"He pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding police and was sentenced in 2023 to four years in prison. But now he wants up to $10 million from the Justice Department’s new Anti-Weaponization Fund" www.thefp.com/p/jan6-riote...

"The winning plan to rebuild Penn Station features a presidential seal with President Trump's name etched into the wall by an entrance." gothamist.com/news/exclusi...

So far, about 20 districts have been redrawn to produce a partisan advantage. Only one of the sitting members of Congress in these districts has NOT chosen to run for reelection. www.understandingcongress.org/how-have-red...

An easy, inexpensive dish to prepare. Recipe: beveragesbooksandmore.substack.com/p/recipe-cia...

"Serpico is a case study in organizational behavior. It reminds us there can be a large gap between an organization’s rules and ostensible goals and its actual operations. It also shows that organizational culture can perpetuate bad behaviors." beveragesbooksandmore.substack.com/p/review-ser...

$13 a bottle and well worth it. My short review is at beveragesbooksandmore.substack.com

"Which one is going to be more accountable to the average voter—the administrative state, or those silly people on Capitol Hill? You may say it’s a Hobson’s choice, but I think you’d better put your chips on Capitol Hill. There you have a real voice." www.theunpopulist.net/p/a-bloated-...

The electoral system isn't the only thing broken about Congress. They've also been starving themselves of institutional capacity in their own workforce. I sat down with @kevinrkosar.bsky.social, formerly of the Congressional Research Service, to discuss the dire problems with staffing on the Hill.

Trump. Does. Not. Care. "I don’t understand. He is an ethically challenged individual," Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said of Paxton, who was charged with defrauding investors in a Dallas-area tech startup before he completed a pretrial diversion program." thehill.com/homenews/sen...

Oh, my. A mere $871k in revenue? Trump Media Q1 Sales $871,000 With $405.9 Million Net Loss share.google/C2Tu7NAWEocx...

If Mr. Trump’s order withstands legal challenges, “the Postal Service is going to be put into a challenging administrative role,” said Kevin R. Kosar, a Postal Service analyst at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/u...

Well, that was a fun novel. My short review is at beveragesbooksandmore.substack.com

There is a pattern here. Remember the wall?

Yes they did! And this is on the thank you postcards I send.

Surreal to go to arts day at my kids' school (Field School) and to see kid-made campaign prints for @erinpetrey.bsky.social !

There is so much purple prose in this piece. I found it impossible to finish. I Found It: The Best Free Restaurant Bread in America - The Atlantic share.google/BEylBBPoldON...

"When expertise, accrued knowledge, and circumspection become suspect, I’m not sure what about today’s 'conservatism' is all that conservative anymore." thedispatch.com/article/cons...

Good morning. Here's my story on the House of Representatives Modernization Subcommittee, which is trying to upgrade Congress for the 21st century. www.washingtonexaminer.com/premium/4554...

The Purge of '38: Prez Franklin D. Roosevelt faced blowback from Congress when he involved himself in House & Senate elections to remove conservative Dems. Now we have a president that involves himself in elections to remove state legislators who disobey. indianacapitalchronicle.com/2026/05/05/t...

My chat with Stephanie Bice, who chairs CHA's Modernization Subcommittee. "We’re not often covered in national news publications. We’re sort of flying under the radar. But what I would tell you is that we’re making a difference for the House." www.understandingcongress.org/podcast/what...

I wrote this in 2022. Sadly, it is becoming all the more true. Elections, Federalism, and the Peril of a Partisan Race to the Bottom www.aei.org/research-pro...

A marvelous biography of an incredible man. Here is my short review: open.substack.com/pub/beverage...

"Kennedy said that his department had made mistakes, such as when it implemented sweeping cuts to grants at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, only to walk them back a day later." www.govexec.com/management/2...

What's on the syllabus for undergrad Intro to Congress and Intro to American Gov courses? We did a little survey. One thing we learned is that Mayhew's still popular. For more results, follow me here or at substack.com/@kevinrkosar #MPSA #MPSA2026

"About two-thirds of the text that becomes law is injected into bills after they are introduced, according to the most recent analysis by political scientists Andreu Casas (Royal Holloway University of London) and John D. Wilkerson (University of Washington)."

