All statements about United States Congress

165 statements about United States Congress in 73 videos, by upload date.

Back to United States Congress.

2007

2007-04-13 · Friday the 13th: Step It Up! — announcement: Hank: Tomorrow is Step It Up Day, a campaign started by Bill McKibben, author of the book Hank told John to read, telling Congress that since everyone agrees there's a problem, it should act. — 00:00:58
2007-04-13 · Friday the 13th: Step It Up! — ask: Hank challenges John to attend a Step It Up event in New York and wants video of him at a rally, even a rally of one, asking Congress to step it up for 2007. — 00:01:32
2007-04-16 · Brotherhood 2.0: April 16: Brotherhood of Traveling Shirts — John couldn't attend any Step It Up rally: instead of protesting carbon consumption he was consuming it on airplanes from San Antonio to New York, arriving after the rallies ended; he made a poster. (playful) — 00:00:00

2010

2010-07-24 (said on 2010-07-23, implied) · Grammar School with Snooki — John worries that celebrating people like her instead of those who use language precisely and thoughtfully leads to really crappy discourse, on Jersey Shore or in Congress. — 00:03:10
2010-08-02 · I Love Hank: Esther Day 2010 — John recalls that in 2003 some members of the US Congress, angry that France saw no link between Iraq and Al-Qaeda, renamed French fries and French toast 'Freedom' in the congressional cafeteria. — 00:00:58

2011

2011-01-14 · Top 5 Actual Conspiracies — Hank: The plotters chose General Smedley Butler to lead their military coup, but Butler revealed the whole plot to Congress. — 00:02:57
2011-07-08 · Kill the Dollar Bill! — John: The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office reported to Congress that replacing the $1 bill with $1 and $2 coins would save $5.5 billion over 30 years. — 00:01:30
2011-08-08 (said on 2011-08-09, implied) · Hackers, Cyber crime, and a New Kind of War. — Hank notes that the 42 in his 'Congress 42 steps behind' line is a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference, common in hacker culture. — video description
2011-08-08 (said on 2011-08-09, implied) · Hackers, Cyber crime, and a New Kind of War. — Hank also worries about the legislation meant to protect us: it will probably ruin much of what's great about the internet and will never be effective, since Congress will always be far behind the hackers. (hedged) — 00:03:09
2011-08-10 · Understanding America's Debt Problem — John says the US is well above the 90% alarm threshold and Congress, in "the stupidest game of chicken ever," only barely avoided defaulting. — 00:02:13
2011-08-10 · Understanding America's Debt Problem — John's second reason: the so-called debt crisis would almost completely be solved by not extending the Bush tax cuts, which will happen if Congress does nothing. — 00:03:09
2011-08-10 · Understanding America's Debt Problem — John jokes that, as Hank may have noticed, Congress is "awesome at doing nothing." (playful) — 00:03:16
2011-11-18 · Top 5 Reasons ████ ██ ██████ — The description warns that Congress's plan would let any US website be turned off at a moment's notice and push sites to censor themselves. — video description
2011-11-18 · Top 5 Reasons ████ ██ ██████ — Hank argues Congress will never catch real copyright infringers but will crush casual users who cover songs and make mashups, GIFs, videos, let's plays and commentaries. — video description
2011-11-18 · Top 5 Reasons ████ ██ ██████ — ask: Hank asks viewers to tell their senators and representatives to vote against the PROTECT IP and SOPA bills, saying copyright matters but restricting internet freedom is not the way, and to sign Avaaz's save-the-internet petition. — video description
2011-11-18 · Top 5 Reasons ████ ██ ██████ — Hank says he loves and needs copyright law and doesn't want John's books stolen, but doesn't want Congress meddling with the internet. — 00:00:55
2011-11-18 · Top 5 Reasons ████ ██ ██████ — Hank presents his top five reasons why Congress should not be allowed to regulate the internet. — 00:01:11
2011-11-18 · Top 5 Reasons ████ ██ ██████ — ask: Hank points viewers to the description, where he has written how they can help keep the internet free. — 00:03:20
2011-11-21 · Old Man Narrates Young Girl — John says Hank, in his last video, correctly called the copyright measures before Congress 'a steaming hot slice of crazy'. (playful) — 00:01:24
2011-11-21 · Old Man Narrates Young Girl — John says the legislation before Congress would increase that inequality: YouTube, Google and Tumblr can afford lawyers against Viacom, he can't, and it won't stop already-illegal wholesale piracy. — 00:02:54

