Sarah Binder
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sarahbinder.bsky.social
Sarah Binder
@sarahbinder.bsky.social
Political scientist by day (and night). GWU and Brookings. Co-editor, https://goodauthority.org/

sarahbinder.weebly.com
🤔
August 8, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Family of four 🤗
July 25, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Now this is a great speech for a POTUS to deliver when he visits the Federal Reserve (in 1937). Watch FDR live! (starts at .22)

sarahbinder.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/...

Or read the whole speech here 🤓

www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/ad...
July 24, 2025 at 3:28 PM
What to expect while you're expecting (Massie's discharge petition ...)
Massie introduced rule on July15 to discharge unrelated bill. Rule has to be pending in Rules panel for 7 *legislative* days before he can file discharge petition. So it'll be Sept before he can file petition. At that point, any MC can sign it at Clerk's desk. www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
www.congress.gov
July 23, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Senate GOP tactics to make 2017 tax cuts "permanent" required nuclear move on Senate floor-- weakening authority of the parliamentarian, blowing hole in Byrd Rule, & possibly making future debt crisis more likely. New @goodauth.bsky.social post on fallout from OBBB

goodauthority.org/news/three-b...
Three big takeaways from that “One Big Beautiful Bill.“
Republican tactics seem likely to weaken the Senate – and make fiscal crisis more likely.
goodauthority.org
July 8, 2025 at 2:28 PM
No kings 🤣
July 4, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Reminder on Byrd process:

Parliamentarian has identified OBBB text that violates Byrd rule. Her advice doesn’t block text. She’s saying: If GOP still keep Byrd-offending text in OBBB & send it to floor, a senator can cry fowl (😉). Supporters would then need 60 votes to keep each proposal in bill.
Senate parliamentarian never sleeps! More Byrd droppings! These Ag panel droppings will get most 👀:

Mandating ⬆️ state $$ contributions to fund SNAP & banning undocumented from food benefits

These Byrd calls very slightly shift OBBB to center. Likely angers hawks, but might help Thune.

Full list ⬇️
Several Additional Provisions in Republicans’ “One Big, Beautiful Bill” Are Subject to 60-Vote Threshold, According to Senate Parliamentarian | U.S. Senate Committee On The Budget
The Official U.S. Senate Committee On The Budget
www.budget.senate.gov
June 21, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Senate parliamentarian never sleeps! More Byrd droppings! These Ag panel droppings will get most 👀:

Mandating ⬆️ state $$ contributions to fund SNAP & banning undocumented from food benefits

These Byrd calls very slightly shift OBBB to center. Likely angers hawks, but might help Thune.

Full list ⬇️
Several Additional Provisions in Republicans’ “One Big, Beautiful Bill” Are Subject to 60-Vote Threshold, According to Senate Parliamentarian | U.S. Senate Committee On The Budget
The Official U.S. Senate Committee On The Budget
www.budget.senate.gov
June 21, 2025 at 11:10 AM
'Tis the (Byrd bath) season!
June 20, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Byrd droppings piling up from S Banking text. GOP-sought savings from Fed/CFPB are good reminder of Fed's *structural* independence. Guessing Byrd rule blocks zero'ing out of CFPB & Fed staff salary cuts, since Fed is self-funded & not reliant on Congress for appropriations.
June 20, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Why did Trump send such a narrow and small rescission request to Congress? New @Brookings.edu FixGov post on the politics and rules of rescinding appropriations spending under federal budget law— and what’s at stake.

www.brookings.edu/articles/tru...
Trump wants Congress to vote for his rescissions. Are Republicans willing to own the cuts?
President Trump has sent a “rescission” package to Capitol Hill, proposing $9.4 billion in cuts to international aid and public broadcasting.
www.brookings.edu
June 5, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Time flies 🥲
May 30, 2025 at 4:59 PM
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.
May 19, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Congress was hiding in plain sight 🤓. Join me & @johnsides.bsky.social for Episode 2 of @goodauth.bsky.social's Where's Congress? We consider the big (yes), beautiful (eye of beholder) bill House GOP are trying to pass thru House --Senate GOP views be damned (for now)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvfR...
May 13, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Would Democrats take advantage of GOP-proposed tax-free "MAGA savings accounts" for their kids? Would be a good test of "partisanship is a powerful drug." Pre-register your survey experiment(s) now 🤓
May 12, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Re-appointed [Faculty] Senate parliamentarian. Unanimous consent, no objections 🤣

🤞🏻🤞🏻I don’t get ignored or fired 😳
May 9, 2025 at 6:51 PM
House GOP struggles to identify politically-palatable cuts to Medicaid shouldn't surprise (esp given slim majority). Figure shows % district enrolled in M'caid/CHIP vs Trump vote (2024). Significant cuts would hit across red states, esp in those that expanded M'caid (comprising 60% of House GOP).
May 9, 2025 at 1:50 PM
🤖😳
May 7, 2025 at 12:58 AM
House & Senate GOP likely view big cuts to Medicaid differently--especially S GOP from states that expanded Medicaid post ACA. Graph shows % of Medicaid recipients enrolled via expansion (Q3 2024 data). You can see impact on red states, especially (but not limited to) red states above trend line.
May 1, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Truer words never spoken (even if not limited to the House...)
May 1, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Pretty remarkable (not surprising) that recap of Trump's 1st 100 days mentions Congress just 3 times: Judge says Congress has power of 👛, Trump tells Congress he will shutdown USAID, & 2 House Dems introduce a bill to require weekly DOGE reports to Congress

www.axios.com/visuals/trum...
Trump's boundary-breaking 100 days: A timeline in excruciating detail
How Trump is reshaping the federal government and upending the legal system in his second term.
www.axios.com
April 28, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Defenders of "Fed independence" have, for now, deterred Trump from firing Powell. But Fed independence remains contingent & fragile. New @goodauth.bsky.social post w/ Mark Spindel on legal, political & historical forces that imperfectly insulate Fed from politics.

goodauthority.org/news/federal...
Could the Supreme Court kill the Fed’s independence?
Maybe, but keep your eyes on politics – and the markets.
goodauthority.org
April 24, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Back by popular demand ... Hope it's not too early to gear up for the next Peepal Conclave 🐤 🐤
April 21, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Lots of questions abt Trump's (implied) threat to fire Fed chair. NB: Federal Reserve Act dictates "for cause" removal protection for Fed governors. When lawmakers amended the act in 1977 (1st time they required Senate confirmation of governors as *chair*) they dropped for cause protection for chair
April 17, 2025 at 5:44 PM
We're live with "Where's Congress?" 🤓🤓

Got topics or questions you'd like me and @johnsides.bsky.social to tackle in future @goodauth.bsky.social episodes? Send them along!
So @sarahbinder.bsky.social and I inaugurated a new regular feature for @goodauth.bsky.social: "Where's Congress?"

We talk about why a once-strong Congress became a flabby weak mess. The highlights of this week's episode are...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Byct...
Good Authority Podcast | Where's Congress? | John Sides & Sarah Binder
YouTube video by Good Authority
www.youtube.com
April 11, 2025 at 3:52 PM