WASHINGTON
Tara Palmeri
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July 25, 2022
Steny Hoyer’s T Word & Axelrod Fatigue
David Axelrod, the ex-Obama adviser turned CNN gadfly, has been giving Biden’s comms shop indigestion—and a gnawing sense of pique. Meanwhile, aging Democratic leaders, scrambling for relevance in a post-Pelosi world, have become entranced by a potentially "transformational" political newcomer.
Tara Palmeri
& Theodore Schleifer
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July 21, 2022
A.O.C.’s Ambitions & DeSantis Aches
The inside conversation on 2024, donor anxieties, the G.O.P.’s would-be Obama, post-Gillibrand New York, and more.
Tina Nguyen
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July 20, 2022
The DeSantis ‘24 Paradox
Trump’s now all-but-assured entry into the next White House race is already complicating the Florida governor’s ambitions to succeed him. But the agony of waiting his turn might outweigh the risk of challenging Trump head-on.
Julia Ioffe
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July 20, 2022
This Town, Revisited
A candid catch-up with Mark Leibovich, Washington’s preferred bard and the author of Thank You For Your Servitude, on Bubble World, D.C. appeasement, Liz Cheney, and the modern G.O.P.
Tara Palmeri
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July 18, 2022
Glenn Youngkin’s Pence-ian Revelation
Can the massively ambitious, ostensibly palatable, evangelical-friendly newbie governor of the Commonwealth capitalize on Pence’s Jan. 6th weaknesses and create a viable ‘24 lane? Well, he’s got Jeff Roe on his side…
Dylan Byers
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July 15, 2022
Biden’s WaPo Headache
The president, whose polling has hit a Trump-like nadir, has his fair share of nemeses: the far left, Joe Manchin, Trump and DeSantis, and now perhaps the hometown paper, The Washington Post.
Tara Palmeri & Julia Ioffe
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July 14, 2022
Trump’s Announcement Bomb & Meadows’ Case of the Willies
Puck’s Washington experts reveal the inside conversation in D.C. regarding Trump’s defensive ‘24 posturing, DeSantis’ likability deficit, Congress’ olds problems, and the drifting immigrant voting bloc.
Tina Nguyen
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July 13, 2022
Trump’s Billion-Dollar Deadline & Dave’s Next Moves
While Trump contemplates the timing of a 2024 run, he is also facing another, even more pressing deadline to consummate the merger between his struggling media company, Truth Social, and a rapidly deflating SPAC. Plus, news and notes on Jan. 6th’s inside men and McCormick’s post-campaign opportunities.
Julia Ioffe
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July 12, 2022
The Trials of Brittney Griner
Griner—Black, American, gay—has become ensnared in a Russian penal system that effectively makes her Putin’s personal prisoner, and, potentially, a geopolitical pawn in the Ukraine war. So far, it doesn’t seem she’ll be released anytime soon.
Tara Palmeri
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July 11, 2022
Biden’s Advance Man on 2024 and Beyond
Greg Schultz, Biden’s campaign manager in 2020, understands the president’s politics, strengths, and weaknesses better than perhaps anyone. Here’s his diagnosis, and prognostication, about his former candidate and boss.
Tina Nguyen
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July 6, 2022
Who’s Afraid of Ginni Thomas?
The SCOTUS conservative majority’s unofficial First Lady has driven liberals berserk with her Trumpism, January 6th adjacency, and anti-Roe activism. It’s enough to make some in this town wonder if her Facebook posts narrate her husband’s internal monologue.
Julia Ioffe
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July 5, 2022
Europe Braces for Life After Biden
Last week’s Bavaria-Brussels-NATO schmoozefest was haunted by fears that there will be no second Biden term—and that the return of America-first isolationism will soon leave Europe at Putin’s mercy.
Tara Palmeri
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July 5, 2022
Ro Khanna Psychoanalyzes His Own Party
In a wide-ranging and deeply revealing conversation, the progressive Silicon Valley congressman discusses Biden’s re-election odds, Kavanaugh’s politics, Kamala Harris’s future, and the politics within his own conference as the Pelosi retirement rumors swirl.
Tara Palmeri
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June 30, 2022
WaPo Sweepstakes & The Cassidy Hutchinson Market
The plot thickens as antsy Post staffers wonder whom C.E.O. Fred Ryan will pick to succeed the beloved Fred Hiatt. Meanwhile, more news on Susan Rice’s ascent and Cassidy Hutchinson’s next moves.
Tina Nguyen
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June 29, 2022
Is the G.O.P. Consciously Uncoupling from Trump?
According to the elite Republican operatives I surveyed after the Hutchinson testimony, a quiet estrangement is gradually accelerating.
Julia Ioffe
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June 28, 2022
The G.O.P. Inside Conversation on Roe
During the past few days, I’ve been talking to Republican operatives across D.C. They were all careful not to gloat, but they’ve also been shocked at how little the Democratic Party is doing to fight back.
Theodore Schleifer
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June 28, 2022
Silicon D.C.’s Post-Crash Reckoning
The inside conversation about Elon’s beef with MacKenzie, S.B.F.’s investment in Semafor, and the true story behind Eric Schmidt and Peter Thiel’s military-industrial collaboration.