Reposted by Aaron FritschnerSemafor @semafor.com · 22h🟡 NEW: House Democrats are criticizing the Trump administration after US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer wouldn’t commit to imposing Russian sanctions recently enacted by Congress. www.semafor.com/article/10/0... 22115
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Trump posted Tom Cotton’s cell phone this morning because he’s mad that Cotton is apparently blocking the permanent daylight savings time bill. Added him to my contacts in case anything ever comes up 59512
Reposted by Aaron FritschnerMatthew Gertz @mattgertz.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Picture of him with me would probably be worse for him tbh 291569119
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 30/09/2026[SENATOR ERIC SCHMITT]: So you’re telling me under oath that you’ve never spoken with an Attorney General nominee? [JACK SMITH]: No, I don’t think— [SCHMITT]: WELL THEN *unveils poster* please explain this picture of you with Matt Gaetz! [SMITH]: That is Media Matters senior fellow Matt Gertz 854312471
Reposted by Aaron FritschnerBlue Virginia @bluevirginia.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Fascinating, revealing, spot-on comment by Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08)'s Deputy Chief of Staff, @fritschner.bsky.social, re: Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA01), who can come off (falsely) as a milquetoast moderate, but when it comes down to it is as far-right-extreme as they come. bluevirginia.us/2026/09/new-... 05015
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Just pulling everyone’s leg, but he would make a great Senator from Kansas 120
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Important spoiler role in Kansas Senate race being played by @dgraham.bsky.social 61326
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Early voting just opened in Virginia. The 2026 midterm election has begun! 1234188
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026And just fyi the Senate never tried to do anything better and they didn’t even talk to the House much less negotiate, because they were obsessed with honoring Lindsey Graham. They barely touched his bill, they were thinking about his legacy when they should’ve been thinking about Ukraine 030
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026We are deeply, genuinely thinking about Ukraine. That’s what the post you shared was about, it’s about the difference between saying “I’m helping a friend” because that is easy to say va doing something harder and more complicated that they may not appreciate or like but is in their best interest. 200
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026I want to help Ukraine and this bill will not do that. It’s a trap, a fake, a copout. Desperate people are projecting hopes onto it and seeing a win for Ukraine. I read legislative text for my job and I’ve read this bill. It has really bad problems 0386
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026This wasn’t the best that was possible, I never believed that for a second and if I did I would have spoken and acted differently. We could have done so much more. It’s deeply tragic 1121
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Politics aren’t tying our hands, we passed a good bill to send Ukraine missiles. Politics tied the Senate’s hands so they did this awful substitute instead and told people it was the best they could come up with. They refused to even discuss it with us. You’re mad at us? 2111
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026If I am wrong about this I will be overjoyed, nobody will be happier about that than me. I would be THRILLED to be wrong about this bill. But I don’t think we will get that satisfaction. 2223
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Very slightly. Senate Dems negotiated a “sunset” that sunsets the law, not the tariffs, and the sunset is after Trump leaves office. They also got in writing a promise from USTR not to use the tariffs except in ways specified by the law, which is beyond useless. I feel nausea thinking about it 010
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026To be clear we did NOT fail to act. We passed a 1000% better bill that supported Ukraine with weapons and money, not symbolism fake sanctions and likely tariffs on Ukraine’s allies. The Senate threw that bill in the trash and passed this, which I fear will make things worse bsky.app/profile/salo... 1435
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026A thing you commonly encounter in politics is the divide between people who think true friendship and support means standing with someone and saying yes to them no matter what, vs people who think true friendship sometimes means disagreements or hard conversations. I am firmly in the latter camp. 3333
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026My thread on here about why the substance of the bill will be harmful to America and Ukraine here: bsky.app/profile/frit... 1244
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026If anyone is interested specifically in why the symbolism of the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia Act will in my opinion ultimately be bad for Ukraine, I wrote about that here: threadreaderapp.com/thread/20998...threadreaderapp.comThread by @Fritschner on Thread Reader App@Fritschner: Ambassador McFaul's reason for supporting this bill is imo the most defensible one and something we've heard a lot, including from the Ukrainians... but I'm afraid it's still very much wr... 1266
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026The point of my post was the supporters of the bill were only engaging with the symbolism of the bill and not its substance. This post sounds to me like more of the same tbh. Fwiw I argued with references to the text that both substance and symbolism of the bill will ultimately be bad for Ukraine 47211
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026We had Ukrainians in our office all week. At every point in this conversation you have confidently asserted things that aren’t true. Not issuing a statement on the anniversary of the invasion is not the same thing as being silent for years on Ukraine. 240
