Paul Kane

Yeah, I got through and could’ve bought still decent seats. But 3 other friends were way ahead of me and got 4 each, so we will link up with part of their ticket haul.

There really is no organization like Ticketmaster when it comes to making its potential customers feel small and insignificant.

The stories weren’t played together on A1, but they probably should’ve been.
We’ve come a long way as a planet from the Arab spring days when tech bros touted themselves as harbingers of freedom.

So @whitehouse.senate.gov & Lindsey Graham leading bipartisan Senate crew to Munich Security Conference. McCain used to lead this CoDel to MSC & after his death, these 2 took up mantle, naming it “CODEL McCain” in his honor.
Except these days only 1 of the 2 acknowledge McCain. It’s not the R.

These charts sum up U.S. economic highs and lows.
One industry hiring right now is healthcare/social care (very aging population will need more workers there).
Consumer spending is resilient and booming - for top 10%.
And 7 tech companies are driving stocks high.

Via @washingtonpost.com

So @joshhuder.bsky.social has come up with a great explanation for something I’ve struggled I’ve struggled to describe for few years: Speaker Johnson is both omnipotent & impotent in leading House.
Rs are so hyper-partisan they won’t even work with each other.
gai.georgetown.edu/nobody-knows...

Column | Thom Tillis wants you to know something: ‘I’m sick of stupid’ The North Carolina Republican has been at the forefront this month of staking out anti-MAGA ground and criticizing Trump’s aides.

Thom Tillis wants you to know something: ‘I’m sick of stupid’ Latest from @pkcapitol.bsky.social -- www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Column | A majority in name only? House Republicans are barely hanging on. Moves to Trump administration, resignations and deaths leave GOP without a functional majority.

House Rs tonight hit new low in their MINO status:
Majority. In. Name. Only.
Just 191 Rs voted in last roll call, while 199 Dems showed up to vote.
More than 12% of House Rs (27!) didn't bother to show up.

I wrote about this days ago for my Sunday column:
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Column | A majority in name only? House Republicans are barely hanging on. Moves to Trump administration, resignations and deaths leave GOP without a functional majority.

A majority in name only? House Republicans are barely hanging on. @pkcapitol.bsky.social does the arithmetic. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Three PA Republicans voted for it -- Bresnahan, Fitzpatrick and Mackenzie

That lone R vote in Nov 2009 came via Joseph Cao, who oddly won the New Orleans seat because the incumbent (Bill Jefferson) got indicted/cash in freezer.
Cao flipped to no on final passage March 2010. Otherwise, Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) voted once to advance bill outta Senate committee.
Until today.

House passes bill extending health care subsidies, bucking GOP leaders Prospects for passage in the Senate are unclear. The enhanced subsidies expired at the end of 2025, driving costs up for millions.

17 House Rs voted with all 213 dems to pass bill that would extend tax credits for the Affordable Care Act.
Aside from 1 vote in Nov. 2009 - when House passed its 1st version of ACA - these are the first GOP votes ever for what they long derided as Obamacare.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Heritage paper on families calls for ‘marriage bootcamp,’ more babies The conservative think tank aims to boost U.S. marriage and births through discouraging online dating, restricting pornography and creating tax credits for families.

👀 Marriage “bootcamp,” huge tax breaks for couples with kids, capping alimony, discouraging online dating…

A WaPo exclusive, we got the final draft of the Heritage Foundation’s “Manhattan Project” for more babies.

Plus a previous draft with scrapped ideas, which you’ll want to see.

🎁 link:

Rep. Steny Hoyer to retire, ending storied career in elected office Maryland’s longest serving member of Congress won’t seek reelection after having spent two decades as the No. 2 House Democrat.

A great @pkcapitol.bsky.social scoop here, and a write-up entirely worth your time, even at this hour.

Rep. Steny Hoyer to retire, ending storied career in elected office Maryland’s longest serving member of Congress won’t seek reelection after having spent two decades as the No. 2 House Democrat.

I sat down for 2-plus hours Tuesday with Steny Hoyer as he talked about a career that began in Annapolis in 1967 and will end later this year.
He’s not running again. And he’s content with a storied career even if he didn’t get the speaker’s gavel.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Column | Lawmakers battle over how — and whether — Jan. 6 should be remembered House Republicans continue to hide a plaque honoring the police who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, almost three years after a law passed requiring its display.

