FEATURING JOHN NICHOLS – The United States Senate has ground to a halt just days after President Joe Biden was inaugurated. Because the Democratic Party controls only 50 seats and, by virtue of Vice President Kamala Harris is technically considered the majority party, lawmakers are fighting over the rules by which the body can legislate. Republicans want to preserve the use of the Senate filibuster. Meanwhile Independent Senator Bernie Sanders who caucuses with the Democrats, and who has a new role as the powerful Senate Budget committee chair, wants to use a process of budget reconciliation to pass major legislation without GOP support. To top it all off, the second impeachment of Donald Trump looms large. 

John Nichols, national affairs correspondent for The Nation magazine and host of the podcast, ‘Next Left.’ He is a contributing writer for The Progressive and In These Times and the associate editor of the Capital Times. He is also the author of numerous books including Horsemen of the Trumpocalypse: A Field Guide to the Most Dangerous People in America (Nation Books) and The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party: The Enduring Legacy of Henry Wallace’s Anti-Fascist, Anti-Racist Politics.