Very little shocks me these days, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) managed to do it this morning when he told reporters he skipped a meeting of the Gang of Eight yesterday because “we were working on the healthcare stuff.” The Gang of Eight is made up of the top Democrats and Republicans in each chamber of Congress and the top Democrats and Republicans on each chamber’s intelligence committee.

Very little shocks me these days, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) managed to do it this morning when he told reporters he skipped a meeting of the Gang of Eight yesterday because “we were working on the healthcare stuff.” The Gang of Eight is made up of the top Democrats and Republicans in each chamber of Congress and the top Democrats and Republicans on each chamber’s intelligence committee. It receives classified briefings so its members can oversee national security.

This seems like a good moment to share a conversation I had last week with Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. We talked about the Gang of Eight, the Intelligence Community, the importance of nonpartisan intelligence reports, and what is happening to our governmental systems under the Trump administration.

To read more from Senator Warner, his Substack handle is @senatorwarner.

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