Joe Biden Says He's Willing To Kill the Filibuster
If Democrats' voting rights bills are blocked, Biden says, "we have no choice but to change the Senate rules, including getting rid of the filibuster."
Senate
Democrats May Pressure the GOP Into Making the Filibuster Meaningless
An old strategy that’s worked for Democrats before may work again.
January 6 Doesn't Justify Wrecking the Filibuster
Plus: Yelling "fire" (literally and metaphorically), fundraising with non-fungible tokens, and more...
As U.S. Establishment Fails Financially, Leaders Try to Make Cryptocurrencies the Scapegoat
Politicians attack dollar-backed cryptocurrencies called “stablecoins” and the decentralized finance it enables
Joe Manchin Drives Final Nail Into Doomed 'Build Back Better' Plan. For Now.
Plus: The pragmatic approach to omicron is emerging, lumber prices are skyrocketing again, and more...
What Will 'Build Back Better' Buy? Inflation.
Deficit spending and debt are out of control, and dragging down the purchasing power of the dollar.
Without Budget Gimmicks, Biden's 'Build Back Better' Will Add $3 Trillion to the Deficit, CBO Says
Enough with the budget gimmicks. It's time for Democrats to admit that Biden's proposal is a long, long way from being fully paid for.
Another Defeat for Biden's Vaccine Mandate, Even as America Passes Another Vaccination Milestone
Plus: Getting hitched in the metaverse, unemployment claims fall to their lowest level in decades, and more...
Is Dr. Oz Fit To Join the U.S. Senate?
The TV personality's extensive history of promoting dubious nostrums suggests that he isn't.
A Federal Vaping Tax Is Bad Policy and Bad Politics
The proposed vaping tax has caused a third Democrat to join Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema in opposing the bill.
Manchin: Biden's New Spending Plan Relies on 'Shell Games' and 'Budget Gimmicks'
"I'm open to supporting a final bill that helps move our country forward, but I'm equally open to voting against a bill that hurts our country," Manchin says.
Josh Hawley Wants to Make the Supply Chain Crisis Permanent
If the power to his house went out during a storm, one assumes Hawley would declare electricity to be a mistake and demand that homes be lit with candles.
Manchin on Biden's Plan To Let IRS Snoop on Bank Transactions: 'It's Screwed Up'
Plus: RIP to political humorist Mort Sahl, a look at which households pay the largest share of sin taxes, and more....
Bernie Sanders Thinks 48 Senators Make a Majority
The Senate's leading progressive seems to misunderstand the basic math of American democracy.
Our Looming Trillion Dollar Doom
Plus: the unintended consequences of mandating COVID vaccines for students
Joe Manchin Is Forcing Congress To Think About the Deficit. Good.
Among Americans who aren't liberal pundits, the debt and deficit rank as major concerns. It's about time Congress noticed.
The Senate's Infrastructure Bill Redefines 'Broadband' To Manufacture a Connectivity Crisis
It is the equivalent of mandating that all new homes come with at least five bathrooms.
How a Sneaky Crypto Crackdown Plot Blew Up the Infrastructure Bill
Cryptocurrency advocates fight back against major government overreach.
Cryptocurrency Fight Holds Up Infrastructure Bill
For now, the side that wants less cryptocurrency regulation and taxation lost.
Is Anthony Fauci Lying About NIH Funding of Wuhan Lab Research? Or Is Rand Paul?
Inside the dispute over gain-of-function research.
Senate Considers Requiring Women To Register for the Draft
A proposal obtained by Politico would get rid of male-only language in an upcoming military service bill.
Senators Aim To Curtail Presidential Power Over War, Arms Sales, Emergency Declarations
Plus: The FBI had at least a dozen informants helping put together the plot to kidnap Michigan's governor, price controls fail again, and more.
Senate Could Pass a $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill This Week, Even Though There's No Agreement on How To Pay for It
Plus: Strip clubs help reduce crime rates, tariffs fail to achieve their primary political purposes, Jeff Bezos goes to space, and more.
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky's Views on the Filibuster, Past and Present
Dean Chemerinsky has argued for and against the filibuster on both constitutional and policy grounds.
