Congressional Dysfunction, Iran Conflict, and the 2026 Midterm Landscape

Congressional Dysfunction, Iran Conflict, and the 2026 Midterm Landscape

From Practically Political by Dave Spencer, Ashley Davis, Kurt Bardella

March 30, 2026 · 40 min · Episode 119

About this episode

The episode discusses the intersection of government funding deadlines, international conflict, and the upcoming midterm elections, highlighting Congress's dysfunction and accountability issues.

What happens when government funding deadlines collide with international conflict and looming midterm elections? In this wide-ranging episode of Practically Political, hosts Ashley Davis and Dave Spencer are joined by political strategist Kurt Bardella for a no-holds-barred conversation that spans the chaos on Capitol Hill to military action in Iran to early predictions for the 2026 electoral map. You'll discover why Congress continues to fail at its most basic constitutional duty—passing a budget—and how the elimination of earmarks in 2006 fundamentally broke the legislative process. The hosts debate whether members of Congress should forfeit their paychecks during government shutdowns, with Ashley proposing a provocative solution to force accountability. As the Senate passes a DHS funding bill at 3:00 AM only to see it stall in the House due to Freedom Caucus opposition, the conversation reveals the deeper dysfunction plaguing American governance.

People in this episode

Hosts: Ashley Davis, Dave Spencer

Guest: Kurt Bardella

Topics covered

  • government funding
  • international conflict
  • midterm elections
  • Congress dysfunction
  • legislative process
  • accountability

Keywords

  • government shutdown
  • budget
  • DHS funding bill
  • Capitol Hill
  • 2026 electoral map
  • earmarks
  • military action

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Congress, Freedom Caucus

Places: Iran

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