‘Glimmers of Lame-Duckism’
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Lame duck (politics)
16 min read
The article's central thesis revolves around 'lame-duckism' - understanding the historical and political dynamics of lame duck periods would provide crucial context for why this early onset is significant
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Discharge petition
12 min read
The Epstein files vote succeeded through a discharge petition championed by Rep. Massie - understanding this rare procedural mechanism explains why it represented such a significant break from party leadership
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Filibuster in the United States Senate
14 min read
The article mentions Senate Republicans resisting Trump's demands to eliminate the filibuster - the history and mechanics of this controversial procedure would help readers understand the stakes of this resistance
After months of near total subservience, Republican lawmakers are starting to push back on President Trump as his popularity falls to all-time lows.
In the near unanimous House and Senate votes yesterday to demand the Justice Department release the files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in the Senate GOP resisting Trump demands to get rid of the filibuster, and in Indiana state lawmakers so far side-stepping Trump’s badgering for redistricting to try to preserve a GOP House majority next year, Republican lawmakers are starting to show signs of willingness to defy Trump and be more worried about displeasing voters, a top political analyst said today.
“I think what we’re seeing is…the glimmers of lame-duckism for Pres. Trump,” Carl Hulse, chief Washington correspondent for the New York Times, told the Daily podcast as the House prepared to vote overwhelmingly to demand the Justice Department release the Epstein files.
While second term presidents usually become “lame ducks” after the mid-term elections, “it’s coming a little earlier because the election earlier this month…[showing] resounding Democratic victories bigger than we anticipated and up and down the ballot,” Hulse said. “And I think this is being processed in real time by members of Congress.”
“There’s no stronger emotion in politics than self-preservation for most of these guys,” Hulse said. “They’re going to do what it takes to preserve themselves. And if they see that Trump is weakening, they’re going to make the moves they think are going to help themselves. And it’s true. Trump is not going to be around forever.”
Take the Epstein vote yesterday.
Until this week, Trump had been “tenacious in his opposition,” to the House discharge petition to demand the release of the Epstein files, Kentucky Republican Congressman Tom Massie, who championed it at great political cost to himself from Trump, told the Daily.
Until his sudden reversal three days ago, Trump, by demanding Republican lawmakers vote against releasing the Epstein files, had “set them up in a situation where they were all going to… put themselves at odds with their own constituents,” Massie continued. “Ultimately, I think he realized, he’d given them a bad
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