Joshua Smith
@smithmachine.bsky.social
Policy Director, @budget.senate.gov / @merkley.senate.gov
When was your street last plowed? I mean, you could just look out the window to answer "it hasn't, duh," but this is fun too:
Citizen Insights
citizeninsights.geotab.com
January 26, 2026 at 1:51 PM
When was your street last plowed? I mean, you could just look out the window to answer "it hasn't, duh," but this is fun too:
This is @senateapprops.bsky.social erasure
January 25, 2026 at 6:49 PM
This is @senateapprops.bsky.social erasure
The Carrot weather app never misses
January 25, 2026 at 1:05 PM
The Carrot weather app never misses
Reposted by Joshua Smith
NEW: Ranking Member @merkley.senate.gov is calling for transparency from Trump's Budget Chief, Russ Vought, on the $100 million slush fund Republicans gifted Vought's office when they passed the Big, Ugly Betrayal law last July.
January 20, 2026 at 9:42 PM
NEW: Ranking Member @merkley.senate.gov is calling for transparency from Trump's Budget Chief, Russ Vought, on the $100 million slush fund Republicans gifted Vought's office when they passed the Big, Ugly Betrayal law last July.
Reposted by Joshua Smith
Trump claims the affordability crisis Americans are facing is a hoax, all while he wastes money renaming agencies and renovating the White House.
Ranking Member @merkley.senate.gov's full statement here: www.budget.senate.gov/ranking-memb...
Ranking Member @merkley.senate.gov's full statement here: www.budget.senate.gov/ranking-memb...
January 14, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Trump claims the affordability crisis Americans are facing is a hoax, all while he wastes money renaming agencies and renovating the White House.
Ranking Member @merkley.senate.gov's full statement here: www.budget.senate.gov/ranking-memb...
Ranking Member @merkley.senate.gov's full statement here: www.budget.senate.gov/ranking-memb...
Reposted by Joshua Smith
No need to use AI. We already know the American people don't want more cuts to working class programs so that Republicans can deliver bigger tax breaks to their wealthy donors.
Enough with your 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲, 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗻 agenda.
Enough with your 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲, 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗻 agenda.
January 14, 2026 at 5:15 PM
No need to use AI. We already know the American people don't want more cuts to working class programs so that Republicans can deliver bigger tax breaks to their wealthy donors.
Enough with your 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲, 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗻 agenda.
Enough with your 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲, 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗻 agenda.
👀 “If you want to stump Lindsey, just ask him to name a country he wouldn’t bomb,” Mr. Kennedy writes... “Invite him to dinner, and you don’t know if he’ll sit down for an intelligent conversation or get drunk and vomit in the fish tank. But that’s why I like him.”
How a G.O.P. Senator Quietly Became a Best-Selling Author
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:41 PM
👀 “If you want to stump Lindsey, just ask him to name a country he wouldn’t bomb,” Mr. Kennedy writes... “Invite him to dinner, and you don’t know if he’ll sit down for an intelligent conversation or get drunk and vomit in the fish tank. But that’s why I like him.”
This is sociopathic.
"Nor does everyone in the administration believe that a full-court campaign on housing is necessary, with some arguing that ballooning costs are primarily a blue-state problem."
"Nor does everyone in the administration believe that a full-court campaign on housing is necessary, with some arguing that ballooning costs are primarily a blue-state problem."
Facing Political Pressure, Trump Seeks Answer to Rising Housing Costs
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 8:33 PM
This is sociopathic.
"Nor does everyone in the administration believe that a full-court campaign on housing is necessary, with some arguing that ballooning costs are primarily a blue-state problem."
"Nor does everyone in the administration believe that a full-court campaign on housing is necessary, with some arguing that ballooning costs are primarily a blue-state problem."
Legit wild that the ICE crackdown in Minneapolis, "justified" due to the high-profile fraud cases, has gone so overboard as to force the lead fraud prosecutor to quit.
This nonsense is so blatantly pretextual that they aren't even trying to hide it.
This nonsense is so blatantly pretextual that they aren't even trying to hide it.
Six Prosecutors Quit Over Push to Investigate ICE Shooting Victim’s Widow
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Legit wild that the ICE crackdown in Minneapolis, "justified" due to the high-profile fraud cases, has gone so overboard as to force the lead fraud prosecutor to quit.
This nonsense is so blatantly pretextual that they aren't even trying to hide it.
This nonsense is so blatantly pretextual that they aren't even trying to hide it.
