All posts tagged: Capitol Hill

Why Republican Politicians Do Whatever Trump Says

Why Republican Politicians Do Whatever Trump Says

The story Donald Trump tells about himself—and to himself—has always been one of domination. It runs through the canonical texts of his personal mythology. In The Art of the Deal, he filled page after page with examples of his hard-nosed negotiating tactics. On The Apprentice, he lorded over a boardroom full of supplicants competing for his approval. And at his campaign rallies, he routinely regales crowds with tales of strong-arming various world leaders in the Oval Office. This image of Trump has always been dubious. Those boardroom scenes were, after all, reality-TV contrivances; those stories in his book were, by his own ghostwriter’s account, exaggerated in many cases to make Trump appear savvier than he was. And there’s been ample reporting to suggest that many of the world leaders with whom Trump interacted as president saw him more as an easily manipulated mark than as a domineering statesman to be feared. The truth is that Trump, for all of his tough-guy posturing, spent most of his career failing to push people around and bend them …

Welcome Back to the Chaos of the Trump Era

Welcome Back to the Chaos of the Trump Era

Mardi Gras comes next Tuesday, but Republicans decided to throw a wild carnival a week early. With disarray on Capitol Hill, in the courts, and at the Republican National Committee, yesterday was a throwback to the vertiginous days of the Trump administration. Lots of data show that Americans aren’t paying close attention to politics or don’t believe Donald Trump will really be the Republican nominee, but each bit of Tuesday’s chaos had Trump’s fingerprints all over it—offering a partial preview of what life will be like if Trump is reelected in November. The most surprising fiasco was in the House, where a vote to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas unexpectedly failed. As I wrote last week, the impeachment never made much sense: Republicans were mostly angry at Mayorkas for policy choices, and the Senate was sure not to convict him. But the House plunged ahead anyway, until suddenly it screeched to a halt. Mike Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican and no one’s idea of a squish or a renegade, announced that he would oppose the …

A New Threat to Diversity at Elite Colleges

A New Threat to Diversity at Elite Colleges

All eyes have been on the end of affirmative action, but an emerging bipartisan bill would bar wealthy colleges from accepting federal student loans, with major consequences. David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe / Getty December 15, 2023, 7:23 AM ET The Supreme Court’s June decision to curtail the use of race in admissions shook American higher education. Absent affirmative action, Black and Latino enrollments drop, and highly selective campuses become less diverse. But a new threat to diversity at these colleges emerged this week—one that could deal just as damaging a blow to their socioeconomic and racial compositions. On Tuesday, members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce met to discuss a bill that would expand short-term Pell Grants. But deep inside that bill was language that would have a far more dramatic effect on higher education: It would ban students who attend Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or any of the roughly 50 other wealthy, private colleges subject to a tax on their endowment from taking out federal student loans. America’s reliance …

Washington Week: The GOP’s Internal Dysfunction

Washington Week: The GOP’s Internal Dysfunction

December 2, 2023, 2:56 PM ET Editor’s Note: Washington Week with The Atlantic is a partnership between NewsHour Productions, WETA, and The Atlantic airing every Friday on PBS stations nationwide. Check your local listings or watch full episodes here. On Wednesday, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger passed away at the age of 100. As the country remembers the former statesman’s complicated legacy, his fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill are working to overcome their internal dysfunction: In the House, Republican Representative George Santos of New York was expelled from Congress in a rare bipartisan vote for ethics violations. And in the Senate, Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama attempted to reassure colleagues that his monthslong blockade of Pentagon nominations will end soon. All of this comes as former President Donald Trump continues to lead in polls of Republican and evangelical voters six weeks before the Iowa caucuses. Joining the editor in chief of The Atlantic and moderator, Jeffrey Goldberg, this week to discuss this and more are Tim Alberta, a staff writer at The …

Trump’s Apocalyptic Rhetoric – The Atlantic

Trump’s Apocalyptic Rhetoric – The Atlantic

November 18, 2023, 4:16 PM ET Editor’s Note: Washington Week with The Atlantic is a partnership between NewsHour Productions, WETA, and The Atlantic airing every Friday on PBS stations nationwide. Check your local listings or watch full episodes here. Former President Donald Trump has never been moderate in rhetoric and action. But there’s a real sense out there that, as he comes under further legal pressure, he’s become more apocalyptic: During a Veterans Day speech, echoing the language of authoritarian dictators, he described his political foes as “vermin.” Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, a rash of angry altercations erupted this week. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, allegedly elbowed fellow GOP Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee in the kidneys, and Senator Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, challenged a hearing witness to a fight. Joining the editor in chief of The Atlantic and moderator, Jeffrey Goldberg, to discuss this and more are Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent at The New York Times; Leigh Ann Caldwell, a co-author of The Washington Post’s Early …

The Republicans Have No Majority

The Republicans Have No Majority

Mike Johnson now knows what Kevin McCarthy was dealing with. At the new speaker’s behest, House Republicans today relied on Democratic votes to avert a government shutdown by passing legislation that contains neither budget cuts nor conservative policy priorities. The bill was a near replica of the funding measure that McCarthy pushed through the House earlier this fall—a supposed surrender to Democrats that prompted hard-liners in his party to toss him from the speakership. Johnson is unlikely to suffer the same fate, at least not yet. But today’s vote laid bare a reality that’s become ever more apparent over the past year: Republicans may hold more seats than Democrats, but they don’t control the House. Under McCarthy and now Johnson, Republicans have been unable to pass just about any important legislation without significant help from Democrats. The three most consequential votes this year have been the spring budget deal that prevented a catastrophic U.S. debt default, September’s stopgap spending bill that averted a shutdown, and today’s proposal that keeps the government funded through early 2024. …

Kamala Harris is trying to change the narrative

Kamala Harris is trying to change the narrative

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Since taking office, Vice President Kamala Harris has struggled to communicate her vision and the nature of her role to both the press and the public. As President Joe Biden, the country’s oldest-ever president, eyes reelection, questions about Harris’s readiness to step in as president if needed are urgent, if also seemingly taboo among Democrats. My colleague Elaina Plott Calabro profiled Harris for the November issue of The Atlantic, following her to Africa and around the U.S.—and even, in a first for a reporter during this administration, to the vice president’s residence. I called Elaina to discuss Harris’s public persona, why she’s had trouble communicating her success, and what she’s like outside Washington, D.C. First, here are four new stories from The Atlantic: Trouble Breaking Through Lora Kelley: You write in your profile that, at earlier points in Harris’s …

The House Chaos Continues – The Atlantic

The House Chaos Continues – The Atlantic

September 23, 2023, 4:18 PM ET Editor’s Note: Washington Week with The Atlantic is a partnership between NewsHour Productions, WETA, and The Atlantic airing every Friday on PBS stations nationwide. Check your local listings or watch full episodes here. House Republicans have been fighting among themselves over the federal budget as a possible government shutdown looms. In the midst of this, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Capitol Hill this week to appeal to Congress for crucial weapons and support, which has also been met with some GOP resistance. And, with days until the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, retires, the Senate overcame GOP Senator Tommy Tuberville’s months-long delay on military promotions and confirmed General Charles Q. Brown Jr. to fill the U.S. military’s top job. Joining the editor in chief of The Atlantic and moderator, Jeffrey Goldberg, this week to discuss these topics and more: Steve Inskeep, the host of Morning Edition on NPR and the author of Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America; Manu Raju, …