’s standing on the world stage.

I got word on Monday that Johnson and his staff were alerting other leadership offices that Netanyahu would speak to Congress on June 13. I confirmed the date with multiple sources in several corners of D.C. and Jerusalem and we sent a text alert about the news. Almost immediately, the prime minister’s office said that June 13 would not work for Netanyahu because of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot.

Outside of Israel, Shavuot lasts for two days. But in Israel, the holiday just lasts for roughly 24 hours. In other words, on June 13, Americans will be celebrating Shavuot but Israelis will not.

The idea that the leader of the Jewish State would address Congress as American Jews are celebrating Shavuot — many observant Jews would not attend because of the religious restrictions — did not sit well with Netanyahu’s world and many prominent American Jews.

On Thursday, we scooped the news that Netanyahu and Johnson agreed on a July 24 speech to a joint meeting. It will be a historic — and historically tense — event.

Johnson’s Intel decision. Johnson shocked much of the House Republican Conference Wednesday when he named Reps. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) and Scott Perry (R-Pa.) to the House Intelligence Committee.

Jackson and Perry have no specific background in intel matters, but former President Donald Trump was leaning on Johnson to appoint the pair to the panel.

In selecting Perry and Jackson, Johnson has truly alienated a huge swath of the House Republican Conference. The Intelligence Committee’s Republican members are up in arms. The center of the conference is furious that Johnson is seemingly rewarding the often-times destructive behavior of hardline Republicans by giving them plum seats on one of the most exclusive committees on Capitol Hill.

So Johnson now has a problem. Allies to well-liked members such as Reps. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) and Laurel Lee (R-Fla.) are vowing to exact revenge on Johnson. That’s the last thing he needs.

What I’m reading: Luke Russert’s incredibly popular book “Look for Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself” — it’s out in paperback now.

— Jake Sherman

The long and winding Senate GOP leadership race

If you can believe it, we still have five months to go before Senate Republicans convene behind closed doors and vote — on a secret ballot — for who will succeed Mitch McConnell as their party’s leader.

So, understandably, the three declared candidates — Senate Minority Whip John Thune, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) — aren’t yet campaigning too aggressively. But each is quietly making moves intended to boost their credibility with what will be an important voting bloc in the leadership elections: The conference’s anti-McConnell right flank.

I wrote about this dynamic in Thursday’s AM edition. Even though it’s still early, it’s very clear to us that the candidates are thinking about their leadership race with every move they make, large and small.

But do these moves — signing letters, endorsing concepts, introducing messaging bills — actually make a difference? Most senators told us the impact is negligible, other than reaffirming the importance of the conference’s right flank as a voting bloc in these races.

And while Thune and Cornyn are laying much of the groundwork for their campaigns behind the scenes, Scott is conducting his leadership race out in the open. This isn’t a new strategy for Scott, but it’s a way for him to remind Thune and Cornyn that they’ll need to earn conservatives’ votes.

Of course, this particular group is no larger than a dozen. But that’s a significant chunk when you’re talking about a conference of around 50 members and a contest that requires a simple majority to win.

Cutting-room floor: This quote from my conversation with Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) didn’t make it into the story, but I think it accurately encapsulates how most members are looking at the leadership race:

What I’m reading: I make no apologies for my Phillies fandom. This MLB.com story about the “disgusting arms” in the Phillies’ pitching staff did a good job of explaining why the Phillies are the best team in baseball.

— Andrew Desiderio

House Republicans’ open warfare

It’s no secret that House Republicans have had a lot of friction this Congress. But there’s no place this has been more prevalent than on the campaign trail in competitive primaries.

The House Freedom Caucus has openly backed several primary challengers to moderate and even not-so-moderate incumbents, as we’ve written about. I thought it would be interesting to look at what’s actually motivating that mission.

My story this week on the right flank’s push to purge moderates from Congress looks at how House conservatives are thinking about their efforts to oust their colleagues. Essentially, several lawmakers told us that replacing pragmatic Republicans with more far-right lawmakers — even if it costs them the House majority in the short term — is fine with them.

Here’s Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), who didn’t make it in the original story, talking about their strategy:

Of course, we’ve seen some incumbents that HFC members have targeted already cruise to victory past their far-right challengers. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) were able to fend off those threats.

But we’ll still be watching some other races closely, including Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.), who is facing a challenge from South Carolina Freedom Caucus Chair Adam Morgan June 11.

And of course, HFC Chair Bob Good (R-Va.) has his own primary to worry about in two weeks. We’re keeping a close eye on that one too.

What I’m reading: My pick of the week is the Wall Street Journal’s extensive report on President Joe Biden’s mental acuity by Siobhan Hughes and Annie Linskey. The report sparked a lot of conversations and debate, which makes for an impactful piece of journalism. It was also interesting to see Siobhan explain her reporting process on CNN.

— Mica Soellner

Why we can’t let Gruenberg off the hook

This week, I wrote an AM story about the growing skepticism among lawmakers that Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Martin Gruenberg will be replaced before the end of this year.

And look — I know we’ve been saying for a while that it’s going to be tough to get a Senate confirmation done at this point in the year. That shouldn’t be a shock to anyone reading this.

But the further we get from Gruenberg’s promise to resign if-slash-when a successor gets confirmed, the more important I think it is to get lawmakers on the record about it. I wanted to know how folks feel about the odds of a personnel change as well as whether or not it matters.

Republicans: Again, it’s not a surprise Republicans are grumpy about the White House’s exit strategy for Gruenberg, which will keep him in power indefinitely and ensure Democrats remain in control of federal financial policymaking.

But part of the inspiration for this story was the unusually frank cynicism we heard from even-keeled lawmakers like Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.). Rounds said he didn’t expect a replacement would happen and that the White House “knew from day one that this would be difficult to get done before his term expires.”

Democrats: The president’s party just doesn’t seem to be stressed about this right now, even as Democrats acknowledged the difficulty of the confirmation process.

For example, Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), who called for Gruenberg to resign before any other Democrat in Congress, said Gruenberg sticking around for now was fine so long as he appears to be on his way out.

I get it. The Biden administration doesn’t have to give up this power over financial regulation, and even if it burns some political capital, it’s a price they’re willing to pay to try to make the banking system safer. They’d be shooting themselves in the foot otherwise.

But this is also just one more entry in the ledger of financial regulatory politics becoming more pitched and polarized since the Trump administration. The industry hates sharp swings in the political pendulum of the rules they follow. That’s not going away anytime soon.

What I’m reading: I recently found out a friend hates tomatoes in all their forms. I love to cook for friends, but a lot of my staple recipes revolve around that beautiful, faultless fruit. So! I took this recipe for spaghetti al limone with shrimp for a spin this week, and it didn’t disappoint. (If you don’t like tarragon, garlic plus parsley does the job just fine.)

— Brendan Pedersen

Picture of the week

Rapper 50 Cent, also known as Curtis Jackson, met former Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the Hill this week. Jackson and civil rights lawyer Ben Crump made the rounds, meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson and other lawmakers to advocate for more Black business owners in the spirits industry.

Viral moment: Rep. John Rose’s (R-Tenn.) son, Guy Rose, went viral this week after making a series of funny faces and hand gestures on the House floor as his dad delivered a speech. The younger Rose, 6, was in town with many other members’ kids for the White House’s annual congressional picnic.

— Heather Caygle