Party Politics

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, testified before the House Oversight Committee and described the President as a con man, as well as a racist and disloyal person. His explosive testimony came in the aftermath of Cohen’s own plea deal for lying before Congress. Will Cohen’s testimony matter in the ongoing investigation of the President? Should his testimony even be considered,...

President Trump won the battle over his proposed border wall, but the war rages on. Despite Congress passing and the President signing a budget full of border security funds, including some for physical barriers, Trump declared a national emergency to tap into additional funds to build the wall his way. Party Politics co-hosts Brandon Rottinghaus and Jay Aiyer discuss the implications of this orde...

Against the backdrop of a potential second shutdown, House and Senate leaders came up with a compromise funding bill to keep the government open. The White House said President Trump will sign the bill, but will also declare a national emergency to stop what the administration categorizes as a “national security and humanitarian crisis at the border.” Jay Aiyer and Brandon Rottinghaus break down w...

An embattled President Donald Trump delivered his postponed State of the Union address this week and Party Politics co-hosts Jay Aiyer and Brandon Rottinghaus highlight the top issues and controversies. Did Trump reset his policy agenda? Did he deliver on his promises of bipartisanship and make overtures to wavering Republicans? Did the President double-down on funding for the border wall? Did he...

The office of the Texas Secretary of State David Whitley recently flagged about 95,000 registered voters for citizenship checks. However, in Harris County, the number of people on that initial list has since dropped by thousands. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a historic civil and voting rights group, is crying foul and has filed litigation against the state of Texas. Party...

It’s high noon in Washington, D.C. and President Donald Trump and the Democrats in Congress are still facing off over the government partial shutdown, now the longest in U.S. history. The President has made policy overtures, but House Democrats have rejected the offer over funding for Trump’s proposed border wall. Senate leaders have gotten involved, but prospects for an immediate solution are sli...

Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick were sworn in to office this week and it was a far cry from the last legislative session. Gone are the divisive social issues of the past—replaced by more funding for schools and property tax reform. Is this move to bread and butter issues going to hold? Party Politics co-hosts Brandon Rottinghaus and Jay Aiyer break down the speeches and highlig...

  In this image from video, President Donald Trump speaks during a televised address from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019. As the government shutdown nears a record-setting length, President Donald Trump and the Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives continue to jockey over the construction of a billion-dollar border wall. Following the dueling pri...

President Trump’s promise to build a "big" and "beautiful" wall along the southern border of the United States has run into political trouble in the form of a partial government shutdown since the branches have yet to agree on a short or long term budget. The new Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives makes it harder to get a deal and the White House is digging in. With all this...

The Texas Legislature’s biennial session is slated to start in January with a massive agenda punctuated by serious policy problems. The session takes place in the wake of big electoral gains by the Democrats in the Legislature but a returning cast of Republican statewide officials, as well as Republican Dennis Bonnen as the new House Speaker . "Party Politics" podcast co-hosts Brandon Rottinghaus...

A new Democratic House?  Check.  A narrowly-held Republican Senate?  Check.  A wildcard Republican President?  Check.  In 2019, the 116 th session of Congress promises to be politically consequential with several new policy directions.  This week’s “Party Politics” podcast focuses on what can happen on Capitol Hill with the new year and a new composition of Congress, which –among other factors— wi...

Despite a losing bid for the U.S. Senate in Texas, Betomania hasn’t cooled off as many in the Democratic Party are hoping he’ll run for higher office. Although Beto O’Rourke said during the campaign he would not be a candidate for president in 2020, he suggested this week that he might be open to the idea .  We are a long way from a decision from Team Beto and the 2020 election is two years away,...

After several contentious legislative sessions and a widening ideological divide within the Republican Party, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus stepped down leaving the chamber without a leader. Representative Dennis Bonnen, of Angleton --- which is 50 miles south of Houston --- announced this week he has the votes to win the position. Party Politics co-hosts Jay Aiyer and Brandon Rottinghaus discuss...

