Rep. Chip Roy stated, 'We aren't getting the job done. Part of that is because we are bound by this big, broken, fake filibuster of 60 votes. But part of it is you gotta have the willpower to do it.'
Organizational filibustering refers to strategies that delay and obstruct efforts to pursue social justice in systems. These additions can stretch out the process of implementation of diversity strategic plans or multicultural programs for years. Change agents can become battle-fatigued and give up their efforts. They can also become so disheartened that they leave a group or organization altogether.
I think we know what the agenda items are. Accomplishing those is going to be hard with a small majority. The upshot is that Trump's prime-time address is unlikely to make more than a ripple in the congressional agenda over the coming months. It's the reality, Republicans acknowledged Wednesday, of life in Washington right now: Despite its trifecta, the party's legislative ambitions are being hemmed in by its barely-there majorities.
The interchamber tensions between Democrats are becoming a regular feature of funding fights in the second Trump term. Lawmakers, strategists and voters alike exploded in anger last March when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and a handful of colleagues allowed a spending package to move forward amid the Elon Musk-led DOGE assault on federal agencies. In November, tempers again flared when a handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to end a record 43-day shutdown.
Despite months of warnings from party members up and down the caucus that President Donald Trump has been "lawless," "destructive, and "authoritarian" in his wielding of power both domestically and abroad, 149 Democratic members of the US House of Representatives on Thursday night joined with 192 Republicans to pass a sweeping military spending bill - a vote that progressive critics say exposes the fecklessness and hypocrisy of what claims to be an opposition party.
The legislators released a video in November as US forces carried out air strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, and as US President Donald Trump ordered the National Guard to deploy to major US cities to crack down on undocumented migrants and crime. This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens, the lawmakers said in the video. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or Constitution, they said.
Age has long been a point of debate in American politics, but it becomes especially controversial when lawmakers remain in office well beyond traditional retirement years. As the nation grapples with issues like healthcare, technology, and economic change, questions naturally arise about how age, generation status, and experience influence leadership at the highest levels of government. For some voters, longevity in office represents wisdom; for others, it raises concerns about representation and outdated reasoning.
But the summer after his brother Dale had graduated from high school, he invited young Harry to join him in Ash Fork, a tiny dot in Arizona along Highway 40. Dale had found work at a gas station in the railroad town near an Indian reservation. Not much was memorable about the town, the railroad, or the people Harry met, but he never forgot one lesson he learned there.
The House on Wednesday passed the Save America Act, which would dramatically change voting regulations by requiring proof of citizenship at voter registration and significantly curtail mail-in voting. The legislation, which passed 218 to 213, faces an uphill battle in the Senate, close observers say. I'm skeptical that the Senate will vote on this bill, because this bill goes farther than the bill they've already sent to the Senate, [which] it hasn't taken up, said Shenna Bellows, Maine's secretary of state and a Democratic candidate for governor.
