Any effort to understand current politics should start from this position of humility about what we know, even as we try to get beyond it.

To put the DNC's crappy "autopsy" in perspective, note that the RNC produced a much more careful, footnoted autopsy after Romney's 2012 defeat, which concluded the party had to moderate on immigration. Their next nominee did exactly the opposite. Meaning (1) things can change a lot in 4 yrs,

A thorough piece about the DOJ slush fund scam, including Trump's tactics in the lawsuit v. IRS to avoid any action that would trigger a role for the judge in approving a settlement. Really seems they schemed this all along, pretending to sue to give a false veneer of legitimacy to the payoff.

Journalists need to avoid making this category error

Trump did not reach a settlement with the government. There was no case to settle. He has not created a slush fund. He has colluded with Todd Blanche to steal money from the US Treasury. This is not a “deal.” This is a crime for which Trump & Blanche must be prosecuted. It ia a crime.

I’m a broken record, but it’s facially insane that the SCOTUS’s position is that the interest of a political party—an entity with no special constitutional protection—in gerrymandering is more important than black people’s right to vote, which we have several constitutional amendments addressing

The Roberts Court, the Trump White House, and the national GOP are acting like this is their one big shot. Either they secure the lasting end of US Constitutional democracy, or they’re in very serious trouble from the backlash. And they’ve already gone so far that there’s no other possibility.

Had a fun, smart conversation w/ @smotus.bsky.social & @perrybaconjr.bsky.social about the 2028 Democratic presidential field. Never too early to start the speculation. And lots of good candidates. And some great points beyond the horserace. newrepublic.substack.com/p/these-demo...

the US Treasury's ability to borrow is premised on decades of effective efforts to position the US as a good investment, based on practices and policies and relationships that are being willfully burned to the ground by people who used to whine about deficits www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/b...

The problem w/ how Dems communicate isn't big words. It's that they often create complex two-beat logics to get to what they think voters care about: eg, "For the cost of the Iran War, we could fund health care for 30 million people"--not wrong, but two points, tenuously related. Just say one thing!

The average population of a congressional district is ~760K. There are a number of cities that could fit neatly in a single district, but are sliced up into rural- and R-dominant districts: -Oklahoma City -Jacksonville -Nashville -Austin (1 D rep) -soon Memphis -and DC also unrepresented others?

It should be political malpractice to enact a “jungle primary” without also including a consensus-forcing mechanism like approval voting or ranked choice. All this drama in California over a nonpartisan primary would be a non-issue if the rules actually captured which candidates have widest appeal.

Starting to think there's strategy behind constant absurd claims about voter ID. We sputter, "That's not true--you don't need ID to walk into a restaurant!," but the idea that the SAVE Act is about voter ID is reaffirmed. But it's not ID--it's a proof-of-citizenship requirement, a vastly higher bar!

If money is really why Janet Mills dropped her campaign, it's a prime example of the idea that US parties are both too strong and too weak--strong enough to recruit her, and to force out most other candidates, but unable to generate the resources for a small-state campaign. This is a hollow party.

Given the argument that ended the VRA, I think it’s time liberals did some self reflection about the now decades long obsession with partisan polarization as the problem, as opposed to authoritarianism, extremism, oligarchy, and racism

The answer is proportional representation. Proportional representation enables equal representation to minority voters as a structural feature, not as a litigated favor any future court can take away.

This is a nice visual presentation of our New America/Political Reform program report on how to build a healthier system of political parties -- both existing parties, and potentially more.

#ResistanceRoots Harris Wofford was born on this day in 1926 in New York. He was a Democratic politician, civil rights activist and a major architect of national service programs in the U.S. He is known for advocating for healthcare as a right and elevating the concept to the national stage. /1

One of my biggest worries about post-Trump policy is that we'll be right back in the world of debt-and-deficit obsession, circa 2011, w/ its stultifying blue-ribbon commissions and deadly budget deals. It's a comfort zone for many D's. Made worse by the new Dem zeal for tax cuts.

@cnn.com and @dailybeast.bsky.social reporting that Jeanine Pirro has "lost the jury pool" as US Atty for DC, as shown by high # of acquittals. I wrote about this and how essential it is for the jury to trust the prosecutor, after serving on a DC jury last summer: www.newamerica.org/insights/dc-...

Tax invisibility is a scourge in our politics > Public childcare isn't free, it's tax-funded. > People buying $34 burgers pay taxes. > Believe $34 burger eaters should pay more? wait until you hear about this idea "progressive taxation" Wow, problem solved, thanks taxes! 😀

I'm a bit of a broken record on this, but usurping the power of the purse isn't just one constitutional violation among all the many others. It is, uniquely and singularly, the death of constitutional government altogether. Game over, end of story, you now live in an autocracy.

Political parties are essential to democracy—but in the U.S., they’re struggling to do their most basic jobs. Our new report explores what’s gone wrong and how experts think we can fix it. www.newamerica.org/insights/a-b... @leedrutman.bsky.social @didikuo1.bsky.social @mschmitt9.bsky.social

Reposting my review of @vanessawilliamson.bsky.social 's wonderful book about taxation and citizenship, following her appearance on @hcrichardson.bsky.social's podcast: democracyjournal.org/magazine/79/...

if think tanks acknowledge what trumpism is (incoherent and vibes-based), they have to face their own crisis of relevance as institutions that pump out policy papers and provide advice to movers and shakers. pretending there's some policy process that makes sense is a way to avoid grappling w this

Underrated that the era of neoliberal globalism characterized by fierce defense of intellectual property as rents, patents, and copyrights gave way so quickly to a new paradigm marked by the blithe plunder of all human creativity for LLM training data.

