This plea by Vance is misleading, bordering on outright falsehood. The SAVE Act contains several non-budgetary provisions, all which would be struck under reconciliation.
Josh Huder
@joshhuder.bsky.social
Political scientist posting mostly about Congress. Senior Fellow at The Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University, McCourt School of Public Policy.
Well this sucks. Withheld funds has prevented state and local humanities and history groups from celebrating America 250. Many of the funds are being funneled to DC projects. www.notus.org/agencies/dog...
DOGE Cut Off Small Town America’s 250th Birthday Money
Then Trump redirected the money for his own beautification projects.
notus.org
Institutional reforms to secure fairness in elections are necessary after the Callais decision. But this discussion shifts attention away from long overdue changes needed in Democratic Party politics. Specifically, its lack of attention or presence in rural communities and constituencies.
I've seen this enough to have to say this: Disagreements over ICE caused the shutdown but the bill funds a lot of agencies, including TSA, Secret Service, CISA, FEMA, USCIS, Coast Guard, and more. It's misleading to suggest it's just money for ICE. www.politico.com/news/2026/04...
Republicans unlock filibuster-skirting power to pump billions of dollars to ICE
An unrelated revolt over the farm bill almost tanked a White House-backed, two-step plan to end the 10-week-old DHS shutdown.
politico.com
Using reconciliation to fund DHS seems like a foolproof path to overcome Democratic opposition, but it comes with political risks. Reconciliation gives Democrats two opportunities to force unlimited amendment votes. You can imagine the kinds of issues they will force Senate Republicans to vote on.
Absolute tour de force on government knowledge and expertise from @jonathanbernstein.bsky.social. Great historical context for the current moment. goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com/p/willful-ig...
Willful Ignorance
A short history of the US government knowing stuff.
goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com
Fascinating article to write after Congress recently rebuked the President's budget, undoes reorganizations and RIFs in several agencies, and recently forced a cabinet official to be fired. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Why Congress keeps handing Trump its power
Trump’s second presidency has accelerated the growth of executive power at the expense of the legislative branch, raising concerns about the balance of powers.
washingtonpost.com
New “Congress Two Beers In” podcast- @joshhuder.bsky.social , @mattglassman312.bsky.social and I talk appropriations, the SAVE Act, and tariffs. Chadha critique ahead… podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
The Spending Deal, SAVE Act, and Tariffs
Podcast Episode · The Government Affairs Institute · February 26 · 49m
podcasts.apple.com
Fascinating analysis of congressional elections. The conventional wisdom predicts fewer seat swings in 2026 due to nationalization and polarization. This study demonstrates large seat swings remain possible even in times of calcified partisan elections. centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/...
It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Swing
Midterm elections often act as a brake on presidential power, but extreme partisan polarization calls into question whether the 2026 midterm will serve its usual role.
centerforpolitics.org
Mike Johnson's historically narrow majority isn't the only, or even the biggest, problem he's faced as Speaker. open.substack.com/pub/joshhude...
The Struggles of Speaker Johnson
Mike Johnson's narrow majority isn't his only problem.
open.substack.com
NEW: Senior Fellow @joshhuder.bsky.social writes about the challenges to Mike Johnson's speakership: logistical, political, personal and structural gai.georgetown.edu/nobody-knows...
Nobody Knows the Trouble Mike’s Seen - The Government Affairs Institute
Mike Johnson has had a rough time leading the House of Representatives. Under his speakership, Republicans set the record for the number of failed special rules (votes speakers use to bring bills to t...
gai.georgetown.edu
This is patently absurd but if it were true, he's suggesting AI is a critical and possibly unrecoverable blow to the U.S. economy, deficit, debt, and more... which isn't a great argument.
Purge Palantir@purgepalantir.bsky.social · 7mo ago“There will be more than enough jobs for the citizens of your nation, esp. those with vocational training,” said Karp. “I do think these trends really do make it hard to imagine why we should have large-scale immigration unless you have a very specialized skill.” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Partisan floor demands have derailed several committees' work this Congress. There's a decent argument to be made that with less stringent partisan requirements/demands for floor consideration, the institution wouldn't be as bottled up. www.notus.org/congress/hou...
The House Passed All 12 Spending Bills Asserting Their Control
“If we wouldn’t have been able to do this, then Congress would have been, frankly, diminished in a way that would have been bad for our republic,” a senior Republican appropriator said.
notus.org
On the latest DDHQ podcast, we explored the chaotic U.S. House of Representatives. Guest Joshua Huder highlighted how internal conflicts within both parties have made it harder to manage the House — currently Speaker Mike Johnson's problem. Watch here: decisiondeskhq.substack.com/p/house-of-r...
