Article I Spending Battles, Performative Oversight Memes, Midterm Campaign Realities, and Fiscal Federalism
On this week’s episode of The Politics Guys, Trey Orndorff (Oklahoma Christian University) is joined by Justin Holmes (University of Northern Iowa). The hosts open with a discussion on an impoundment or recession request to House Speaker Mike Johnson proposing budget cuts just days before the fiscal year ends. Trey and Justin explain how such recessions have happened before and how they clash with Article I spending power, before agreeing that despite the Government Accountability Office’s standing to sue, this creates a new precedent for power for all presidents.
Next, the pair examine the viral oversight blunder during Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Senate Judiciary Committee testimony where Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) accused Smith of perjury for allegedly attending an Atlanta Hawks NBA game to coordinate prosecutions with Fani Willis. The guys walk through the viral fallout, including Senator Katie Britt’s reaction, but even more importantly how modern media incentives encourage politicians to double down on false accusations and distract from the larger substantive issues that could be investigated.
After that, Trey and Justin look at the fresh economic indicators, including Federal Reserve interest rates and below-average September job growth, as being headwinds to Republicans in the midterm. This includes a conversation on the deeply flawed campaigns of Democrats.
The pair closes the show by looking at a federal district judge blocking the White House from withholding counterterrorism and FEMA security grants from municipalities (including Nashville and Harris County) that refused to adopt new federal election rules requiring citizenship verification for voters and poll workers. This leads to an extended conversation on President Trump’s use of the judicial system.
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