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On this episode, President Trump has called Washington’s D.C. a ‘rat-infested…sh—hole’. Over $1 billion in city funding earmarked for 2025 has been held up by Republican lawmakers and the federal workforce is being decimated. Today, the gang is joined by local reporters Meagan Flynn and Emily Davies to make sense of the Trump administration’s complex and at times combative relationship with the na...

On this episode, Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin, James Hohmann, and immigration reporter Maria Sacchetti discuss the deportation of hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to a prison in El Salvador without due process under the Alien Enemies Act , a rarely invoked law from the 18th century. In response to a court placing a restraining order on the deportations, the President called for the judge...

On this episode, Rhonda Colvin, James Hohmann, and JM Rieger take a closer look at President Donald Trump’s transformation from vocal crypto critic to now spearheading the U.S. government’s full-throated embrace of cryptocurrency and digital commodities. Trump’s new love of crypto was on full display during White House Crypto Summit on March 7 , led by crypto and artificial intelligence czar David...

On this episode, The Washington Post's Rhonda Colvin, James Hohmann and JM Rieger explain why Washington is once again under the cloud of a looming government shutdown – and why fiscal conservatives might have to hold their noses and vote to keep the government open. Plus, how Vice President JD Vance is finding a role for himself as a go-between for members of Congress who want access to the White...

In this episode, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann decode President Trump's efforts to redefine America's role on the world stage – from seemingly starting trade wars with China, Mexico and Canada to straining alliances with Europe that have defined American foreign policy since the Second World War. Plus, what is Trump really trying to accomplish – and is he playi...

Join Sidebar for live coverage of President Trump's joint address to Congress, March 4 at 8 p.m. – only at YouTube.com/WashingtonPost .

On this episode, Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin, James Hohmann, and Washington Post DOGE reporter Faiz Siddiqui take a closer look at “special government employee” Elon Musk who continues to upend the federal government, overseeing the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency while joking that he is merely “tech support” during his appearances at the White House . What is the current...

On this episode, Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin, and James Hohmann discuss the fallout from Elon Musk’s email to federal workers that threatened firings if they did not respond to a request to detail their work responsibilities last week. This comes at a time when Republican lawmakers in the House are finalizing language of the so-called “ big beautiful bill ”, a Trump-endorsed legislative package tha...

On this episode, The Washington Post’s Libby Casey and JM Rieger are joined by metro reporter Emily Davies and White House correspondent Michael Birnbaum to discuss the escalating rhetoric used by President Donald Trump and his administration, calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “a dictator without elections,” while also meeting with Russia delegates for peace talks, notably without Ukr...

On this episode, The Washington Post's Libby Casey and JM Rieger are joined by congressional economic correspondent Jacob Bogage to discuss Elon Musk's DOGE team attempting to access a highly guarded IRS computer system that contains Americans' personal financial information. The crew breaks down what's actually in the files DOGE representatives are seeking, why, and what makes career government o...

On this episode, The Washington Post's Rhonda Colvin, James Hohmann and JM Rieger sit down with media reporter Jeremy Barr to break down the Trump administration's recent spats with the media – from barring The Associated Press from Oval Office events, to removing media organizations from workspaces at the Pentagon. Plus, Trump settles with Facebook and Twitter, and demands a $20 billion settlemen...

The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann break down the pushback to President Trump and Elon Musk's attempts to drastically downsize the federal government – from what Congress is or isn't doing , on both sides of the aisle, to lawsuits and federal judges who have started to put some of Trump's efforts on hold . And is the GOP's rhetoric about the judiciary getting danger...

On this episode, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann break down the buyout offer made to federal workers as Elon Musk's DOGE continues to try to downsize government: What is the offer, is it legal, and what are union leaders saying? Plus, some breaking news on the deadline for employees to decide whether to take it. Then, how will cutting employees and programs affec...

The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann break down the big story in Washington this week: The Trump administration's efforts to downsize the federal government, led by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. Is Musk allowed to access Americans' sensitive data , and eliminate government programs he doesn't like? Plus, what effect will Musk's efforts have on...

On this episode, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann break down President Trump's news conference after the Washington, D.C. plane crash – and how Trump chose to blame his predecessors, Democrats and diversity programs rather than embracing the role of consoler-in-chief.  Plus, three of Trump's most controversial cabinet nominees had Senate confirmation hearings...

The Washington Post's Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann are joined by White House reporter Cat Zakrzewski to discuss President Trump's first week back in office – and what happened the night he decided to fire more than a dozen government inspectors general . Plus, Trump's pause on government grants and loans is throwing Washington – and government programs around the globe – into chaos. Who will be...

The Washington Post's Rhonda Colvin, James Hohmann and JM Rieger are joined by immigration reporter Nick Miroff to break down the way President Trump is attempting to rapidly change the United States' immigration system – and create a culture of fear among undocumented immigrants. Plus, how is Trump quickly changing America's foreign policy – and what is he trying to accomplish by demolishing deca...

Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin, James Hohmann and Aaron Blake break down President Trump's decision to pardon or commute the sentences of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol rioters , just hours after he was inaugurated for the second time. And Trump signed a whole lot of other executive orders ; Which ones definitely matter, which ones might end up mattering, and which ones probably won't? Plus, the tech billio...

On this week's episode, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin, James Hohmann and JM Rieger break down the Trump cabinet nominees whose hearings have gotten underway on Capitol Hill – and whether Democrats are effectively rallying votes against any of them. Plus, President Biden gave his farewell speech on Jan. 15 – and it wasn't the speech everyone expected. Then, what is the crew looki...

In this special episode, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann are joined by JM Rieger in Washington and criminal justice reporter Shayna Jacobs in New York, to discuss the sentence handed down to president-elect Trump in his New York hush money case – and why he escaped punishment after being convicted on 34 felony counts. Plus, is this the end of Trump's legal troubl...

This week, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann break down president-elect Trump's angry, grievance-filled news conference – and why Trump is so focused on those grievances despite winning the election, with Republicans winning both houses of Congress. Then, the crew recaps the latest on Trump's New York hush money case , and whether the Supreme Court might intervene...

This week, reporters Marianna Sotomayor and Marianne Levine join the show to discuss the House speaker drama that could unfold as GOP holdouts say they might not vote for current House Speaker Mike Johnson. Plus, what are Republicans' early legislative priorities – and are there signs that after winning the White House and both houses of Congress in November that the Republican party is far from u...

This week, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann recap the most important moments in American politics in 2024 – plus a few runners-up.

This week, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann break down Elon Musk's successful effort to torpedo a government spending bill – and what that means about how president-elect Donald Trump's White House will function. Plus, how are Democrats preparing for a Trump presidency in which they are the minority in both the House and Senate? Later, the crew looks at longtime m...

This week, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann discuss what's left of the Democratic party after its 2024 election losses – from who's left in Congress and who will have positions of authority, to the fading presence of the party's biggest voices in recent decades. The crew breaks down who could step up as Democrats' ideological leader – and who definitely won't be i...