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Leigh Ann Caldwell, Peter Hamby, Julia Ioffe, Marianna Sotomayor, John Heilemann, & Abby Livingston
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Sunday through Thursday
Puck’s daily political newsletter from Washington—featuring Leigh Ann Caldwell, Peter Hamby, Marianna Sotomayor, Julia Ioffe, John Heilemann, and Abby Livingston—on what’s really happening in this town, from the White House to the Pentagon to Capitol Hill, K Street, the campaign trail, and beyond.
THE LATEST ARTICLES
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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February 11, 2026
ICE, Interrupted
With D.H.S. funding set to expire, Democrats—newly unified, and with a favorable polling wind at their backs—are prepared to risk a shutdown over reforming ICE, betting that Republicans and a politically weakened Trump will absorb the blame.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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February 6, 2026
Sen. Moreno’s Stablecoin Solution
The Republican senator and fierce cryptocurrency advocate sits down for an especially timely Puck Power Breakfast conversation about his bipartisan blockchain bill, which would create a new market structure to regulate digital tokens and stablecoins alike.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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February 4, 2026
Good Filibuster Hunting
John Thune’s real problem isn’t Democrats or the Trump White House, but a Republican crusade to turn the filibuster into a weapon which could grind the Senate to a halt.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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February 1, 2026
Rage Against Stephen Miller
Trump’s hard-line immigration restrictionist has become a lightning rod in the culture, and on Capitol Hill in particular. Republicans are divided among those who support Miller, those who suffer him out of fealty to the president, and an increasingly vocal group that thinks he’s going to cost them the midterms.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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January 28, 2026
Susan Collins on the Rocks
The Maine senator should be celebrating a triumphant capstone to her first full year heading Appropriations. Instead, she’s expressing concern over ICE violence and scrambling to fund the government—all while facing down a possible reelection campaign that could be her toughest yet.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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January 25, 2026
Trump’s Blue State Assault
The White House is threatening to throttle federal funding to blue states, escalating Trump’s war of retribution. On Capitol Hill, some Republicans worry it could cost them the House.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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January 21, 2026
Trump’s G.O.P. Greenlanditis
With his Davos speech, the president reassured jittery Republicans that invading Greenland is, for now, off the table. But conversations on the Hill have escalated, as even Trump’s G.O.P. allies warn that any move that blows up NATO could end his midterm hopes—and lead to impeachment, too.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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January 18, 2026
Will Democrats Impeach Kristi Noem?
While House Democrats are divided over how to challenge Trump, leadership is quietly building a case against the Homeland Security secretary—beginning with potential shadow hearings, outside the official committee structure, that would gather the evidence against her.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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January 14, 2026
John Thune Has the Hardest Job in Washington
Can the Senate leader preserve his majority, manage his members’ competing agendas, and protect his institution—all while placating the president?
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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January 11, 2026
The Ballad of Rand & Lindsey
The changing definition of “America First” has exploded tensions between two senators at opposite ends of the conservative foreign policy spectrum: the libertarian Rand Paul and the interventionist Lindsey Graham. If Paul won the ideological battle in the first term, Graham seems to have Trump’s ear in the second.