Topic: 114th Congress

John Boehner resigned as Speaker of the House and left Congress mid-term, a move attributed to the difficulty of managing a fractured Republican Party. The transition highlights a divide between members focused on governing and a more reckless faction willing to risk government shutdowns over issues like Planned Parenthood. Boehner's departure is viewed as a transition toward a lucrative career in the private sector as a lobbyist.

The discussion shifts to the transition from the 113th to the 114th Congress, where Republicans gained control of both the House and Senate. Jennifer Briney describes her plan to incorporate long-form congressional hearings into her podcast to highlight expert witness testimony. She argues that many national problems stem from citizens surrendering representation to corrupt individuals because they fail to treat voting as a formal job evaluation for their representatives.

The 114th Congress has utilized a strategy of attaching deregulation "nuggets" to essential legislation to ensure they reach the President's desk. Briney points out that the first act of the new Congress involved reauthorizing a terrorism insurance program that included Wall Street deregulation. With the debt ceiling deadline approaching in the summer, she predicts more corporate-friendly provisions will be forced through using the threat of government default.