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1 week ago | 
politicspoliticspolitics.com | Justin Robert Young
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1 week ago | 
politicspoliticspolitics.com | Justin Robert Young
After all the heat Trump took over the Big Beautiful Bill and its ballooning deficit, the pivot is on. Enter: DOGE Cuts. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is floating a $9.4 billion rescissions package — modest by federal standards, but symbolically important. It targets public media like NPR and PBS, as well as USAID and other foreign aid programs. The logic is clear: if you’re going to cut, start with the stuff that either feels unnecessary or distant. The GOP is split.
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2 weeks ago | 
politicspoliticspolitics.com | Justin Robert Young
Speaker Mike Johnson got the big beautiful bill through the House, and now he’s on the full victory lap circuit. He was all over the Sunday shows, pitching the idea that this isn’t some slash-and-burn operation on social services — it’s “preserving and strengthening” Medicaid. He’s painting the cuts to SNAP and work requirements for Medicaid as anti-fraud measures. The messaging is clear: this is about waste and abuse, not cruelty.
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2 weeks ago | 
politicspoliticspolitics.com | Justin Robert Young |Ryan McBeth
The madman did it. Mike Johnson pushed the Big Beautiful Bill through the House in a razor-thin 215–214 vote, with one Republican voting present. It happened in the early hours of the morning, after an all-night session where, reportedly, one GOP member literally fell asleep during the vote.
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2 weeks ago | 
politicspoliticspolitics.com | Justin Robert Young
Donald Trump’s all-in legislative push — the Big Beautiful Bill — is barreling toward a moment of truth. As I record this, there’s still no final manager’s amendment, and no one knows whether they’re going to vote tonight, tomorrow, or after the Memorial Day recess. Johnson is doing things differently. He doesn’t wait for airtight vote counts like Pelosi. He calls the vote, sees who gets sassy, then brings the pressure — including direct calls from Trump himself.
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2 weeks ago | 
politicspoliticspolitics.com | Justin Robert Young |Chris Cillizza
Donald Trump went to Capitol Hill this week to push House Republicans across the finish line on his big domestic policy bill. Behind closed doors, he told conservatives not to “F— around with Medicaid,” and told blue-state Republicans to take the SALT deal on the table: $40,000 for four years, then snapping back to $30,000. That would cover about 90% of blue-state filers, but not the ones making the most noise.
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3 weeks ago | 
politicspoliticspolitics.com | Justin Robert Young
Joe Biden has aggressive prostate cancer. That news dropped as we were getting ready to record today’s show, and it immediately redefined everything I had planned for this episode. The White House says he found out late last week. But after everything we’ve seen — after everything we now know — I just don’t buy it. Not on its face. Not without skepticism. And certainly not from a team that has serially misled the public about this president’s health. This isn’t partisan.
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3 weeks ago | 
politicspoliticspolitics.com | Justin Robert Young |Bill Scher
The Big Beautiful Bill is finally past the quiet phase. The behind-the-scenes negotiations have spilled into the open, and now we’re in the bloodletting. Speaker Mike Johnson wants this out of the House by Memorial Day, which means committee votes need to happen, and fast. But right now, the Budget Committee is a problem. Hardliners are balking — Ralph Norman, Josh Brecheen, and Chip Roy are all leaning no.
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3 weeks ago | 
politicspoliticspolitics.com | Justin Robert Young
The main event this week was supposed to be a Russia-Ukraine peace summit in Turkey. Putin called for it. Zelensky agreed. Trump hinted he might even show up. But as we’re recording the show, the latest news is that Putin is skipping out on Thursday’s planned talks. Predictably, this has soured the entire process. European leaders already doubted the sincerity of the summit. Putin’s absence just confirmed what they suspected: Moscow isn’t serious about peace. For Trump, this is personal.
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3 weeks ago | 
politicspoliticspolitics.com | Justin Robert Young
Donald Trump is rumored to have a plan to receive a $400 million plane from Qatar, retrofitted to serve as Air Force One. On its face, it’s a straightforward diplomatic gift to the United States, meant to replace aging presidential aircraft. But the controversy kicked into overdrive with reports that this plane could eventually end up in Trump’s hands personally, via his presidential library. That’s where things get murky. Let’s start with facts.