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Podcast: Conversations: Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott

Podcast: Conversations: Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott

In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, it became clear that the Electoral Count Act of 1887, the legislation that provides the framework governing the casting and counting of electoral votes, needed updating because of its arcane language and ambiguities that could be exploited by bad actors willing to overturn the will of the people.

In stepped a bipartisan group of senators, and, after months of negotiating, a deal was struck. Last month, the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act was introduced by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) along with eight other Republican cosponsors and seven Democratic cosponsors, to update the antiquated Electoral Count Act of 1887.


On this special episode of Swamp Stories, host Weston Wamp spoke with former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) about the bipartisan group of senators that helped drive the effort, the implications for public confidence in our system, and why the bill needs to pass this year.

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Americans Vote In The 2024 Presidential Election

Voters cast their ballots on November 5, 2024 in Jefferson, New Hampshire.

John Tully/Getty Images

Non-Popular Vote Presidents: Conservatives’ Pathways for Abandoning Fiscal Responsibility

In political science and macroeconomic analysis, conservative administrations that win governance through the Electoral College without securing the national popular vote (historically exemplified by administrations like George W. Bush in 2000 and Donald Trump in 2016) navigate specific structural, ideological, and strategic pathways that often lead to the abandonment of traditional fiscal restraint.

Supply-Side Supremacy and "Starve the Beast"

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The Trump Administration’s Plan for Protecting Consumers? Politely Ask Companies to Behave.

Russell Vought, the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs in July.

Samuel Corum/Sipa USA via AP Images

The Trump Administration’s Plan for Protecting Consumers? Politely Ask Companies to Behave.

In mid-July testimony before Congress, Russell Vought boasted that, as the acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, he’d refashioned the agency’s approach to pursuing banks and other financial companies accused of exploiting Americans — the role Congress had created for the agency after the 2008 economic crash.

Vought had spent the first 18 months of the new Trump administration trying to dismantle the bureau, much as he and other appointees had done with the U.S. Agency for International Development. At CFPB, he’d ordered mass layoffs, tried to choke off the bureau’s funding and ended the lease on its headquarters, attempting to make good on his vow to put civil servants “in trauma.” But federal courts blocked Vought’s efforts to close the CFPB, with a judge at one point saying the administration had acted with “complete disregard” for Congress.

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Low angle view of male construction workers framing a new house

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Latino Workers Are the Backbone of America — But Inequities Persist

WASHINGTON — As the nation pauses today to mark Labor Day 2026, a glaring spotlight is shining on the massive economic influence, historical legacy, and evolving challenges of the Latino labor force. Once relegated to the margins of the broader American labor narrative, Latino workers are stepping into the national conversation as the indisputable backbone of the modern United States economy.

According to recent findings from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the overall labor market has shown unexpected strength, with a stable baseline keeping the Hispanic and Latino unemployment rate hovering around 4.8%. While this reflects a significant drop from the 5.3% peak recorded a year ago, advocacy groups argue that the metrics mask deeper inequalities that holiday celebrations tend to overlook.

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