The plaque is several feet wide, several feet high. It was last seen in a basement workshop of a House office bldg next to a mini-frig, a scooter & set of small lockers.

Now that plague’s hidden status symbolizes everything about 5 years ago.
My column.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Seeing this on the POTUS calendar for tomorrow was kinda triggering.

I hope he doesn’t tell any 7-yr-old’s that it’s “marginal” to believe in Santa. Like he did Christmas Day 2018.

www.youtube.com/shorts/F1JaV...

Opinion | Stephen King: Why I Hugged Rob Reiner After Watching ‘Stand by Me’

Read this beautiful tribute by @stephenking.bsky.social about Rob Reiner. I definitely teared up more than once.
“You’re gonna be a great writer someday.” Truer words were never spoken.

Column | Republican women shrinking their ranks in Congress Retirements, resignations and tough elections could cut into their growing numbers from recent elections.

Within 20 minutes of one another Cynthia Lummis & Elise Stefanik announced they wouldn't run next year.

It's latest blow in a tough year for GOP women in Congress. After record highs in '23, R women falling in House. Same in Senate.

Some R women see sexism.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Statue of Black teen who fought segregation replaces Robert E. Lee at U.S. Capitol Barbara Rose Johns was only 16 when she led a walkout in 1951 to protest horrendous conditions at her segregated high school for Black students in rural Farmville, Virginia.

An important must read from my colleagues:
Robert E Lee’s statue got ejected from Capitol Crypt 5 years ago. Today Virginia replaced the Confederate with Barbara Rose Johns, who at 16 led protest that helped spur Brown v Board of Ed in 1953.
Amazing.

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

… these @pewresearch.org graphics pretty much tell the story better than words can.

Column | Anger is a defining character trait for both parties, new study shows An updated Pew study shows that, with the change in administrations and party power in Congress, Democrats are now at record levels of anger toward government.

How anger has become a defining characteristic of voters for party out of power, and how Dems are more angry than either party’s voters have been.
Amazing @pewresearch.org look at 3 decades of voter attitudes.
Appears 2006-08 was pivot point.
My column.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

This was a pretty wild exchange I had with Sen. Kennedy denying the reality of even Trump's own press secretary confirming the facts as my WaPo colleagues reported.
The Trump WH dispute is merely over whether the 2nd strike was legal. Yet a GOP senator denied even that reality.

I’ve seen lotsa House speaker & Senate leader types with their own swag. Some of it quite sharp looking.
I’ve never seen a House speaker wearing swag that was more heavily promoting the president than his own team brand.
Photo from @notus.com

Column | As Democrats search for their ‘MAGA,’ author catches Jeffries’ attention The minority leader is trying out a venture capitalist’s new book title, “Strong Floor, No Ceiling,” as the Democrats’ centrist answer to “Make America Great Again.”

…. Jeffries:
“Strong floor & no ceiling. That’s what we believe in as Democrats. That when you work hard and play by the rules in the United States of America, there should be no ceiling to the success that you can achieve.”
Read about @oliverlibby.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Meet the author who coined a 4-word rejoinder to MAGA that’s embraced by @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social

“There’s something unifying when we are asked to do something together, and building a strong floor, no ceiling is just like that,” Oliver Libby tells me.

He’s not a consultant or pollster. ….

I’ll send the Eagles second half offense to help. Oh wait, they won’t help at all.

Column | It’s called the ‘six-year itch.’ Democrats hope it favors them for the Senate. The sixth year of a presidency typically produces brutal results for his party in Senate races, but everything about Trump is unconventional.

It’s a very tall order for Dems to go +4, given that they’d need at minimum 2 states that Trump won by double digits: OH, IA, AL, KS, TX.
But Trump’s standing with independents has drifted lower than Biden post-debate & close to W at Wall Street collapse.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Six-year-itch midterms are funky. There’s usually only a little change for presidents in the House - but the Senate turns into a massive dumpster fire.
In 2006, Dems +6 included 4 states W had won twice; in ‘14 Rs +9 included 3 Obama ‘08 states.
2026?
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Column | It’s called the ‘six-year itch.’ Democrats hope it favors them for the Senate. The sixth year of a presidency typically produces brutal results for his party in Senate races, but everything about Trump is unconventional.

Why you should always, always read @pkcapitol.bsky.social capitol (I may be saying this a lot over the next year) -- It’s called the ‘six-year itch.’ Democrats hope it favors them for the Senate. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...