The House passed the defense authorization bill (NDAA) today, and the version going to the Senate has the SAVE Act attached. But the House did not vote directly on the NDAA with the SAVE Act. Instead, the rule automatically added the SAVE Act, as it passed in the spring, after NDAA passed . . .

I don't have a very strong opinion about year-round DST, but the time that Congress tried this in the 1970s is pretty interesting . . . 🧵

Weakening House leadership watch: the House just agreed to another motion to discharge, with 9 Republicans joining all voting Dems, on a union-backed bill to speed up union contracting under NLRA.

The GOP leadership *lost* this vote and then apparently pulled the Iran War vote, leaving Jim McGovern shouting on the floor "you guys don't have the guts or the balls to vote on this!"

Aaron Fritschner@fritschner.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The delay here is bc Republicans are unexpectedly losing the vote before the Iran resolution, on a bill to establish the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, which Dems are opposing because R's rewrote a popular bipartisan version to add rightwing poison pills. Vote has been open for 40 mins

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/

TIL that Alexander Butterfield dated Dr. Seuss's widow "for many years." www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...

I liked the Doobie Brothers version better . . .

The Senate vote on the Venezuela resolution was not a final passage vote . . . this seems like something the Post should get right?

A persuasive framework from @joshhuder.bsky.social for thinking about Mike Johnson's struggles as speaker:

Mike Johnson: A Broker in Czar’s Clothes

The House suffers from a clash of strong institutions and fragmenting Republican politics.

joshhuder.substack.com

Thread on Senate nuking of supermajority cloture for their nomination reform resolution:

Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you joy and happiness.

Some thoughts on Trump, power, Epstein, coalitions open.substack.com/pub/goodpoli...

Can Trump's unprecented power consolidation last?

Power, not legitimacy, is what drives politics right now. But that could change.

open.substack.com

Geeky question for Congress geeks: has anyone tried to validate the idea that the DW-Nominate 2nd dimension has started picking up a cross-party establishment/antiestablishment thing in the House? Or published anything that works from this assumption?

Our article introducing CampaignView is now officially online! Check it out here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

CampaignView, a database of policy platforms and biographical narratives for congressional candidates - Scientific Data

Scientific Data - CampaignView, a database of policy platforms and biographical narratives for congressional candidates

nature.com

Rachel Porter@rachelporter.bsky.social · last yr.

📢 Thrilled to share our new article introducing CampaignView—a comprehensive open-source dataset of congressional candidate campaign bios and policy platforms (2018–2022). Paper + data here: campaignview.org & doi.org/10.7910/DVN/... 🧵1/4

Really good overview of (1) what we know about when/how voters punish members of Congress on big votes and (2) what that might mean for the OBBB from @mattngreen.bsky.social

Will the “One, Big Beautiful Bill” hurt Republicans in 2026?

What political science tells us.

misofact.substack.com

Don't Let The Pigeon Fly The Plane!

NBC News@nbcnews.com · last yr.

A Delta flight erupted into chaos on Saturday when two pigeons were discovered in the plane's main cabin, video of the pandemonium shows.

House GOP pay-fors more draconian for tax cuts this year compared to 2017 TCJA. Primary 2017 revenue raiser was🧂🧢 (after "border tax" killed). This time, slimmer GOP seeks more costly tax cuts & more politically salient revenue raisers (Medicaid/SNAP/ACA/Pell✂️). Pulls bill much farther to the right.

This is excellent, and it hit home on a day when I struggled to explain what "broadcast TV" was/is to my fifth-grade kid. musgrave.substack.com/p/what-the-k...

What the Kids Are Reading

Engaging with the new generation and its media consumption

musgrave.substack.com

Jan. 2023: McCarthy elected Speaker on a promise that bills would cover only a single subject. Jan. 2025: Johnson elected Speaker on a promise to make everything into one omnibus.

Oooh--it's free-range C-SPAN camera day again!

Congressional parties put significant effort into messaging around votes. Members care a lot about explaining their votes. What happens when the party tries to message explanations--how does the party decide which positions to explain? I use new archival data to study this in Party Politics 🧵

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

Very good summary of House GOP leadership problems from Josh Huder: the Speaker leads a chamber that is still complex, institutionalized, and majoritarian, but House Republicans have made necessary institutional experience a "liability not an asset."

House Republican's Broken Leadership Pipeline

Populist politics has made experience a liability.

joshhuder.substack.com

Yikes. (1) Are they going to do this under a rule? (2) If so, can a rule to do this even get out of Rules and pass? (3) And if so, is the rule going to join the bills that pass or leave the Senate to deal with three separate measures? bsky.app/profile/news...

Julie Tsirkin@newsjul.bsky.social · 2y ago

NEWS: House Republicans are meeting at 12:30 today behind closed doors to discuss the new plan leadership hatched... Separate votes on the following: - Government funding extension until March - Original disaster relief # - Original Farm bill extension **But NO debt limit** How will Trump react?

Just got an email from Wiley thanking me for citing an AJPS article in an article I published two years ago, so I've got that going for me this morning.

How does the media report on Senate procedure, and how does this reporting affect public opinion? I look at these two questions in a new piece in PRQ 🧵 journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

This political scientist strongly recommends placing your election yard sign at least 15 feet away from your fake tombstones, skeletons, and other spooky decorations to avoid message confusion.

The GOP is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Contract with America. Curious about where it came from, who it represented, and how it affected House Republican actions? I've got you covered: www.cambridge.org/core/element...

The Origins and Consequences of Congressional Party Election Agendas

Cambridge Core - American Studies - The Origins and Consequences of Congressional Party Election Agendas

cambridge.org

Interesting reporting on candidates' use of AI in communicating their positions to voters (from Bucknell polisci grad Jaxon White). www.witf.org/2024/09/24/a...

AI enters politics: 3 Pa. House candidates used ChatGPT to shape voters guide responses | WITF

Artificial intelligence has become the bogeyman of politics, blasted as a potential misinformation tool campaigns can use to mislead voters.

witf.org

I've been teaching the prisoners' dilemma for 20 years and today is the first day that, when asked what they would do, a student finally gave the obvious answer: demand a lawyer.

Congress folks: My review of Life in the Middle by Neil Chaturvedi is up in Party Politics. The book is a very persuasive (and timely!) argument for why Senate "moderates" are often *not* power brokers driving centrist outcomes. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...