American democracy in peril: The US Senate’s crucial role — United States Studies Centre
Ira Shapiro’s recent book, The Betrayal: How Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans Abandoned America, chronicles the US Senate during the Trump presidency. As a veteran scholar and former Senate...Continue reading→
The U.S. Senate: America’s First and Last Lines of Defense with Ira Shapiro and Rabbi Eric Yoffie
BY MOMENT Latest, Zoominars Today’s Senate looks very different from the Senate of the 1960s and 1970s, a time when those serving in Congress put “country over party.” Ira Shapiro,...Continue reading→
Shapiro and Marquette: The Betrayal
Ira Shapiro with Chris Marquette — Oct 24, 2022, 6:00-7:00 pm EDT Author, Senate commentator, and former Hill staffer Ira Shapiro joins congressional ethics and accountability reporter for CQ Roll Call, Chris Marquette, for...Continue reading→
New Congress in 2023 — The German Marshall Fund
New Congress in 2023 Panelists discussed the impact of the 2022 midterm elections on the 118th Congress and potential presidential candidates in 2024. The German Marshall Fund hosted this virtual discussion....Continue reading→
How Mitch McConnell ‘wrecked’ the Senate under Trump | THE LAST WORD with Lawrence O’Donnell, MSNBC
In a new book, author Ira Shapiro writes that Sen. McConnell saw the Trump presidency as an opportunity to push his agenda – cut taxes for the rich, attack the ACA,...Continue reading→
Mitch McConnell Morphs From Obstructionist to Bipartisan Dealmaker — The Daily Beast
It’s a low bar, but compared to the GOP renegades holding the House hostage, Mitch is a pragmatic diplomat. by Eleanor Clift, Updated Jan. 13, 2023 9:21AM ET / Published Jan. 12, 2023 4:54AM ET The string of...Continue reading→
An Interview with Ira Shapiro — Washington Independent Review of Books
An Interview with Ira Shapiro By Leah Cohen, August 6, 2024 The former U.S. Senate staffer unpacks the dysfunction on Capitol Hill. With his latest book, The Betrayal: How Mitch McConnell...Continue reading→
A Second Trump Term Poses a Crucial Test of the Senate’s Independence — The New York Times
President-elect Donald J. Trump is threatening to challenge the institution’s historic role, and the Constitution, with his prospective nominees and threats to push the boundaries of executive authority. The New York...Continue reading→
The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost His Party
The Kentucky senator long intended to bend Congress to his will. By Michael Tackett, Simon & Schuster, 416 pp. Reviewed by Ira Shapiro, November 19, 2024 The Kentucky senator long intended...Continue reading→
Trump looks to bypass Senate for polarizing Cabinet picks — The Washington Post
Experts say the president-elect, in pushing for recess appointments, is asking the Senate to abdicate its constitutional duty to either confirm or reject executive branch nominees. November 14, 2024 By Colby...Continue reading→
Print Media
In addition to his books, Ira has written a series of articles about the Senate, American politics, and international trade. He has repeatedly exhorted the Senate to return, if not to its previous greatness, then at least to respectability, by pursuing bipartisanship, reasserting the power of Senate committees, weakening the "leader-driven" Senate, and changing the Senate rules. He has been sharply critical of Mitch McConnell for more than a decade. In July and August 2020, Ira authored two powerful, prescient articles calling on the nation's governors to take the lead in ending Donald Trump's presidency because of his unhinged leadership on the pandemic and his clear intent to refuse to accept a peaceful transition of power if he lost the election.
Time to End McConnell’s Reign — Newsmax
On March 13, following the U.S. House of Representatives passage of emergency relief legislation to support those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., recessed...Continue reading→
As COVID cases top 3 million, it’s past time to end the catastrophic Trump presidency — USA Today
We can’t afford to wait for Joe Biden. Governors have the experience, credibility and stature to end a presidency that is literally killing America. Ira Shapiro Opinion contributor Our country is living...Continue reading→
As COVID cases top 3 million, it’s past time to end the catastrophic Trump presidency — USA Today
We can't afford to wait for Joe Biden. Governors have the experience, credibility and stature to end a presidency that is literally killing America. Our country is living through a tragedy of...Continue reading→
End this calamitous presidency now — The Hill
In an opinion column that ran on the day the United States reached three million coronavirus cases, I urged our governors to call for the resignation of Donald Trump. I contended...Continue reading→
End this calamitous presidency now — The Hill
BY IRA SHAPIRO, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR In an opinion column that ran on the day the United States reached three million coronavirus cases, I urged our governors to call for the resignation...Continue reading→
How Joe Manchin Could Make the Senate Great Again — The New York Times
The United States urgently needs a functioning Senate, which operates, in the words of the former vice president and senator Walter Mondale, as “the nation’s mediator.” Unfortunately, what we have instead...Continue reading→
In praise of Susan Collins’ persistent bipartisanship — The Hill
After Susan Collins, the veteran Republican senator from Maine, cast the decisive vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in October 2018, she instantly became the target of angry...Continue reading→
Impeachment trial: The six Republican senators Trump and McConnell should worry about — USA Today
Historic Trump impeachment calls for a new chapter in 'Profiles in Courage.' From Alexander and Collins to Murkowski and Romney, 6 possible authors. Since the 2018 elections produced a Democratic majority...Continue reading→
How Mitch McConnell Wrecked the Senate
Obstructionist under Obama, battering ram under Trump, and a threat to democracy in both guises. An exclusive book excerpt. The disgraceful performance by the Senate Republicans at the confirmation hearings of...Continue reading→
How Mitch McConnell Made the Senate Even Worse
Republican power grabs and hyper partisanship are just part of his grim reign as Senate Republican Leader. by Norman Ornstein, May 17, 2022 met Ira Shapiro in 1976, when I joined...Continue reading→
Other
Recalling Richard Lugar and Birch Bayh, Indiana’s two great senators
Will the Supreme Court end up deadlocked if Kennedy retires?
How the Senate Went off the Rails
NAFTA withdrawal looks likely as Trump moves forward with agenda
Why President Obama is Right on the TPP
“Fast tracking” away from the brink
US Trade Policy and US Political System: A Defining Moment
Take Back the Senate, Senators
Say goodbye to gridlock in Washington