David Kurtz
Upon the anniversary of her near-assassination at Jonestown, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) announces she won’t seek re-election:
Read MoreGood rundown on where today’s expected House votes fit into the overall legislative picture: Chad knows his stuff. Where it gets interesting is down around 12) in the thread. Short version is whatever version of the reconciliation bill passes the House today will get altered in the Senate and have to come back to the House, where it will likely get shoved down the throats of Dem members. That will happen in late November or early December. House members are used to getting dictated to by the Senate. Doesn’t mean the Senate version won’t pass the House. Just means there’s a long way to go even if Pelosi gets all her votes lined up today.
All in all, things went well in court today for the Jan. 6 committee as it tries to enforce a subpoena for Trump presidential records. But there was one moment when the judge missed the significance of scope of the document requests, and the House lawyer didn’t bail her out. Josh Kovensky explains why the committee’s inquiry needs to start with what Trump was doing back in April 2020. Super important.
From a longtime TPM reader:
Read MoreI live in Madison County in Central Virginia, about 80 miles southwest of DC. Charlottesville and Albemarle County excepted, this is industrial-strength Trump country. … Yesterday’s election unsettled me, a lot. Despite decisive wins across the board a palpable, consuming rage drives Republican energy here, a rage that mere victory will not sate.
(A lot going on in that photo beyond what the caption says, on so many levels. It is from June 21, 1947, after Senate Democrats spent the previous night filibustering the eventual GOP override of President Truman’s veto of Taft-Hartley.)
Set aside for a moment the big issues like democracy reform that we know are stymied by the filibuster — it’s a given that its anti-majoritarianism holds up major generational reforms. Its impact goes far beyond that. The ways in which the filibuster infects not just legislating but the basic task of governance is so pervasive that it’s become part of the background noise of Washington. We don’t notice it anymore, but it’s hugely significant.
Read MoreNicole is away, so the editors will be sharing Where Things Stand duties this week.
Over the next few days, I want to address a series of longer-term issues that transcend the breaking news of the day.
Let’s start with the filibuster.
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