Heather Cox Richardson

and who has never held an elected office, but who put more than $150 million into the Trump presidential campaign, and in addition to his work with X, that supported Trump, and really, I think we can say was behind Trump being elected to the office, is now apparently calling all the shots. And That has been disturbing for a number of us that I think maybe we should talk a little bit about.

and who has never held an elected office, but who put more than $150 million into the Trump presidential campaign, and in addition to his work with X, that supported Trump, and really, I think we can say was behind Trump being elected to the office, is now apparently calling all the shots. And That has been disturbing for a number of us that I think maybe we should talk a little bit about.

But what happened yesterday was that the House of Representatives, which has been run by Republicans since 2023, January 2023, has not managed to pass an appropriations bill for 2024, which is almost over. It was supposed to be done in September of 2023, and it didn't happen. And now we're at the end.

But what happened yesterday was that the House of Representatives, which has been run by Republicans since 2023, January 2023, has not managed to pass an appropriations bill for 2024, which is almost over. It was supposed to be done in September of 2023, and it didn't happen. And now we're at the end.

But what happened yesterday was that the House of Representatives, which has been run by Republicans since 2023, January 2023, has not managed to pass an appropriations bill for 2024, which is almost over. It was supposed to be done in September of 2023, and it didn't happen. And now we're at the end.

And what they have done repeatedly is issued these continuing resolutions which say, we're going to continue to fund the government at this level for another few months until we can finally get our acts together. And the deadline, the last deadline from September, that continuing resolution that happened in September, was Friday. Right. The 20th of December.

And what they have done repeatedly is issued these continuing resolutions which say, we're going to continue to fund the government at this level for another few months until we can finally get our acts together. And the deadline, the last deadline from September, that continuing resolution that happened in September, was Friday. Right. The 20th of December.

And what they have done repeatedly is issued these continuing resolutions which say, we're going to continue to fund the government at this level for another few months until we can finally get our acts together. And the deadline, the last deadline from September, that continuing resolution that happened in September, was Friday. Right. The 20th of December.

And very quietly, the House and the Senate leadership worked out a 1500 page bill that was essentially a continuing resolution that maintained levels of spending from the previous two years now, but added, as you say, the disaster relief and relief for farmers because they also never passed a farm bill.

And very quietly, the House and the Senate leadership worked out a 1500 page bill that was essentially a continuing resolution that maintained levels of spending from the previous two years now, but added, as you say, the disaster relief and relief for farmers because they also never passed a farm bill.

And very quietly, the House and the Senate leadership worked out a 1500 page bill that was essentially a continuing resolution that maintained levels of spending from the previous two years now, but added, as you say, the disaster relief and relief for farmers because they also never passed a farm bill.

And the Farm Bill is huge because it's everything to do with our agricultural policy and also our supplemental nutrition programs, as is what used to be called food stamps. So this is not like, you know, feeding the chickens. This is like feeding the country. And that hadn't been done as well. So they folded a little bit, a teeny bit of the Farm Bill into this continuing resolution and

And the Farm Bill is huge because it's everything to do with our agricultural policy and also our supplemental nutrition programs, as is what used to be called food stamps. So this is not like, you know, feeding the chickens. This is like feeding the country. And that hadn't been done as well. So they folded a little bit, a teeny bit of the Farm Bill into this continuing resolution and

And the Farm Bill is huge because it's everything to do with our agricultural policy and also our supplemental nutrition programs, as is what used to be called food stamps. So this is not like, you know, feeding the chickens. This is like feeding the country. And that hadn't been done as well. So they folded a little bit, a teeny bit of the Farm Bill into this continuing resolution and

Immediately, the far right Freedom Caucus in the House said, we hate it. We hate Johnson. We hate everything. We want to go home. And I'm paraphrasing, but not by much. But it still seemed like it had to go through because by Friday, if there is not a continuing resolution in place, we're going to have a government shutdown right before Christmas, which again is political suicide.

Immediately, the far right Freedom Caucus in the House said, we hate it. We hate Johnson. We hate everything. We want to go home. And I'm paraphrasing, but not by much. But it still seemed like it had to go through because by Friday, if there is not a continuing resolution in place, we're going to have a government shutdown right before Christmas, which again is political suicide.

Immediately, the far right Freedom Caucus in the House said, we hate it. We hate Johnson. We hate everything. We want to go home. And I'm paraphrasing, but not by much. But it still seemed like it had to go through because by Friday, if there is not a continuing resolution in place, we're going to have a government shutdown right before Christmas, which again is political suicide.

So it looked like it was going to go forward. And Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy came out against it and said, if you vote for this, we will essentially make sure that we can use our money to guarantee that you don't get reelected in two years. And the Republicans all ran scared. And now the whole thing is around their ankles. And we don't have a way to fund the government.

So it looked like it was going to go forward. And Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy came out against it and said, if you vote for this, we will essentially make sure that we can use our money to guarantee that you don't get reelected in two years. And the Republicans all ran scared. And now the whole thing is around their ankles. And we don't have a way to fund the government.

So it looked like it was going to go forward. And Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy came out against it and said, if you vote for this, we will essentially make sure that we can use our money to guarantee that you don't get reelected in two years. And the Republicans all ran scared. And now the whole thing is around their ankles. And we don't have a way to fund the government.