2012

2012-01-20 · Thoughts on SOPA From New Orleans — The description says the internet blackout resulted in a great number of congresspeople dropping their support for SOPA and PIPA. — video description
2012-01-20 · Thoughts on SOPA From New Orleans — Hank writes that the rule "don't be a dick" matters far more than any copyright reform law Congress can pass. — video description
2012-01-20 · Thoughts on SOPA From New Orleans — Hank is extremely proud that the internet banded together, an amorphous anarchy becoming a solid block against the threat, and cast it aside. — 00:02:01
2012-01-20 · Thoughts on SOPA From New Orleans — Hank thanks the internet, President Obama, Nerdfighters and John. — 00:02:01
2012-02-24 · CUTE-OCALYPSE! — ask: Hank mock-calls on Congress to regulate internet cuteness: a board of cutologists, a cute rating system for media and a weekly quota per American. (satire) — 00:01:43
2012-04-03 · Idiotic Governance: How Our Political Discourse Hurts Our Economy — John says the last five years have seen 23 short-term extensions of the FAA ticket tax, mostly because Congress fights about unions, which helps members raise money. — 00:00:47
2012-04-03 · Idiotic Governance: How Our Political Discourse Hurts Our Economy — John says Congress let the FAA's funding lapse over the summer, so the ticket tax could not be collected, and airlines raised prices by the exact amount of the tax, keeping the money. — 00:01:12
2012-04-03 · Idiotic Governance: How Our Political Discourse Hurts Our Economy — John says Congress finally passed a long-term FAA budget in February, but by then the dispute had probably cost a billion dollars. (hedged) — 00:01:42
2012-04-03 · Idiotic Governance: How Our Political Discourse Hurts Our Economy — John says long-term highway deals fail because they involve big numbers: Tea Party-backed Republicans oppose big spending, so rather than, say, one $250 billion bill, Congress votes for ten $30 billion bills. — 00:02:05
2012-04-06 · Can I be Space President? — Hank says the people working on Webb, defending it from Congress and fighting technical problems daily, can lose sight of how amazing their work is, and he is glad to bring that home to them and the world. — 00:02:27
2012-10-09 · Attacked by Squirrels and Neoclassicism: Thoughts from Places, Washington D.C. — John notes the Capitol and the Washington Monument stare at each other, the monument's red aircraft lights making Washington look disapproving of Congress. (playful) — 00:01:38
2012-10-16 · Burning Peeps, My OTP, and Velociraptors: It's Question Tuesday — John: Asked why legislation to kill the penny is held up in Congress, John jokes that the current Congress could not pass anything, even to save itself. (playful) — 00:00:37
2012-11-07 · The 51st State — Hank calls the election one for the history books: the first female amputee in Congress, first female Asian American senator, first openly gay senator, first second term for a black president, and first legalizations of recreational marijuana and gay marriage. — 00:00:00
2012-11-07 · The 51st State — Hank expects the opposition to cite $20 billion of extra Medicare and Medicaid costs, but says the bigger issue is the balance of Congress. (hedged) — 00:01:56
2012-11-07 · The 51st State — Hank: Probably all of those members of Congress would be Democrats, so a Republican House would not be excited to give statehood a supermajority. (hedged) — 00:02:26
2012-11-07 · The 51st State — Hank says granting statehood takes not 51% of the vote but two-thirds. (slip of the tongue: 51%; slip of the tongue: two thirds) — 00:02:33
2012-11-09 · The Stadium of Representatives: The End of B20 Week :-( — Hank says the founders split between equal representation per state and representation by population, and compromised: a Senate equal for every state and a House apportioned by population. (playful) — 00:00:29
2012-11-09 · The Stadium of Representatives: The End of B20 Week :-( — Hank: Around 1910 Congress capped the House at its then size, 435 seats, where it still is; the number isn't in the Constitution but has long been in place. — 00:01:27

