Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

A Government Built to Stall—and What That Means for Democracy (with Hannah Garden-Monheit)

Feb 3, 2026
Hannah Garden-Monheit, former Biden-Harris senior official and Roosevelt Institute/AEGP fellow, discusses why government often fails to deliver for working people. She explores procedural hurdles that delay action, how corporations weaponize process, and which visible enforcement fights and policy designs can rebuild public trust. The conversation examines rebuilding state capacity and practical steps to make government more effective.
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INSIGHT

Gatekeepers Weren't Neutral

  • Regulatory review mechanisms like OIRA were layered in with an ideological lens to slow regulation.
  • Democrats kept many of these constraints in place, reinforcing tools designed to hobble the administrative state.
INSIGHT

Public Interest Vs. Professionalized Influence

  • Corporate interests professionalized litigation and influence to weaponize process against public interest.
  • Ordinary people lack time and resources to participate meaningfully in formal rulemaking like the APA comment process.
ANECDOTE

Hail Marys And Rapid Course Corrections

  • The Biden team sometimes tried big gambles and then moved on when they failed.
  • Interviewees described it as throwing Hail Marys and then throwing another when one didn't work.
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