Politics

St. Louis Public Radio's Chris McDaniel joins the St. Louis Beacon's Jo Mannies and Jason Rosenbaum to talk about the week's politics.

On today's episode: We discuss Representative Jo Ann Emerson's early departure, and who's on the short-list to replace her, where we stand on Medicaid expansion, and Senator Claire McCaskill's recent PR tour.

Follow Chris McDaniel on Twitter: @csmcdaniel

Follow Jo Mannies on Twitter: @jmannies

South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint announced Thursday that he’s stepping down after the end of the year to take a job with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank. DeMint has long been a voice for the tea party movement, and a senator fond of the filibuster. But Missouri Senator Roy Blunt isn’t worried about a conservative void being left after his peer’s retirement.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk will return to work in Washington on Jan. 3, a year after suffering a major stroke that required months of intense rehabilitation.

Kirk has indicated previously that he'd return to work next month but hadn't specified a date. The Republican's spokeswoman, Erin Athas, confirmed the date on Thursday. She had no further details.