Brian Schweitzer

State lawmakers consider big budget cuts this session, including $93 million in cuts for the Department of Health and Human Services. The Montana Legislature begins preparations for the possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and two familiar names are circulating for the special election to fill Ryan Zinke’s congressional seat — Gianforte and Baucus.

Join Sally Mauk, Chuck Johnson, and Rob Saldin now for this episode of  "Capitol Talk."

This week on "Capitol Talk": Democrats and Republicans are on a collision course over the state budget. The quickly dissipating spirit of cooperation and non-partisanship at the Legislature. The Republican and Democratic rift over infrastructure projects. And the growing number of candidates, both inside and outside the legislature, for Ryan Zinke's soon-to-be-vacant seat.

Montana Musician Rob Quist landed a significant endorsement in his bid to become the Democratic nominee to run for Congressman Ryan Zinke’s seat. Zinke is expected to give up that seat later this year if the Senate confirms him to be President-elect Trump’s Interior secretary. A special election will be held, likely in the spring.

It’s been just over a week since Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke was nominated to be secretary of Interior by President-elect Donald Trump. Since then, at least half-a-dozen Republicans and one Democrat have expressed interest in replacing him. If Zinke is confirmed by the Senate, Montana will hold a special election next year to fill his House seat.

To talk over what this means for Montana, we’re joined by Rob Saldin, a political science professor at the University of Montana and analyst for MTPR.

Montana Democrats clearly think they can hurt Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte's chances by exploiting a dispute he had with the state over a fishing access on his Bozeman property in 2009.

They’ve been hammering Gianforte over it since May, and on Friday they brought out popular former Democratic Governor Brian Schweitzer to step up their attack.

Former Governor Brian Schweitzer says Montana is well-positioned to help lead what he believes is the country's inevitable energy revolution.

"We're one of the 31 states that passed a [mandatory] renewable energy portfolio. Electricity that we're using in Montana, more than 15 percent of our portfolio is already from renewables."

Former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer is bullish on the future of energy generation and distribution.

Schweitzer's written a new book titled "Power Up.energy" in which he asserts an energy revolution is underway in the United States. He says our dependence on foreign fossil fuels can and should be replaced within 20 years by natural gas, solar and advanced battery technologies.

Senator Jon Tester continues his statewide listening tour to hear from Montana veterans about how to improve care at the Veterans Administration.

  Former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer will be hitting the airwaves of MSNBC as a political contributor, and he’ll be doing so from the comfort of his home on Georgetown Lake. Schweitzer said that was part of the reason he chose to sign with MSNBC.

“Some of the other networks require you to fly to New York or Washington D.C. and do work in the studio and I really don’t like being out of Montana that much,” Schweitzer said.

Since leaving office at the beginning of last year, Schweitzer has regularly appeared on networks like ABC, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC.

Former governor Brian Schweitzer says he plans to spend a lot of time in Iowa, and in fact, he's giving a speech there today - raising more questions about whether he intends to run for president.

With former Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s weekend decision not to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Max Baucus in 2014, the list of Democratic candidates who might run is an ever-changing puzzle.

After Schweitzer’s decision, political observers quickly turned to Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau and State Auditor Monica Lindeen.

The political world - both in Montana and nationally - is still reeling a bit from former Governor Brian Schweitzer's announcement last weekend that he will not run for the U.S. Senate seat

Former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer shocked the political world this past weekend in announcing he will not run for the open Senate Seat being vacated by Max Baucus in 2014.

Schweitzer says he is not interested in moving to Washington D.C., saying he’s happy with his current position as Board Chairman of the Stillwater Mining Company and is content living in his new house on Georgetown Lake.

Republican Congressman Steve Daines has expressed interest in running for the seat, and is considered to be the new frontrunner.

Montana Democrats are preparing for their party’s annual convention this Friday and Saturday in Lewistown.

The party will be electing officers and examining their rules. Executive Director Andrea Marcoccio said the party will be using the convention to unify—to build on the types of strategies which allowed Democrats to win big statewide races in 2012.