Greg Sargent

Pretty wild: Even some MAGA figures are now panicking about the early vote. And for good reason: The electorate is 11 points more Dem than at this point in 2024, and Latino vote is surging. On the pod @simonwdc.bsky.social is very illuminating on what the data shows: newrepublic.com/article/2171...

if Congress were simply to wield its power of the purse it would be enough

"We have not seen the end of this idea of a 'crisis of men' for reactionary politics. That will be with us for a very long time." I asked Nicole Hemmer if Trump use of misogyny as midterm Hail Mary will flop because the 2024 moment has passed. Her answer is good: newrepublic.com/article/2171...

by god that’s @joshchafetz.bsky.social’s music they’re playing

Very useful history here, delivered very efficiently:

Not too early to start thinking about how grassroots pressure on a Dem House could help produce better results -->

"We’ll be working closely with our Appropriations Committee partners to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to cut off money used for political persecution," Jamie Raskin tells me. “Everybody involved from top to bottom will be subject to legislative investigation."

this kind of democratic move is important on the merits - actually limiting presidential lawlessness. it's also important as a way to highlight how the administration violates basic legal constraints, even in the face of oversight, for the post-trump accountability agenda.

This is vitally important. I'm glad that House Democrats are ready to use the full scope of their Article I powers. The raid on Omar's home can't be something we let people forget about in the next year or new congress. It is one of the most egregious examples of Trumpian fascism yet.

Dems "are signaling that the deployment of all kinds of tactics against such persecutions is on the table. Employing aggressive oversight, a Democratic House could subpoena all communications between Trump, the White House, DOJ, and the Department of Homeland Security about the targeting of Omar."

This is one good example of how appropriations hardball can work if you're willing to not blink first. Another: take your pick for demands and restrictions on funding Executive Office of the President. Yes, literally defund the White House. EOP is the central hub of the assault on the Constitution.

excellent idea -->

Democrats laying the groundwork for real opposition, with Congress asserting budget authority to stand against Trump abuses and rights violations. Will have to overcome cries that not passing Trump's budget is irresponsible. But it's the opposite. And starting now makes that hurdle easier to clear.

I really like the point made here: Dems should be making a public case right now for novel tactics like defunding Trump's corrupt prosecutions, to make them more intelligible later:

Encouraging sign that Democrats will play hardball if they win the midterms.

Yep. This is how I read it as well:

The Article I branch should act to curb lawless behavior and abuses of executive branch authority

Yep. Everyone who is talking in theoretical terms about the need for Congress to reassert itself should care about specifics like this one: Dems using power of purse against corrupt Trump prosecutions is the perfect example of this and we should encourage and talk about it.

Excellent @gregsargent.bsky.social piece on Congress's power of the purse, how that intersects with its oversight power, and how Dems might use them newrepublic.com/article/2171...

thanks @joshchafetz.bsky.social

Max Weber once observed that the winner in a war only needs to get rid of the top-level bureaucrats (so party officials and sycophants) to begin effectively running a conquered land. Maybe there's a corollary here: Congress can't "get rid of" Klanprez's cronies, but it can go around them. Excellent!

Relatedly, such a critical point from @brianbeutler.bsky.social. Guess who DOESN'T want a D electoral victory to be interpreted as call for investigations/accountability for Trump's corruption/authoritarianism? Trump and Rs, that's who! Dems can't let that happen: www.offmessage.net/p/wheres-the...

Love to see them already thinking along these lines, though I'm curious how this will play out against an administration that will walk right into a government shutdown before signing budget/appropriations bills it doesn't like

If they actually want to get thru the next two years, there’s not really another choice

Is all this really feasible? Won't Trump refuse to sign anything like this? Won't he litigate it? Won't it lead to government shutdowns? Yes, yes, and yes. But it's still absolutely doable and necessary. Here's why: newrepublic.com/article/2171...

Dems also planning aggressive investigations into Trump's illicit prosecutions: Subpoenas on internal comms and on mid-level actors carrying out his corrupt orders. “Everybody involved from top to bottom will be subject to legislative investigation," Raskin says. newrepublic.com/article/2171...

Here Reps Pramila Jayapal and Jamie Raskin talk to me about working with Dem Appropriators to target Trump's corrupt prosecutions of Ilhan Omar and others with various defunding tactics. “We will actively and aggressively investigate this case,” Jayapal says. newrepublic.com/article/2171...

Around 175 House Dems just called on Trump's DOJ and DHS to end "weaponization of law enforcement" against Rep Ilhan Omar. The letter is signed by numerous ranking committee Dems, showing depth of support for Omar in leadership and signaling how Dem House will act. newrepublic.com/article/2171...

Thread:

me @gregsargent.bsky.social have made this point repeatedly: across the world we're seeing the profound failure of a closed border philosophy—we need to make that case www.politicalphilosophypodcast.com/li

Trump's vicious abuse of a female reporter who pointed out the sexual abuse that Amy Acton faced shows MAGA is betting on misogyny as their midterm Hail Mary. On the pod, @pastpunditry.bsky.social is just brilliant on misogyny as longtime bedrock of MAGA politics: newrepublic.com/article/2171...

Also, polls underestimated the left. A preview, perhaps?

Stunning Lula victory in Brazil is another sign of how easily we all let ourselves get psy-op-ed by the right's expressions of confidence into, you know, believing them. We really have to get over that habit!

“figures like Ramaswamy look at Donald Trump and decide that his depravity is what they have to imitate in order to kind of unlock that magic potion that gets them the Trump base, right?”

This is exactly right. They're trying to replicate the bottomlessly cynical approach without Trump and they're face-planting

The deeper reason Trump, Vance, and Ramaswamy are backing the vile rape ad is they think MAGA politics—the cruelty, the depravity, the viciousness—is still ascendant. They think doing this esesentially puts Trump on the ballot. Me and @jimswift.bsky.social on this: newrepublic.com/article/2169...

Important, revelatory point in this @citizencohn.bsky.social piece on Abdul El-Sayed: Watching Obama deal with Republicans has convinced a younger generation of Dems that there's no reasoning with MAGA bad faith: www.thebulwark.com/p/abdul-el-s...

Toby has been so forceful in making this important point: look at what's happened to trans rights in the UK, and you see the end result of where moral compromise in the US will inevitably lead:

Good thread!!

It’s the persistent and self-defeating notion that you should simply blow in the wind with what you perceive as public opinion in any given moment without ever considering that you could take action to push it one way or the other.