The Byron York Show

There are two things to remember about the Respect for Marriage Act. One, it is unnecessary. And two, it's going to become law.

Former President Donald Trump wanted to announce his 2024 candidacy at a rally in Ohio on the evening of Nov. 7, the night before millions of people voted in the midterm elections. A lot of advisers in Trump's large, informal circle strongly opposed the idea. It was too early, they said, and nobody knows how the elections will turn out. Better to wait. But a few in Trump's orbit argued a glorious...

Remember when the conventional wisdom was that abortion would be a huge issue in the midterm elections? Then the election came, and a lot of data pointed to the fact that yes, abortion did indeed play a big role. But now, the subject most people are talking about is...former President Donald Trump.

Many Republicans and conservatives are pointing fingers at each other over the party's lackluster performance in the 2022 midterm elections. Given all the advantages the GOP had — widespread economic anxiety, a huge majority believing the country has gone off track, and a deeply unpopular Democratic president — Republicans should have done better.

Even as votes continue to be counted, the big picture that is emerging from midterm results around the country is that, as predicted, it appears Republicans will win control of the House of Representatives. That's a big deal. Even if the GOP controls only one chamber of Congress, President Joe Biden's legislative agenda is dead. Biden should realize that as speaker, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is not go...

A rumor swept through the political world Monday that former President Donald Trump would announce his 2024 candidacy at an election-eve rally in Ohio for Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance. It didn't happen. But it attracted a lot of attention, certainly among the politicians, staffers, consultants, journalists, pundits, and other obsessives who make up the political chatter world. They watch...

President Joe Biden said he is optimistic about the Democratic Party's chances in the midterm elections. "Folks, I'm not buying the notion that we're in trouble," Biden told the crowd at a party fundraiser in Chicago Friday night. "I really mean it. ... I think we're going to keep the House and we're going to keep the Senate."

THE HYSTERICAL STAGE OF THE CAMPAIGN. Even with campaigns that are less hard-fought than this one, the final days before an election can be a time when both sides, but most often candidates who are trailing in the polls, make extreme statements about their opponents. Losers see defeat coming and make desperate attempts to avert it. That is what is happening now: The 2022 midterm elections have ent...

Former Attorney General Bill Barr does not mince words about FBI misconduct in its pursuit of candidate, and then president, Donald Trump. "I think the behavior of the leadership of the FBI during 2016 and the first part of 2017 has been catastrophic," Barr told me in a recent interview. "It harmed the country, it was completely unfair to the president, and it has completely undercut the FBI." Ful...

Many Democrats and their allies in the media are blaming Republicans for a deranged man's attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). There's no question suspect David DePape is deranged, or what the British would call barking mad. Consider this, from the Washington Post: "In [a] blog post on October 24, four days before the attack on Pelosi, DePape shared images of a wood...

On March 2, 2021, when he had been president less than two months, Joe Biden met with a group of liberal historians in the White House East Room. The subject was Biden's "determination to be one of the most consequential presidents" in U.S. history, according to an account in Axios. The group talked a lot about Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal — Biden's model for the "think-big, go-big m...

Tuesday's newsletter covered the fact that GOP strategists believe the race for control of the House is over. "The midterm results, as far as the House of Representatives is concerned, are pretty much set in stone," it said. "Republicans are going to win. Democrats are going to lose." That's the House. Now, what about the Senate?

Early voting is well underway in Pennsylvania. Indeed, one reason Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman, recovering from a serious stroke, wanted to delay his debate with Republican Mehmet Oz was to bank as many early votes as possible before debate night. Given Fetterman's disastrous performance in the debate, it was a good idea. And it worked. According to the Election Project, which compil...

What’s the connection among China, the Mexican cartels, the opioid crisis and your backyard? What if I told you it all starts at the southern border? What if I told you that the threats posed by the border crisis are not confined to the southern border at all but are also very real within your state, your town, and even your neighborhood? You’ve heard about the crisis at the southern border... but...

The midterm elections are now two weeks away. Some political commentators have an interest in portraying them as one big, suspenseful, down-to-the-wire contest. Maybe some of those commentators are partisan. Maybe some just think it's good for business. But the fact is, at this point, the midterm results, as far as the House of Representatives is concerned, are pretty much set in stone. Republican...

Early voting began in Georgia six days ago. There is, of course, intense interest in both the state's Senate race, with University of Georgia football legend Herschel Walker challenging Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, and the governor's race, between Gov. Brian Kemp and Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams. Kemp is going to win, but the Senate contest is essentially tied. Its outcome might well de...

President Joe Biden has just announced his plan to release even more oil, 15 million barrels, from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That is the last portion of the 180 million barrels he authorized for release in March, which was the biggest withdrawal ever from the reserve that is supposed to ensure a supply of oil in case of a national emergency.

WHO'S MORE IN LOCKSTEP — REPUBLICANS WITH TRUMP, OR DEMOCRATS WITH BIDEN? There was an extraordinary Senate debate Monday night in Orem, Utah, between Sen. Mike Lee and challenger Evan McMullin. It was extraordinary in part because McMullin, who is running as an independent and says that, if elected, he will not caucus with either Democrats or Republicans, agreed with Lee in many policy areas, suc...

The 2022 midterm campaign has gone through two distinct phases and has now entered a third. In the first phase, lasting about 12 months and ending in late June of this year, Republicans were the clear favorite to win control of the House, and probably win big. In the second phase, from late June until mid-September, the race was much more competitive, with most observers still predicting a GOP vic...

It's obvious that a midterm election loss would be devastating for President Joe Biden. Even if Republicans only win control of the House of Representatives, whatever remains of a Biden legislative agenda, if there is such a thing, will be instantly dead. If the GOP also wins control of the Senate, even narrowly, Biden's ability to win confirmation for his judicial and other nominees will be great...

President Joe Biden gave a rare — really rare — one-on-one interview Tuesday night. Speaking to CNN, Biden defended his use of the word "Armageddon" in warning that nuclear annihilation might result from Vladimir Putin's threat to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Biden described Putin as "a rational actor who's miscalculated significantly."

Republicans always believe the polls are slanted against them. That belief has sometimes caused them to misread big political races. In 2012, for example, a significant number of Republicans convinced themselves that GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney was actually going to defeat incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama. There was a lot of talk about "unskewing" the polls. Then Obama beat Rom...

With just a few weeks left before the midterm elections, on Thursday night, President Joe Biden traveled to New York to attend a Democratic Party fundraiser. Such events don't normally produce earth-shattering news, but this one did.

On Monday, the New York Times published a story about Konnech, a small election software company that has just 27 employees, 21 based in Michigan and six in Australia. The paper reported that Konnech has been the target of "election deniers" who have made it the focus of "a new conspiracy theory about the 2020 presidential election."

There's a new report from NBC News that President Joe Biden has told a confidant, the Rev. Al Sharpton, of all people, that he will run for reelection in 2024. It's not terribly well sourced, attributing the information to "an official of Sharpton's National Action Network" who told NBC what Sharpton had told him. In any event, the story said Biden told Sharpton as the two posed for pictures after...