2013

2013-01-01 · Why Does Congress Suck? — John says the last two years saw the least effective Congress since at least the 1850s: it passed only 219 bills, almost all naming federal buildings after war heroes. — 00:00:30
2013-01-01 · Why Does Congress Suck? — John contrasts this with the famous 'Do-Nothing Congress' of the Harry Truman era, which passed more than 900 bills. — 00:00:56
2013-01-01 · Why Does Congress Suck? — John explains that the first US government under the Articles of Confederation could do almost nothing, so the Constitution replaced it with a Congress that could do a little. (playful) — 00:01:06
2013-01-01 · Why Does Congress Suck? — John argues that state legislatures drawing their own congressional district lines is one of the central reasons Congress cannot do anything. (hedged) — 00:01:34
2013-01-01 · Why Does Congress Suck? — John says Congress was designed to be bad at doing things but has to cooperate just enough to cover the basics; it always has, but he is now a little worried. — 00:03:13
2013-03-12 · Understand the Sequester (Spoiler: It's Bananas.) — John says these three programs are 45% of the budget (mandatory spending); other mandatory spending is 13% and debt interest 6%, 64% in total, leaving 36% discretionary spending allocated by Congress. — 00:00:59
2013-03-12 · Understand the Sequester (Spoiler: It's Bananas.) — John says in 2011 the US nearly defaulted, not because it could not pay but because Congress refused to raise the debt ceiling it was hitting because of its own budgets. — 00:02:25
2013-03-12 · Understand the Sequester (Spoiler: It's Bananas.) — John stresses that Congress, not the president, sets tax rates and the budget, so a resulting deficit is literally Congress's fault. — 00:02:39
2013-03-12 · Understand the Sequester (Spoiler: It's Bananas.) — John says Congress then passed the Budget Control Act, raising the debt ceiling and creating a super-committee to reach a "grand bargain" on long-term fiscal problems. — 00:02:59
2013-03-12 · Understand the Sequester (Spoiler: It's Bananas.) — John says sequestration does nothing about the long-term fiscal problem, since mandatory spending keeps growing: Congress answered a long-term problem with a short-term crisis it then failed to solve. — 00:04:47
2013-05-31 · Optimism is Not Insane — Hank thinks we see a graph rising toward a disaster point and assume we have only years left, but usually we adapt: capitalism, technology and even Congress adapt. (hedged) — 00:02:04
2013-09-13 · Syria in Five Minutes — Hank says Obama wants to enforce his red line even without UN support, Americans balk at another war, so the president has let Congress decide whether to attack. (playful) — 00:03:31
2013-09-13 · Syria in Five Minutes — Hank jokes that Congress is so dysfunctional that if it were on fire it could not pass a 'Pour Water on Congress Act'. (playful) — 00:03:47
2013-09-13 · Syria in Five Minutes — Hank says collecting chemical weapons from a country in civil war would be extremely complicated, but enforcing the norm against them without bombing or Congress would be an excellent outcome. — 00:04:33
2013-10-01 · The Lowdown on the Shutdown — Hank explains that America has two chambers of lawmakers that must agree for something to become law, and they approve the budget, the law that makes it legal for the government to spend money. — 00:00:21
2013-10-01 · The Lowdown on the Shutdown — Hank says Congress handles the president's budget like any other bill, often so slowly that it must pass a continuing resolution keeping the old budget for a few more weeks; these are usually easy to pass. — 00:00:38
2013-10-01 · The Lowdown on the Shutdown — Hank says the deeper problem is that politicians redrew district lines to be ever more partisan, making elections easier to win but radicalizing districts so representatives must be uncooperative; not easy to fix. (hedged) — 00:02:01
2013-10-01 · The Lowdown on the Shutdown — Hank says that starting today about 800,000 people are out of work until Congress acts, including a very good friend of his, which makes him mad. — 00:02:51
2013-10-01 · The Lowdown on the Shutdown — Hank says no one knows how quickly it will be resolved, perhaps three days or three weeks, but it will be, because he trusts Congress wants the country to exist. — 00:02:57

