The Bill Press Pod

Paxton Crushes Cornyn in Texas. Can Talarico Turn Texas Blue?

Can Democrats Stay Focused? Will Cornyn Cross Trump Now?

Does Trump Care About the Midterms? House Vote on Iran Next Week.

Who’s Ahead in CA Governor Race? Trump’s DOJ Pursues His Critics.  

With Ginger Gibson, former Senior Washington Editor for NBC News and Cameron Joseph, Politics Editor at Politico, Ledge King, Managing Editor of The National Journal Daily and Maeve Sheehey, Congressional Reporter for Bloomberg Government.

Today's Bill Press Pod is supported by The American Federation of Government Employees. More information at AFGE.org.

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Bill interviews former Tennessee Republican Senator Lamar Alexander about his memoir, The Education of a Senator: From JFK to Trump, and the Senate’s decline from bipartisan, amendment-driven lawmaking to today’s gridlock. Alexander criticizes Republican senators for failing to check abuses of presidential authority, argues Trump’s purges of GOP incumbents risk costing him a Senate majority, and calls a DOJ compensation fund for January 6 participants “Trump suing Trump” and an outrage, given assaults on Capitol Police. He contrasts Senate pushback in Trump’s first term with silence in the second, including cuts affecting USAID/PEPFAR and NIH research. Alexander says January 6 undermined the Constitution, praises public service as the best way to help people, prefers being governor to senator, and expresses confidence in America’s resilience.

You can buy his book from Bookshop.org here.

Today Bill reminds us that one great way to support the Democratic candidate(s) is through ACTBLUE.org

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Bill talks with three top political journalists about the week's news.

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Bill Press interviews USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page about her book, "The Queen and Her Presidents," exploring how Queen Elizabeth II helped sustain the U.S.-U.K. “special relationship” through soft power over her 70-year reign. Page recounts the Queen’s meetings with 13 sitting U.S. presidents (plus Herbert Hoover and pre-presidency LBJ), including Truman steadying a nervous young Princess Elizabeth; her reverence for Eisenhower; a complicated early dynamic with the Kennedys; LBJ’s refusal to visit amid Vietnam tensions; Nixon’s fascination with royal pageantry and his thwarted desire for a state dinner during Watergate; Reagan’s bond with her over horses and later knighthood; the “talking hat” mishap with George H.W. Bush; Clinton-era distrust over British file searches; George W. Bush’s teasing cowboy-boot moment; the Obama-Michelle protocol “touch” incident; and Trump pressing her about her favorite president. Page argues the Queen, highly briefed and shrewd, quietly smoothed crises (Suez, Ghana, Falklands) and preserved long-term ties.

Get "The Queen and Her Presidents" book here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-queen-and-her-presidents-the-hidden-hand-that-shaped-history-susan-page/065fc3604a68c142?ean=9780063397392&next=t

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Bill talks with three top political journalists about the week's news.

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Bill Press interviews psychologist Dr. John Gartner about a new ABC/Washington Post poll finding 59% of Americans believe Donald Trump is mentally unfit for the presidency and a physicians’ letter urging Trump’s lawful removal due to an unsanctioned war and his sole authority over nuclear weapons. Gartner argues Trump is a “malignant narcissist” with worsening frontotemporal dementia, claiming his disinhibition, tangential speech, confabulation, language errors, and loss of social context are increasingly visible, citing clips about “SEA” vs “SEE,” a Sharpie story, and graphic remarks to schoolchildren. He links Trump’s self-glorification (coins, passports, building names, images as Pope/Jesus, a triumphal arch) to delusions of grandeur and warns of escalating war and possible first-use nuclear action, doubting political checks like the 25th Amendment or Senate conviction.

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Bill talks with three top political journalists about the week's news.

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Guest host Joe Cirincione talks with Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA), a new member of Congress sworn in last September to fill the late Rep. Gerry Connolly’s seat, about his work on Oversight and Homeland Security. Walkinshaw says DOJ remains out of compliance with the Oversight subpoena for Epstein files and is violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act through illegal redactions; he wants answers from former Attorney General Pam Bondi about who ordered the redactions and any White House involvement, noting Committee Chair Comer chose a transcribed interview rather than a deposition. He also outlines Oversight inquiries into alleged DHS misconduct by Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski. Walkinshaw argues accountability and affordability are linked, condemns Trump’s Iran war as unconstitutional under the War Powers Act, and warns a Supreme Court Voting Rights Act ruling could spur aggressive partisan redistricting and retaliation by Blue states.

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SCOTUS Cancels Minority Districts.

Attack at White House Correspondents Dinner.

Iran War Goes On. Gas Prices Still Going Up.

Gaslighting Voters on the Economy Not Working..

Gov. Mills Out of Maine Senate Race.

With Guest Host Joe Cirincione, Jeff Dufour, Editor-in-chief at National Journal, John Bennett, White House Correspondent for CQ-Roll Call, and Amanda Becker, National Reporter for 19th News. 

Today's Bill Press Pod is supported by The Laborers' International Union of North America. More information at LIUNA.org

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Guest host Joe Cirincione fills in for Bill Press and interviews Mother Jones investigative journalist Tim Murphy about his cover story, “Power Hungry: How the AI Oligarchy Gobbled Up America.” Murphy describes how the post–ChatGPT AI race has driven a boom in hyperscale data centers—projects the size of Central Park that demand immense electricity, water, and even on-site power plants, sometimes pushing nuclear plants like Three Mile Island to reopen. He argues this “hyperscale” moment has narrowed and intensified U.S. oligarchy, fusing concentrated tech wealth with political power, including major 2024 election spending and alliances with Donald Trump. Murphy details disruptive impacts on rural communities, secrecy via shell companies and NDAs, fears of boom-and-bust “empty hulks,” and growing bipartisan local backlash raising questions about democracy, agency, and the future envisioned by AI leaders.

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