Puck News hosted its latest Power Breakfast at the Riggs Hotel on Thursday morning, September 18, with chief Washington correspondent Leigh Ann Caldwell in conversation with House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN). The wide-ranging Q&A—featured in Puck’s The Best & The Brightest—spanned free speech in media, crypto legislation, and the path to avoiding a shutdown.
SPOTTED: Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, Kristin Smith, Jon Kelly, Dave Grimaldi, Mary Streett, Lee Brennen, Ben Cantrell, Jonathan Cousimano, Yemisi Egbewole, Riley Kilburg, Rachel Green, Ian McKendry, Colin Moneymaker, Lila Nieves-Lee, Amy Roberti, Kristin Sharp, Liz Gough, Alex Bigler, Tina Anthony, and Ali Hattamer.
On free speech and media censorship
Emmer, in the wake of the political fallout from Charlie Kirk’s assassination, criticized network decisions to cut and edit political interviews:
“We don’t need somebody at CBS deciding that they’re going to edit a presidential candidate’s interview because she can’t put a sentence together and she doesn’t make any sense… Regardless of your political persuasion, you would want that.”
On cryptocurrency legislation
Calling digital assets a “nonpartisan” issue, Emmer pushed back on efforts to frame crypto as partisan:
“This is not about Republicans. This is not about Democrats. This is about Americans and what’s best for our country… This is the number one thing in terms of the golden age of digital assets that [the president] is going to be responsible for creating.”
He noted younger voters, ages 18–40, see crypto as their issue, and warned against politicians using it as a wedge.
On avoiding a government shutdown
With government funding again on the line, Emmer stressed pragmatism:
“The animals in the watering hole tend to look at each other differently as the water recedes… We’ve been figuring out how to get through it.”
He pointed to bipartisan progress on appropriations bills and said Speaker Mike Johnson will push a short-term continuing resolution to buy seven more weeks.
Since launching in May, Puck’s salon series has hosted Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN), Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN). Each conversation draws a curated crowd of administration officials, Hill insiders, and business leaders, with insights appearing in Caldwell’s must-read newsletter The Best & The Brightest and on Puck’s Powers That Be podcast.
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