WASHINGTON
John Heilemann
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October 27, 2025
Yes We Khanna
A conversation with the Democratic congressman from Silicon Valley about allying with Marjorie Taylor Greene, endorsing Zohran Mamdani, defending Graham Platner, and wanting to tax the hell out of his billionaire constituents.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 26, 2025
Johnson & Thune’s Long Surrender
Nine months into Trump’s second term, the House speaker and Senate majority leader are relinquishing many of their powers to the president. “I think it’s fair to say that most of our leadership class in this country has bent the knee,” one G.O.P. senator told me. But almost no Republicans dare push back in public.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 23, 2025
Rounds in the Ring
The South Dakota senator dishes on A.I. policy, as well as the latest on the government shutdown, and whether Pete Hegseth should go.
Abby Livingston
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October 22, 2025
McCarthy’s California Drought
The Republican campaign to prevent Democrats from redrawing California’s congressional lines seems, increasingly, like a losing effort—and insiders are angrily pondering the whereabouts of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who stirred hopes of raising $100 million to save the map.
Peter Hamby
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October 21, 2025
Independent Voters Are Turning on ICE
New data from Echelon Insights suggests that Trump’s ICE raids have actually broken through with voters, unlike any other storyline in the current political moment. But as the president doubles down on unpopular arrest and deportation tactics, he may come to regret it.
Julia Ioffe
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October 20, 2025
Putin in Love
Inside the courtship of Vladimir Putin and Lyudmila Ocheretnaya, his first imperial subject—from a chance encounter in Leningrad and their K.G.B. days in Dresden to raising their family in St. Petersburg on the cusp of his sudden ascendance to unimaginable power. This piece has been adapted from Julia Ioffe’s new book, Motherland, a feminist history of modern Russia and a finalist for the National Book Award.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 19, 2025
The Zohran Red Line
Zohran Mamdani, the presumptive future mayor of New York, still hasn’t received the endorsements of his fellow New Yorkers Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries. The snub speaks volumes about Democratic insecurities: Is Mamdani the future of the party, or a midterm liability? How about both?
Julia Ioffe
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October 16, 2025
Melania Diplomacy
A purported breakthrough in Russian diplomacy comes from a surprising place. Plus, Moscow scores an apparent intelligence coup via a U.S. congresswoman, and Trump warms up to regime change.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 15, 2025
Schumer’s Shutdown Prophecy
Back in March, the Senate Democratic leader feared a shutdown would unshackle Trump to run roughshod over what remains of Congress’s funding power. His predictions are now coming true—but Dems feel fine.
Peter Hamby
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October 14, 2025
Newsom Player Haters & The ’28 Proxy War
Democrats have poured more than $140 million into the off-cycle ballot initiative to gerrymander California, counter Trump’s efforts to manipulate the midterms, and—perhaps most importantly—hand Gavin Newsom the political trophy he needs to cement his status as the presumptive Democratic frontrunner in 2028. But there are plenty of voters who don’t trust Gavin, too.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 12, 2025
Who’s Down with M.T.G.?
As Marjorie Taylor Greene has publicly broken with Trump and the G.O.P. on issues from Israel to Epstein to Obamacare, her posturing might be about something much bigger than frustration with her party.
Julia Ioffe
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October 9, 2025
Portlandia
As Trump masses troops outside blue cities in the name of protecting federal properties, current and former members of the military grapple with the question of which orders are legal—and resent being dragged into the muck of politics.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 8, 2025
Miller’s Crossing
As Trump’s senior advisor gets louder and bolder—describing protesters as terrorists and inconvenient court rulings as “insurrection”—some Republicans are beginning to worry that the administration’s hard-line power grabs will backfire… and maybe even hurt the country, too.
Peter Hamby
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October 7, 2025
How Democrats Finally Won the Internet
After years of churning out digital cringe, Democrats finally seem to have found a human message during the government shutdown, leveraging the left’s messy creator ecosystem to beat the Trump meme machine.
Abby Livingston
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October 6, 2025
Texas Senate Intrigue & A Redistricting Stalemate
News and notes on two Republican power struggles: Cornyn’s tightening Texas Senate race, Corey Lewandowski’s New Hampshire mischief, and their implications for 2026.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 5, 2025
An Officer & A Jentleson
After a year of drift and division, the Democratic Party’s sudden unity over healthcare as a redline in the government shutdown offers a way forward to the 2026 midterms. Democratic strategist Adam Jentleson offers his candid observations on the shutdown, his party’s tactics, and the Schumer of it all.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 2, 2025
Shutdown and Out on Capitol Hill
News and notes from day two of the government shutdown: Russ Vought’s nuclear threat for mass firings, the latest blame-game polling, Sen. Shaheen’s bipartisan gang plan, and Rep. Thompson’s disappearing act.