Peter Hamby • December 9, 2025

What the Dems Talk About When They Talk About A.I.

With an A.I. profiteer in the White House and no congressional mojo, Democrats have been shockingly impotent on A.I., an issue that infuriates or scares the hell out of most Americans. Now, even as they muster some resistance, they risk being outflanked.

Abby Livingston • December 8, 2025

Blue Jasmine

After a string of election victories, Democrats are pondering an honest-to-god blue wave in 2026. But progressive euphoria could be the party’s undoing in Texas, where human attack ad Jasmine Crockett just launched her Senate bid, and the moderate Colin Allred bowed out.

Leigh Ann Caldwell • December 7, 2025

Johnson’s Career Crisis & The House G.O.P. Exodus

Serving in the House—even when your party controls that chamber, the Senate, and the Oval Office—just ain’t what it used to be. The 119th Congress has been divided and demoralized, and is on track to be the least productive in recent memory. Now, frustrated G.O.P. members are running for the exits before things get worse.

Peter Hamby • December 5, 2025

Can Trump Kill the Netflix-WBD Deal?

Paramount staged an aggressive, last-ditch effort to secure its own bid for Warner Bros. Discovery by warning that Netflix would face severe regulatory obstacles in Washington. Could the White House have less leverage than it seems?

Julia Ioffe • December 4, 2025

A Few Bad Men

Experts are debating whether a war crime was committed when the U.S. military executed a double-tap strike on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean, killing the survivors. But who is ultimately responsible: Pete Hegseth or Frank Bradley, the admiral overseeing the mission? And who might actually take the blame?

Leigh Ann Caldwell • December 3, 2025

Bleak House

Republicans are increasingly resigned to losing their House majority, a fate they ascribe to Speaker Mike Johnson’s mismanagement, and to the redistricting crusade prosecuted by the White House itself.

Peter Hamby • December 2, 2025

The Trump Endorsement Trap

In some swing states, the president’s primary endorsement could become an anchor in the midterms. So why are Republicans bear-hugging Trump as they walk out onto the plank? Any G.O.P. operative will tell you the same thing: They don’t have a choice.

Abby Livingston • December 1, 2025

The A.O.C. of the South

In the final hours of the Tennessee special election, the district Trump won by 22 points has suddenly become ultra-competitive—a supermagnet for donors and a potential early warning system for a Democratic tsunami.

Leigh Ann Caldwell • November 30, 2025

Jaime Harrison on the Disappearing Rural Democrat

A frank discussion with the onetime Senate candidate and former D.N.C. chair about why he still thinks Democrats can compete in rural America—and what it will take to win back red states.

Peter Hamby • November 28, 2025

Washington’s ’26 A.I. Bogeyman

An incisive conversation with Ian Krietzberg about the heated battle surrounding A.I. regulation—and the $100 million Silicon Valley super PAC targeting Alex Bores, the regulation-championing Manhattan congressional candidate.

Julia Ioffe • November 26, 2025

Witkoff and Kushner’s Ukraine Turkey

Trump’s latest push for peace with Russia appears destined to repeat the cycle of false promises, mismatched expectations, and inevitable disappointment. Sources close to the Kremlin say the current proposal is likely D.O.A.

Peter Hamby • November 25, 2025

The Newsom Succession

In the Golden State, local politics is often national—and the governorship can be a path to the White House. But with a suffocating housing market, punishing taxes, and a persistent homeless crisis, the state’s crowded ’26 race has yet to produce a candidate that seems up to the challenge.

Abby Livingston • November 24, 2025

Lame Duck à l’Orange

Amid Trump’s power grabs and the Epstein revolt, the G.O.P. is facing growing discontent among the House rank-and-file, whose potential retirements could endanger their slim majority and hasten the president’s lame-duckification, even before the midterms.

Leigh Ann Caldwell • November 23, 2025

The Bros Fade on Trump

A generational civil war has erupted within the MAGA coalition, with some young men gravitating toward extremists like Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes, and others abandoning Trumpism entirely. For Democrats, it’s an opportunity to win back disaffected voters who flipped in 2024.

Peter Hamby • November 21, 2025

Jeffries Democracy

Hakeem Jeffries, the presumptive future Democratic speaker, opens up about his “Trump 2028” moment with J.D. Vance, taking back the House, the next front in the A.C.A. fight, banning congressional stock trading, and his M.C. alter ego.