Category: House
5 takeaways from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ’60 Minutes’ interview
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) doubled down on her criticism of President Trump in an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday, less than a month after the longtime Trump ally announced she would resign from Congress amid her public feud with the president. In the interview, Greene stood by the defiant stances she’s taken…
Johnson: Defense bill advances ‘Peace Through Strength Agenda’
Congressional leaders released the final bill text the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Sunday, as they seek to get the annual defense policy bill across the finish line. The budget for the Department of Defense is $8 billion more than the $892.6 billion in President Trump’s budget request for the department. The defense…
My crooked house made me rethink what really needs fixing
Our new addition is finally finished — level floors, wide doors, and a space where my wife, Gracie, can move freely despite her severe disabilities. After years of improvising in tight quarters, we’re grateful to have a place that works for us, even if it’s not perfect.
The new part of the house went up during Trump’s second non-consecutive term; the original part went up during the second term of the only other president to do the same, Grover Cleveland. Joining the two is a bit like welding a Tesla to a horse-drawn buggy — functional, charming, and only slightly defiant of gravity.
When most of life leans, you can still make one crooked thing right.
During construction, the fridge in our tiny kitchen got bumped off the carefully placed shims and tilted just enough to drive me crazy. Admittedly, that’s not a long trip.
I ignored it for about a week but finally couldn’t stand it anymore. Leveling a refrigerator in a cabin built during the Cleveland administration isn’t simple. There are pulleys, levers, questions about physics, and — in my case — a call to the engineering department at Montana State. They were not amused. My neighbor Charles, who often “pity helps” me, wasn’t available. I can’t prove it, but I think he hung up and immediately burst into laughter.
So I did it myself.
I knew it would be a project — and once I started, it could not easily be interrupted by caregiving duties. But exasperation collided with need, and I got down on the floor (at a slant) and went to work. It went exactly as expected: mild swearing, a few tears, and then a small victory. When the bubble on the level finally drifted near the center, I declared success, remembering that old rancher’s saying: “Most things can be fixed with baling wire and bad language.”
It’s level — well, Montana level — but I’ll take it.
Much of what I’ve faced as a caregiver over 40 years can’t be fixed. But small victories, like leveling a refrigerator in a house built when bread was 3 cents and buffalo still outnumbered politicians, remind me that even when most of life leans, you can still make one crooked thing right.
Everyone has a version of that tilted refrigerator — something off-kilter you keep meaning to fix but never quite reach. It might be a strained relationship, a stack of bills, or a heart worn down by too much bad news. You can’t straighten the world, but you can steady what’s right in front of you.
When life feels unsettled, taking time to level something — even a small thing — matters more than we think. Sometimes that quiet act of setting one thing right gives us just enough footing to stand through the rest of it.
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Osobystist via iStock/Getty Images
Years ago, city officials talked about “broken-window” policing: Neglect one thing, and the whole neighborhood starts to crumble. The opposite is also true. Fix one small thing, and a bit of order comes back. Leveling even one ordinary object pushes back against the chaos.
Most caregiving must be repeated tomorrow, but every so often something stays fixed. A grab bar anchored in the right place. A ramp that finally fits the chair. The day may still be full of mess and pain, but that one thing won’t need doing again. It stands there quietly, reminding you that not everything leans. Some things still hold. And sometimes that’s enough to remind you that you still can too.
When I turn on the news, I see dysfunction I can’t do anything about. But when I fix dinner, my refrigerator no longer leans.
There’s an old Appalachian saying: “Fix what you can. The rest was never yours to mend.”
Level what you can. Let the rest lean.
Republican wins closely watched Tennessee special election
Republican Matt Van Epps is projected to defeat Democrat Aftyn Behn in a special election in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, according to Decision Desk HQ, in a race that was seen as a key bellwether for Democratic voter enthusiasm ahead of 2026. Van Epps, a former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services, defeated…
Bacon says he doesn’t see ‘moral clarity’ from White House on Russia-Ukraine war
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said on Sunday he thinks the White House lacks “moral clarity” on the issue of Ukraine and called on the administration to be a more forceful advocate of the democratic nation amid ongoing peace talks to end the war with Russia. “I would like to see the president be a stronger…
Russia kills at least 3 in Ukraine ahead of diplomatic talks in US
A Russian drone strike killed at least three people in Ukraine’s capital early Saturday morning while wounding at least 29 others, according to The Associated Press. Two individuals were killed in Kyiv, while the other death occurred in the broader region, the Kyiv City Military Administration announced. The Kremlin strikes consisted of both missiles and…
Johnson on life amid Speakership: ‘We’re kind of in survival mode right now’
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) opened up in a revealing Wednesday interview alongside his wife Kelly, sharing some of the challenges he has faced since taking the reins of the lower chamber amid Republicans’ razor-thin majority. Johnson in an interview on The Katie Miller Podcast said his life was a daily “triage” packed with constant…
Indiana Senate to meet in December for ‘final decision’ on House redistricting proposal
Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray (R) announced on Tuesday that the chamber would be reconvening in December to make a “final decision” on potential House redistricting proposals as Republicans in the state Legislature’s upper chamber have received increased pressure to change their minds over drawing new congressional lines in the Hoosier State. “The…
GOP rep calls to stop ‘ridiculous side shows’ amid Russia-Ukraine peace deal talks
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) believes Special Envoy Steve Witkoff instructing a Russian official on how to suggest a peace plan to President Trump is a “major problem.” The transcript of an Oct. 14 phone call between Witkoff and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday….
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s exit from Congress could spell trouble for Speaker Johnson
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) stunning decision to resign from Congress sets off a political grenade for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) as he works to keep his grip on an already delicate GOP majority in the House. Greene’s decision comes at a pivotal moment for Johnson, who is counting on every Republican vote to pass…
