Marjorie Taylor Greene says she would’ve organized a more successful coup, Kevin McCarthy still cant find 218 votes for speaker, and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema leaves the Democratic Party. Then, Sen. Brian Schatz stops by to talk about democracy, the debt ceiling, Twitter, and Hanukkah.

Show Notes 

• Southern Poverty Law Center: White Nationalists, Other Republicans Brace for ‘Total War’
• WaPo: The GOP has created a safe space for musing about violent rebellion
• CBS: Ohio drag queen storytime canceled amid armed protests by far-right groups
• Billboard: Kanye West Calls on Jewish People to ‘Forgive Hitler’ in Interview With Proud Boys Founder
• ScientificAmerican: How Anti-LGBTQ+ Rhetoric Fuels Violence
• CNN: January 6 committee ends meeting on criminal referrals
• NYT: Obstruction Charge Takes Center Stage at Jan. 6 Court Hearing
• The Hill: Seven hard-line House Republicans lay out Speaker demands amid McCarthy opposition

• Playbook: Bursting the ‘unity speaker’ bubble
• Fox: Rep. Bacon ‘guarantees’ McCarthy has more support for speaker now than in November, urges GOP to be a ‘team’
• Politico: Wanted by McCarthy critics: 1 qualified alternative speaker
• Fivethirtyeight: How Kevin McCarthy Could Lose The Election For Speaker Of The House Punchbowl: Inching toward a spending deal
• NYT’s The Conversation: Meet Kyrsten Sinema, Former Democrat of Arizona
• Politico: ‘It’s not a principle change’: Lawmakers dissect Sinema switch
• MaddowBlog: The problem with Kyrsten Sinema’s declaration of independence
• FiveThirtyEight: Why Kyrsten Sinema Left The Democratic Party
• NYT: Kyrsten Sinema Is Right. This Is Who She’s Always Been.
• Politico: Sinema switches to independent, shaking up the Senate
• The Message Box: The Sinema Situation Explained
• Punchbowl: Inching toward a spending deal
• Politico: Let’s make a deal: White House ready to bargain over expanded Child Tax Credit Data for Progress: Voters Want Congress to Raise the Debt Ceiling and Protect Social Programs
• Vox: The biggest missed opportunity of the lame-duck Congress so far
• NYT: Leaders Back Away From Raising Debt Ceiling, Punting Clash to New Congress
• The Hill: Dimon says Democrats should act on debt ceiling before House GOP takeover
• Yahoo!: Congress should lift the debt ceiling as soon as possible, CRFB president says

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