November 14, 2025

The Cave-In Caucus (Guest: Ben Solis – Michigan Advance)

49 minutes

John Darkow – PoliticalCartoons.com

On this week’s show…

The federal government shutdown is over for now, but the debate on healthcare rages on. Michigan Democrats, led by Senators Peters and Slotkin, have harsh words for the 7 Democrats who voted with Republicans to end the 41-day shutdown without any guaranteed continuation of healthcare insurance subsidies.

The Republican bill includes a potential onetime $500,000 or more bonus for 8 Senators investigated as part of the January 6 insurrection (Lindsey Graham says he’ll sue for millions!)

The White House calls the newly released Epstein emails part of a Democratic Party hoax – that there’s nothing there – but Trump is doing all he can to keep the files secret, and redirect the story to investigations of retirees like Bill Clinton and Larry Summers. The U.S. House will vote on a full release of all the files in early December.

Donald Trump basically admits widespread law-breaking by his reelection team, issuing federal pardons to 71 of his minions – even though they haven’t been federally charged. And the pardons don’t save folks like Giuliani and Meadows from possible state criminal charges.

The looming increases in health insurance premiums has convinced four companies to pull out of the Michigan market.

Former Congressman Mike Rogers thought he had a free ride to the GOP nomination for U.S. Senator, but there’s a new candidate who could make the next 9 months a lot more difficult for him. Former Michigan Republican Party co-chair Bernadette Smith starts with more than a little support from the party’s MAGA base.

Rogers is now saying the 2024 election was stolen from him but providing no proof.

And there’s the story of two presidential grandkids extending family traditions: JFK’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, extends the family tradition by running for Congress in New York … in a district that includes Trump Tower.

Donald Trump’s granddaughter, Kai, is extending a different family tradition: she’s playing golf, making her LPGA debut as an invited golfer in the LPGA Annika Tournament. Sadly, after the 2nd round she was dead last (18 over par) and missed the cut 🥺,

Joining the conversation this week is Michigan Advance senior political reporter Ben Solis. Solis has covered state and local government for nearly a decade as a former staff writer with Gongwer News Service and multiple MLive newsrooms. He is an award-winning writer and editor and was a finalist for the Michigan Press Association Richard Milliman Journalist of the Year award in 2022 for his work covering Michigan’s independent redistricting process.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

Nick Anderson-Raw Story

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