A point in Robert Mueller's career that I haven't seen mentioned much: In 1995, having been Asst Atty General, he left a law firm and returned to the DC US Atty's office as an AUSA prosecuting homicides--a role often held by recent law school graduates. Homicide rate in DC was almost 3x recent #s

As always @jesspish.bsky.social is essential reading here.

Was interested to see the name Tim Canova here as one of the schemers behind this draft EO on elections. I remember him as a critic from the left of the Federal Reserve ~2010-12, who then primaried Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in 2016, ran as an indy in 2018, then declared both elections rigged

Tax proposals by @vanhollen.senate.gov and @booker.senate.gov to eliminate income tax for households with incomes below median are a terrible way to address affordability, in part because lots of people, esp. young ppl w/ kids, federal tax already isn't a major expense, or none at all. But also,

If confirmed, Markwayne would be the first cabinet member without a B.A. since...? I'm having trouble finding it. Truman and McKinley had no degrees, so there are probably cabinet examples from the 50s or later, none recently. Most probably served in the military, though, which Mullin also did not.

you can have a dinner that celebrates the First Amendment or a dinner that features Donald Trump but you cannot have both

My only opinion about the Texas D Senate primary is to ask why I have 50 fundraising emails from Jasmine Crockett, but not one of them is from her campaign. All are other PACs: Hold the Line PAC, BlueAMP PAC, Fields of Change PAC, etc. A few promise an unspecified split w/ Crockett, most don't.

I'm very worried about the Paramount/WB deal, but not because control of CNN+CBS+TikTok is enough for Trump's allies to execute an Orban-style competitive authoritarian takeover. It won't be, not here. I'm worried that when Trumpism inevitably falls there will be nothing left of the old order.

"We're seen as too close to the civil rights movement,' 'We're too close to Jesse Jackson' ...Anytime Dems lose, there's always some version of, 'We're seen as too left,' which usually means too tied to people of color," says @smotus.bsky.social. Centrist complaints about "wokeness" are not new.

Key to understanding the senior generation of Democratic pols, eg Schumer, is that they are influenced more by worry about "Vietnam syndrome"--the idea that the US or Dems were too reluctant to use force after 1973--than by Vietnam itself, even if they were in college/draft-age during that debacle.

Thrilled to see this strong and informed endorsement of popular assemblies (also citizen or civic assemblies) from Jacobin, for Mamdani and NYC in particular. Assemblies appeal to centrists as a way to find consensus, but can also build popular power and agency. jacobin.com/2025/12/mamd...

New post on affordability, and why a political theme that doesn't name a villain might work. open.substack.com/pub/markschm...

What annoys me most about "Strong floor, no ceiling" (which will soon be forgotten) is that someone, or some comms firm, probably got paid well for it. (Yes, I've been dealing with some of the "progressive communications firms" recently. Does it show?)

The Eric Schickler essay in Larry Bartel's symposium on "What Trump Has Taught Us About Political Science" is one of the most insightful pieces I've read in 2025. US institutions turned out to be weak, and we have to rethink conventional wisdom. open access: academic.oup.com/psq/advance-...

I disagree. He's not talking about "Cadillac" insurance policies, generous private plans that were taxed under original ACA. He's never heard of them. He's talking about actual Cadillacs, the car. He's referencing an old talk-radio canard from the 1970s/80s about people on welfare driving Cadillacs.

Love this in @newrepublic.com from the brilliant @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social & @adambonica.bsky.social, but while the headline is, Gen Z is alright, I'm also struck by how little difference there is between those born in 1970 and the 1940 cohort, on racial resentment. Gen X is a political disaster.

Anxiety about *change* to health care has been a key factor in several consequential elections: 1994 (Clinton plan), 2010 (ACA), and (to some degree) 2018 . Even if people are unhappy w/ health care costs and choices, change is terrifying. GOP setting itself up on the wrong side of this dynamic. 1/3

Hemp vote indicates that cannabis is long past being a wedge issue, or even a "social issue," but is now just a parochial ag/revenue issue. Senators from legal states expecting revenue don't want competition from online/gas station hemp products. Many senators from legalized states voted no.

Still upset about no power of the purse language. You truly do hate to see it. The Trump admin undertook the most expansive set of illegal budgetary actions of any president in history, and broadcast as loudly as possible they’d keep doing it, and nothing. Budgetary lawlessness.

Few of us will see the faux-gold applique on the walls. This is the closest to the White House ("the people's house") that most people will get, looking west from 15th St along Pennsylvania Ave., yesterday evening at 5:45 pm

A pro-affordability, anti-Trump-corruption message unites the party. Every candidate can run on that, and every candidate can have their own take to fit that to their constituents. There's really no need to find fights to pick when the party agrees on more than it disagrees

The minority report of the committee investigating the Iran-Contra scandal, signed by Cheney when he was a member of the House in 1987, is a key document in the theory of an all-powerful president. nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/182...

One underrated aspect of Zohran is that he always wears a suit, always presents himself professionally while still doing fun and approachable retail politics. You don’t have to drape yourself yourself in hypebeast and post thirst traps, you can be fucking grown up respecting the office and be fun