2014

2014-05-02 · Hank vs. Hank: The Net Neutrality Debate in 3 Minutes — ask: Hank: For longer-term help, Hank points to organizations in the description that hire lawyers and lobbyists against the telecoms, asking for money, time and action, and to call Congress. — 00:03:21

Also named in: The Great Goose Migration

2015

2015-08-11 (said on 2015-08-10, implied) · 454 Days: Understanding America's Ridiculous Political Campaigns — John says for most of American history the president wasn't really elected democratically: most people (women, non-white people) couldn't vote, and Congress or party powers chose the candidates. — 00:01:28
2015-10-23 · Benghazi: Explained — Hank says both US sides in the Benghazi story likewise want to control their country's future, through cable news and congressional committees rather than guns. (playful) — 00:01:44
2015-10-23 · Benghazi: Explained — Hank says there have since been seven more investigations that found nothing new. — 00:04:31
2015-10-23 · Benghazi: Explained — Hank says the inquiry clearly went beyond partisan distrust and truth-seeking and became an active, taxpayer-funded campaign against the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. — 00:04:35
2015-10-23 · Benghazi: Explained — Hank says there have been eight congressional investigations of Benghazi, six more than after September 11th, 2001. — 00:06:16
2015-10-23 · Benghazi: Explained — Hank says it seems unlikely anything more will be found and more likely the attack involved unfortunate circumstances and significant but not criminal mistakes. (hedged) — 00:06:16
2015-11-24 · Crime and Outrage — John: The US government could save far more by passing a long-term highway funding bill, which Congress has failed to do for six years, but that is not narratively simple or easy to get outraged about. — 00:01:33

2016

2016-01-05 · Who Owns Oregon? Some Historical Context on the so-called Militia Occupation of Public Lands — John says the Constitution explicitly gives Congress power over US territory and property, and the Supreme Court has consistently upheld federally owned and managed land. — 00:04:06
2016-04-22 · Clinton vs. Sanders: POLICY IS EXCITING! — The description adds that neither candidate has a great chance of passing any significant legislation if the state of Congress remains the same. — video description
2016-06-17 · Hey, Let's Change Some Things — Hank asks Tester to work in Congress for a ban on high-capacity rifle magazines and for restored CDC funding to study gun violence as a public health issue. — video description
2016-06-17 · Hey, Let's Change Some Things — Hank, who found it hard to believe, says congressional staffers agree that letters and phone calls matter more than Twitter and email because they show the constituent cares more. — 00:01:09
2016-06-17 · Hey, Let's Change Some Things — Hank also asks Congress to let the CDC study, and fund study of, the public health effects of guns. — 00:01:51
2016-08-09 · Why I Didn't Vote (And Six Reasons You Might Not) — John says you're not just voting for president: down-ballot races for senators, congresspeople, state legislators and school boards are extremely important to your community. — 00:00:35
2016-08-09 · Why I Didn't Vote (And Six Reasons You Might Not) — recommendation: John recommends finding your state's sample ballot at youtube.com/howtovoteineverystate, then candidates' websites, and Ballotpedia for US Senate or Congress races (link in the doobly-doo). — 00:01:03
2016-09-06 · How We're Spending Your Money: The Bank of Nerdfighteria's Quarterly Report — John jokingly lists the bank's 'three branches' as those of US government: an over-powerful executive, a judiciary that thinks corporations are people, and a legislature that passes nothing. (satire, hedged) — 00:00:11
2016-10-21 · Coming Out, Goats, Government, and Attack Ads with Denise Juneau — Hank introduces Superintendent Juneau, who is running for Congress to represent Montana. — 00:00:12
2016-10-21 · Coming Out, Goats, Government, and Attack Ads with Denise Juneau — Denise Juneau: Juneau says running for Congress differs totally from her statewide race: bigger issues, more scrutiny, a larger microscope on you, but also a bigger megaphone. — 00:02:29
2016-10-21 · Coming Out, Goats, Government, and Attack Ads with Denise Juneau — Denise Juneau: Juneau says coming out had political and personal reasons: people expect access to who candidates are, and running for Congress she wanted things out there, given possible negativity. (hedged) — 00:03:20
2016-11-11 · The Trouble with Wishful Thinking — Hannah Hart: Hannah cautions against wishful thinking: what we thought was enough isn't, so we can't cross our fingers for a more aligned Congress in two years; the conversations must start now. — 00:03:20

