Andy Craig
@andycraig.bsky.social
@theunpopulist.net
Election law and policy, liberalism and democracy, and occasional pugs.
Election law and policy, liberalism and democracy, and occasional pugs.
The rumor flying around is that there are photos, particularly because Bondi refused to deny it. But who knows.
November 11, 2025 at 5:25 AM
The rumor flying around is that there are photos, particularly because Bondi refused to deny it. But who knows.
Even with Titanic, the descendants of the officer he showed committing suicide were furious and raised a big stink and he had to apologize to them.
November 11, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Even with Titanic, the descendants of the officer he showed committing suicide were furious and raised a big stink and he had to apologize to them.
I'll write it up at some point. How organizing the newly elected House on Jan 3 works is a complicated bundle of rules kludges and past precedents and things that work only if you don't think about it too hard and nobody pushes it. But bottom line is they'd have no procedurally valid way to do it.
November 11, 2025 at 5:17 AM
I'll write it up at some point. How organizing the newly elected House on Jan 3 works is a complicated bundle of rules kludges and past precedents and things that work only if you don't think about it too hard and nobody pushes it. But bottom line is they'd have no procedurally valid way to do it.
He opened himself up to that line of attack so he can't really cry foul, I won't begrudge Dems framing it that way to hammer on the issue. But no, it's never been a plausible explanation of why he was actually doing it, because it doesn't actually get him anything on that.
November 11, 2025 at 5:15 AM
He opened himself up to that line of attack so he can't really cry foul, I won't begrudge Dems framing it that way to hammer on the issue. But no, it's never been a plausible explanation of why he was actually doing it, because it doesn't actually get him anything on that.
One theory I've heard is he was worried caving would open the door to people trying other shenanigans during pro formas. Like, if they conceded to the chair recognizing people for a motion during pro formas. But obviously he could have just done it himself without opening that can of worms.
November 11, 2025 at 5:13 AM
One theory I've heard is he was worried caving would open the door to people trying other shenanigans during pro formas. Like, if they conceded to the chair recognizing people for a motion during pro formas. But obviously he could have just done it himself without opening that can of worms.
I can devil's advocate some halfway plausible-ish reasons for what he might have been thinking, but they're all very weak and plainly a miscalculation even on their own terms. I agree, it's mostly just been being a petty jackass because he can, and then stubbornly dug in his heels when it blew up.
November 11, 2025 at 5:11 AM
I can devil's advocate some halfway plausible-ish reasons for what he might have been thinking, but they're all very weak and plainly a miscalculation even on their own terms. I agree, it's mostly just been being a petty jackass because he can, and then stubbornly dug in his heels when it blew up.
It's legislation. They could and should instead use the House's own subpoena power. But even if the House passes the bill they're doing the discharge petition on, it would still have to get through the Senate and either Trump signing it (lol) or a veto override (lol).
November 11, 2025 at 5:03 AM
It's legislation. They could and should instead use the House's own subpoena power. But even if the House passes the bill they're doing the discharge petition on, it would still have to get through the Senate and either Trump signing it (lol) or a veto override (lol).
Like, I've been researching and gaming out scenarios about what screwball Jan 6-style insanity they could try to pull on Jan 3 to block a new Dem majority (their options are all very weak). But the Grijalva situation has had exactly nothing to do with any of that, it's not relevant to how it works.
November 11, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Like, I've been researching and gaming out scenarios about what screwball Jan 6-style insanity they could try to pull on Jan 3 to block a new Dem majority (their options are all very weak). But the Grijalva situation has had exactly nothing to do with any of that, it's not relevant to how it works.
I kind of get why people were worked up about it in that it *looks* much worse than it technically, procedurally is. But I think there's also been a fair amount of plain misrepresenting the reality, as if it wasn't just narrowly about if he'd do it during a pro forma session while the House is out.
November 11, 2025 at 5:02 AM
I kind of get why people were worked up about it in that it *looks* much worse than it technically, procedurally is. But I think there's also been a fair amount of plain misrepresenting the reality, as if it wasn't just narrowly about if he'd do it during a pro forma session while the House is out.
Refusing to seat her during the pro forma sessions has been gross and petty and wrong and all that. But refusing to seat her before taking up other business in a regular session would be a much more insanely radical and unconstitutional thing to do, and Johnson has never said he'd try to do that.
November 11, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Refusing to seat her during the pro forma sessions has been gross and petty and wrong and all that. But refusing to seat her before taking up other business in a regular session would be a much more insanely radical and unconstitutional thing to do, and Johnson has never said he'd try to do that.