The midterms are behind us and the political shock waves are being felt nationally and across Texas. “Party Politics” co-hosts Jay Aiyer and Brandon Rottinghaus look at how successful the blue wave was for the Democrats and what it means to our national politics. Here in Texas: did Betomania deliver the state for the Democrats, and was the success the start of something bigger, or a one-time occur...

We’re entering the home stretch of the 2018 midterm elections and it promises to be a wild finish. Last-minute campaign ads pulse in the background as a record number of people in Texas are voting.  Party Politics co-hosts Jay Aiyer and Brandon Rottinghaus make final predictions about what to expect on Election Day in the state and in the rest of the nation.  NATIONAL TOPICS -Pittsburgh mass shoot...

Early voting is underway and voters are participating all over Texas in big numbers!  Early voting numbers in the midterm election are approaching presidential year levels and are breaking all kinds of records. Party Politics co-hosts Jay Aiyer and Brandon Rottinghaus break down the impact of the swell of voters and discuss what this means for races up and down the ballot. NATIONAL TOPICS : - Mail...

With less than three weeks from Election Day, the nation’s most watched Senate race is going down to the wire and the gloves were off in the second debate between Congressman Beto O’Rourke and Senator Ted Cruz . Party Politics co-hosts Jay Aiyer and Brandon Rottinghaus give us the blow-by-blow, analyzing the impact this debate will have on the race. What does O’Rourke need to do to score an upset?...

With Election Day less than a month away, campaign finance reports are due. Some candidates are raking in big money and others are flat broke. “Party Politics” podcast hosts Brandon Rottinghaus and Jay Aiyer comb the finance reports to see who is up and who is down, and talk about what these reports might mean for the electoral chances of the candidates. NATIONAL TOPICS : - Kavanaugh confirmed – W...

The race for Texas Attorney General between incumbent Ken Paxton and his Democratic Challenger Justin Nelson is heating up. With Paxton under the cloud of a criminal indictment and a series of controversial court filings challenging Obamacare and supporting the internment of immigrant children, a normally sleepy race for AG has become increasingly contentious. Podcast hosts Brandon Rottinghaus and...

Note : This episode was recorded Thursday morning during Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony and before Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony. Brett Kavanaugh is under fire during confirmation hearings for an alleged sexual assault that took place while he was in high school. Meanwhile, in Houston, the firefighters union and Mayor Sylvester Turner are locked in a years-long political str...

With three debates in 2 weeks, the U.S. Senate race is going to be front and center in everyone’s mind. Podcast hosts Brandon Rottinghaus and Jay Aiyer give you a 6-minute primer on what to listen for in the debates between Republican Senator Ted Cruz and his Democratic opponent, Congressman Beto O’Rourke . NATIONAL TOPICS -Paul Manafort takes a plea! — What are the implications for President Trum...

With recent polling showing that races thought to be trending Republican as suddenly competitive, control of the U.S. Senate might be shifting. Podcast hosts Brandon Rottinghaus and Jay Aiyer analyze three of the most talked about Senate races in the country—Florida, Arizona, and Texas. NATIONAL TOPICS : - Hurricane Florence—the strange politics already at play, including the transfer of $10 milli...

Podcast hosts Brandon Rottinghaus and Jay Aiyer talk about the hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court : the importance of the hearings, the possible changes to jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, and the impact on Texas and the nation. NATIONAL TOPICS: White House Counsel Don McGahn is latest high profile staffer to leave John Kerry for President… again? Jon Kyl sel...

Podcast hosts Brandon Rottinghaus and Jay Aiyer talk about the recent debate over debates in Texas. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has passed on debating his Democratic opponent Mike Collier, but is headed off to match up with Geraldo Rivera on Fox News .  Ted Cruz has proposed five debates with challenger Beto O’Rourke, but details have been difficult to pin down and a scheduled debate for this week wa...

On  Party Politics  this week, co-hosts  Jay Aiyer  and  Brandon Rottinghaus  are going to catch you up on the week’s political news: The week's big news was the conviction of Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen. Party Politics Co-Hosts, Jay Aiyer and Brandon Rottinghaus look at what this might mean for President Trump, and whether this signals a new direction in the on-going Russia investigation. Fin...