2017

2017-01-31 · Understanding Trump's Executive Order on Immigration — John: Many, though by no means all, Republican members of Congress and senators agree. — 00:02:56
2017-03-17 · Trump's Budget Explained — Hank says the budget now goes to the House and Senate to be argued over, and in reality Congress is going to have huge problems with it. — 00:04:47
2017-06-02 · The Paris Accord: What is it? And What Does it All Mean? — Hank says that if Congress's majority party and the President deny human-caused climate change and keep investing in Edison-era energy systems, US progress will stall. — 00:04:48
2017-09-26 · Trump and Russia: An Introduction to What We Know (and What We Don't) — John: WikiLeaks and the Russian government deny it, but US intelligence and both Republican and Democratic members of Congress overwhelmingly agree. — 00:01:44
2017-11-17 · Why Are Taxes So Complicated? (The Musical?) — Hank says Republicans in Congress want people like him to pay much less tax on money made by their corporations; he does not know why, since it is still income to him. (unsure) — 00:02:47
2017-11-17 · Why Are Taxes So Complicated? (The Musical?) — Hank says the value of deferred tuition, perhaps $35,000, is technically income, but because taxing it would be a huge burden on graduate students it is not counted, at least at the moment; what Congress is planning, he says, is not this discussion. (hedged) — 00:05:00
2017-11-24 · The Bizarro History of Black Friday: (AND 2017 CENSUS!) — Hank says one of the first acts of the first US Congress, in 1789, was to create the Lighthouse Service. — 00:00:13
2017-11-24 · The Bizarro History of Black Friday: (AND 2017 CENSUS!) — Hank admits he made all of it up except the Lighthouse Service being created by the first Congress. (playful) — 00:01:43

2018

2018-03-23 · Trump, Guns, and Net Neutrality...With Governor Steve Bullock?! — Steve Bullock: Bullock says the order began when his daughter Caroline, having called their congressional representatives about the repeal, called his switchboard; he first said it was federal, then saw states could lead. — 00:01:41
2018-04-13 · Who is in Control? — Hank doubts whether Congress will be savvy enough to regulate this, or Mark Zuckerberg good or powerful enough to control it. (hedged) — video description
2018-08-24 · The Top 10 John Green GIFs — Hank: Honorable mentions: a Congress GIF, 'surprise Putin' (which has audio), and John scared of squirrels, which Hank loves. (playful) — 00:02:19

2019

2019-01-01 · How to Make Goals, Not Resolutions — John notes that a couple of weeks ago the US Congress passed a resolution reaffirming the US commitment to the Pacific Islands region. — 00:00:03
2019-01-01 · How to Make Goals, Not Resolutions — John: Much of the US federal government is not functioning because Congress cannot pass a bill to fund it. — 00:00:17
2019-01-01 · How to Make Goals, Not Resolutions — John: Like Congress's resolutions, New Year's resolutions don't require doing anything; they never last for John because they are more like dreams than goals. — 00:00:29
2019-02-01 · We Have Destroyed Copyright Law — Hank calls the claiming system pretty genius: big companies that would otherwise lobby Congress to shut YouTube down get a whole new income stream instead. — 00:03:44

2020

2020-10-14 · John Predicts the Future! — Hank: Instead, Hank says sarcastically, the vital topic now is Congress ramming through a Supreme Court justice rather than thinking about COVID relief. (playful) — 00:01:57

2021

2021-10-07 · We're Thinking About Facebook Wrong — Hank was impressed by Frances Haugen's congressional testimony and the questions, which showed deeper understanding; maybe useful conversations are starting. — 00:05:56
2021-11-12 · Everything a Normal Person Needs to Know About Helium — Hank says the US had a gigantic strategic helium reserve, and Congress ordered it to sell all its helium by a set date at any price, tanking helium prices so gas producers had no incentive to refine helium. — 00:01:56

