This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2025.
Ideally, Seven Days reporters turn in their cover stories a week before publication.
That editing timeline was not going to fly with my story about U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Fight Oligarchy” tour. Vermont’s senior senator and former presidential candidate planned to barnstorm through Nebraska and Iowa on Friday and Saturday, February 21 and 22.
My job was to follow him, fly home and crank out the cover story by Monday so editors could shape the final product that would hit the streets on Wednesday, February 26.
I didn’t just blow that deadline, I obliterated it. Thanks a lot, Congress!
My weekend with Bernie revealed that, in addition to inspiring supporters, the goal of his Midwest rallies was to pressure Republicans in purple districts to stand up to President Donald Trump and party leadership ahead of a controversial budget resolution.
The House of Representatives started debating that very resolution on Tuesday and seemed poised to vote on it. We couldn’t very well write a story about Sanders’ effort to block a Republican budget bill and then not say whether it succeeded. That left us no choice but to monitor the vote and, if needed, do a last-minute rewrite.
Typically, Seven Days production manager John James uploads pages to our printer in Québec by 7 p.m. Delaying things past that hour turns the usually jovial James into Jack the Ripper.
That’s because missing this deadline sets off a cascade of painful inconveniences, some of which can be costly. In addition to requiring a number of Seven Days employees to work late, failing to send the pages by the appointed hour can cause delays for printing press operators, truck drivers and our 16-member local delivery crew.
On some Tuesdays, such as Election Day, deadlines can be extended. But this Tuesday proved impossible to predict.
Republicans and their razor-thin majority were facing a revolt by conservatives who weren’t thrilled about Trump’s plan to give massive tax breaks to the wealthy, slash crucial social programs and send deficits soaring. They liked the tax breaks, of course, but a few fiscal hawks wanted more program cuts to pay for them.
Around 5 p.m., when U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) was still on the House floor blasting Republicans for caving to Trump and selling out their own constituents, it was still unclear if a vote would be called.
The one set for 6:30 p.m. was postponed to give Republican leaders time to whip up additional support.
As the evening dragged on, it looked like the conservative holdouts might stand their ground. At one point, Republican leaders pulled the bill from consideration, and lawmakers started heading for the exits.
Minutes later, in a chaotic scene, Speaker Mike Johnson reversed himself and called for the final vote.
Trying to figure all that out by watching C-SPAN and calling and texting D.C. staffers — who weren’t sure themselves what the hell was happening — was nerve-racking.
In the end, Sanders’ pressure campaign hadn’t been as strong as the one by Trump, who had personally twisted the arms of Republican doubters. The vote at 8:22 p.m. was 217-215. My story needed a speedy rewrite to clarify that Sanders’ considerable weekend efforts had not changed the course of history — yet.
That may sound simple. But when reporters, editors, proofreaders and page designers are all in separate locations using email, text and conference calls to communicate confusing, last-minute changes to a front-page story, it’s not.
Ultimately, James negotiated with the patient printers for an 11 p.m. drop-dead deadline, after which the paper would face financial penalties. They got the pages, with three minutes to spare.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Darndest Deadline”
This article appears in Dec 24 2025 – Jan 6 2026.