This week on SiriusXM‘s The Trendline I spoke to host Kristen Soltis Anderson about the overlapping drama unfolding in Washington between the impeachment inquiry and the looming threat of a government shutdown.
On the funding issue, what's most striking is the massive disconnect between the obvious strategic inanity of a shutdown under these circumstances and the rational individual incentives that are on the verge of compelling one. pic.twitter.com/Pv1R9KDeOZ
A tweet of mine showed up in today’s Axios‘ Sneak Peak newsletter focused on House Republicans’ appropriations messiness.
Between the lines: “The more dysfunctional the House is, the more it empowers the Senate to determine what becomes law,” tweeted Liam Donovan, a GOP consultant who closely tracks the House’s right-wing bomb-throwers.
If the Freedom Caucus truly opposed an omnibus, Donovan suggested, members would support whatever appropriations bills could get 218 votes to pass.
“In reality, failure is preferable to incremental victory because it validates” their view that both the Republican and Democratic establishment are corrupt and content with the status quo,Donovan said.
I spoke to NBC News‘ Alex Seitz-Wald for his look at the unusually busy summer for politics.
“It used to be that even the most addled political junkies got to dry out in August,” said Liam Donovan, a lobbyist and former GOP campaign operative. “But between the new season of Law & Order: MAGA and Trump’s would-be challengers desperate to gain traction via the debate stage, this year offers even less of a respite than usual.”
Did anyone land a successful punch at the Republican Debate? (And did it matter?) Our reactions to Trump’s interview with Tucker Carlson, and the new song that catapulted a relatively unknown country singer to conservative folk hero and progressive hate object status.
Join our host, Ron Steslow, as he explores the most important political news with guests Susan Del Percio (MSNBC political analyst and crisis communications expert), Liam Donovan (Principal at Bracewell LLP) and Liz Gilbert Cohen (President of the 2020 Democratic National Convention).
Segments to look forward to:
(02:18) A deep dive into the first Republican primary debate, who won and who lost, Nikki Haley’s swipe at Donald Trump, and Vivek Ramaswamy’s annoying performance that could endear him to MAGA voters
(31:50) Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson counterprogramming the debate with a pre-taped interview where they discussed whether Trump’s political rivals would try to kill him and whether we’re heading toward a civil war.
(41:40) The little known Virginia country singer who was catapulted to conservative folk hero and progressive hate object status for the song “Rich Men North of Richmond”
[Politicology+] The continued legal troubles for Hunter Biden and how Joe Biden can respond to the Republican attacks.
Politicology+ is our private, ad-free version of this podcast, with subscriber-only episodes, strategy, and analysis. To join us there, visit politicology.com/plus or subscribe in Apple Podcasts.
I spoke to the Washington Post‘s Maxine Joselow for her Climate 202 post on the ballooning revenue estimates for the IRA clean energy tax title and GOP efforts use them as offsets for their policy priorities.
That doesn’t mean the GOP won’t keep targeting the credits. But tax experts predicted that even if Republicans win full control of Washington in the 2024 election, they won’t seek to scrap all the incentives, especially as the money keeps flowing into red states and districts.
“Just as a matter of good tax policy, you don’t want to go after things people have made long-term investments in,” said Liam Donovan, a principal at the law and lobbying firm Bracewell. “People are sinking billions and billions of dollars into clean-energy projects across the map based on long-term certainty.”
