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Hello, and welcome back to The Best & The Brightest, Puck’s new daily newsletter from the Swamp.
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The Best & Brightest

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Good evening,

You’re reading The Best & The Brightest, our new weekly composite of what’s really going on in this town—inside the White House, the Pentagon, on K Street, and under the Dome. On behalf of my partners Julia Ioffe, Tina Nguyen, and Peter Hamby, thanks as always for your support and feedback. Keep it coming.

Tonight, I have a plethora of news about the melee on Capitol Hill: McCarthy’s surprises, Vern Buchanan’s feelings, motion to vacate roulette, Ted Cruz’s game of chance, Rick Scott’s breakfast club, Janet Yellin’s successor, and much, much more.

But first…

Robert Hur’s Fear Factor: Just when it looked like the House Republicans were on the ropes, relentlessly wounded by their own made-for-TV infighting and backstabbing and the George Santos of it all, a new political lifeline emerged today in the form of the discovery of a set of classified files languishing in Joe Biden’s Delaware garage, beside his Corvette...

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Motion to Vacate Roulette
Motion to Vacate Roulette
News and notes on the chaos under the Dome: hurt feelings in Congress, Ted Cruz’s ‘24 calculation, the Santos sitch, a key DeSantis ally, and more.
Dylan Byers TARA PALMERI
It turns out that the imperiled Long Island fabulist George Santos might not be the only conference member that Kevin McCarthy risks losing this term. The new House Speaker, who must navigate a razor-thin majority in which he can currently only lose four votes to pass partisan legislation, has another unforeseen problem on his horizon. Multiple members have told me that they are worried that Vern Buchanan, the 71-year-old from Florida, is loose in the saddle and contemplating retirement after losing his chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means committee this week. Buchanan told McCarthy he was furious that he was passed over for a much younger member, Rep. Jason Smith, who has become a bit of a speaker’s pet...
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TEDDY SCHLEIFER
Hail, Cesar!
Hail, Cesar!
The real story that was buried in the big Oppenheim/NBC News shakeup: Cesar Conde is consolidating power.
DYLAN BYERS
McCarthy Chaos Agents
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With the Speaker on a MAGA leash, insiders worry a shutdown is “guaranteed.”
JULIA IOFFE
Amazon’s NFL Fallacy
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JULIA ALEXANDER
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The West Wing conversations surrounding the ceasefire collapse, and the horrifying theories about what is happening to Israeli women in Gaza.
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Peter Hamby • December 4, 2023
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Tara Palmeri • November 30, 2023
The Obama-Biden Thing & Jeff Roe Déjà Vu
As the White House confronts a Gen Z backlash, calls for an Obama intervention have been tempered by fresh anxiety over the party’s generational deficit and the president’s messaging strategy.


Speaker Mike Johnson has kept his right flank placated, for now, with some carefully curated shiny objects.
Tina Nguyen • November 29, 2023
Johnson’s Biological Clock & a Ronny Snub
News and notes from Capitol Hill and the fundraising trail.
Republican presidential candidate former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley stands on stage during a break in the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate on November 8, 2023, in Miami, Florida.
Theodore Schleifer • November 28, 2023
The G.O.P. Megadonors Come to Jesus
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The images of the Palestinian prisoners’ release is emblematic of the problem Israel faces, in both the occupied West Bank and in Gaza.
Julia Ioffe • November 28, 2023
The Day After the War Ends
It’s hard to imagine that all the trauma the Israeli and Palestinian people have lived through in the last two months won’t breed more radicalization and mistrust. But if it doesn’t result in some kind of political solution, we will find ourselves back here again too soon.


Prices are simply a huge drag for Joe Biden.
Peter Hamby • November 27, 2023
Biden’s Choose Your Own Adventure Economy
Yes, experts agree the economy is technically great. But it’s also very weird: gas prices are down and wages are up, but so is rent, car insurance, groceries, and just about every product Americans encounter on a daily basis. If that’s what voters are associating with “Bidenomics,” well, Biden is in big trouble.


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Latest Articles from Washington

To the extent that Republicans are still allowing Johnson some latitude, their open-mindedness mostly stems from the fact that Johnson is not McCarthy.
Tina Nguyen • November 22, 2023
Mike Johnson’s MAGA Love Tap
As lawmakers leave town for the Thanksgiving holiday, anger is continuing to build on the speaker’s right flank as Bannon, Gaetz, Kirk & Co. lay yet more political dynamite on the embers of the House G.O.P. dumpster fire.
Peter Hamby • November 20, 2023
Haley Mary
Nikki Haley might be peaking at exactly the right time, and her campaign is now making the case that she is the last best hope to stop Trump—or at least to outlive DeSantis. Her recent campaign stops in South Carolina hint at a suburban strategy, but snatching the nomination may take a miracle.
President Obama speaks with attendees at The Obama Foundation Democracy Forum on November 3, 2023 in Chicago, IL. Please credit “The Obama Foundation.” The photographs may not be manipulated in any way, and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by the Foundation, President Obama, or Mrs. Obama without the Foundation’s prior written consent.
Baratunde Thurston • November 19, 2023
My Chat With Obama
Reflections on media fragmentation in the Obama era, how Trump accelerated its breakup, and what Biden can do to find a new way forward.


Bernie Sanders broke up what was almost a fist fight between Markwayne Mullin and a testifying teamster during a Senate HELP hearing.
Abby Livingston • November 17, 2023
The G.O.P. Fatigue Paradox
News and notes from an unprecedented day on Capitol Hill: schoolyard fights, cartoonish name-calling, and more.
The absence of anyone with a clear inside track to Johnson illuminates one of the vulnerabilities in Washington’s relationship-based business model.
Tara Palmeri • November 16, 2023
Desperately Seeking Johnson
As Mike Johnson ascends from nobody to speaker, the entire flat-footed lobbying industry is desperately searching their Rolodexes for ins, connections, second cousins once removed—or any way to influence the new guy with the gavel.
So much for Johnson’s “honeymoon” period, which lasted all of two weeks.
Tina Nguyen • November 15, 2023
Mike Drop
Mike Johnson, the formerly unknown backbencher with the worst job in town, is learning what it’s like to run Congress ahead of a shutdown, to wrestle the MAGA anger blob, and the high cost of compromise.


National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is known, in Washington, as a relentless pragmatist.
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Jake Sullivan on Israel & Ukraine
A very, very candid conversation with the national security adviser about the Israeli intelligence failure, Bibi-Biden, Ukraine, Xi, and much more.

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