Policy Soup stir the pot ALPHA

Americans see it. Congressional approval has collapsed to near-historic lows. The IRS polls better than Congress right now.

Reposted byMike Levin

This is what one-party Republican rule looks like: a sidelined Congress, a president without guardrails, and a legislative record you could fit on a napkin. We don’t fix this by sending the same people back. We fix it by throwing them out.

Americans see it. Congressional approval has collapsed to near-historic lows. The IRS polls better than Congress right now.

Republicans sat on their hands as the President refused to spend funds Congress had already allocated. The Constitution gives Congress the sole power to declare war, yet the GOP blocked every Democratic effort to rein in Trump’s military campaign in Iran.

House members cast just 362 votes in 2025, the second-lowest count in a quarter century. Only 64 bills became law. And while real work stalled, they broke records for partisan censures to scold and punish each other. They’ve also handed away their own constitutional authority.

The past year has been the most frustrating since I first got to Congress. Not because the work is hard, it’s always hard, but because Republicans in charge have made it nearly impossible to do any work at all.

Reposted byMike Levin

Democrats have spent months pushing basic ICE oversight. These are standard across law enforcement. But House Republicans have refused to agree to any of this. The public deserves to know why ICE should be the exception.

When the Neophyte Corrects the Vicar of Christ

He’s not alone. Cardinals across the country have said so. The Archbishop for the U.S. military said so on Easter Sunday. The U.S. bishops’ own doctrine committee has now rebuked Vance directly. I hope you read this piece. Then send it to every person of faith you know.

On JD Vance, Theological Hubris, and the Gospel He Has Yet to Learn

The pope Vance was lecturing is a scholar who led the Augustinian order for more than a decade. Vance claims Augustine as his personal hero. Holquin walks through the long-standing rules the Church uses to judge whether a war is just, and he shows how the war with Iran fails every one of them.

Vance, a Catholic of seven years, stood on a Turning Point USA stage and told Pope Leo to “be careful when he talks about matters of theology.” At that very moment, Leo was in Algeria, at the ruins of the ancient church where Augustine once served as bishop.

Monsignor Arthur Holquin has been a Catholic priest for fifty-two years, is a leader in our local community, and he just took JD Vance to the woodshed. Here is what set him off:

Reposted byMike Levin

F.B.I. Said to Have Investigated Times Reporter After Article on Patel’s Girlfriend

So the FBI's priority list under Kash Patel is: 1. Investigate a journalist for reporting on the Director’s girlfriend 2. Sue The Atlantic for reporting on the Director’s drinking problem 3. Avoid arresting a single powerful man implicated in the Epstein files Did I miss anything?

Rank-and-file agents get fired for this. Their boss sues the reporters who expose it. Patel is dangerously unfit and cannot remain in his role.

The FBI has a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol abuse, and even the newest recruits are held to that strict standard. Instead of owning his conduct or answering the questions raised by his own agents, Patel hit The Atlantic with a $250 million defamation suit.

Today would be a great day for Trump to fire Kash Patel.

Reposted byMike Levin

Two decades ago, I started my career fighting for clean air, clean water, and a livable planet. On this Earth Day, I’ll be honest with you: the fight has never been harder. open.substack.com/pub/mikelevi...

F.B.I. Said to Have Investigated Times Reporter After Article on Patel’s Girlfriend