2022

2022-02-22 · On the Death of My Hero — John: In 2001 the head of USAID told Congress he opposed extending antiretroviral therapy to impoverished countries, saying it would fail because the drugs need a schedule and 'these people' don't know clocks. — 00:00:29
2022-03-18 · How to Fix Daylight Saving Time — Hank says that if your response to bipartisan legislation that will improve your life is to find a way to be angry, the problem may be you, not Congress. (playful) — 00:01:22
2022-03-18 · How to Fix Daylight Saving Time — Hank says the clocks could stay on standard or on daylight time; Congress wants daylight time and many people want standard time. — 00:01:22
2022-08-12 · The Biggest Climate Bill of Your Life - But What does it DO!? — Hank: With high inflation and $5 gas, no member of Congress would raise fuel costs, so the bill is nearly all carrots for clean energy and a few sticks for fossil fuels. — 00:13:31
2022-08-23 · Flin Flon: One Book's Unlikely Survival — John says Flin Flon's wildly misogynistic response to the matriarchy can't really be read as satire, since he is presented as the wisest man; there's a reason Muddock isn't read. — 00:02:55
2022-10-25 · Instantly Debateable — John: His most notable example is his long crusade against the US penny: he gets engagement from the idea that pennies are minted because Congress cares mostly about divisive, re-election issues. (hedged) — 00:01:56
2022-10-28 · I'm Changing the Way I Think About Politics — Hank first met Monica Tranel, who is running for Congress, when he emailed her and she helped him make Hanklerfish art for Project for Awesome donors. — 00:00:00

2023

2023-11-24 · It Wasn't Supposed to be Thanksgiving Yesterday — Hank says states began celebrating Thanksgiving on different days, so Congress stepped in with the most confusing compromise: the fourth Thursday of November. — 00:02:26

2024

2024-02-27 · I Was Wrong about the Average American — John: Jessica thinks gun ownership should be more restricted and has a very low opinion of politicians, especially Congress. — 00:01:56
2024-03-12 · How We End TB — John says later this week (week of 11 March 2024) he will be on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. to discuss tuberculosis with members of Congress, senators and their aides. — 00:00:00
2024-03-19 · Our $80,000,000 Bet — John says last week (week of 11 March 2024) he was in Washington, D.C. to ask senators and congresspeople to prioritize tuberculosis, the world's deadliest infectious disease. — 00:00:00
2024-07-05 · Should I Run for President?? — Hank says government is complex: the US president manages nearly 3 million federal employees, deals with foreign leaders, sends Americans to war, leads a party and must work with 535 members of Congress from 50 states. — 00:01:27
2024-07-05 · Should I Run for President?? — Hank says the only major non-COVID legislation Trump's administration passed was one forgettable tax cut, though it had both houses of Congress for its first two years. — 00:03:28
2024-08-09 · Why isn't This Illegal? — Hank explains the FTC has five commissioners nominated by presidents and approved by Congress, serving rolling seven-year terms, with no more than three from one party. — 00:03:20
2024-09-27 · Is It 2010? IT'S A PARTS VIDEO — John says the act must now pass the House, and Congress struggles to pass a law these days. (playful) — 00:01:02