Still, Dr. Kosar says a new class of members could make things better, by refusing to treat having a majority as a “winner-takes-all” situation. www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics...

Where I point folks to some of the good things in life. beveragesbooksandmore.substack.com

This Nublume kit make growing mushrooms easy. beveragesbooksandmore.substack.com/p/grow-your-...

LoL. "Just pick someone. They’re men! No offense, but they’re not that different from each other. Men are like couches; sure, some are prettier than others, and some offer more support, but at the end of the day it’s just a thing that you live with. Don’t overthink it." www.thefp.com/p/tgif-the-l...

"The three Republicans from the Miami area all voted for the Haiti bill. It’s not hard to figure out why - the Trump immigration policies are unpopular with immigrant communities there." jamiedupree.substack.com/p/house-deli...

We Mismeasure Congress's Productivity By Counting Laws kevinrkosar.substack.com/p/we-mismeas...

This brief on primary elections is interesting. One big finding: while 47% of Americans identify as moderate, only 11% of decisive primary voters did. www.understandingcongress.org/research-bri...

NW DC. 2 bedrooms, top/8th floor and a 10 minute bus ride to DuPont Circle! PRICE CUT: $475k. Open house on Saturday. The monthly fee covers taxes/utilities/etc. Details: www.zillow.com/homedetails/...

Is the Postal Service doomed? GAO delivered some hard truths to Capitol Hill recently. USPS may be out of cash in less than a year, and its unfunded benefit liabilities and debt were $166 billion at the end of fiscal year 2025(!) kevinrkosar.substack.com/p/is-the-pos...

ICYMI: Are factions in Congress a bad thing? Nope say James Wallner & Soren Dayton. In fact they are a net positive and deserve support. Here is my summary of their intriguing report: www.understandingcongress.org/rebuilding-c...

No, this report was not published by The Onion. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Join it! www.aei.org/policy-areas...

Three Brews and One Wine Worth Your Dollars Plus a few of my favorite books on musicians. beveragesbooksandmore.substack.com

Short answer: Revamp its capacity, improve the incentives set by our elections, and .... How can Congress get its groove back? open.substack.com/pub/highwayt...

"What they fail to recognize is that the public sees right through it all as a childish game of tit-for-tat that turns the Constitution’s oversight role on its head and sends Congress’s public approval rating spiraling downward to single digits." thehill.com/opinion/cong...

“This EO would create a DHS registry of where every American citizen lives & compel Americans to notify the government to update their data every time they move—lest they lose the right to vote by mail. I wonder how many Americans are comfortable with that.”- @kevinrkosar.bsky.social I am …NOT.

Several Thoughts on Trump's Executive Order on the Postal Service and a National Voter Registry List Also: AEI launches the First Branch Society! kevinrkosar.substack.com/p/several-th...

1. The Trump executive order on voting by mail is something. The whole plan rests on the assumption that two federal agencies can match their data on which US citizens live where, and then have the Post Office police the mail based upon those data.

Tomorrow, the War is a new novel by Max Watman. It explores race, gender, power, and freedom. My review of it for the Washington Free Beacon is at freebeacon.com/culture/brot...

The latest issue of Beverages, Books, and More is posted. Enjoy! beveragesbooksandmore.substack.com

When it rains, it pours. I was on C-SPAN's Washington Journal this morning discussing the financial troubles of the US Postal Service. www.c-span.org/program/wash...

The Postal Service may run out of cash in early 2026. That's a big problem, which I discussed on WAMU/NPR yesterday. the1a.org/segments/the...

I will be on @npr.org at 10 (ET) today discussing the Postal Service's plight. It may run out of money and cease operations early in 2027. :-( theamericanenterprise.com/the-us-posta...

"Reed cut an impressive figure. Measuring over six feet tall and weighing over 300 pounds.... He had a biting wit and a fierce integrity; the latter trait cut against the grain of American politics in 1876." www.understandingcongress.org/icons-of-con...

Oh, good grief. "We probably have some skills that we now need to hire back, quite frankly,” Scott Kupor, the head of the Office of Personnel Management, said... www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...