The GOP doesn't have to wait for Alito to retire. They can nominate and confirm his successor right now. I've been hesitant to write this, because I think it'd be a bad development, but here we are: all about Senate nomination blockades and appointment stockpiles. open.substack.com/pub/mattglas...

I have been shouting with only moderate degrees of coherence about this very point so you should all read @mattglassman312.bsky.social's cogent written version. The erosion of the division between mandatory and discretionary $$ is, in short, an extremely big deal.

Despite all the ways Trump has sought to aggrandize the spending power, the real institutional changes to appropriations are actually happening in Congress. open.substack.com/pub/mattglas...

Building off a post by @natemeyvis.bsky.social, I have a strong sense of the importance of tacit knowledge in both driving a car and playing card games, but little or no sense of the most efficient way to transmit and hard-wire such knowledge. blog.mattglassman.net/tacit-knowle...

There is no doubt in my mind that the best writings of any U.S. President are Grant's memoirs, and his recollections of Lee's surrender in Appomattox---161 years ago today---are perhaps the best parts of those memoirs.

I thought the @DouthatNYT interview with @BenSasse was excellent. Ben touched on the problem of nut picking, and that spurred me to opine on how you should approach political discussions. blog.mattglassman.net/ben-sasse-nu...

A conjecture about the Trump/Iran standoff from yesterday: I'm worried the structure of 21st century media can't put a national crisis in focus: blog.mattglassman.net/iran-nuclear...

I don't mean to sound flippant---this is high stakes and very dangerous---but my honest first reaction to this was literally "this is the culmination of putting a narcissist carnival barker in charge of national security." It reads like the voiceover from low-budget reality TV.

Is our current politics an outlier or a return to normal? I’m not sure, but it is very common for all of us to observe a change from X to Y and assume Y is a deviation from normal X, rather than Y being a return to normalcy from an exceptional X. blog.mattglassman.net/when-the-exc...

By my count, there are 9 national news stories--- excluding sports, elections, court decisions, and legislation passing---for which I can remember precisely where I was when I heard the news. Some thoughts: blog.mattglassman.net/where-were-y...

Procedural and political notes from a wild week in Congress. The SAVE Act and DHS Appropiations have more in common than you think. fivepoints.mattglassman.net/p/procedural...

Obvious but profound thing I've been thinking about this week: my daughter---who *loves* music---doesn't have a physical record collection. Nor does she understand the role a record collection played in the 80s. blog.mattglassman.net/on-the-use-o...

1/ It's not just that unilaterally paying TSA agents is illegal. It's that Trump has now repeatedly undermined the core of the congressional power of the purse. He's not spending money that has been appropriated by law (impoundments) and he's spending money that has not been appropriated.

DK Replay is just a slot machine, not sports betting, and should be regulated as such. blog.mattglassman.net/sportsbooks-...

Incredible that 30 years ago today—March 24, 1996—was the original namesake “Michigan” hockey goal *and* the premiere of the Simpson’s Planet of the Apes episode. #DrZeusDrZeus #Michigan

David Sklansky has passed away. Finding his book absolutely changed my life. blog.mattglassman.net/new-post-new...

Ugh. Duke. It had to be Duke. I thought we had them. blog.mattglassman.net/siena/

My quick thoughts on yesterday in the Senate: not a talking filibuster, not regular order, just a dressed-up show pony version of the 60-vote Senate. blog.mattglassman.net/notes-on-yes...

Well, the Senate just structured four hours of debate, equally divided and controlled by leaders, by unanimous consent. Talking filibuster—or whatever you want to call five Republicans holding the floor for an hour—on pause. 🤷‍♂️

At some point, Republicans will stop filibustering and let a Democrat speak. But that has not happened yet.

SAVE Act Talking Filibuster so far: a Republican Senator is giving a speech about Iran. 🤷‍♂️

Senate is now on the SAVE Act. Thune did not file cloture. He did fill the tree. A Republican has the floor and is debating. Are we now in a talking filibuster? A regular order consideration of a bill? A 60-vote Senate charade? Trick question, it's in the eye of the beholder!

A fair amount of confusion about the talking filibuster comes from nomenclature; it messes people up b/c (1) minorities filibuster; but (2) the talking filibuster is described as a *majority* tactic ("the GOP should use the talking filibuster.") Let's straighten this out. 1/

When we say the president is *politically* rather than legally constrained in warmaking, what exactly does that mean? Don't overthink it. blog.mattglassman.net/notes-on-the...

