House of Representatives
November 14, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Tom Bevan is president of RealClearPolitics and a real clear observer of the American political scene. He has posted a thread on the results of the midterm elections on Twitter. There is a lot to chew over here. I submit it to interested readers at the bottom of this post. Tom tactfully observes that Republicans “will gain only a handful of House seats…” He leaves open the question whether Republicans
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November 13, 2022 — Scott Johnson
The Arizona and Nevada Senate races have been called for Democratic incumbents Mark Kelly and Catherine Cortez Masto, respectively. With only the Georgia Senate runoff election outstanding, the Democrats appear to have maintained their 50-seat majority in the Senate (with Vice President Harris breaking ties). Democrats can enhance their majority to 51-49 with a victory in the Georgia runoff or maintain the status quo with a loss. The AP’s story
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October 29, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Dan Conston is the president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC aligned with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy with the singular mission of flipping the House. They appear to be on the verge of success. In an illuminating hour-long interview with Politico Playbook’s Ryan Lizza, Conston talked through the nuts and bolts of CLF’s involvement in 50-plus districts around the country. They also took up the issues and
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September 16, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Yesterday Punchbowl News featured an insidery report on Chuck Schumer speaking to a few of his Democratic colleagues over dinner at a DC restaurant. This morning Punchbowl features an insidery report on Nancy Pelosi sharing concerns internally with her Democratic caucus: During a closed-door meeting of House Democrats on Wednesday morning, Speaker Nancy Pelosi relayed to her members something she’s been hearing from donors. Donors have been asking Pelosi why
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September 15, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Punchbowl News is one of the insider online outlets that facilitates the Democrats’ Gleichschaltung. The founders describe the venture here. I subscribe to the morning newsletter via the Punchbowl home page when they established the site. In this morning’s edition — it can be accessed here at the moment — Punchbowl gurus Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan pass on the the Schuminations of the Senate Majority Leaders speaking to colleagues
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June 11, 2022 — Scott Johnson
TV Rating Guide’s Rebecca Bunch posts the ratings for the January 6 Committee’s show trial hearing this past Thursday evening. The headline declares the ratings “decent.” Well, that is disappointing if accurate. If you take your television viewing from the broadcast networks, however, your only choice was to turn the thing off. The networks graciously handed their prime time slots over to the committee’s motley crew in unison, Soviet style.
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May 25, 2022 — Scott Johnson
In 2018 Richard Painter was a candidate contending for the Democratic nomination to run for the Senate seat held by the appointed (and since elected) Democratic incumbent Tina Smith. He ran for office while holding an endowed chair at the University of Minnesota Law School (my alma mater). Painter had identified himself as a Republican when he served in the Bush (43) White House counsel’s office and when he endorsed
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April 12, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Hawaii’s Second Congressional District is the one that includes everything but Honolulu and the surrounding area on Oahu. It has been represented by Democrats since Hawaii was granted statehood. The amazin’ Mazie Hirono rose up from the district to display her idiocy to a national audience, but Tulsi Gabbard showed that idiocy was not a prerequisite for the position. Kai Kahele has succeeded Tulsi Gabbard in the seat. However, it
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December 27, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Not long ago, I would have said they are obsessed with it. That’s the most plausible explanation for nominating Joe Biden to run for president. But the Dems’ obsession with defeating Donald Trump hasn’t seemed to carry over into 2021-22. The most plausible explanation for some of the positions they are taking — both in Congress and at the White House — is that left-wing ideology comes first and second,
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December 21, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
The number of House Democrats who are retiring or running for other office has now reached 22, compared to only 11 Republicans. The most recent three to abandon the sinking ship are Stephanie Murphy of Florida, Albio Sires of New Jersey, and Alan Lowenthal of California. Murphy’s decision is probably the most significant of the three. That’s Chris Cillizza’s view. He writes: She is widely regarded as a rising star
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December 2, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
It’s an important one — Peter DeFazio, whom Politico describes as “the Oregon firebrand who leads the House’s transportation committee.” DeFazio says he’ll retire to “focus on my health and well-being.” Politico attributes the decision in no small part to the impending takeover of the House by the GOP. The two explanations aren’t inconsistent. Losing his chairmanship and being in the minority would not be good for DeFazio’s well-being. DeFazio
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November 30, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
There isn’t much doubt that Democrats will lose control of the House of Representatives following next year’s election. This article by CNN’s Chris Cillizza strongly suggests that House Democrats don’t doubt their impending loss of control. Cillizza observes that 18 House Dems have decided to retire or run for higher office in 2022. Only 11 House Republicans will be moving on. By contrast, at this point in the 2020 election
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November 29, 2021 — Scott Johnson
Politico Playbook serves as a vehicle for Democrats to vent their thoughts and float their balloons. Playbook’s Rachael Bade leads this morning with Democrats’ mulling over the offense taken by Rep. Ilhan Omar to comments by Rep. Lauren Boebert. Bade’s Playbook report is headlined “Dems’ dicey decision: Punish Boebert or not?” Here is Bade’s accompanying report minus the links: IS AN APOLOGY ENOUGH? — The drama surrounding Rep. LAUREN BOEBERT’s
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November 19, 2021 — Scott Johnson
The slight Democratic majority in the House of Representatives was poised to pass the current iteration of the Bummer Beyond Belief spending blowout last night when House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy took the floor at 8:38 p.m. (Eastern). McCarthy turned in the longest speech in House history — 8 hours and 32 minutes — to delay the vote until a few minutes after 5:00 a.m. this morning. He has just
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November 18, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Today, the House started debating the more than $2 trillion spending package that Democrats hope ultimately to push through the Senate in some form via reconciliation. By agreement, a vote in the House couldn’t take place until the Congressional Budget Office completed its analysis of whether the bill is fully paid for. Now, the CBO has spoken, paving the way for a vote. It estimates that enacting the legislation “would
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November 17, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to censure Rep. Paul Gosar, a conservative Arizona Republican. The resolution of censure also removes Gosar from his assignments on the House Oversight and Reform Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee. The vote was 223 to 207. According to the Washington Post’s report, Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger voted in favor of the resolution. Rep. David Joyce voted “present.” Gosar was
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November 10, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Nicole Malliotakis is a Republican who represents New York’s 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. This is a swing district. Rep. Malliotakis won it in 2020, 53-47. She defeated a Democratic incumbent who, in turn, had defeated a Republican incumbent in 2018. Malliotakis is one of the 13 Republicans who voted to pass the bipartisan infrastructure-plus bill last week. In the Senate, 19 Republicans — 38 percent
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