Don’t miss an episode of the Political Junkie! Find out how to listen to our podcast.
The President has, as expected, vetoed the Keystone XL Pipeline bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already scheduled a vote on a veto override, but its chances are very slim. Professor John Gilmour of the College of William and Mary, and Philip Bump, a reporter with the Washington Post, talk about the politics, and …
While Republicans in Congress remain furious with President Obama and his planned executive orders to alter immigration policy, Senate and House leaders can’t come to an understanding about how to battle Obama while preventing a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. Sarah Mimms of the National Journal explains how Republicans may have boxed themselves …
Read moreEpisode #64: Movies in the White House, Mayhem in Chicago
This week is all about exits — whether it’s Brian Williams at NBC, Jon Stewart at The Daily Show, whispers about Gov. John Kitzhaber resigning in Oregon, or the goodbyes (large and small) in political history — it’s never easy, but there’s a lot to learn. Jeb Bush left the Florida governorship way back in 2006, …
Question: What has four billion dollars and little chance of going anywhere? Answer: President Obama’s budget, released this week along with the Democratic fanfare and the Republican “dead on arrival” diagnosis. Josh Gerstein of Politico breaks down what the president is looking for, who his real audience is, and the chances of any accommodation with …
Read moreEpisode #62: House of Cards Confessions, Runoff for Rahm?
With the Iowa caucuses some 53 weeks away, the battle for the Republican nomination took its first major step last weekend in the Hawkeye State, where many presidential contenders and pretenders traveled to Des Moines for the Iowa Freedom Summit. Kathie Obradovich of the Des Moines Register reports on who got the most attention and …
Read moreEpisode #61: GOP Vies for Gold in IA, NY Loses Silver
President Obama (and his party) may have suffered an overwhelming defeat in the 2014 midterm elections, but you’d never know it by the performance he put on Tuesday evening in his State of the Union message to Congress. It was a confident, self-assured Obama who read off a laundry list of things he wanted Congress …
It looks like the relationship between President Obama and the 114th Congress is starting exactly where it left off with the 113th — battles with Republicans, little compromise in sight. Let’s start with the Keystone XL Pipeline. The House has overwhelmingly passed — and the Senate is expected to follow — legislation that authorizes the …
Read moreEpisode #59: Boxer KO’s 5th term; GOP OK’s Keystone
The 114th Congress is here, where Republicans control both houses for the first time since 2006. Paul Kane of the Washington Post joins us to talk about the attempted rebellion against Speaker John Boehner, and the GOP’s hopes of going from the “party of no” to the “party that governs.” One of the things the new …
Read moreEpisode #58: Master of the House, Remembering Cuomo
You’ll have to decide on your own whether 2014 was a good year or not. We’re assuming that if you’re a Republican, you’re probably leaning yes, and if you’re a Democrat, you’re trending no. But no matter how you rate it, it was a remarkable year — both here at home and overseas. And thus, …
It’s the time of year when, upon reflecting over the politics of 2014, we also remember those in the political world who passed from the scene. Janet Hook of the Wall Street Journal and Alan Ehrenhalt of Governing magazine sit down with us for our 2014 Political Junkie Remembrances Special, where we listed some of …