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The new year so far has been a miserable chronicle of democratic collapse and authoritarian brutality. Trump and his regime of bloodthirsty goons inaugurated 2026 by invading Venezuela, disgracefully smearing Renee Nicole Good, the woman murdered by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, and generally doing everything they can to visit sadistic, unaccountable tyranny upon the world.
Amid the understandable despair, it can be easy to miss flickers of hope. But the fact is that the regime is ramping up violence and terror in part because its grip on the nation, and even on its own party, seems to be slipping. Last week it suffered two humiliating defeats in Congress, one in each chamber.
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The administration will probably be able to contain the damage. But the signs of revolt in the legislature highlight the extreme and increasing unpopularity of Trump’s program of imperialism abroad and gutting the safety net at home.
The House passes ACA subsidies
For months, House Speaker Mike Johnson has been struggling, and often failing, to keep control of his legislative agenda. He’s run the House in large part by doing whatever Trump wants and forcing Republicans to get in line. He’s used his control of the floor to prevent bills that have bipartisan support from getting a vote.
But the tension with his own caucus has reached a breaking point. Republican members are increasingly signing discharge petitions, forcing Johnson to hold votes on legislation he and Trump would rather bury. Johnson’s majority is narrow, so it only takes a handful of defectors to join with Democrats and the anti-Johnson coalition can seize control of the floor.
