Kevin R. Kosar
@kevinrkosar.bsky.social
Senior Fellow, AEI. Host of the Understanding Congress podcast. Editor of UnderstandingCongress.org.
Tariffs are a dinner bell for deep-pocketed special interests. "Americans are now paying roughly 75% more for aluminum than the rest of the world. Steel prices in the U.S. are also about 64% higher than in northern Europe." www.wsj.com/opinion/u-s-...
Opinion | The Metals Lobby’s Big Steal
Americans now pay 75% more for aluminum than the rest of the world, and 64% more for steel.
wsj.com
Daedalus has published my essay, Upgrading Congress to Meet the Demands of the 21st Century. www.understandingcongress.org/upgrading-co...
"It is the public’s role to uphold republican standards. In the past, a politician caught selling an office, taking money from interested parties, using governmental machinery for personal revenge was supposed to fear not only legal action but disgrace." www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
Opinion | The Art of the Self-Deal
Thoughts on how Trump-era corruption is affecting Americans as a people.
wsj.com
Reminder: This Saturday and Sunday there will be lots of road closures in downtown DC due to the Freedom 250 auto race. The track map is below and details on road closures are at mpdc.dc.gov/release/upda...
My latest piece for the Examiner: Maybe Americans Are Too Hard on Congress "Capitol Hill is very balmy and very quiet. The thrum of legislators jawboning while a vote is being tallied has been replaced with a sepulchrous quiet...." www.washingtonexaminer.com/magazine-was...
I enjoyed chatting with Alicia Nieves of NewsNation's The Hill about the Postal Service. Congress needs to ask the public: (1) What do we want from the USPS in the 21st century; and (2) How shall we pay for it? Watch the full interview on USPS's future at kevinrkosar.substack.com/p/what-do-we...
"The company that received this contract, Daedalus Aviation Corporation, is led by a chairman who had donated to a political committee supporting the previous Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/u...
Homeland Security Paid $464 Million for Airplanes. Then It Parked Them.
The agency used a no-bid contract to buy 10 used jets, saying they were urgently needed for deportation flights. But the fleet has largely sat idle for months.
nytimes.com
My short post on the federal government's property problems. This is not a polarized, partisan issue. Addressing it will require both the legislative branch and the executive branch to partner tightly and get the job done. kevinrkosar.substack.com/p/the-federa...
What was lost on me and is lost on so many other Americans is this basic truth: if you don’t tell Congress what you want, then how can you expect it to do what you want? How Can the Average American Influence a Member of Congress? (w/ Brad Fitch) www.understandingcongress.org/podcast/how-...
How Can the Average American Influence a Member of Congress? (with Brad Fitch) - UnderstandingCongress.org
The topic of this episode is, “How can the average American influence a member of Congress?” A lot of Americans feel no connection to the US Congress. If you asked them, they probably could not name t...
understandingcongress.org
Just posted on my Beverages, Books, and More. The Western world has always drawn associations between human constitution and the size and weight of the body---often errantly. Read it at beveragesbooksandmore.substack.com/p/the-metamo...
How will the November congressional elections shake out? What might be the ramifications for governance? The Chautauqua Institute has released the video of our efforts to answer these questions. View it at www.youtube.com/live/ljLh8n_...
Drinks-making is manufacturing. Tariffs are hurting American companies. theconversation.com/trumps-new-t...
Nothing ... has been quite as depressing as the sight of some self-described conservatives insisting that we must now ignore all the lessons of our past and reject all the wisdom of our political tradition... -Yuval Levin lawliberty.org/forum/agains...
Against Decline – Yuval Levin
Resisting decline depends on Americans remembering the best of our inherited order.
lawliberty.org
Good figure and Olivia Beavers story. It's hard for the GOP to build a majority in the House with such a narrow majority and without Democratic votes. www.wsj.com/politics/mid...
"If you’re wondering why parties nominate candidates who are out on the extremes, it is often because of the voters who reliably participate in the process." Https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/opinion/voters-political-parties-coalitions.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
Opinion | America Has 2 Political Parties but 8 Political Tribes
Think of our two major political parties as two coalitions.
nytimes.com
"Mr. Lindell, who is registered in Texas, said he was not concerned that he was not yet registered in his home state..." www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/u...
Mike Lindell Not Registered to Vote in Minnesota, Where He is Running for Governor
President Trump endorsed Mike Lindell, a leader of the election denial movement, for Minnesota governor this week.
nytimes.com
Interesting research on the House Appropriations Committee’s Surveys & Investigations Staff, who were quietly abolished in 2024. matthewdull.substack.com/p/oversight-...
Alan Greenspan wooed his future wife, Andrea Mitchell, by taking her to his apartment to examine an essay he wrote on monopolies and antitrust. RIP: kevinrkosar.substack.com/p/rip-alan-g...
"I do not write this lightly, but it seems to me that I have never in my lifetime seen a public man work so assiduously to prepare for himself a place in Hell." thedispatch.com/article/vanc...
The Vice President Is Playing With Fire (and Brimstone)
On the several conversions of J.D. Vance.
thedispatch.com
A $352 million apportionment of funds for Secret Service training/etc. to White House security measures (the ballroom?). Whoa. www.notus.org/congress/whi...
Senators Suspect Trump Shifted Secret Service Funds to Build His Ballroom
“It’s a big problem,” says Sen. Thom Tillis of the $352 million moved from personnel and training.
notus.org
If you feel the need to tell people you are smart it might be due to you realizing you are known for being a knucklehead.
Kevin R. Kosar@kevinrkosar.bsky.social · 2mo ago“I have undergraduate and graduate degrees from what’s considered the Harvard of Australia. I’ve always been academically gifted, as you could probably work out just from talking to me” -Nick Adams www.thefp.com/p/two-drinks...
“I have undergraduate and graduate degrees from what’s considered the Harvard of Australia. I’ve always been academically gifted, as you could probably work out just from talking to me” -Nick Adams www.thefp.com/p/two-drinks...
Two Drinks with. . . Trump’s Tourism Czar
Over Negronis in Washington, D.C., the Australian-born reformed shitposter Nick Adams tells River Page that he’s ‘the brand ambassador for the United States, the top salesman of America.’
thefp.com
GOP senators use the power of the purse against Sec. Hegseth. The First Branch is not dead yet. thehill.com/policy/defen...
Senators look to jam Hegseth’s travel budget over boat strikes, Iran girls school bombing
Senators are looking to jam Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until the Pentagon shares more information about the U.S. military’s strikes on alleged drug boats and the lethal bombing …
thehill.com
The journalistic adage “we don’t report planes that land safely” means that what is deemed newsworthy often involves dysfunction and folly. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | Behold, the separation of powers might actually be working
A judicial ruling prompts two senators to pursue legislation to curtail executive branch mischief.
washingtonpost.com
A document denouncing abuses by an imperious executive who has "sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people"--yeah, that's totally not relevant to America today. 😂
The platonic ideal of I never thought the leopards would eat my face.
Sahil Kapur@sahilkapur.bsky.social · 3mo agoSen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, says Trump threw him under the bus. “If he would do that to me, he would do that to anybody,” Cornyn says. “There’s never going to be good enough for him, other than 100 percent, you know, slavish adherence to whatever he wants.“ www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/u...
