It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy.

[link removed]
[link removed]
Photo by John Taggart for The Washington Post via Getty Images

It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy. We think of it as a mini-magazine in your inbox.

YOUR POLITICAL WORD OF THE YEAR IS ...
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews ([link removed])
Correspondent

Now in its 235th year, Congress is no longer young. Generations of precedent line the hallways ([link removed]) in Washington.

But you, the best readers in the business, saw that 2023 was special.

We asked you to vote on our political word of the year, and out of the shortlist of contenders, “indictment” won, with about 24 percent of the vote.

But special mention must be made for the write-ins, those who selected “a different word.” One popular choice was “chaos,” which some readers thought better reflected the atmosphere than “circus.” But the answer that you wrote in the most was …

“Unprecedented.”

The word appears to date back to the 17th century ([link removed]) and the waning years for England’s Charles I. He and his supporters argued against an “unprecedented” overthrow ([link removed]) and execution of the king ([link removed]) .

They lost. Charles was executed. But out of his death, rose a political juggernaut in the English-speaking world.

Today, nearly 400 years later, "unprecedented" reflects a host of occurrences in a single year: an indicted former president (with 91 felony counts) and an ousted speaker of the House; the oldest president in U.S. history preparing to run (again) against a former president who would become the second-oldest if elected to a second term.

We sit on the edge of yet more oddities this very week.

We thought it might be fun to look at what’s directly ahead in both chambers, in terms of what has precedent and what is distinctly “un-.”

George Santos

The congressman from Long Island faces potential expulsion as soon as tomorrow. This, after the House Ethics Committee published a 56-page investigation ([link removed]) that contained some remarkable statements, including, “Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit” and, “he blatantly stole from his campaign.”

The expulsion of a member of Congress has precedent. But not exceedingly so. Only five times in history ([link removed]) has the House expelled a member from office, and three of those were for fighting for the Confederacy.

There is no recent precedent, however. The last person to be expelled from the House was James Traficant, ([link removed](T000350)/) who was cast out of Congress in 2002 after bribery, tax and other charges.

The Senate versus Tommy Tuberville

On the Senate side this week, the fight over military promotions may be drawing closer to a pivot point, as Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is preparing to hold a vote to change the rules so that military nominees can more easily be approved in large blocs of names.

Currently, any single senator can hold up those kinds of bloc nominations, a tactic that dramatically bogs down the nomination process but does not outright block the nominees.

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s use of this tactic as part of a protest is unprecedented. The Republican senator, known as “coach” ([link removed]) for his headline-making years in college football, wants the Pentagon to reverse its policy of paying for travel costs for any service members in need of an abortion or reproductive care that is not available where they are stationed.

Tuberville has not budged, sparking this also unprecedented countermove ([link removed]) by Schumer and some Republicans to consider a rules change to move the entire chamber (and much of the military) around a single senator.

Timing on this is not yet clear. Stay tuned.

The PBS NewsHour’s Dan Cooney ([link removed]) and Jenna Cohen ([link removed]) contributed to this week’s newsletter.
More on politics from our coverage:
* Watch: Three days of memorials for former first lady Rosalynn Carter began Tuesday ([link removed]) with former President Jimmy Carter and the Bidens paying their respects at the services.
* One Big Question: What is Rosalynn’s legacy? The former first lady is being remembered ([link removed]) for her work as a global humanitarian, mental health advocate, and champion for equal rights. Judy Woodruff also paid tribute ([link removed]) to Rosalynn for making millions of lives better.
* A Closer Look: The complicated legacy of Charles Curtis, America’s first and only Native American vice president ([link removed]) .
* Perspectives: NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter discuss how some Republicans are building support ([link removed]) ahead of the Iowa caucuses.

How has PBS NewsHour coverage has been useful in your life or work?
Please tell us your stories here. ([link removed])

[link removed]
#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Joshua Barajas, @Josh_Barrage ([link removed])
Senior Editor, Digital

“Unprecedented” was used in many headlines this year. (Pretty sure I’ve used it a few times in Here’s the Deal myself.) It’s also a word that pops up in presidential ([link removed]) speeches ([link removed]) and White House parlance.

Our question: Which U.S. president is believed to have first used the word “unprecedented”? (Note: The answer is based on available archives.)

Send your answers to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: This year’s pardoned Thanksgiving birds hailed from the nation’s largest producer of turkey. Which U.S. state is it?

The answer: Minnesota ([link removed]) . In his Thanksgiving week remarks, President Joe Biden mentioned the Mall of America and 1,000 lakes, both associated with the North Star State.

Congratulations to our winners: Bruce Sielaff, Pat Case and Carol Rutz!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
[link removed]
[link removed]
Want more news and analysis in your inbox?
Explore all of the PBS NewsHour's newsletters ([link removed]) .
[link removed]
[link removed]

============================================================
Copyright © 2023 WETA, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
3620 South 27th Street
Arlington, VA 22206

** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
** update subscription preferences ([link removed])