Sen. Smith on the Shutdown, Democrats’ Future, and Retiring Early

On with Kara Swisher

New York Magazine

Society & Culture

4.2 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

At age 67, Sen. Tina Smith (D, MN) is doing something that’s still rather rare for senators: retiring at a relatively young age, after just one full term in office. Smith’s open Senate seat is one of five Democrats will have to defend in next year’s midterm elections, in what’s shaping up to be a tough cycle. But with a little more than a year left in office, she still has to work on the big problems facing the Democratic Party, and the nation more broadly, including a rise in political violence and this week’s looming government shutdown. In a live conversation recorded Saturday at the annual MinnPost Festival in downtown Minneapolis, Kara and Smith talk about why she thinks Democrats shouldn’t cave to Republican demands to keep the government open; how more of her colleagues should opt to retire instead of run for re-election; and what Democrats need to do to come out ahead in next year’s midterm elections. Smith also reflects on the recent spate of political violence, including the assasination of her friend and fellow Minnesota Democrat, Melissa Hortman, in June. (The gunman reportedly included the senator on his hit list.) Thank you to MinnPost for hosting this conversation. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	We coordinated our outfits, obviously.
0:02.0	We've never met one another before, but we're like, oh my God, we have the same, you know, fashion consultant.
0:07.0	I always dressed like this since eighth grade.
0:09.0	I think she's dressed like this since she's not running again, and she's like, fuck it.
0:13.0	It's on. Hi, everyone from New York Magazine in the Vox Media Podcast Network.
0:28.5	This is on with Kara Swisher, and I'm Kara Swisher.
0:31.5	My guest today is Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota.
0:34.9	Earlier this year, Smith announced her decision to retire from the Senate, so she won't
0:39.1	run for re-election next year, even though she's only in her mid-60s. If you can believe it, that's
0:44.9	relatively young by Senate standards, but of course it's not young. Her retirement puts more
0:50.8	stress on Senate Democrats as they head into an already tough midterm election cycle.
0:56.3	The party will need to flip four seats currently held by Republicans while also defending the
1:00.8	13 they currently hold if they want to win back the majority. But Democrats are facing more
1:06.3	immediate problems. We taped our conversation with Senator Smith on Saturday evening just a few days
1:11.8	before the government is expected to run out of money. If Congress doesn't pass a spending
1:16.4	measure by Tuesday night, the government will shut down. And with Republicans in control of every
1:21.4	branch of the government right now, the Democrats' lack of political power means they don't have
1:26.2	much leverage. I want to talk to Senator Smith
1:28.8	because she's leaving, and perhaps she can actually say what's happening in Congress, which
1:34.3	has lost an enormous amount of power in the Trump administration, and what the Democrats can do
1:39.4	to try to equalize that power. All right, let's get into my conversation with Senator Smith.
1:45.1	Our expert question comes from Amanda Littman, co-founder and president of Run for Something.
	...

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