Question for those knowledgeable about such things (I'm totally ignorant about this stuff): was the closing of Hormuz an expected Iranian maneuver in this spot, or was the conventional assessment that threats to do so were bluffs?

Once upon a time, today was important. On the old congressional calendar, lame ducks, and the fallibility of the Founders. open.substack.com/pub/mattglas...

More on the talking filibuster: let's talk about its role in the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and analogizing the CRA to the current debate over the SAVE Act. blog.mattglassman.net/more-on-the-...

My initial thoughts on Iran, with lots of links to people more knowledgeable than me. blog.mattglassman.net/iran/

Using all of my strength to resist my CRS instinct to reply *War Powers RESOLUTION* to like 60,000 posts.

really liked this @mattglassman312.bsky.social on the tariff case and the legislative veto (also shoutout to @joshchafetz.bsky.social) blog.mattglassman.net/the-court-th...

My take on Learning Resources v. Trump: the elephant in the room in Chadha and the legislative veto. fivepoints.mattglassman.net/p/the-court-...

Everyone—everyone!—is worried that no one is hanging out anymore. There’s a simple solution: get over yourself and start inviting people over to your home. It’s so easy you’ll feel stupid after you start. blog.mattglassman.net/you-should-i...

I am going to write this up in excruciating detail on my Substack on Friday, but here's my working outline of the argument for now. SCOTUS, tariffs, IEEPA, and the legislative veto: we're all looking for the guy who did this... blog.mattglassman.net/the-court-th...

I have now finished reading the SCOTUS decision in the tariff case, and all I can say is that this entire 170 page mess of opinions is silently screaming for the return of the legislative veto, which conveniently was taken away by---you guessed it---the Court.

I was going to write something about the State of the Union address today, but Jonathan Bernstein did a way better job of nailing it:

I'm sure I'll have a lot to say bout the tariff decision, but my rule of thumb is that the quality of what you say about a SCOTUS decision is strongly correlated with actually having read the decision, so I'm going to start there.

Part II of my guided tour through two normal procedural days in the House. open.substack.com/pub/mattglas...

I would add: when you come across something new, unusual or perplexing, get your shovel and dig, dig, dig until you can make sense of it. Googling your question with ‘CRS’ at the end is a good place to start. This kind of process helps to answer questions you would never even think to ask.

If you want to learn how the House floor works, the best thing to do is walk through the congressional record a few times. Here's part I of my guided tour:

My usual rant about Presidents' Day, plus some quick notes on Washington and his world. blog.mattglassman.net/washingtons-...

Debates about the filibuster are mostly anchored by two models of parliamentary procedure---the modern majoritarian House and the modern 60-vote Senate. But there's a third model worth considering, and it's used all over the country: Robert's Rules. blog.mattglassman.net/roberts-rule...

I am once again calling for a constitutional amendment to require the scoreboards in the House to be shown on C-SPAN.

If they’re going to take the rule down, this seemed like an *obvious* spot to defeat the PQ—amending out the tariff vote blocker and letting the rest of the rule go seems *less* rebellious than bringing down the rule—but the norm against defeating PQ remains solid if irrational.

A privileged resolution from the rules committee that would block the ability to bring other privileged legislation to the floor is scheduled to be considered in the House today. It's a good time to get straightened out on "privilege" in the House! blog.mattglassman.net/straightenin...

Notes on how to read public political negotiating letters. blog.mattglassman.net/anatomy-of-l...

I tried my hand at a video explainer of the talking filibuster. open.substack.com/pub/mattglas...

There are any number of potential schemes possible to weaken but still retain the filibuster, but the evidence is that few if any Senators actually want that. But I do think that of the possible schemes, the stupidest ones involve tests of physical endurance and stamina.

Excellent. Key point summary: We don't have talking filibusters is because under current procedures and practices they are good for the minority party, not the majority party. Thune can force the Dems to hold the floor against any particular bill, but it would be good for the Dems. I'll add...

On the “talking filibuster.” blog.mattglassman.net/the-talking-...

I didn’t walk through a foot of snow uphill both ways to get to school growing up, but I definitely waited for a bus with the snowbanks piled up way above my head. Come on, FCPS. blog.mattglassman.net/snow-days-in...