Enough new has bubbled up about the U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan, and the Gold Star families who lost loved ones in it, that I’m weighing in here – with care – to add context to the messaging we’re seeing.

NEWS in Punchbowl News AM — Speaker Mike Johnson is looking at passing a stopgap funding bill next week that keeps govt funded until MARCH 2025. But he’d attach the SAFE Act to it, which will be a nonstarter w most all Democrats. ALSO — JOHNSON is now favorable to funding government

Former GOP Sen. Pat Toomey was among the handful of Republicans who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial

Sen. Lindsey Graham is in Vegas today w/ Sam Brown, the Nevada GOP Senate nominee. Per the campaign, there will be “a special announcement at a locally-owned Filipino restaurant to address China’s increasing aggression towards the Philippines.” Foreign policy in a Senate race!

Brown will also be on a panel of GOP Senate candidates on Thursday at the Republican Jewish Coalition conference in Vegas.

Exclusive: John McCain’s youngest son speaks out about Trump's appearance at Arlington cemetery, calling it a "violation." Jimmy McCain also tells me he changed his registration to Democrat several weeks ago and plans to vote for Harris in November. cnn.com/2024/09/03/pol…

NRSC ED to Ally Mutnick: “We are on a trajectory to win the majority, but unless something changes drastically in the next six weeks, we will lose winnable seats.” politico.com/news/2024/09/0…

Smart Jonathan Martin column and something I’ve heard over and over from elected R’s — though there is a real concern that he’d just run again in 2028. The view from Dems: Schumer told a group of us in Chicago that if Trump loses big, it could help realign the Republican Party. “My hope

Scoop — THUNE hits $22 million raised so far this cycle, as he builds case for his bid to succeed McConnell as Senate GOP leader. Thune headlined a Trump fundraiser in Nebraska with Vance in August & went to a half-dozen Senate battlegrounds More: punchbowl.news/article/senate…

Looking forward to participating in some excellent panels at the Texas Tribune Festival this week! First up today: —Brown Bag talk w/ ⁦Anna Palmer⁩ ⁦Andrew Desiderio⁩ & ⁦Jake Sherman⁩ at 2:30p —One-on-One convo w/ ⁦Rep. Pete Aguilar⁩ at 4p

Stoked to be in Austin! In addition to the below, I’ll be interviewing President Biden’s top tech/science adviser Arati Prabhakar at 12:45pm CT. Join us!

Standing room only for Andrew Desiderio’s conversation with White House Office of Science & Technology Policy Director Arati Prabhakar. #tribfest24

Biden’s top tech/science adviser, Arati Prabhakar, tells Andrew Desiderio during Texas Trib fest that policy makers need to get better at keeping up with the pace of AI technology, noting tech moves at the “pace of research and development”, whereas policy “moves at the pace of

It’s a different feeling in the Dem party now though. I asked Aguilar, on a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is it that Democrats flip the House? His response: “7” BUT he also warned Dems can’t get complacent.