The Realignment 591 | Saikat Chakrabarti: Building a New Consensus - How to Move America from "Failure Mode" to "Mission Mode"
Jan 29, 2026
Saikat Chakrabarti, president and co-founder of New Consensus and former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, discusses moving government from “failure mode” to “mission mode.” He contrasts centrist small fixes with big transformational goals. They debate immigration policy, abolishing ICE and redesigning enforcement. They also explore rebuilding state capacity, long-term planning, and political realignment.
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Recruit Talent With Big Missions
- Attract top talent to government by pairing big missions with competitive compensation or inspiring projects.
- Use large goals to create political capital, energy, and institutional capability that improve basic services.
Mission Mode Over Management
- The U.S. must return to a mission-mode governing approach to tackle monumental problems at scale.
- Mission mode pairs clear national goals with institutions that finance, coordinate, and execute long-term transformations.
Neoliberalism Shifted Governing Modes
- Postwar governance used institutions to intentionally upgrade economies, then shifted to a hands-off 'referee' role under neoliberalism.
- That shift produced long-term stagnation and institutional failures millennials have witnessed.
