On Open Line Friday, Erick Erickson shuts down the third party dream and lays out a king for a day plan to fix Congress: grow the House of Representatives to 1,000 members, pay them $300,000, and lift donation caps so money flows to disclosed candidates instead of dark money groups. He also tells a Georgia caller how to take over the Republican Party from the precinct up, makes the case that governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms is not a monster, salutes departing Governor Brian Kemp, and reacts to Pete Hegseth impeachment talk and the breaking news that Susie Wiles is leaving and Stephen Miller becomes White House chief of staff.
Hegseth and the Iran war: Erick on Pete Hegseth impeachment rumors, Marco Rubio and Marsha Blackburn denials, and who gets held accountable for a war fought with a missile shortage, the Rumsfeld comparison
Why a third party fails: 14 percent Gallup approval for Congress, independent voters, Melania Trump intervening on Stephen Miller's immigration excesses, and why parties that cater only to the base lose
Fix Congress: expand the House of Representatives to 1,000 or more, pay members $300,000, lift campaign contribution caps, undo the Citizens United fight with transparency, repeal the 17th Amendment, and a state-driven term limits convention
Georgia politics: how to take over your local Republican Party through precinct meetings, Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms, Stacey Abrams, Jon Ossoff, and Brian Kemp's bipartisan legacy and possible 2028 or 2030 return
Breaking White House shakeup: Susie Wiles announces she is leaving, Stephen Miller named chief of staff, plus prayers for North Georgia and Tennessee after a once in a thousand years flood near Blue Ridge