2025

2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Hank says a narrow congressional majority seems to have happily given up its power, but Congress is not allowed to give its power to the president, since separation of powers is the nation's founding idea. — 00:00:18
2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Hank says USAID was created by a law passed by Congress and is funded by laws passed by Congress. — 00:00:36
2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Hank says Congress has the power of the purse: it decides how almost all money in America is spent, not the president. — 00:00:42
2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Hank says the legal route would have been to work with Congress to pass a law dissolving USAID, which the president did not do. — 00:00:59
2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Hank says this violates neither an ordinary law nor an amendment but Article 1 of the Constitution itself: Congress passes laws to determine how money is spent. — 00:01:05
2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Hank says a president who can dismantle the work of Congress refutes the founding document, creates a logistical nightmare and calls into question why Congress exists at all. — 00:01:19
2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Hank says the essay shows Trump is legislatively weak: the narrowest House majority since there have been 50 states, a narrow margin in Congress, and the highest disapproval of any incoming president since polling began. — 00:02:42
2025-02-07 · What Trump's Doing — Hank: Continuing that view, Hank voices removing security professionals for obeying the law and letting the president take the power of the purse from Congress, because he alone can fix this. (satire) — 00:03:25
2025-02-11 · What's at Stake — John says phoning his senators and congresspeople or their offices has made him feel quite empowered: someone has to make the case, and he is grateful we still have some say in our governance. — 00:04:22
2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — The description's talking points say treating executive orders like laws degrades separation of powers, the reason US democracy has lasted, and degrades the power of Congress. — video description
2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank says Congress legally passed the laws funding USAID's work, yet 90% of USAID's funding has been halted. — 00:06:08
2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — ask: Hank shares on screen the talking points he uses when calling his representatives so viewers can call theirs in Congress; a script, a list and ways to find them are in the description. — 00:06:56
2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank: In his script Hank tells his representative he believes they believe in the founding document: Congress creates laws and decides spending, and executive orders are not laws. — 00:07:27
2025-02-28 · We Will Eradicate Measles — Hank's script predicts his representatives will eventually stand up to Donald Trump taking away their power, asking whether they will be among the first, as he hopes. — 00:07:56
2025-04-11 (said on 2025-04-10, implied) · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank strongly agrees with Elizabeth Warren that members of Congress should not be allowed to trade stocks: public servants should put holdings in trust. — 00:16:43
2025-04-11 (said on 2025-04-10, implied) · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank approves of Republicans in Congress saying the Constitution gives the power to levy new taxes to Congress, not the president. — 00:17:13
2025-04-11 (said on 2025-04-10, implied) · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says Congress's taxing power is in the Constitution's second article, not an amendment. (doubtful: second article) — 00:17:43
2025-04-11 (said on 2025-04-10, implied) · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank thanks John and everyone working with him on going to DC to lobby Congress to continue and escalate the fight against the deadliest infectious disease of today and of all time. — 00:18:12
2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — John says that last week (week of 7 April 2025) he and many people from the community visited Washington, D.C., holding over 210 meetings with members of Congress and their offices to press for better TB funding. — 00:00:00
2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — Adam Schiff: Schiff says the Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse, its strongest power: the president commands the military and agencies but can do nothing unless Congress appropriates money. — 00:01:03
2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — Adam Schiff: Schiff says that power is only as good as Congress's willingness to enforce it; by letting the president ignore its appropriations Congress gives it up, which is sadly where things are now. — 00:01:33
2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — Adam Schiff: Schiff says the administration is breaking the law: shutting down agencies Congress established, spending money on other purposes and not spending money appropriated for fighting disease is illegal. — 00:02:02
2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — Adam Schiff: Schiff says the bigger problem is that Congress could stop this but won't, because its majority shares the president's party, defeating the founders' design of setting ambition against ambition. — 00:04:06
2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — John says that in his study of history most people do not willingly give up power, so it is very strange to see large parts of Congress doing so. — 00:04:36
2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — John says most people he talks to are scared, freaked out and overwhelmed by a social media fire hose, and frustrated with both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. — 00:07:27
2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — John repeats Mark Twain's quip calling Congress the country's only native criminal class, then says he probably shouldn't make that joke to a senator. (joke) — 00:07:55
2025-04-22 · The Unimportant Things — John says he even visited Congress with nerdfighters from around the country to make the case for foreign aid funding. — 00:00:58
2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — ask: The description links ways to call and email members of Congress, sign up for TB Fighters email alerts, and join a call-a-thon about rescissions. — video description
2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says the US Congress is deciding whether to codify $400 million in cuts to PEPFAR and $500 million in cuts to other US health aid. — 00:01:27
2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says that if these cuts are codified in US law, it is no exaggeration to say millions of people will die. — 00:01:27
2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says a Republican member of Congress told him in a recent meeting that he didn't disagree, but his constituents don't care about this. — 00:02:55
2025-10-09 · I Like Being Alive — John says these questions shape real choices: stay home with family or go to a conference; raise the most money for PIH through Pizzamas, or do good by lobbying Congress or talking about what he cares about. — 00:01:59
2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank notes that Obama said he would need Congress to abolish the penny, and reminds viewers that presidents don't make laws. — 00:01:25
2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says Trump apparently did not need Congress: it comes down to two readings of a law requiring the Treasury to mint the coins necessary to meet the country's needs. — 00:01:25
2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says Trump's Treasury declared the necessary amount zero not because Congress repealed it, the mint couldn't make them, or demand vanished, since people still want them from banks, but because the president decided. — 00:01:55
2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says Trump repeatedly tests the outer boundary of executive power where statutes are vague or Congress paralyzed, recently fighting to keep people from food stamps even after a court ordered him to stop. — 00:02:53
2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says much should have been done 20 years ago, such as immigration reform or a path to citizenship for Dreamers, but Congress couldn't because Congress can't do things. — 00:03:22
2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says Obama's view of the penny as a legislative question made sense in 2013, when Congress was still at least theoretically a law-making body, and asks whether it still is. — 00:03:22
2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says Congress can barely pass anything unless it is stapled into a giant must-pass spending bill that itself barely passes. — 00:03:51
2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says Congress may look powerful but only has the power to stop things, which makes it extremely weak because things still need to get done. — 00:03:51
2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank agrees the presidency has grown much more powerful, but says a big reason is that Congress appears to have intentionally given the presidency its power. (hedged) — 00:04:50
2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says one legislative mechanism is left: giant filibuster-proof spending packages such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the One Big Beautiful Bill, shipping containers of an administration's policy. — 00:04:50
2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says the country needs to look at the mechanisms that led Congress to give up its power, a weird thing for people who want to be powerful. — 00:06:00
2025-11-14 · The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) — Hank says there are two solutions: Congress gets better at solving problems, or an autocrat claims only he can fix things and demands to be put in charge. — 00:06:30

