AMNA NAWAZ: In his first trip to Capitol Hill since the January 6 attack, former President Trump today met behind closed doors with congressional Republicans.

Republicans aimed to use the visit as a display of unity following Mr. Trump's conviction in his New York hush money case last month.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: We have great unity.

We have great common sense, a lot of very smart people in this room and a lot of people that love our country.

AMNA NAWAZ: Following the meetings and a busy day on Capitol Hill is John Bresnahan, co-founder of Punchbowl News.

So, Bres, this is a former president who helped to incite a violent insurrection.

Last time he was on Capitol Hill, many other Republican lawmakers he was meeting with today were there that day running for safety.

How did they receive him today back on Capitol Hill?

JOHN BRESNAHAN, Punchbowl News: Well, it was interesting because there were two different meetings.

He met with House Republicans in the morning.

And that was kind of a -- more of a raucous meeting.

And then after there were some news stories about what happened, what he said there, he -- Trump seemed to take a more sober, serious approach when he met with Senate Republicans later in the day.

It was fascinating, because you did have, for instance, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who was one of -- who fell out with Trump after the election in 2020, he made the serious sin of saying that Biden -- President Joe Biden actually won the election.

Trump went on to attack McConnell for a long time in really derisive terms.

He attacked McConnell's wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, in racist terms.

But, today, McConnell and Trump shook hands and had a nice conversation.

You had on the House side -- you had -- for instance, you had Dan Newhouse, a member from Washington state.

He voted to impeach Trump after the January 6 insurrection.

Today, he attended the Trump event.

So this was bowing to reality.

Trump is the nominee.

He's the head of the party.

His stranglehold on the party remains.

And they -- Republicans -- if you want to get along in the Republican Party, you have to bow to Trump.

And that's the reality that they face today.

AMNA NAWAZ: There was a lot happening among lawmakers today.

I want to ask you, too, about Republican Senator J.D.

Vance's move today, pledging to block President Biden's judicial nominees and U.S. attorney nominations in what he called his response to the current administration's persecution of former President Trump.

We have seen previous Republican senators, Senator Tuberville, for example, block military nominations for months at a time.

Is this a path Republicans want to and are willing to go down again?

JOHN BRESNAHAN: Well, this is -- this is a little bit different.

What Vance and several other senators were saying today, they were going to expand their blockade against Biden nominations.

They already -- all judicial nominations and all U.S. attorney -- or almost nearly all U.S. attorney nominations, they already -- they already have to go through a -- they're already filibustered by Republicans.

But those are high-stakes nominations, and the Senate Democrats are willing to go to the floor and plow through those, go through the process.

It takes time, but they can do it.

What Vance said today was, we're going after even ceremonial nominations, like Barbara Lee to be on the U.N. -- Barbara Lee, a Democrat from California, to be on a U.N. advisory council.

I mean, this is ceremonial position.

This is a member of Congress.

These are usually things they give deference to each other on, and this should sail through unanimously.

But they're saying, if the Democrats want to do this, they're going to have to spend time on it.

And the right betting is that Democrats won't because they're going to try and focus on judicial nominations and other more important nominations.

What it is, is just another sign that they - - again, this is J.D.

Vance, who's of Ohio, the Republican senator from Ohio.

He is very interested in being vice president, and he is doing this to help himself with Trump, to help raise his status with Trump.

And so this is an important -- this was an important thing where he's trying to raise his own profile.

So that's what he was trying to do here.

Again, this just shows you how partisan things have gotten on Capitol Hill in an election year, a presidential election year, where the White House is up for grabs, the Senate and the Congress -- the House is up for grabs.

So everything is just a slugfest.

AMNA NAWAZ: Bres, I have less than a minute left, but I have to ask you about this other move.

A Democratic bill moved forward to protect IVF nationwide.

Republicans blocked it, except for two Republicans, who voted in favor of it, Senators Murkowski and Collins.

Senate Republicans then went on to sign a letter saying that they support IVF, that this bill was just too broad.

In short, is this still a politically vulnerable issue for them?

JOHN BRESNAHAN: Oh, yes, this is a very serious issue.

I mean, there was a vote on a contraception last week.

There's a vote on IVF today.

This is an issue that millions of Americans have.

And probably every American knows somebody who's -- have used IVF to help have a kid or have children.

And so there's a lot of support for this.

Republicans have said that they want to enshrine this in the law, but they don't want to do what the Democrats did.

So Republicans -- Democrats are using this to raise the issue on abortion and contraception and women's rights and that they -- that Republicans are -- want to march the country backwards.

And that's why these show votes, they're symbolic, but they're important.

That's why this is an important issue.

AMNA NAWAZ: John Bresnahan, co-founder of Punchbowl News, always good to see you.

Thank you.

JOHN BRESNAHAN: Thanks.