congress

A handy guide to all Congress happenings on both sides of the aisle. Thank goodness for this political body that keeps Presidential power in check.

I Remember Y2K. I Think We’re Doing It Again With AI.
I think about Y2K a lot lately. I remember people genuinely panicking as 1999 came to an end. Computers supposedly was not going to understand that the year had changed from 1999 to 2000. Systems would crash! Banks could fail! Everything connected to a computer might suddenly stop working!
By Cadmaabout 8 hours ago in The Swamp
A Restaurant Named “Xi Jinping” Was Attacked in South Korea. Then the Name Became the Story.
At about 2:40 a.m. on September 24, four masked men entered a Chinese restaurant in Seongnam, just south of Seoul. Surveillance footage shows them moving through the premises, spraying lacquer and paint and damaging equipment. Investigators also found a substance believed to be pesticide on food ingredients.
By Jin2 days ago in The Swamp
Spain Is Moving Closer to China. What It Reveals About Europe’s Strategic Divide
Barcelona offers the first clue Barcelona spent five days in September doing something that would have been unusual in an earlier phase of Europe-China relations.
By Jin2 days ago in The Swamp
The 6:1 Ratio: Inside the Cabinet Room Where Praise Replaced Policy
One in Six I January 29, 2026. The White House Cabinet Room. The cameras were already in place. Reporters had been allowed into a space that would normally be used for closed-door discussions of sensitive matters. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said to the camera: "What happened in Afghanistan, the war in Ukraine, under President Trump, they would never happen. The tragedy of October 7 in Israel would never have happened either."
By Jin2 days ago in The Swamp
The US Left Iraq After 23 Years. Here’s What It Left Behind.
The last US troops left Iraq on a Wednesday. The date was September 30, 2026. The military presence that began with the March 2003 invasion had lasted 23 years.
By Jin2 days ago in The Swamp
Europe Is Building the Weapon It Once Called Illegal
I In 1987, the United States launched a Section 301 investigation into the European Community. In 1989, based on that investigation, Washington imposed retaliatory tariffs on the EC. In December 1998, the United States again invoked Section 301 to impose unilateral sanctions totaling $520 million on imports from the EU, including handbags and cashmere wool products.
By Jin5 days ago in The Swamp
Trump Just Renamed AI “Super Intelligence.” Here’s What That Actually Does.
On September 29, 2026, Trump signed an executive order called Launching the Super Intelligence Era . It tells federal agencies to replace “artificial intelligence” with “Super Intelligence” in official communications. The same day, he signed the White House Super Intelligence Accord: Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibility with the CEOs of Anthropic, Google, Meta, Nvidia, OpenAI, and xAI. The accord hands regulatory leadership to the companies themselves.
By Jin5 days ago in The Swamp
The Perils of Entanglement
For decades, United States foreign policy in East Asia has been anchored to an increasingly hazardous premise: that Washington must guarantee the security of Taiwan against the People’s Republic of China (PRC). On the surface, the United States claims to support an East-Asian democracy against mainland China. The reality is not so benign. For the past 75 years, the United States has needlessly interfered in the Chinese civil war. As global dynamics shift and the risk of conflict escalates, Washington must reassess its commitment to Taiwan. To avoid a potentially dangerous confrontation, the United States must cease its military and political backing of Taiwan.
By Elliott Schuchardt6 days ago in The Swamp
$30 Billion in Tariff Cuts Is the Small Part. The New Trade Machinery Matters More
On September 25, Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded his state visit to Washington. China and the United States subsequently released their respective accounts of the meetings, including eight agreed outcomes and understandings.
By Jin7 days ago in The Swamp
What the Xi-Trump White House Meeting Put on the Table
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2026 — Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump met at the White House on Thursday, with discussions ranging from trade and artificial intelligence to Taiwan and major international conflicts.
By Jin8 days ago in The Swamp
Iran’s 7-Day Plan to Reopen the Strait of Hormuz Lasted 24 Hours
On September 25, 2026, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi presented a plan at the United Nations in New York. If the United States took certain steps, the Strait of Hormuz would reopen within seven days. The next day, Trump told cameras, “I rejected their proposal” and “The United States completely controls the Strait of Hormuz.” The plan lasted less than a day.
By Jin8 days ago in The Swamp
The Red Carpet Is Rolled Up. Taiwan Should Read the Room.
When the red carpet was rolled out at Andrews Air Force Base, cameras swept the honor guard. The U.S. and Chinese national anthems played at the White House. At the state dinner, glasses were raised. Those images will sit in news archives. For Taiwan, one line from the meeting matters more: China and the U.S. agreed to build a “constructive strategic stability relationship based on respect, fairness, and reciprocity” and reached an eight-point consensus.
By Jin8 days ago in The Swamp