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Good morning.

I'm Max Cohen, a congressional reporter at Punch Bowl News.

I'm filling in for Anna and Jake this week.

Welcome to The Daily Punch, brought to you by Punch Bowl News. It's Wednesday, July 12th,

2023. Let's get into the mix. Here are your top Washington headlines of the day. Number one,

Republican Defense Hawks flex their muscles.

Republican defense hawks got rolled in the recent debt limit deal. This week, they began to hit back.

The occasion of the annual NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, gave GOP senators a prime opportunity to make the case for a bigger

defense budget, one that seeks to meet President Joe Biden's stated goal of a long-term security

guarantee for Ukraine as the brutal war with Russia continues.

Here's what freshman senator Pete Ricketts, Republican of Nebraska, told our Andrew DeZadario in an interview.

Quote, we provide arms to Ukraine soldiers so that they fight the Russians and we don't have to.

That's a key message that we need to continue to get out to the American public.

When people express skepticism about the money we're spending,

including some of my constituents,

folks here on the other side of the Atlantic

start to get nervous.

...