Sam Lisker

AM News Editor @PunchbowlNews ☀️
✉️: [email protected]
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Prev: @ScrippsNews, @SpectrumNewsDC
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[Sam Lisker @slisker]

Have you heard the news? 👀

@PunchbowlNews is launching a new FREE weekly newsletter: Punchbowl News States!

Delivered to your inbox every Wednesday, starting in January.

Sign up here: https://t.co/mIFykUdac2

[Em Luetkemeyer @em_luetkemeyer]

BREAKING: House Republican freshman class leadership election results:

CLASS PRESIDENT: Austin Rogers (R-Fla.)

ELC Rep: Houston Gaines (R-Georgia)

RPC Rep: Chuck Gray (R-Wy.)

W/ @LuisaClausen

[John Bresnahan @bresreports]

Incoming House Minority Leader Jim Jordan in Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office right now.

Jordan actually put on his jacket for this

[Anthony Adragna @AnthonyAdragna]

👀 @RepAdamSmith, incoming HASC chair, calls for Democrats to "take a minute" on whether to impeach Hegseth next year.

Says he believes Hegseth has committed impeachable offense and should be removed, but should weigh "what's our best approach to achieve our broader objectives?"

[Laura Weiss @LauraEWeiss16]

NEW: Sen. RAND PAUL says he’ll take over as top R on HELP

This means HSGAC will get a new ranking member

Huge move for health watchers

Here’s Paul’s statement:

[Laura Weiss @LauraEWeiss16]

Notable from the interview: Thune said it’s his "expectation to run" in 2028 when he's up for reelection and that he’ll announce some campaign hires soon.

"I hope we have a good experience… trying to get back in the majority. And if it looks like that’s on the horizon, then that would be a factor," Thune added. "Now, maybe it takes a while."

[Ally Mutnick @allymutnick]

Rep Greg Murphy concedes in #NC03 (Trump +14)

Dems have now:
>> flipped FIVE seats in NC

>> held Dem Rep Don Davis's seat

>> a narrow lead in #NC05 (Virginia Foxx)

Overall Dems still on track to hit 260 seats in the House next year

[Jake Sherman @JakeSherman]

JORDAN has a lot on his plate.

POLITICAL: Needs to figure out what he wants to do with CLF/AAN/NRCC. They got their clocks cleaned in 2026 and Jordan -- also Emmer -- have to restructure, alongside Brian Jack. Do they want CLF leadership to stay? TBD. Needs national network of fundraisers. Low-dollar stuff aint gonna fly anymore.

STAFF UP: Needs policy staff, additions to comms team. Core Jordan world -- Eichinger, Yates, Hixon, Castor, Louis-Charles -- will be key parts of the team. But he needs more

INTERNAL: Does he keep steering? Doubt it. Conference rules. He's pushed off organizing meetings to give himself more time.

https://t.co/gUVKOFjNlI

[Sam Lisker @slisker]

Senate schedule update

[Ryan Wrasse @RWrasse]

While the Senate was originally scheduled to be out of session for the balance of the week because of the Veterans Day holiday, folks should now expect votes throughout the balance of the week.

[Em Luetkemeyer @em_luetkemeyer]

House Republican leadership lineup after elections today:

Minority Leader Jim Jordan
Whip Tom Emmer
Conference Chair Lisa McClain
NRCC Chair Brian Jack
Conference Secretary Mark Alford
Conference Vice Chair Blake Moore
Republican Policy Committee Chair Jay Obernolte

They took no questions during their first press conference.

[Andrew Desiderio @AndrewDesiderio]

NEWS: THUNE RE-ELECTED SENATE GOP LEADER

Rest of GOP leadership team also reelected — Barrasso, Cotton, Capito, Lankford.

Sen. Moreno set to take over NRSC

[Jake Sherman @JakeSherman]

🚨🚨LISA MCCLAIN won a 3-way race for conference chair on the first ballot.

[John Bresnahan @bresreports]

Schumer: “I think I will be elected majority leader”

[Andrew Desiderio @AndrewDesiderio]

The vote on delaying leadership elections was 15 to 31 per 2 sources. w/ @LauraEWeiss16

[Jake Sherman @JakeSherman]

🚨🚨 TOM EMMER retains his position as HOUSE GOP whip

EMMER: 103
PFLUGER: 76
JOHNSON: 1

[Jake Sherman @JakeSherman]

🚨🚨 JIM JORDAN is the next House minority leader

[Anthony Adragna @AnthonyAdragna]

News in Midday: A group of 12 influential Senate Dems are demanding provisions deepening U.S.-Israel cooperation on military tech be removed from final NDAA.

Signers include:

— Van Hollen
— Schatz
— Murray
— Sanders

https://t.co/XvkSOkKsNG

[Andrew Desiderio @AndrewDesiderio]

NEWS: Senate Republicans plan to reconvene this afternoon to continue their post-election discussion

No leadership elections yet

[Craig Caplan @CraigCaplan]

Speaker Johnson on today's House vote involving Massie's impeachment resolution of Secy. Hegseth: "I expect that we're going to defeat that one way or another."

[Sam Lisker @slisker]

👀

[Andrew Desiderio @AndrewDesiderio]

! Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) just went off on Hegseth, left open the possibility of voting to allow an impeachment trial to proceed.

Ernst slammed the “lack of info” to Congress on the Iran war & seemed to accuse Hegseth of deceiving Trump/Congress about the war.

“I question whether the information that is coming through the secretary out of the Pentagon has been accurate, and the way he is portraying the war to the president,” Ernst said.

“If there is deception coming from our Pentagon and being transmitted to the President, I would want to know that. 
Now, will that be part of this impeachment? I don't know. But I have some serious questions.”

Ernst also said Hegseth’s continued presence atop DoD “absolutely” makes it more difficult for the Trump admin to secure additional Pentagon funding it’s been seeking from Congress.

[Anthony Adragna @AnthonyAdragna]

Massie says the first procedural vote on Hegseth impeachment will be TODAY.