We welcome an old friend and a new co-host to the podcast this week! Former Bracewell colleague John Lee, now Chief of Staff to Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-IL), joins the team to discuss his path from Bracewell/PRG to leading a Congressional staff, what it's like to be lobbied now that he sits on the other side of the table (including the dos and don'ts), and his advice to young professionals moving from the private sector to Capitol Hill. John also provides an insider's view of recent dramatic votes in the House. The episode also marks the debut of a new Lobby Shop co-host, PRG Principal Dylan Pasiuk. Welcome Dylan!

The group is seeing double this week when another tax policy expert joins the studio to talk about the tax bill that's on everyone's mind in Washington. Omar Nashashibi, lobbyist and founding partner of The Franklin Partnership, joins The Lobby Shop's Liam Donovan to swap insights and analysis of the bicameral tax framework and share speculation about what comes next. This episode is also a worlds collide moment for TLS hosts Caitlin Sickles and Paul Nathanson who also co-host a biweekly podcast, Talking with One Voice (supported by the National Tooling and Machining Association and the Precision Metalforming Association) with Omar and his colleague John Guzik. Caitlin, Paul, and Josh ask Omar questions about the tax framework's implications for manufacturers and talk about advocating for small business in a crowded Washington policy landscape.

On the first episode of 2024, hosts Liam Donovan, Caitlin Sickles, and Paul Nathanson welcome back President & Executive Director of bipartisan political organization FWD.US, Todd Schulte, five years since his first appearance on the show. They discuss the border crisis, the status of ongoing Congressional negotiations, and the complicated political dynamics at play. They also touch on the impact of worker shortages on the business community, and how immigration policy stands to factor into the upcoming presidential election. Make sure to tune in to this first episode of 2024!

With the calendar year coming to an end, Paul Nathanson and Liam Donovan get together to discuss the state of play of Congress and the legislative challenges that will be dealt with before the year ends and which will be left to deal with in the new year. They start with the never-ending appropriations negotiations, the role of the Speaker in these talks, and whether or not he is making an impact. They then question if any bills are going to make it through to a vote before the holiday recess and if the lack of a hard December deadline has anything to do with the tense gridlock. Finally, with the Iowa Caucus less than a month away, they chat about the upcoming presidential election and prepare for the chokehold it is going to have on most of the political focus for 2024.

RCP's Sean Trende is back to discuss his latest piece, a reminder that the former President is better positioned to win not just this cycle,  but ever. The gang breaks down what it means to say "Trump can win," and why it draws such a heated response.

Josh, Paul, and Liam break down Tuesday's election results with Split Ticket partner Lakshya Jain. They gang discuss the process that yielded that site's deadeye accuracy, Lakshya's takeaways from the off-year campaign, and what these results can tell us about the 2024 election.

Josh, Paul, Caitlin, and Liam sit down with Mike Warren, Senior Editor of The Dispatch, to discuss Speaker Mike Johnson's first two weeks, the return of Steve Bannon as a MAGA svengali, and the struggles of GOP primary challengers to break through against former President Trump.

Liam and Josh are once again joined by PRG Senior Counsel and Capitol Hill expert Joe Brazauskas to close out the democracy-induced chaos that was the process of electing a new Speaker of the House. They chat about how we came to the Johnson conclusion and what this new leader of the House should be looking out for in the short and long term.

Paul and Liam are joined by PRG Senior Counsel and Capitol Hill veteran Joe Brazauskas to discuss the ongoing dysfunction in the House as Republicans seek a path forward to elect a Speaker.

We tracked Liam down between media interviews to get his take on the historic vote last night that ousted Speaker McCarthy. Liam, Josh, and Paul discuss the tensions within the GOP and with Democrats leading up to the vote, who has put their hat in the ring to be the next Speaker, and what this all means for issues such as funding for Ukraine.