Over the past 40 years, Republicans have quietly gained overwhelming power in state legislatures. It did not happen overnight, and it won’t reverse itself soon. The implications could linger for years. Even after the 1980 election — when Ronald Reagan was first elected president — Democrats still controlled most statehouses: […] Read more »
Republican voters are deeply divided over Trump. So why do most Republican lawmakers still support him?
Many Republican senators, watching the harrowing footage of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection played at Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, were moved to tears, presumably remembering their own experiences that day. Yet it did not persuade many of them to vote to convict the former president on the charge of […] Read more »
A Republican betrayal
Despite some important exceptions, most Republican senators failed to uphold the Framer’s vision, while betraying their own constitutional originalism and conservative principals of representation. As I noted last week, the Framers predicted the Senate “will always be of the number of those who best understand our national interests … and […] Read more »
Impeachment is over. Now what?
… Certainly, some grassroots Republicans, tired of the rhetoric and behavior from Trump, as well as senators like South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, Missouri’s Josh Hawley and Texas’s Ted Cruz, continue to leave the party. And some of Trump’s defenders and supporters, like his United Nations ambassador, Nikki Haley, are trying […] Read more »
Moving Past Impeachment: Trump Acquitted (Again)
Key Points• In the second impeachment trial of his presidency, former President Donald Trump was acquitted by the Senate. Seven Republicans joined 50 Democrats in voting to convict Trump.• The sole Republican running for reelection in 2022 who voted to convict Trump was Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) — she has […] Read more »
Are voters’ preferences over stimulus checks driven by party loyalty or financial gain?
What happens when a president and Congressional leaders in his own party disagree on important policy issues? This is quite uncommon these days, but in December 2020 and January 2021, it happened. President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell publicly differed on a highly salient issue: stimulus checks. […] Read more »