WASHINGTON
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.
Julia Ioffe
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January 15, 2026
The Havana Hangover
After years of denials, Washington is finally reckoning with new reporting that would seem to confirm the existence of the alleged Russian directed-energy weapon that causes Havana syndrome—or what the U.S. government now calls “anomalous health incidents.” But will Tulsi Gabbard be allowed to release the O.D.N.I.’s own findings?
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?
Peter Hamby
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January 13, 2026
Support for ICE Is Collapsing
Outside the right-wing echo chamber, polls tell the true story of an unprecedented drop in support for Trump’s immigration agency, which has swung 30 points in 12 months.
Abby Livingston
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January 12, 2026
Pelosi Succession Chatter & Gavin-mander Aftershocks
Nancy Pelosi’s retirement in San Francisco, an Obama alum’s generational challenge in L.A., and a redrawn Orange County could end careers and launch new California stars.
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.
Abby Livingston
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January 8, 2026
The Wolves of First Street
The once quixotic, bipartisan crusade to ban congressional stock trading is gaining real momentum—but in the least productive Congress in history, getting Washington’s best-informed traders to give up their Robinhood accounts may be a long shot.
Julia Ioffe
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January 8, 2026
The Big Olowski Has Left the Building
Lew Olowski, the State Department’s wacky, polarizing head of H.R., is said to have imploded at his farewell party when he learned that he wasn’t getting a coveted assignment.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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January 7, 2026
Trump’s Mile-High Revenge Tour
The president’s bizarre decision to wage a retaliatory political war on Colorado—including the MAGA stronghold that elected Lauren Boebert—could wind up costing him the House.
Peter Hamby
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January 6, 2026
Manospheres of Influence
The disaffected young men who helped elect Trump are fed up with high prices, worried about A.I., and frustrated by the president’s neocon turn. And, according to exclusive new polling data, they’re souring on Trump just as they turned on Joe Biden.
Julia Ioffe
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January 5, 2026
Neocon Don
Trump’s largely consequence-free projection of military power in Iran and elsewhere laid the groundwork for last weekend’s shocking action in Venezuela—and validated a new framework for MAGA-style interventionism. But what happens when Xi starts playing by the same rules?
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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January 4, 2026
The Four Horsemen of Capitol Hill’s Apocalypse
A close look at the challenges, opportunities, and curveballs awaiting the Big Four congressional leaders in the new year: the M.T.G. mutiny, G.O.P. majority shrinkage, another shutdown, A.C.A. headaches, and Trump.
John Heilemann
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December 30, 2025
The World According to Ezra
The Times columnist, podcast impresario, and would-be Democratic Party uber-reformer recaps the past year in politics—and explains why, despite his ongoing sense of alarm, he’s closing out 2025 feeling moderately hopeful.
Abby Livingston
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December 29, 2025
The Real House Members of Potomac
Ready or not, the midterm primary season is just days away. And, as analyst Jacob Rubashkin explains, just about anything can happen… including a congressional surprise in Texas and a Senate upset in Michigan.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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December 28, 2025
The G.O.P.’s Midterm Polling Paradox
A few months ago, Republicans thought they had the country on autopilot. Now the party is stuck with a souring economy, beholden to Trump for turnout—whether they like it or not—and staring down an increasingly unpredictable midterm map.
Peter Hamby
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December 23, 2025
The ICE Storm
A candid conversation with L.A. police chief Jim McDonnell about the complicated reality of ICE raids, hyperbolic crime narratives, and preparing for the World Cup and 2028 Olympics in the second Trump era.
Abby Livingston
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December 22, 2025
“The Mini Mamdanis Are Coming”
Dan Goldman, the popular resistance-lib congressman repping downtown Manhattan and much of brownstone Brooklyn, was a star on MSNBC. But in a year in which his rival was just endorsed by Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Democrats fear he could be among the biggest names to fall in a Tea Party–style reckoning.