Jonathan Chait

Washington, D.C.

Writer for the Atlantic. Tweets with links are intended as prompts to read the linked story, not self-contained arguments substituting for the linked story

Featured in: Favicon

nymag.com

medium.com Favicon

msn.com

nytimes.com Favicon

huffpost.com Favicon

latimes.com Favicon

theatlantic.com Favicon

digg.com

slate.com

flipboard.com + 54 more

Articles

The GOP’s New Medicaid Denialism

3 days ago | theatlantic.com | Jonathan Chait

Congressional Republicans claim to have achieved something truly miraculous. Their One Big Beautiful Bill Act, they argue, would cut nearly $800 billion from Medicaid spending over 10 years without causing any Americans to lose health care—or, at least, without making anyone who loses health care worse off. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that, by imposing Medicaid work requirements, the bill would eventually increase the uninsured population by at least 8.6 million.
The Coming Democratic Civil War

1 week ago | sueddeutsche.de | Jonathan Chait

A seemingly wonky debate about the “abundance agenda” is really about power. First published in The Atlantic on May 25, 2025 by Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic May 29, 2025 | reading time: 18 Min.
The Coming Democratic Civil War

1 week ago | rsn.org | Jonathan Chait

A seemingly wonky debate about the “abundance agenda” is really about power. A civil war has broken out among the Democratic wonks. The casus belli is a new set of ideas known as the abundance agenda. Its supporters herald it as the key to prosperity for the American people and to enduring power for the liberal coalition.
The Largest Upward Transfer of Wealth in US History

1 week ago | transcend.org | Jonathan Chait

Jonathan Chait | The Atlantic - TRANSCEND Media Service House Republicans voted to advance a bill that would offer lavish tax cuts for the rich while slashing benefits for the poor. 22 May 2025 – House Republicans worked through the night to advance a massive piece of legislation that might, if enacted, carry out the largest upward transfer of wealth in American history. That is not a side effect of the legislation, but its central purpose.
The Real Stakes of the Fight Over ‘Abundance’

1 week ago | theatlantic.com | Jonathan Chait

A civil war has broken out among the Democratic wonks. The casus belli is a new set of ideas known as the abundance agenda. Its supporters herald it as the key to prosperity for the American people and to enduring power for the liberal coalition.
The Largest Upward Transfer of Wealth in American History

2 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | Jonathan Chait

House Republicans worked through the night to advance a massive piece of legislation that might, if enacted, carry out the largest upward transfer of wealth in American history. That is not a side effect of the legislation but its central purpose. The “Big, Beautiful Bill” would pair huge cuts to food assistance and health insurance for low-income Americans with even larger tax cuts for affluent ones.
Kristi Noem Is Dangerously Ignorant

2 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | Jonathan Chait

Several top members of the Trump administration have been evading constraints on their lawless actions by playing a clever game of feigned ignorance as to the plain requirements of the Constitution and a series of adverse court rulings. Then there’s Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose ignorance appears to be utterly genuine.
Trump’s Immoral World Order

3 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | Jonathan Chait

Updated at 2:50 p.m. ET on May 16, 2025Earlier this week in Saudi Arabia, President Donald Trump delivered what the White House billed as a “major address,” which is a long-standing way to signal that a particular speech is meant to lay down a historical marker communicating the president’s values. Or, in this case, the lack thereof. Trump’s message was that, unlike interventionist Americans of the past, he did not take account of democracy or human rights when dealing with foreign states.
Work Requirements Are Medicaid Cuts by Another Name

3 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | Jonathan Chait

A generation ago, the Republican Party’s preferred symbol of government-funded indolence was the “welfare queen,” a quasi-mythical figure who collected checks to sit at home watching television. Today’s GOP has fixated on an even stranger target: unemployed adults who take advantage of the taxpayer by collecting free … health insurance. The fiscal centerpiece of the “big, beautiful bill” now making its way through Congress is to take Medicaid away from jobless adults.
The Cynical Republican Plan to Cut Medicaid

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Jonathan Chait

A generation ago, the Republican Party’s preferred symbol of government-funded indolence was the “welfare queen,” a quasi-mythical figure who collected checks to sit at home watching television. Today’s GOP has fixated on an even stranger target: unemployed adults who take advantage of the taxpayer by collecting free … health insurance. The fiscal centerpiece of the “big, beautiful bill” now making its way through Congress is to take Medicaid away from jobless adults.