Mike DeBonis

Could NOT be more excited to welcome @riley_rogerson @MrossMichaela and the one and only Ben Freed to the fam

Many Trump officials once decried FISA and sweeping government surveillance They’re now the ones coming to Congress to push lawmakers for an 18-month extension with no reforms even some Republicans are taken aback politi.co/4783V6r via @politico

‘Warrants or bust’: House hard-liners deliver ultimatum ahead of spy powers vote @meredithllee @Reporter_Mia politico.com/news/2026/03/1…

Downstream of seniority as their lodestar. It was the only way to build power in the first four decades of their existence and they've never really recalibrated.

Markwayne Mullin's secretive travel a decade ago is emerging as a last-minute tripwire as Republicans race to confirm him as DHS secretary. @jordainc politico.com/news/2026/03/1…

Still early in the day but Senate hive mind seems to think the Rand vs. Markwayne tiff is not threatening his nomination, per @jordainc. Which is wild. politico.com/live-updates/2…

HSGAC committee vote on Mullin's nomination is moving forward tomorrow as scheduled, per Paul's office Unless Fetterman flips (which he's given no indication yet he is doing) Mullin is expected to get through the committee

Capitol Police’s post-Jan. 6 recruitment blitz runs into retention problems “There's nothing keeping folks here," USCP chief Sullivan said . Some young, recent hires are lured away by hiring bonuses at other fed law enforcement agencies (ICE included) politico.com/live-updates/2…

NEW: Growing signs of anxiety among Senate Rs about the midterms amid energy spike, affordability concerns and messy infighting Rs still have a mathematical edge but Dems feeling increasingly bullish and GOP senators warning about a "tough" November politico.com/news/2026/03/1…

NEWS — Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris tells @politico the major Senate housing bill cannot pass the House without changes — casting new doubt on one of the few major pieces of GOP legislation aimed at addressing high prices for Americans Senate GOP leaders want to vote on it as soon as tomorrow “We’ll deal with housing in some way — it’s not going to be the way the Senate is going to send it over to the House,” Harris said in an interview at the House GOP policy retreat. “We’ll go from there.” He said House could amend the bill and send it BACK to the Senate - or conference it politico.com/live-updates/2…

Hill leaders often talk about being heat shields for members, and boy is John Thune taking a scorching. He wants the party past its SAVE America infighting ASAP, @jordainc reports. “It’s the times in which we live,” he said of the online pressure. politico.com/news/2026/03/1…

Old enough to remember when a San Antonio guy might have thought twice about placing an op-ed in the New York Post. nypost.com/2026/03/11/opi…

NEW: House Republicans are moving ahead on a clean 18-month extension of spy powers, Chair Crawford and Scalise told me. Scalise did not give specifics on when it could get a vote. But leaders are eyeing the week of April 13, per two ppl. w @meredithllee politico.com/live-updates/2…

NEW: Key House Republicans are pushing for more spending cuts across social safety net programs in a second party-line bill - including Medicaid Budget Chair Jodey Arrington told @politico he's planning to discuss with House Republicans later today a raft of fraud prevention offsets across welfare and more. He also wants to pair military spending with cuts across the Pentagon. but vulnerable Rs are already wary of more sensitive spending cuts - “I’m going to listen to everything,” said Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.). “I think we need to be very thoughtful about what we do and how we go about doing that.” Other Rs raised concerns about the ability to pull off another party-line bill inside the closed-door meeting this morning, per 3 ppl in the room politico.com/live-updates/2…

More here from Thune: politico.com/live-updates/2…

A group of Senate Dems is threatening to force more war powers votes as soon as next week unless Hegseth and Rubio testify publicly on Iran. Five resolutions were filed late last week by Booker, Murphy, Baldwin, Schiff and Co. politico.com/live-updates/2…

NEW — House Republicans kicked off their annual retreat last year heralding a “golden age” of GOP governance Today, they open the gathering at Trump’s Doral, FL resort amid spiking gas prices, stock market chaos and open-ended war in the Middle East politi.co/4sACBpD

As many as 20 House Republicans could be prepared to vote to hold Bondi in inherent contempt for her handling of the Epstein files -- among a few reasons why the AG is in tough political waters right now on Capitol Hill

Relevant tidbit in this @meredithllee zoom: He doesn't have a primary challenger, and the filing deadline passed a month ago.

For a House GOP hard-liner who came in with a splash, Warren Davidson is a relatively quiet guy known to pick his spots -- crypto, FISA ... and now Iran war authorization. politico.com/news/2026/03/0…