This week, Mike is joined by Republican policy analyst (and podcaster) Kristin Matheny. Mike and Kristin start things off by talking about the continuing government shutdown, including what it’s costing, the back-and-forth between Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell’s role, and how (and when) they think it will all end. After that, they discuss the Senate hearings to confirm William Barr as Attorney General. Mike thinks liberals should be suspicious of President Trump’s pick, especially considering that Barr would be in charge when Robert Mueller wraps up his investigation. Kristen, who’s on board with far more of Barr’s policy views than Mike is, agrees that it’s reasonable for liberals to have at least some suspicions. Next, Mike and Kristen consider whether there should be a citizenship question on the 2020 Census, as well as whether or not Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross broke with legal requirements in attempting to include the question. Kristen isn’t as convinced as Mike is on the potential damage from including a citizenship question, but she agrees that there are some major issues in how Ross attempted to insert the question. The show closes with a discussion of New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who this week announced her candidacy for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Mike calls Gillibrand ‘Hillary Clinton 2.0’ and argues that she’d be a bad choice on multiple levels. Kristen agrees, and says that Gillibrand is vulnerable in a number of areas, and isn’t very likely to win the nomination. Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to politicsguys.com/support. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-politics-guys/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices