Thune's pressure test

The Daily Punch

Punchbowl News

Politics, Government, News

4.3 • 707 Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2026

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

House Republicans’ FISA debacle and their ongoing refusal to pass legislation to end the unprecedented DHS shutdown is putting a ton of new pressure on Senate Majority Leader John Thune, whose majority is suddenly at risk. Anna and Jake break down Thune’s multi-front pile up, from reconciliation to the SAVE America Act. Plus, could this week mark the end of indicted Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s (D-Fla.) controversial stint in Congress? Watch this episode on YouTube here! Punchbowl News is on YouTube⁠. ⁠Subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to our channel today to see all the new ways⁠⁠ ⁠we’re investing in video.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want more in-depth daily coverage from Congress?⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to our free Punchbowl News AM newsletter at punchbowl.news.⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Presented by American Beverage.
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0:27.3	Good morning. I'm Anna Palmer. And I'm Jake Sherman. And welcome to The Daily Punch, brought you by Punchable News. It's Tuesday, April 21st, 2026. Let's get in the mix. Here are your Washington headlines of the day. Number one, Thune's legislative pileup. What could go wrong? Number two, could this be representative, surefellist McCormick's last week in Congress, and the Senate wades apprehensively into the FISA slog?
0:59.8	All right, take. Let's get to it. We are leading off Punchball News a.m. this morning with this lead.
1:08.0	House Republicans FISA debacle and their ongoing refusal to pass legislation
1:12.0	and the DHS shutdown have made clear that there's only one functional chamber on Capitol Hill right now,
1:18.7	the Senate, and it's barely so, whew, all pressure on Senator John Thune's shoulders right now.
1:26.0	Yeah, it is. If things are difficult in the House,
1:29.4	they're also definitely difficult in the Senate, Anna. Think about all the things that Thune is dealing
1:33.8	with. He's dealing with FISA. He's dealing with, which we talk about in the newsletter at
1:38.7	more length. He's dealing with the Save Act. He's dealing with the president. He's dealing
1:43.7	with a whole bunch of stuff.
1:45.0	You know, and it's interesting, and it's an interesting dynamic just because of Thune's leadership
1:49.5	style. I mean, he tries to keep it easy going, which is, to be honest with you, it's also kind of
1:56.4	Mike Johnson's leadership style as well. And that's challenging as well when you're dealing with
2:02.2	basic, you know, a five alarm fire at all times. And none of these things that Thune is dealing with
2:09.4	are easily solved. When it comes to FISA, I mean, this is a policy issue that deeply divides
2:16.3	Republicans and Democrats.
2:18.8	The choice between, or not even the choice, the push and pull between security and freedom and liberty are kind of, you know, as old as the country.
	...

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