It's also not true that under McConnell, congressional Rs ever had an approval rating as low as congressional Dems do currently. They are at a historic record low. And in fact they are lower than the GOP currently is. They're ahead on the generic ballot in spite of themselves only b/c of Trump.
November 11, 2025 at 3:33 AM
It's also not true that under McConnell, congressional Rs ever had an approval rating as low as congressional Dems do currently. They are at a historic record low. And in fact they are lower than the GOP currently is. They're ahead on the generic ballot in spite of themselves only b/c of Trump.
"Run against leadership" is exactly what Whitehouse is begging people not to do here. And no incumbent can do it credibly anyway.
November 11, 2025 at 3:29 AM
"Run against leadership" is exactly what Whitehouse is begging people not to do here. And no incumbent can do it credibly anyway.
People obviously care more about Trump, so most will hold their nose and vote Dem, as we just saw. But hoping enough people hold their nose for you is an utter failure of a position to be in under the circumstances. Trump is helping your chances of winning more than you're helping yourselves.
November 11, 2025 at 3:27 AM
People obviously care more about Trump, so most will hold their nose and vote Dem, as we just saw. But hoping enough people hold their nose for you is an utter failure of a position to be in under the circumstances. Trump is helping your chances of winning more than you're helping yourselves.
You're never going to get 100% of Trump disapprovers, of course. But if you're failing to capture a double-digit chunk of them, that's a you problem. And the fact is Schumer and congressional Dems generally have approval ratings that are rock bottom worse than Trump's. That's a real problem!
November 11, 2025 at 3:23 AM
You're never going to get 100% of Trump disapprovers, of course. But if you're failing to capture a double-digit chunk of them, that's a you problem. And the fact is Schumer and congressional Dems generally have approval ratings that are rock bottom worse than Trump's. That's a real problem!
If you really want to maximize your chances of winning 2026, you need to grapple with how the Dem brand is dragging you down. Trump is 20 points underwater. Yet Dems are winning the generic ballot by mid-low single digits, well below this point for 2018. What happens if he recovers by a few points?
November 11, 2025 at 3:19 AM
If you really want to maximize your chances of winning 2026, you need to grapple with how the Dem brand is dragging you down. Trump is 20 points underwater. Yet Dems are winning the generic ballot by mid-low single digits, well below this point for 2018. What happens if he recovers by a few points?
You can't have people in leadership positions who stab you in the back and then turn around and say oh well, let's move on and do nothing about that, really you're the problem for complaining about it.
November 11, 2025 at 3:12 AM
You can't have people in leadership positions who stab you in the back and then turn around and say oh well, let's move on and do nothing about that, really you're the problem for complaining about it.
If you actually want a more united front, the most obvious choice is replace Schumer as leader because he has zero credibility and people rightly loathe him. But at a bare minimum if you want to at least make some gesture, replace Durbin as whip. He's retiring anyway. There would be no downside.
November 11, 2025 at 3:09 AM
If you actually want a more united front, the most obvious choice is replace Schumer as leader because he has zero credibility and people rightly loathe him. But at a bare minimum if you want to at least make some gesture, replace Durbin as whip. He's retiring anyway. There would be no downside.
It was not, in fact, Democrats who were simply choosing to "make the children suffer." Republicans did that and Republicans were rightly getting blamed for it.
November 10, 2025 at 5:43 PM
It was not, in fact, Democrats who were simply choosing to "make the children suffer." Republicans did that and Republicans were rightly getting blamed for it.
You deny that "we" means Democrats but there you are again slipping into it, as if they're the only ones who have agency and they are the only ones to be blamed for a shutdown, even though that's not what voters actually thought.
November 10, 2025 at 5:41 PM
You deny that "we" means Democrats but there you are again slipping into it, as if they're the only ones who have agency and they are the only ones to be blamed for a shutdown, even though that's not what voters actually thought.
The purpose of the power of the purse is the elected legislature can use it to check abuses and power-grabbing and lawlessness and just plain bad policies from the executive. If you shrug that off as never worth using you're forsaking a core fundamental principle of our constitutional order.
November 10, 2025 at 5:37 PM
The purpose of the power of the purse is the elected legislature can use it to check abuses and power-grabbing and lawlessness and just plain bad policies from the executive. If you shrug that off as never worth using you're forsaking a core fundamental principle of our constitutional order.