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.
Longtime Senate staffer sears McConnell and his caucus in ‘The Betrayal’ — JPR
Published May 16, 2022 at 10:01 AM PDT Love him or hate him, you have to admit that Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell is comfortable using all the tools at his disposal to...Continue reading→
Ira Shapiro predicts dark legacy for McConnell in The Betrayal — The Blueprint
While Shapiro covers the Senate’s response to the Trump administration in chronological order, somehow his book reads as a horror story that continues devolving until the insurrectionist denouement. Stephen Wentzell — May...Continue reading→
An eighth term for Sen. Chuck Grassley?
As printed in The Gazette.com Ira Shapiro Jun. 29, 2022 1:29 pm With the Senate primary elections over, Iowans face the decision between Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley and Democrat Admiral Mike...Continue reading→
Saving American Democracy: Focus on the Senate Elections, Corporate Leaders Need to Include Impact on Democracy in Company Political Spending Decisions
Guest Column Saving American Democracy: Focus on the Senate Elections, Corporate Leaders Need to Include Impact on Democracy in Company Political Spending Decisions By Ira Shapiro There was a time, in...Continue reading→
What I’m reading Six books now on my nightstand — Robert Reich
Several of you have asked for my summer reading recommendations. I know this is a bit late, (whatever happened to June and July?), but all of these are worth the wait...Continue reading→
Can the Senate’s comeback continue in an acrimonious 118th Congress? — The Hill
BY IRA SHAPIRO, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR – 01/04/23 1:30 PM — The Hill As the House Republicans made extraordinary history battling each other in an acrimonious and chaotic effort to pick the...Continue reading→
Mitch McConnell, You’re No Mike Mansfield — TNR
The Kentucky Republican just passed the Montana Democrat as the longest-serving Senate leader. Unfortunately, he’s dismantled everything Mansfield worked to build. As the 118th Congress convened, public attention understandably focused on...Continue reading→
Make the Senate Great Again — Editorial, American Heritage
Why can’t the U.S. Senate be more like it was in the 1960s, when members of “the world’s greatest deliberative body” put the interests of the country first? Editor’s Notes: The...Continue reading→
Lessons in Leadership from Howard Baker
Fifty years after Richard Nixon’s resignation, the life example of the Republican vice chair of the Senate Watergate Committee still resonates. Washington Monthly by Ira Shapiro and Keel HuntAugust 14, 2024...Continue reading→
Lessons in Leadership from Howard Baker — Washington Monthly
Fifty years after Richard Nixon’s resignation, the life example of the Republican vice chair of the Senate Watergate Committee still resonates. by Ira Shapiro and Keel HuntAugust 14, 2024 It has...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