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026They haven’t been very silent, that simply isn’t true, it’s preposterous. The bill is worse than nothing because it makes the situation worse than the status quo as you will see. Call it sneering if you like but when you come in with condescension and rudeness it doesn’t inspire friendly discourse 140
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026You sound both fair minded and like you are asking questions in good faith which makes me eager to continue talking to you 130
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Candidly don’t know much about this and haven’t had time to learn more or think about it 130
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Yes we did actually, we passed it in the House 150
Reposted by Aaron FritschnerBlue Virginia @bluevirginia.bsky.social · 14/09/2026What @fritschner.bsky.social (Rep. Don Beyer's deputy chief of staff) said! bluevirginia.us/2026/09/mond... 44814
Reposted by Aaron FritschnerTOM @tomwalker.bsky.social · 17/07/2023KOKO THE GORILLA: Koko birkin bag. Practical Koko possession bag RESEARCHER: No, Koko. You can’t have a Birkin bag. KOKO: Good Birkin good Koko give beautiful Koko deserve gorilla RESEARCHER: Koko, we simply can’t afford a Birkin bag. It is an unjustifiable expense. KOKO: jealousy professor 59175974716
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026I wrote a bit back in July about why this is a bad bill, and why House Dems dug in to stop it despite a lopsided Senate vote. It appears we were successful bsky.app/profile/frit... 26014
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Speaker Johnson pulls the plug on the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia Act. Per Punchbowl: 34410
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026I would not describe the things you are talking about as a "coup" because I want to still have that word when they are doing something like J6 or worse. Semantics aside, my point has been and remains that a shutdown is not a correct or smart or helpful response to the problem. 210
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Put another way, if I have a choice between pointing an undecided 30-year-old man in Virginia Beach at info about election shenanigans or the Iran War, I'm going to take the Iran War. At least under present conditions 120
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Don't need to explain popularism vs process debate to one of the principle participants, for myself Ive found both convincing on different things. In this case I think there will be fair elections and that we will be successful in them and I think our focus on costs is likeliest to meet with success 120
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026And I think if you want a rider here that's not a bad idea but I am skeptical that provoking a shutdown over it makes political sense in this moment. Also I think there are other mechanisms to fight what USPS is doing that will be more effective 360
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026I don't think it is a coup attempt, at least not yet, and I don't think it will succeed either way, and I think there are good reasons not to panic about it, and even if none of these were the case, as I keep telling you, a government shutdown is not a response that would help in any way 120
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026I don't claim to know what goes on in that man's brain, I certainly believe that he would like to mess with the election. I also believe that his attempts will fail and that it would be unwise to take ineffective and possibly harmful actions in response to them 150
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026The one would not achieve the other, USPS is not even funded by appropriations. It would not create leverage, and there is a decent chance that it would backfire 150
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026To the extent that any such plot exists it doesn't seem super realistic to me to think that it would be affected by government funding 2120
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026CR was signed into law yesterday, there won't be a shutdown 020
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026House Republicans just canceled the last two weeks of votes in the session, from the end of September and beginning of October. The last votes in the House before the midterm, if they adhere to the current schedule, will be two weeks from today. We're also out next week 79542
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 02/09/2026And there's Wahab. 219-214 in the House now 05611
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 01/09/2026When Rep.-Elect Aisha Wahab (D-CA) is sworn in tomorrow the party breakdown in the house will be 219R*-214D *Kevin Kiley changed his party affiliation to "Independent" but did not change his voting patterns at all so I'm counting him as a House Republican and imo you should too 2749
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 01/09/2026There's one- Rep. Everton Blair Jr. of Georgia, just sworn in 318329
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Unless they send us home early, yes I think so 070
Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 01/09/2026As Republicans cling desperately to what we will generously call "control" of the House Floor, with rumors swirling about an early recess and threats by their rank and file to tank today's rule vote, House Dems are set to get two new members today/tomorrow after recent special elections in CA and GA 8455101
Reposted by Aaron FritschnerCongressman Don Beyer @beyer.house.gov · 19/08/2026Today @repsuhas.bsky.social and I hosted Northern Virginian Carolina Molina and her husband for a meeting on Capitol Hill to discuss her encounter with ICE agents who threatened her with a gun. 1/ 129632
Reposted by Aaron FritschnerCongressman Don Beyer @beyer.house.gov · 19/08/2026Then we announced that we, along with @repwalkinshaw.bsky.social and the leaders of @oversightdemocrats.bsky.social, @democrats-judiciary.house.gov, and House Homeland Security Committee Democrats are opening an investigation into this incident. 2/ 23911