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How do you solve a problem like Candace Owens?

How do you solve a problem like Candace Owens?

More Artists Boycott Trump‑Renamed Kennedy Center

More Artists Boycott Trump‑Renamed Kennedy Center

Congress Shouldn’t Let Federal Tort Claims Become Political Gifts

Congress Shouldn’t Let Federal Tort Claims Become Political Gifts

When a Lifelong Friendship Ends in the MAGA Era

When a Lifelong Friendship Ends in the MAGA Era

As Pressures Mount, Trump Faces the Most Precarious Moment of His Presidency

As Pressures Mount, Trump Faces the Most Precarious Moment of His Presidency

The 35 Republicans who support the insurrection commission​

Capitol insurrection

Nearly three dozen Republicans joined with Democrats to approve an investigation into the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol.

Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Sara Swann
By Sara SwannMay 20, 2021
Sara Swann

As a staff writer, Sara covers a variety of democracy reform issues, including voting rights, money in politics, gerrymandering and civic education. Prior to joining The Fulcrum in May 2019, Sara reported on local government on Maryland's Eastern Shore for the USA Today network. She is a native West Virginian and a graduate of Syracuse University.

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The House voted Wednesday to establish an independent commission investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Thirty-five Republicans broke from the GOP leadership to join the Democratic majority in supporting the bill.

Some of these Republicans had previously broken with the party on major votes that defined their stance on democratic institutions, including two votes on the impeachment of Donald Trump as well as certification of the 2020 election results.

Use the chart below to see how each GOP member voted on these critical issues.

The legislation's chances of passing in the evenly split Senate remain slim.




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Why Aren’t There More Discharge Petitions?

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Why Aren’t There More Discharge Petitions?

We’ve recently seen the power of a “discharge petition” regarding the Epstein files, and how it required only a few Republican signatures to force a vote on the House floor—despite efforts by the Trump administration and Congressional GOP leadership to keep the files sealed. Amazingly, we witnessed the power again with the vote to force House floor consideration on extending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies.

Why is it amazing? Because in the 21st century, fewer than a half-dozen discharge petitions have succeeded. And, three of those have been in the last few months. Most House members will go their entire careers without ever signing on to a discharge petition.

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As government shutdowns drag on, a novel idea emerges: use arbitration to break congressional gridlock and fix America’s broken budget process.
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Congress's productive 2025 (And don't let anyone tell you otherwise)

The media loves to tell you your government isn't working, even when it is. Don't let anyone tell you 2025 was an unproductive year for Congress. [Edit: To clarify, I don't mean the government is working for you.]

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At 1,976 pages of new law enacted since President Trump took office, including an increase of the national debt limit by $4 trillion, any journalist telling you not much happened in Congress this year is sleeping on the job.

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Red elephants and blue donkeys

The ACA subsidy deadline reveals how Republican paralysis and loyalty-driven leadership are hollowing out Congress’s ability to govern.

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Governing by Breakdown: The Cost of Congressional Paralysis

Picture a bridge with a clearly posted warning: without a routine maintenance fix, it will close. Engineers agree on the repair, but the construction crew in charge refuses to act. The problem is not that the fix is controversial or complex, but that making the repair might be seen as endorsing the bridge itself.

So, traffic keeps moving, the deadline approaches, and those responsible promise to revisit the issue “next year,” even as the risk of failure grows. The danger is that the bridge fails anyway, leaving everyone who depends on it to bear the cost of inaction.

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Who thinks Republicans will suffer in the 2026 midterms? Republican members of Congress

U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA); House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on December 17, 2025,.

(Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Who thinks Republicans will suffer in the 2026 midterms? Republican members of Congress

The midterm elections for Congress won’t take place until November, but already a record number of members have declared their intention not to run – a total of 43 in the House, plus 10 senators. Perhaps the most high-profile person to depart, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, announced her intention in November not just to retire but to resign from Congress entirely on Jan. 5 – a full year before her term was set to expire.

There are political dynamics that explain this rush to the exits, including frustrations with gridlock and President Donald Trump’s lackluster approval ratings, which could hurt Republicans at the ballot box.

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