188 members of the House just put forward "'The Don' payment program" and I think I just died of second-hand embarrassment
January 13, 2026 at 2:07 PM
188 members of the House just put forward "'The Don' payment program" and I think I just died of second-hand embarrassment
Every time the announcers mention Patriots receiver Pop Douglas, I hear “Cobb-Douglas Production Function” and I can’t be the only one.
…can I?
…can I?
January 12, 2026 at 3:32 AM
Every time the announcers mention Patriots receiver Pop Douglas, I hear “Cobb-Douglas Production Function” and I can’t be the only one.
…can I?
…can I?
Never a doubt
January 12, 2026 at 12:46 AM
Never a doubt
This explains… everything?
January 10, 2026 at 2:12 AM
This explains… everything?
*Driving to the airport, 6-year-old son crying because we left the kittens at home*
Wife: We’re flying United
6: We’re not united without the kitties
Wife: We’re flying United
6: We’re not united without the kitties
December 29, 2025 at 2:50 PM
*Driving to the airport, 6-year-old son crying because we left the kittens at home*
Wife: We’re flying United
6: We’re not united without the kitties
Wife: We’re flying United
6: We’re not united without the kitties
I have a feeling that people are going to be smashing that unsubscribe button
December 20, 2025 at 1:07 PM
I have a feeling that people are going to be smashing that unsubscribe button
"Profits collapsed. Newsroom morale soared." Incredible.
Gift link, probably the funniest thing the Wall Street Journal has done this year.
We Let AI Run Our Office Vending Machine. It Lost Hundreds of Dollars.
An AI agent ran a snack operation in the WSJ newsroom. It gave away a free PlayStation, ordered a live fish—and taught us lessons about the future of AI.
www.wsj.com
December 18, 2025 at 4:41 PM
"Profits collapsed. Newsroom morale soared." Incredible.
"President Trump’s chief of staff said she tried to get him to end his 'score settling' against political enemies after 90 days in office, but acknowledged that the administration’s still ongoing push for prosecutions has been fueled *in part* by the president’s desire for retribution."
December 16, 2025 at 2:27 PM
"President Trump’s chief of staff said she tried to get him to end his 'score settling' against political enemies after 90 days in office, but acknowledged that the administration’s still ongoing push for prosecutions has been fueled *in part* by the president’s desire for retribution."
What would you do without the filibuster?
Dems: universal health care, child care, voting rights, abortion rights, unicorns 4 all
Trump: make it marginally harder to vote
Dems: universal health care, child care, voting rights, abortion rights, unicorns 4 all
Trump: make it marginally harder to vote
Asked about another reconciliation bill, Trump goes after filibuster again
“You knock out the filibuster, it would all go away. But we have a few people that wouldn't do that. It's crazy. Look, we should knock out the filibuster, and if you did that, we'd get voter ID.”
“You knock out the filibuster, it would all go away. But we have a few people that wouldn't do that. It's crazy. Look, we should knock out the filibuster, and if you did that, we'd get voter ID.”
December 15, 2025 at 11:44 PM
What would you do without the filibuster?
Dems: universal health care, child care, voting rights, abortion rights, unicorns 4 all
Trump: make it marginally harder to vote
Dems: universal health care, child care, voting rights, abortion rights, unicorns 4 all
Trump: make it marginally harder to vote
Reposted by Joshua Smith
Reposted by Joshua Smith
The Trump administration is not anti-crime. It is totally for crime done by rich people.
EXCLUSIVE: Federal tax prosecutions fell to their lowest level in decades this year, declining more than 27% from the year before as the Trump administration cut the ranks of attorneys and agents who pursue those cases, a Reuters examination has found.
www.reuters.com/world/tax-pr...
www.reuters.com/world/tax-pr...
December 10, 2025 at 6:29 PM
The Trump administration is not anti-crime. It is totally for crime done by rich people.
In a million years, you would never guess that this tirade is about…. fonts.
December 10, 2025 at 12:28 PM
In a million years, you would never guess that this tirade is about…. fonts.
Reposted by Joshua Smith
Today is the 68th anniversary of the creation of the DOJ Civil Rights Division, and over 200 recent employees have shared an open letter decrying the near-destruction of the division’s mission and expressing the hope to one day rebuild it.
An Open Letter from Former Civil Rights Division Employees
On the 68th anniversary of the Civil Rights Division, former employees share an open letter decrying the near-destruction of the division’s mission and expressing the hope to one day rebuild it.
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Today is the 68th anniversary of the creation of the DOJ Civil Rights Division, and over 200 recent employees have shared an open letter decrying the near-destruction of the division’s mission and expressing the hope to one day rebuild it.