2026

2026-02-14 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 4! — Hank: If he had to run for Congress, Hank would campaign on regulating away the structures that serve only to divide us and survive because they are politically useful: gerrymandering and money in politics. — 05:43:16
2026-03-03 · The Best Fan Mail I Ever Received — John filmed this video in advance because next week (week of 9 March 2026) he will be in Washington, D.C., lobbying on Capitol Hill for global health and tuberculosis funding with hundreds of TB fighters. — 00:00:00
2026-03-10 · Is Hank Green Running for Congress? — John: Last week (early March 2026) John was on Capitol Hill with hundreds of TB fighters from the community, meeting over 250 Senate and congressional offices about global health and tuberculosis funding and research. — 00:00:00
2026-03-10 · Is Hank Green Running for Congress? — John: Congressional staffers kept asking John whether Hank would run; at first he thought they were kidding, then realized they seriously want Hank in Congress. (playful) — 00:00:00
2026-03-10 · Is Hank Green Running for Congress? — John says that last week (week of 2 March 2026) two of Hank's elected representatives, his congressperson and one of his senators, unexpectedly retired. — 00:00:29
2026-03-10 · Is Hank Green Running for Congress? — John confesses he kind of wants a brother in Congress, as people say you want a friend with a boat rather than a boat. (playful) — 00:01:38
2026-03-10 · Is Hank Green Running for Congress? — John thinks Hank would be pretty good at the job: Congress could use a science communicator and global health advocate. — 00:02:07
2026-03-10 · Is Hank Green Running for Congress? — John says the brothers' first question for any big professional decision is whether it would be bad for vlogbrothers, and if so they don't do it; he worries Hank in Congress might be. — 00:02:36
2026-03-10 · Is Hank Green Running for Congress? — John says public service has long had a bad reputation in the US: 150 years ago Mark Twain quipped that Congress is the only native criminal class. — 00:03:05
2026-03-10 · Is Hank Green Running for Congress? — John says Congress, supposed to decide on going to war and on government spending, is doing not nearly enough of either job. — 00:04:33
2026-03-10 · Is Hank Green Running for Congress? — John says it is unclear how or whether the administration will actually spend the money Congress appropriated. (unsure) — 00:05:31

Also named in other years (nothing said): Stimulus Plan Explained (2009-02-15)