With the calendar year coming to an end, Paul Nathanson and Liam Donovan get together to discuss the state of play of Congress and the legislative challenges that will be dealt with before the year ends and which will be left to deal with in the new year. They start with the never-ending appropriations negotiations, the role of the Speaker in these talks, and whether or not he is making an impact. They then question if any bills are going to make it through to a vote before the holiday recess and if the lack of a hard December deadline has anything to do with the tense gridlock. Finally, with the Iowa Caucus less than a month away, they chat about the upcoming presidential election and prepare for the chokehold it is going to have on most of the political focus for 2024.
RCP's Sean Trende is back to discuss his latest piece, a reminder that the former President is better positioned to win not just this cycle, but ever. The gang breaks down what it means to say "Trump can win," and why it draws such a heated response.
Josh, Paul, and Liam break down Tuesday's election results with Split Ticket partner Lakshya Jain. They gang discuss the process that yielded that site's deadeye accuracy, Lakshya's takeaways from the off-year campaign, and what these results can tell us about the 2024 election.
Josh, Paul, Caitlin, and Liam sit down with Mike Warren, Senior Editor of The Dispatch, to discuss Speaker Mike Johnson’s first two weeks, the return of Steve Bannon as a MAGA svengali, and the struggles of GOP primary challengers to break through against former President Trump.
Liam and Josh are once again joined by PRG Senior Counsel and Capitol Hill expert Joe Brazauskas to close out the democracy-induced chaos that was the process of electing a new Speaker of the House. They chat about how we came to the Johnson conclusion and what this new leader of the House should be looking out for in the short and long term.
Paul and Liam are joined by PRG Senior Counsel and Capitol Hill veteran Joe Brazauskas to discuss the ongoing dysfunction in the House as Republicans seek a path forward to elect a Speaker.
We tracked Liam down between media interviews to get his take on the historic vote last night that ousted Speaker McCarthy. Liam, Josh, and Paul discuss the tensions within the GOP and with Democrats leading up to the vote, who has put their hat in the ring to be the next Speaker, and what this all means for issues such as funding for Ukraine.
Josh Zive and Caitlin Sickles sit down with Lobby Shop co-host, Republican strategist, and political insider Liam Donovan to talk about how Congress narrowly avoided a shutdown disaster … for now. Liam previews what will happen next as Speaker McCarthy faces challenges to his leadership from his own party. And the group considers how the whole cycle is set to repeat when government funding is slated to run out again … in just 45 days.
With vacations coming to an end and kids going back to school, Paul Nathanson, Joe Brazauskas, and Liam Donovan take a look at what's on the House and Senate to do list when Congress returns from its summer recess. Issue one will be trying to avoid a government shut down, and the team discusses the ongoing appropriations battles and House Freedom Caucus demands. Tune in to also hear some initial thoughts on the state of the 2024 race for the GOP presidential nomination.
It's our most popular episode of the year- catching up with our PRG Summer interns! Paul, Caitlin, and Josh, chat with our five amazing interns Anum, Emma, Margaret, Maxim, and Rio about their experiences in the PRG offices this summer. Great insights and tips about how to maximize Washington, DC internships and we also learn what the group really talked about in the internal intern chat 😮. Tune in now!
The Lobby Shop team is joined by guest David Lynch, Global Economics Correspondent for the Washington Post, who is just back from China where he covered US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin’s meetings with China’s new economic leaders. The team first discusses with David his reporting on new indicators about the state of the global economy and then turn to Yellin’s meetings in Beijing and if the visit met even the modest goals set by the Biden Administration. The conversation then turns to the view from Capitol Hill on US-China relations and the state of President Biden’s efforts to secure supply chains and boost domestic manufacturing. Plus, the team couldn’t let David get away without his take on baseball’s new pitch clock.
Paul and Caitlin are joined by friend of the podcast and third time guest, Alexander Kravtsov, a strategic communications consultant and founder of the public affairs firm Nexus Eurasia. Alexander, a Russian native now residing in Europe and the United States, gives his perspective on the 24-hour coup led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, and his private military company, the Wagner Group. The team discusses Prigozhin’s past, the reasons he rebelled and why it was resolved quickly, and the implications for Russia… and Ukraine.
Josh, Caitlin, Paul, and Liam discuss the latest on the high stakes negotiations on raising the debt ceiling. We then replay our earlier conversation with Rep. McCarthy's new Chief of Staff, Machalagh Carr.
The Lobby Shop team is joined by special guest Machalagh Carr, General Counsel to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy. Bracewell guest host Joseph Brazauskas joins as we discuss with Machalagh the Speaker's views of, and priorities for, congressional oversight and changes on how investigations are conducted under the new House leadership, the role and purpose of new House committees and other topics (including Joe's collection of Wendell Wilkie pins!).
The Lobby Shop team is joined by friend the pod Haley Byrd Wilt from The Dispatch who helps break down what to expect from the newly organized 118th Congress. The gang discusses Haley’s reporting on the powerful Rules Committee, the new Select Committee on China Competition, and Liam and Haley’s conversation with the New York Times’ Ross Douthat on the simmering debt limit fight.
We welcome back to the podcast Myron Wasylyk, a Ukraine-based energy advisor and communication expert who we last interviewed just before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On the first day of the war, Myron, a Ukrainian-American who has lived in Kyiv for three decades, evacuated his family to Western Ukraine. Myron and his family recently moved back to Kyiv. We spoke to him about what it’s like living in a city under attack by drones and missiles, the resilience of the Ukrainian people, Ukraine perception of the Beltway debates on continued US military aid, the energy supply situation in Ukraine and the prospects for an end of the war in the coming year.
Josh and Liam break down the ongoing stalemate over the election of the next Speaker of the House, and the delayed start to the 118th Congress.