Punchbowl's John Bresnahan on Guns in the Next Congress
Host Stephen Gutowski and Punchbowl's John Bresnahan discuss the new Senate Majority leader's gun record and what might happen in the new Republican Congress.
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Show Notes
This week, we have a new Senate Majority Leader and are getting a clearer picture of what the next Congress will look like. But what will it do on gun policy?
To answer that question, we have one of the preeminent congressional reporters on the show. Punchbowl co-founder John Bresnahan has been covering Congress for decades now. He knows all of the key players in Congress, including new Majority Leader John Thune.
Bresnahan said Thune had the strongest pro-gun record of the three Senators who ran for the majority leader role. He said John Cornyn's role in negotiating the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act hurt him in the race and may even have made the difference since it was a very close vote. He argued the entire Republican Senate leadership is strongly pro-gun now.
Still, Bresnahan doesn't necessarily believe there are going to be a lot of opportunities for pro-gun legislation in the next Congress. With a 53-vote majority and the filibuster likely to remain, there probably aren't any significant gun bills that can make it to President Donald Trump's desk.
However, there are other ways Congress could have a big impact on gun policy over the next eight years. He said the longest-lasting impact will likely come from judicial appointments, and he noted the GOP will probably control confirmations for all eight years of Trump's term.
Special Guest: John Bresnahan.