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1 day ago | 
wakeuptopolitics.com | Gabe Fleisher
Donald Trump and the Supreme Court have been circling each other since he took office in January. Trump burst out of the gate with 150+ executive orders, many of them destined from the time he signed them to eventually reach the justices. When the president clashed with district court judges — two of whom are currently probing whether he has complied with their orders — Chief Justice John Roberts stepped in to defend the jurists from impeachment threats.
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2 days ago | 
wakeuptopolitics.com | Gabe Fleisher
Happy Wednesday and welcome to another episode of the Wake Up To Politics Book Club. This morning, we’re talking to Jonathan Allen, a longtime Friend of the Newsletter and senior national politics reporter at NBC News. Jon and his co-author Amie Parnes of The Hill have spent the last decade writing a series of revelatory books on Donald Trump and the Democrats he’s left in his wake: Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and now Kamala Harris.
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3 days ago | 
wakeuptopolitics.com | Gabe Fleisher
I’ve come to believe that the Senate filibuster is the central fact around which everything else in American political life revolves. By “filibuster,” I’m referring here to the requirement that a piece of legislation receives 60 votes to advance in the U.S. Senate.
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4 days ago | 
wakeuptopolitics.com | Gabe Fleisher
We’ve come a long way from Benjamin Franklin’s snuffbox. In 1785, King Louis XVI of France presented Franklin, a departing American diplomat, with a diamond-encrusted snuffbox, adorned with a portrait of the monarch. In Paris — as in other European capitals — the gift was business-as-usual. But in the fledgling United States, it was controversial.
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5 days ago | 
wakeuptopolitics.com | Gabe Fleisher
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there — including mine, the first (and best) subscriber to this newsletter. Love you. Now, let’s get down to business: answering your questions. Here are the questions we’ll be tackling this week:What’s behind the recent tensions between Trump and Benjamin Netanuahu? Why Trump’s approval rating matters, even if you think he’s an aspiring authoritarianCould a Democrat create a DOGE of their own? Why has there been so much media coverage about the new Pope?
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1 week ago | 
wakeuptopolitics.com | Gabe Fleisher
Good morning! It’s Friday, May 9, 2025. 179 days until Election Day 2025. 543 days until Election Day 2026. There may have been white smoke from the Vatican yesterday, but there was black smoke from the Capitol. — GabeThe American president is endowed with various powers by the Constitution, but one of his greatest assets is supposedly one that is found nowhere in the document: the power of communication.
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1 week ago | 
wakeuptopolitics.com | Gabe Fleisher
Two weeks ago, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin — Senate Minority Whip, top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, mentor to Barack Obama — did something that many 80-year-olds do: he retired. Here’s what he said, as cheery music played in the background:The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy. I truly love the job of being United States Senator. But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch. So, I am announcing today that I will not be seeking re-election at the end of my term.
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1 week ago | 
wakeuptopolitics.com | Gabe Fleisher
This email is coming a bit later than usual because I just came out of a fascinating meeting with members of the Løgting, the Parliament of the Faroe Islands. The Danish territory’s parliament is one of the oldest in the world (thought to be founded as early as the year 800!) It was great to chat about American politics and answer some of their questions about Trump, Congress, and the future of both political parties.
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1 week ago | 
wakeuptopolitics.com | Gabe Fleisher
It’s Wednesday, May 7, 2025. Election Day 2025 is 181 days away. Election Day 2026 is 545 days away. No top story for you today; instead let’s catch up on some key headlines to know as you start your day. — GabeAROUND THE WORLDIndia launched several missiles at Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled parts of the disputed Kashmir territory last night, in an assault that New Delhi said was retaliation for an April attack on tourists in an Indian-controlled area of Kashmir.
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1 week ago | 
wakeuptopolitics.com | Gabe Fleisher
Republicans currently boast a 53-47 majority in the Senate, which is nothing to sneeze at. It’s a larger majority than Democrats had during the Biden era, and it gives the party breathing room on tough votes. The size of the GOP advantage ensures that any party-line votes needing a simple majority will succeed unless four Republican senators defect (which is a rare occurrence). That gives the party a comfortable security blanket when it comes to confirmations, which require only majority support.