The differences between the two parties are vast and varied, but there is perhaps no issue that more starkly represents their current ideological contention than the Affordable Care Act. Today, the outgoing president and his party huddled to defend his signature healthcare initiative, while the incoming president and his party strategized how to repeal it. […]

We have been documenting the early indications that anti-choice legislators have been emboldened by the imminent presidency of Donald Trump, powerful vice-presidency of Mike Pence, a Republican-controlled Congress, and a Supreme Court vacancy waiting to be filled. With the little time he has left in office, President Obama is doing what he can to safeguard […]

We are in the midst of a national crisis: The U.S. intelligence community has confirmed that Russia interfered in the election, in order to help Donald Trump get elected. They now have evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin was orchestrating the interference. This was not, as Trump has suggested, just some hacker sitting on his […]

It was already clear that President-elect Donald Trump is not overly interested in actually performing the job for which he was elected — and that he is happy to allow his second-in-command, Mike Pence, to take the reins on many major decisions and details. Incredibly, those details include the daily intelligence briefings which all presidents and […]

That sound you hear is me still ringing the alarm about Vice-President-elect Mike Pence and his outsized influence in the incoming Trump administration. As I have previously observed, Pence is shaping up to be one of the most powerful seconds-in-command in U.S. history. Today, Gallup notes that his influence is bolstered by Donald Trump’s lack […]

Mike Pence is emerging as the most powerful vice-president ever. It was Pence who orchestrated the Carrier deal for which Trump is taking credit. It is Pence who is attending the intelligence briefings. It is Pence whose agenda is written all over the cabinet picks so far. And it is Pence who is leading Donald […]

President-elect Donald Trump went on a yet another Twitter tear, which included a deeply troubling promise to exact “retribution” against any company that threatens to move jobs offshore: The U.S. is going to substantialy reduce taxes and regulations on businesses, but any business that leaves our country for another country, — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) […]

In a statement this morning, President-elect Donald Trump said: “I am thrilled to nominate Dr. Ben Carson as our next Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Ben Carson has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities.” Trump first tweeted in late November that he […]

During the campaign, I repeatedly warned about Mike Pence’s extremism with a particular urgency, given Donald Trump’s desire for a vice-president who “would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy.” And, since the election, I have been carefully watching the role Pence is playing in the emerging Trump administration. He was put in charge […]

Donald Trump took the stage in Indianapolis for a rambling 20-minute speech in which he boasted about his deal with manufacturing company Carrier to save 1,100 jobs at the company’s plant in Indiana: But, I will tell you that United Technologies and Carrier stepped it up and now they’re keeping—actually, the number’s over 1,100 people […]

As my colleague Tommy Christopher wrote, President-elect Donald Trump may have made a deal with HVAC manufacturer Carrier to keep some jobs from going to Mexico — but he accomplished this by doing the exact opposite of what he promised as a candidate. And he managed to do it only with the help of his Vice […]

During Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, he took particular aim at Carrier, a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems manufacturer, whose announcement to workers that 1,400 of their jobs would be shipped to Mexico went viral. In what became a regular part of his stump speech, Trump promised that he would “tax the hell out of” […]

Donald Trump won the presidency in a very curious way. The Washington Post’s Philip Bump observes: “More Republicans voted for someone besides Trump than voted for him in the primary, but he won. More Americans voted for Trump’s opponent in the general, but he won.” And it is more than just winning with fewer votes: […]

President-elect Donald Trump may have won the title he coveted, but he is already demonstrating an astounding lack of respect for and interest in the expectations and obligations that come with it. It has been 124 days since Trump last held a press conference on July 27th, 2016. Since then, he has not engaged with the […]

On the same day incoming Chief of Staff Reince Priebus refused to rule out a Muslim registry, Vice President-elect Mike Pence was equally evasive during an interview with Face the Nation’s John Dickerson. Dickerson invoked Senator John McCain’s fervent rejection of the use torture and asked Pence for his reaction. “What I can tell you […]

This one tweet about the cast of Hamilton addressing Mike Pence has already been shared over 100,000 times: Tonight, VP-Elect Mike Pence attended #HamiltonBway. After the show, @BrandonVDixon delivered the following statement on behalf of the show. pic.twitter.com/Jsg9Q1pMZs — Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) November 19, 2016 The message, read by cast member Brandon Dixon, was both respectful […]

This is your regular reminder that Mike Pence is just Donald Trump without the theatrics: As Trump disgorges broadsides about how “this whole thing is rigged” at campaign events, Pence is doing the same thing via his preferred subtler route. “Look, you know, it’s the old cliché, the only poll that really matters, they finish […]

Dozens of Republicans have condemned Donald Trump’s sickening comments about assaulting women, and a number have also rescinded their endorsements. Others have called for Trump to drop out of the race and allow Mike Pence to assume the top of the GOP presidential ticket. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, for example, called into CNN to haughtily express […]

One of the limitations of a predominantly two-party system in a vastly diverse nation, comprised of many demographics with competing desires and needs, is that parties have to form their base by building coalitions. There are challenges for both parties in bringing together disparate groups who share enough in common to work in concert to […]

https://twitter.com/Shakestweetz/status/784992488067043328 Following two Republican governors — privatization champion Mitch Daniels and his successor Mike Pence, aided by the Republican-controlled Indiana legislature — my home state of Indiana has lots of problems. Among them is the sorry state of the public school system, which has suffered from budget cuts, privatization efforts which have predictably led to […]

Tim Kaine is not just an affable person, but a highly accomplished public servant with a comprehensive grasp of the issues. His debate performance against Mike Pence was exceptional. Here is a sample of the feedback: Tim Kaine wins CNN undecideds group — Neera Tanden🌻 (@neeratanden) October 5, 2016 Tim Kaine debated as the 2016 vice presidential […]

When Hillary Clinton first chose Tim Kaine as her running mate, he was described as “vanilla nice” — “humble-but-sturdy” and “squeaky-clean.” A “steady hand” with unassailable ethics. He’s “personable but unassuming.” He charmingly burst out laughing on Meet the Press when asked about his reputation for being boring. “I am boring,” he said with a […]

The New York Times sounds the alarm about the upcoming presidential debates: There was not much of a contest in [NBC’s Commander-in-Chief] forum with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Mrs. Clinton answered the questions of the moderator, Matt Lauer, in coherent sentences, often with specific details. Mr. Trump alternated between rambling statements and grandiose boasts when he […]

Watch as a reporter begins to ask about Ryan’s criticisms of Trump, and Ryan interrupts with a joke, prompting a huge round of uproarious laughter: When everyone finally settles down, Pence finally gives a punt of an answer about how much he and his running mate respect Ryan and how there are always differences in […]

This is astonishing by any standards. Mike Pence defends Donald Trump's praise of Vladimir Putin: 'Inarguable' that Putin is a stronger leader than Obama https://t.co/dmjkTvpaMA — Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) September 9, 2016 Trump’s ghostwriter: Trump reveres Putin. He wants Putin's power. He wants to be a dictator. Every American — every American — should […]

When Hillary Clinton first selected Tim Kaine as her running mate, I noted that Kaine is actually a nice guy, while Mike Pence just pretends to be one: “I don’t personally know either of these men. All I have by which to assess them is their records. I hear that both of them are nice, […]