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WASHINGTON

The biggest hurdle to a televised Trump trial is the history of the judiciary, itself.

Will the Trump Trials Be Televised?

NBC and other media companies are petitioning the court to allow cameras inside the courtroom, a move that could turn Trump’s criminal trial in D.C. into the O.J. Simpson circus on steroids.
Eriq Gardner • October 23, 2023
Tara Palmeri • October 19, 2023
The Kevin McCarthy Revival Plot
Kevin McCarthy seems invested in finding a speaker who would need him the most.
So does Kevin McCarthy want his old job back, or does he instead want to cut a role for himself as a background-lurking shadow Speaker fundraising rainmaker? Either way, unlike his predecessors, he doesn’t seem to be going anywhere…
Tina Nguyen • October 18, 2023
The Trump H.R. Shadow Battle
The two groups wants to forge a ready-on-day-one army of trained political appointees and a clearly-defined ideological action plan.
In preparation for a Republican nominee who is long on outrage and short on process, two shadow organizations—one staffed by ideologues, the other by the usual suspects—are competing to staff a putative second Trump administration with their own agendas in mind. What could possibly go wrong?
In response to would-be speaker Jim Jordan’s reported openness to linking Ukraine and Israel aid, Matt Gaetz jumped in to say the two should be considered separately.
Julia Ioffe • October 18, 2023
The Israel-Ukraine Funding Conundrum
Why is aid to Ukraine and aid to Israel different in the minds of Republicans?
Perhaps the most notable holdout was the House Appropriations chair Kay Granger.
Abby Livingston • October 17, 2023
The Jordan Skeptics Strike Back
It seems the G.O.P. institutionalists, after years of getting steamrolled by Trump, finally found a hill they might be willing to die on.
The Rockbridge Network was co-founded by J.D. Vance and Chris Buskirk, the publisher of the pro-Trump journal American Greatness, in 2019.
Theodore Schleifer • October 17, 2023
Rockbridge Over Troubled Waters
The secretive, Trump-friendly, Silicon Valley-inflected donor alliance is less interested in the Republican primary than in redpilling techies into MAGA populism, hyping Tucker’s new mediaco, and moving millions to the G.O.P. grassroots—the latest effort to replace the Koch-era coalition with something younger and edgier.
Jim Jordan, a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, was long considered a bomb-thrower rather than a dealmaker by his colleagues.
Abby Livingston • October 16, 2023
Jim Jordan’s Hostile Takeover
The hardliner Boehner once called a “legislative terrorist” is mounting an unprecedented campaign to whip Republican votes. But does he have the numbers? And could taking the speakership cost him the House?
By July and August, when he went viral for karaoke-rapping Eminem at the Iowa State Fair, Ramaswamy was basking in the glow of newfound political fame.
Peter Hamby • October 16, 2023
Death of a Salesman
The brief rise and rapid fall of Vivek Ramaswamy is a pretty good indicator that even in the chaotic universe of Republican politics, with its shameless demands and perverse incentives, certain rules still apply. Among them: People have to like you.
If there is any dysfunction within the Trump campaign, it’s remained largely private.
Tara Palmeri • October 12, 2023
The Trump Eras Tour
Political rivals and media critics have been caught off guard by the unexpected professionalism and discipline of the 2024 Trump campaign, led by the triumvirate of Wiles, Miller, and LaCivita. They’ve cut costs and stripped organizational layers with a singular purpose: supporting the principal, no matter what. So, will it last?
Steve Scalise and his allies had been making the case across the Hill that he would be a less volatile, more cooperative leader than his main rival for the gavel.
Tina Nguyen • October 11, 2023
War & Scalise
A small crew of Republican holdouts—McCarthy loyalists, Jordan fans, media gadflies—are threatening to tank Scalise’s speakership bid, just like they did to his predecessor. How long can the House G.O.P. chaos last?
Julia Ioffe • October 11, 2023
Tragedy in Israel
Those who talk about a two-state solution are living in a world that hasn’t existed for a decade. Both sides have hardened to an exclusionary extreme that precludes compromise or coexistence. The events of the last week will ensure that even the embers of those hopes are doused cold.
Democrats have a lot of work to do, beginning right now, to win over young voters to get Biden gets re-elected in 2024.
Peter Hamby • October 9, 2023
Biden’s Youth Serum Shortage
The president’s reelection faces a “flashing red” alarm heading into 2024 if he can’t capture 60 percent of a youth vote that’s tuned in but turned off. Alarmingly, for a party that depends on people of color, the enthusiasm drop has been most pronounced among younger Black voters—a generation they can no longer take for granted.
for all the wish-casters waiting for Biden to drop out, there’s only 10 days remaining for the fantasy to take form.
Tara Palmeri • October 5, 2023
The Biden Plan B Delusion
There’s only 10 days remaining for a Democratic challenger to get on the ballot in all 50 states, inflaming the anxieties of party insiders who quietly wish Biden would step aside. But a flailing Republican impeachment inquiry, and the speakership chaos in the House, are giving them hope for a rebound.
kevin mccarthy
Abby Livingston • October 4, 2023
McCarthy Aftershocks & The Texas Plot
For all Kevin McCarthy’s flaws, he was also one of the most active political animals in the House G.O.P. conference. Herewith, three observations on the fallout absent his leadership.
Kevin McCarthy’s exit was more or less preordained from the moment he gave Matt Gaetz the power to initiate a no-confidence vote.
Tina Nguyen • October 4, 2023
Gaetz Crimes & The McCarthy Morality Tale
Congress’s most ardent McCarthy haters didn’t plan for Matt Gaetz to go rogue. But with the transactional Kevin McCarthy gone as Speaker, the most MAGA Republicans need to find a new whipping boy—and fast.
Robert Fico
Julia Ioffe • October 4, 2023
Ukraine’s Darth Vader & The Pentagon’s Voodoo Economics
On one level, it’s been a terrible week for Ukraine: the House passed a CR that doesn’t include aid and Slovakia, its neighbor, elected a pro-Russian madman. But actually, believe it or not, things aren’t quite as bad as they seem—at least not yet.
Kevin McCarthy was ousted as House speaker on Tuesday.
Abby Livingston • October 3, 2023
Kevin in Heaven
McCarthy’s ouster was essentially preordained from the moment that he agreed to wear Matt Gaetz’s motion-to-vacate suicide vest. The only question now is whether he’s raptured right back.
Like the Tim Scott crush over the summer, the Glenn Youngkin idea is mostly being peddled by rich country clubbers in the Republican donor set.
Peter Hamby • October 2, 2023
The Youngkin Mind Flu
Of course donors are salivating over Glenn Youngkin, the 6-foot-6 Harvard MBA and private equity billionaire-turned-Republican governor straight out of central casting circa 2012. But let’s be real: there is no electorate for Youngkin, no actual plan to draft him, and no logical process to do so.