Episode 13: A House Divided, with Joshua Huder from Georgetown's GAI
A narrow majority, internal party conflicts, and larger structural challenges have made it difficult for Speaker Mike Johnson to control the U.S. House of Representatives
decisiondeskhq.substack.com
More interesting story is the retirements of several long-serving Democrats this year. We’re seeing a generational turnover among House Democrats who were once the backbone of the party. Congress is old but that is far more interesting to legislative politics than 2-3% who might return.
Joe Murphy@joemurph.bsky.social · 7mo agoPitched and landed this story for @NBCNews.com: 24 members of Congress are 80 or older. More than half are running for re-election. #dataViz www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
This process looks more like Trump 1.0 when Congress ignored steep cuts proposed by the admin. However, Democrats appear to have capitulated more this time, allowing sizable cuts and jettisoning language restricting impoundments or RIFs.
Deborah Pearlstein@debpearlstein.bsky.social · 7mo agoCongress Is Spurning Many of Trump’s Proposed Spending Cuts
This piece nicely reiterates the imperatives of inclusion for democracy to endure. Though, I admit, I'm saddened tolerance has fallen so far from mainstream (lowercase-l) liberalism that pieces like this are necessary. ryandenos.substack.com/p/the-future...
The Future of Democracy Depends on the Republican Party
The Battle for a Liberal Society is Happening Within the Political Right
ryandenos.substack.com
Important @jonathanbernstein.bsky.social piece. Sometimes it feels like Trump's actions are just extensions of previous presidential acts. But Jonathan makes an important point that Trump's acts are often far worse. goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com/p/worse-than...
Trump Beats Iran-Contra
A break from his usual worse-than-Watergate presidency.
goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com
My thoughts on the state of House GOP leadership, with data on discharge petitions and links to good stuff from @mattglassman312.bsky.social @joshhuder.bsky.social @sarahbinder.bsky.social & others.
Mischiefs of Faction@misofact.bsky.social · 8mo ago@mattngreen.bsky.social writes about the rise of majority party defections on discharge petitions and the weakening authority of House GOP leaders. open.substack.com/pub/misofact...
My take on why Mike Johnson's speakership is one of the most fraught in recent and not so recent memory. open.substack.com/pub/joshhude...
Julia Azari: the impeachments of Trump and Johnson, and the near-impeachment of Nixon “have a number of strong and striking parallels. The factor I focus on is race: how each of these presidents follow one who breaks with the confines of the racial status quo.” open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...
What would a third Trump impeachment look like?
Some lessons from history
open.substack.com
The NDAA carries language restricting the Hegseth's travel budget until DoD provides reports and documents on a variety of issues. As @jamiedupree.bsky.social notes, this language isn't that uncommon, particularly when committees lose patience with agencies. But it often flies under the radar.
wrote about the boat strikes, and people’s skepticism that Hegseth will face consequences. the thing is…the bipartisan congressional pushback is already a consequence. it damages hegseth personally and politically and may restrain policy. www.everythingishorrible.net/p/will-hegse...
Will Hegseth Face Consequences?
He already has…though not enough
everythingishorrible.net
Blocking the transmission of legislation is among the worst abuses of power by any Speaker in House history. It's become very common under Johnson.
1st: This would be among the most dramatic events in US history. 2nd: I'm very skeptical resignations force a transfer of power. 3rd: If discontent is this widespread why has House done almost nothing to push back? 4th: Johnson... no bueno. Likely hyperbole but not a good look regardless.
Carl Quintanilla@carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 9mo agoPUNCHBOWL: “.. GOP members messaged us over the weekend saying that they, too, are considering retiring in the middle of the term. Here’s one particularly exercised senior House Republican: @punchbowlnews.bsky.social
Mike Johnson announces, as emperor, that he has no clothes. It's not often the emperor makes this confession, but it is 2025 so anything goes. www.axios.com/2025/11/21/m...
Trump never had total control. It's easy to overlook his failure on recess appointments, the Dept of "War," most budget cuts, among many, many others. When he asks, he often does not receive. What's increasingly slipped is his ability to prevent resistance to unilateral acts.
There is quite a bit of Republican pushback to Trump's attempt to gut the Department of Education, not just from moderates but from the Appropriations subcommittee chair.
How's Mike Johnson's speakership going? Well, his members don't trust he'll do his job and transmit the Epstein bill to the Senate after it passes. So there's that.
