by jpitney | Nov 12, 2025 | California Politics
Grace Toohey at LAT They were forgotten amid the frantic evacuation of two senior care facilities, according to state investigators, leaving the elderly women in immediate danger as the smoke and flames of the Eaton fire drew closer. In two reports published recently...
by jpitney | Nov 10, 2025 | Civic Education, Higher Education
Jansa JM, Ringsmuth EM, Smith AP. Calibrating Confidence: Civic Education and the Relationship between Objective Political Knowledge and Political Knowledge Confidence. Perspectives on Politics. 2025;23(3):997-1012. doi:10.1017/S1537592724001403 We find consistent...
by jpitney | Nov 9, 2025 | Claremont McKenna College, Dreier, Journalism, Journalists
From a brief talk at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Claremont McKenna College Washington Semester Program: The Washington Program, as we know it, began in the 1970s when Professors Fred Balitzer and Alan Heslop noticed that some programs in Washington would...
by jpitney | Nov 8, 2025 | Civility, Congress, Violence
Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) announced his retirement in an op-ed at the Bangor Daily News: I have never loved politics. But I find purpose and meaning in service, and the Marine in me has been able to slog along through the many aspects of politics I dislike by focusing...
by jpitney | Nov 7, 2025 | Congress, Presidency, Separation of Powers
Don Wolfesnberger: The current shutdown only exacerbates the imbalance of powers between the branches as the Office of Management and Budget implements its “unitary executive” plans to shift increasing powers and functions from Congress to the president. Not only will...
by jpitney | Nov 6, 2025 | Congress, Dreier, House of Representatives
John Gizzi at Newsmax: So what would have happened had Tower been confirmed or Bush found another nominee to replace him? “That’s a really good question,” former Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., said. “Dick told me that he made a conscious...
by jpitney | Nov 5, 2025 | Congress, House of Representatives, Journalism, Journalists
Bloomberg’s Steve Dennis: Capitol news desert: ~Half the states have nobody in the press corps watching their state delegations and asking tough questions in the hallway. It would take ~$10M/year to hire 50 top reporters, one for each state, plus editors, etc.,...
by jpitney | Nov 4, 2025 | Congress, House of Representatives, Leadership
Former Vice President Dick Cheney died last night. In 2004, Bill Connelly and Jack Pitney reflected on their experiences with him as Congressional Fellows in his House Republican leadership office. Some of the literature tries to reduce legislative leadership to...
by jpitney | Nov 3, 2025 | California Politics
Grace Toohey and Terry Castleman at LAT: Firefighters urged broader Altadena evacuations before midnight, but three hours passed before officials issued west Altadena mandatory evacuation orders as the Eaton fire advanced. Eighteen of nineteen Eaton fire deaths...
