A Defeated 2020 Candidate Asks the House to Overturn Her Loss

Echoing Trump’s January 6 tactic, the loser of the race for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District wants the House of Representatives to override the state’s results.

Feb 05, 2021

A Defeated 2020 Candidate Asks the House to Overturn Her Loss

ADAM J. WHITE: Echoing Trump’s January 6 tactic, the loser of the race for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District wants the House of Representatives to override the state’s results.

🎧 On the Pods… 🎧

Tim Miller on the GOP Fear Caucus

On today’s Bulwark podcast, Tim Miller joins Charlie Sykes to discuss how the House GOP has splintered over Liz Cheney and Marjorie Taylor-Greene.

Is Compromise Alive?

Tom Nichols joins to consider the state of governance and GOP self-policing.

For Bulwark+ Members… 🔐

Good Viewer Data Is Hard to Come By 🔓

SONNY BUNCH: I’ve mentioned this before, but the thing I find most unsettling—not scary or even annoying, really, just discombobulating—about COVID-19 and the lockdowns has been the disruption to routine.

Opening the Schools 🔐

JONATHAN V. LAST: We can do this.

The GOP Rejects The Culture of Consequences 🔓

CHARLIE SYKES: Plus. Ben Sasse speaks.

LIVESTREAM: Impeachment Cometh 🔐

Adam J. White joins the staff, Sarah, Bill, and JVL to talk about impeachment 2.0.

From The Bulwark Aggregator…

In Today’s Bulwark….

Joe Biden’s Fast 15 Days

RICHARD NORTH PATTERSON: He is working to untie—or cut through—the political knot of the economic relief bill, even as his team moves swiftly on several other fronts.

How Biden Can Be the First Post-Post-Cold War President

BEN WALDMAN: His maiden foreign policy speech showed a willingness to level with the American people about the world as it is.

Understanding the House Republican ClusterFrick

TIM MILLER: Most of them are either Full Kraken or scared of their own voters.

🚨OVERTIME 🚨

Here’s an idea. I will admit up front it was not conceived in a place where I was trying to be constructive. Or bipartisan. One of the hallmarks of Congress is that members have the freedom to propose whatever crazy stuff they want. But newer members don’t typically attract the staff who know how to write bills. How many lawyers do you think are on Marjorie Taylor-Greene’s staff? Or Lauren Boebert? Or Madison Cawthorne?

We won’t know until the House releases how much each member has been spending on salaries. But my guess is between the three of them, I’d be surprised if they employed one person with a J.D. We’ll see.

Shortly after taking office, Marjorie Taylor-Greene introduced articles of impeachment for Joe Biden.

I think I can speak with some confidence that she did not write the bill herself. Further, I have doubts anyone on her staff did much of the heavy lifting. I say this as somebody who, like Greene, is not a lawyer, and has been tasked with writing legislation. These folks go to a place we call OLC, or the Office of Legislative Counsel.

Normally, before you an introduce a bill, you hold hearings in subcommittees, meet with relevant groups, talk to the Congressional Research Service, and come up with with a draft of what you want the bill to do. Then, you go to OLC.

These are lawyers who know how to write a bill that accomplishes what you want it to do after you’ve gone through all the typical steps.

They are very good at their job. And, unfortunately, they also have to spend a lot of time writing stupid messaging bills for nincompoops who are not serious about governing.

So, why don’t we make them pay for this service? Each office gets an “allowance” that pays for staff, computers, offices, phones, etc. But when it comes to CRS or OLC, members can basically abuse the time of experts to make stupid points with legislation that goes nowhere. Under the Constitution, the House could amend the rules to make members pay for the use of OLC’s time, just like they would if they were an HOA paying a lawyer or a law firm, out of their budget.

That might cut down on the stupid or frivolous bills.

Yes, to rename a post office you need an act of Congress, but “Expressing support for the designation of February 4, 2021, as "National Cancer Prevention Day" or “Supporting the goals and ideals of Career and Technical Education Month.” These are two of 13 bills that were introduced today. Just today.

You shouldn’t have to involve lawyers to tell the public you support technical education or oppose cancer.

You can just say it. Make them pay out of their budget to write the bills.

Nothing in the Constitution says that we have to employ lawyers to write stupid bills in such a manner that won’t get them thrown out of court for being badly drafted to impeach a guy who has been in office for two weeks. Or, a bill like H.R. 375, that would “provide that no person may be required to wear a face covering on Federal property or while traveling in interstate commerce, and for other purposes.” Guess who was behind that one? I’ll give you a hint. It rhymes with Foreign Yogurt.

Will my proposal here happen? 100% no. Is it a good idea? Actually, I think so.

Did you watch Mike Lindell’s movie?

I must admit, between editing podcasts, I missed the Matinee. But OAN was careful not to get sued for it, offering this disclosure.

Timothy Burke @bubbaprog

you really need to experience the whole disclaimer in full

Wait, really?

Fox News @FoxNews

Biden flying to Delaware despite CDC warnings to avoid travel

foxnews.comBiden flying to Delaware despite CDC warnings to avoid travelPresident Biden is expected to travel to Delaware this weekend, in what will be his first out-of-town trip since taking office, despite warnings from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention to avoid travel.

Good news from the Biden administration.

At VOA, the Biden team restored Jamie Fly to his role of RadioFreeEurope, which despite being appointed during the Trump years, he was relieved. We covered this last June.

FrankenHawley… The Post-Dispatch in Saint Louis covered my interview with John Danforth, and it was an honor to see our podcast be featured in my former hometown newspaper.

Come on…