In This House, We’re Angry When Government Fails
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Why are institutions the core conflict between Democrats and Republicans?
From New York Times opinion. This is the Ezra Klein Show.
Mm.
In any political moment where the rage collects, where the opposition rallies, tells you a lot. Behind Matt Gates, the liberals I know have been far angrier about the choice of RFK Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services than any of Trump's other picks. Which is strange because the distance between most Democrats and RFK Jr. is a lot smaller than between them and most of the people Trump or the Republicans are naming. Arfka Jr. was a Democrat until what, the end of 2023? And yes, he is a vaccine skeptic, part of a broader set of beliefs that corporations are poisoning our health to line their pockets. But that used to be a recognizable wing of the Democratic Party. I grew up around that Democratic Party.
And RFK Jr., he holds a lot of positions most Democrats do hold, like he's pro-choice. Who'd have thought Trump would name a pro-choice HHS secretary? My point is not to dismiss or downplay the danger RFK Jr. could cause. My point is not that I want him at HHS, I don't. I want an Operation Warp Speed for everything. Operation Warp Speed to me was the one policy you simply could not deny that Donald Trump got right. You had to hand it to him, saved a huge number of lives at a very low cost. That is the one policy he is raising to the ground. on the ground disowning, salting the earth over. I think his choice is a disaster. But both the pick and the reaction are revealing as to what the parties are really about now.
Democrats are angrier about Afka Jr. than they would have been about a well-credentialed pro-life anti-Medicaid pick, a normal Republican, the kind of person Ron DeSantis would have named. And they're angry because Democrats right now prioritize respect for institutions and expertise. In this house, we believe science is real. And under Trump. Republicans have become the opposite kind of party. In this house we believe science is woke and corrupted by DEI. What we are polarized over has changed. What our politics is about has changed. The core conflict right now. The irresolvable one, the ones that two parties will not compromise on, is over institutions. Democrats staff and defend them. Republicans loathe and seek to raise them to the ground, seek to take them over and turn them to their own ends.
That's how you got Kamala Harris campaigning with Liz Cheney, and Donald Trump choosing the kookiest Kennedy for one of the most important positions in government. And I think this is really bad. It's bad for the institutions which are now under extraordinary danger when Republicans get elected. But it's also bad for the institutions because they face a different kind of danger when Democrats are elected. They face a danger that Democrats are too quick to defend and fortify them, even when they don't work. The Democrats are often committed to the institution in name, to the process as it exists, as opposed to the outcomes the institution is supposed to deliver. I'm worried about the inability to affordably and quickly build homes, build trains, deliver services, permit clean energy, fund science without burying it in bureaucracy and process.
I'm worried about how absent The huge accomplishments of the Biden administration, the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, how absent they are in people's lives, in part because of the way government works and spends and delivers under Democrats is very slow. If you look at the election, Democrats lost the most support in blue states and blue cities. They lost the most support in the places where people are most exposed to democratic governance and yeah, democratic institutions. I always find this amazing. The first contract to build the New York subways was awarded in 1900. Four years later, four years, the first twenty-eight stations opened. Compare that to now. In two thousand nine, Democrats passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, pumping billions into high speed rail.
Fifteen years later, you cannot board a high speed train funded by that bill anywhere in the country.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why are institutions the core conflict between Democrats and Republicans?
0:06–8:02
2
How did the RFK Jr. HHS nomination illustrate party attitudes toward institutions?
8:02–17:11
3
What does the “process‑over‑outcomes” problem look like in modern Democratic governance?
17:11–25:24
4
Why do Democrats risk losing support in blue‑state cities despite big legislative wins?
25:24–34:33
5
How did the pandemic amplify institutional distrust and reshape political class divisions?
34:33–45:18
6
What is the impact of civil‑service hiring practices and Schedule F on government effectiveness?
45:18–52:14
7
How can trust be rebuilt when institutions are dominated by narrow ideological coalitions?
52:14–59:24
8
What does “I‑95‑ness” mean for rapid, results‑focused government action?
59:24–1:08:33