Hey guys, I'm about to bring you my conversation with Annie Carney from the New York Times about the

Republicans' big, beautiful bill and Republican voters' view of Congress right now. We tape the show

a few hours before the bill actually passed the House, so we're talking about the bill's

fate in the future tense throughout the show, just FYI. Annie was also up on the hill reporting when we taped the show, so you're going to catch

a little background noise up there.

It was a busy day, but you can hear her perfectly fine.

With that, enjoy my conversation with Andy Carney.

We'll be back next week with some cool raw audio for you guys.

Hello everyone and welcome to the Focus Group podcast.

I'm Sarah Longwell, publisher of the bulwark,

and this week we're covering an institution that's functioning worse than a cyber truck left out in the snow.

The United States Congress could also be my voice. I've been a little sick, so sorry about that. We're gearing up for quite possibly the

only big legislative battle of Trump's term, the one over his big, beautiful bill, the one that's

probably going to extend the 2017 tax cuts and kick

quite a few people off of Medicaid. We're going to get some initial reactions to the legislation

and talk about where Republican voters' heads are with the bill and with their leaders in Congress.

My guest today is Annie Carney, congressional reporter for the New York Times

and co-author of Madhouse. How Donald Trump, Maga Mean Girls, a former used car salesman,

a Florida Nepo baby, and a man with rats in his walls broke Congress. What a subhead. Annie,

thanks for being here. Thank you for having me. Oh, I'm so pumped you're here.

I love a good student of Congress for a congressional conversation. You know, although I got to tell you, it's

funny. I was on Nicole the other day. And I think it was Claire McCaskill. She was like,

...