There Is Nothing "Unconstitutional" about the Filibuster
Some academics are urging VP Harris to declare the filibuster unconstitutional
Catherine Lhamon, Once and Future Title IX Czar, Says Campus Rules Don't Require 'Presumption of Innocence'
Her response to questions from the Senate HELP committee were disqualifying.
Chuck Schumer Says He Wants To Legalize Marijuana. His Bill Suggests Otherwise.
The Senate majority leader's racial rhetoric and overly prescriptive approach make an already iffy effort even more quixotic.
RIP Mike Gravel, Unapologetic Opponent of War and Star of Absurdist Presidential Campaign Ads
A heterodox hero and committed antiwar activist, Gravel put the Pentagon Papers in the public record.
The Budget Reconciliation Battle Is a Procedural Power Grab
By effectively casting aside the filibuster while technically leaving it in place, Democrats can maintain the pretense that they played by the rules.
Federalizing Elections Doesn't Make Much Sense and Won't Save Democracy
The "For The People Act" was a flawed package that would have solved some problems while creating new headaches.
The Filibuster Will Survive Because a Few Democrats Are Smart Enough Not To Kill It
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is right: Democrats have more to lose by ending the filibuster than by putting up with it.
Biden's Nominee to Head the ATF, Who Wants Congress to Ban 'Assault Weapons,' Says He Can't Define Them
David Chipman's obfuscation, like the president's vagueness, is aimed at concealing the illogic of targeting firearms based on their "military-style" appearance.
The Real Enemies of Democracy
Putting criticisms of the Senate, Electoral College, and Supreme Court in perspective.
The PRO Act Empowers Union Bosses, Not Workers
If workers were as eager to join unions as President Joe Biden seems to think, they wouldn't need a more powerful NLRB to encourage that outcome.
Senate Bill Would Ban Judges from Using Acquitted Conduct at Sentencing
The little-known but outrageous practice allows federal judges enhance defendants' sentence based on conduct a jury acquitted them of.
The Senate's Industrial Policy Bill Is a Debt-Financed Corporate Giveaway That Lobbyists Love
The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act is a lobbyist-crafted proposal that funnels emergency spending to politically connected special interests.
Can Republicans Be Persuaded To Restrict Qualified Immunity?
Polling shows a sharp partisan divide on the issue, but it also suggests that compromise might be possible.
Why Would Republicans Want a Credible, Nonpartisan Investigation of the Capitol Riot?
From Mitch McConnell's perspective, an independent commission can only mean trouble.
America's Semiconductor Industry Doesn't Need $52 Billion in New Subsidies To Stay Ahead of China
Industrial policy is the wrong answer to a problem that mostly doesn't exist.
Immigration Is the Most Important Way To Beat China
The Senate’s Endless Frontier Act aims to spur innovation but leaves out immigration reform.
A Minor League Baseball Bailout Would Be a Major Mistake
Taxpayers already spend millions to build minor league ballparks. Sen. Richard Blumenthal thinks they should financially support the teams, too.
Tim Scott Is Proposing a Major Reform to Qualified Immunity
The GOP has resisted reining in the doctrine. That might change.
Abolishing the Filibuster Is About Power, Not Anti-Racism
Even Joe Biden and Barack Obama were willing to acknowledge this basic fact just a few years ago.
Will Democrats Really Nuke the Filibuster—and What Happens If They Do?
Are Mitch McConnell's threats credible, or is he a paper tiger?
The 'COVID Relief Bill' Is Mostly an Expensive Bundle of Politically Motivated Giveaways
The Senate is preparing to pass a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that has very little to do with the pandemic, and we all know it. Congress should admit as much.
Rand Paul, Ron Wyden Want To End Endless National Emergencies
Under a bill the two senators reintroduced on Friday, all presidential emergency declarations would expire after 72 hours unless Congress votes to allow them to continue.
Democrats Can't Use Reconciliation To Pass a $15 Minimum Wage. Here's What They Might Do Next.
But the real reason why Democrats should abandon the effort to hike the federal minimum wage has nothing to do with arcane Senate rules or the filibuster.
