The NPR Politics Podcast

By a vote of 5-4, a coalition of liberal and conservative justices essentially upheld the court's 1986 decision requiring that in states where voting is racially polarized, the legislature must create the maximum number of majority-Black or near-majority-Black congressional districts, using traditional redistricting criteria. The surprise decisions could impact other states' maps as well. And Hous...

Former vice president Mike Pence and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie were both early, key allies of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential campaign. Now, they are both trying to end his political career and claim the GOP presidential nomination for themselves. This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, political correspondent Kelsey Snell, and national political correspondent M...

Schools remain a fixation of conservative political messaging. A new NPR-Ipsos poll asked teachers, parents of school-age children and the general public who should be responsible for setting curricula, what to make of book bans and how they view race and gender-focused lessons. This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, education correspondent Cory Turner, and senior political editor a...

Texas' top law enforcement official, Attorney General Ken Paxton, has been removed — at least temporarily — from his post by fellow Republicans, following years of allegations concerning ethical lapses and criminal conduct. A final vote in the state senate will decide his fate. Republican lawmakers in the state are also working to change how elections are overseen in the Texas' largest county. Goo...

A rare bipartisan success story, the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, quietly helped to clean up voter rolls and catch fraud for nearly a decade — until it became the target of the far-right and a Trump allied lawyer. NPR Voting Correspondent Miles Parks and NPR's Investigations Team traced the secret meetings and grassroots pressure to dismantle an obscure elections tool — giv...

President Biden is expected to sign the debt ceiling agreement into law as soon as Saturday, after bipartisan majorities in both chambers of Congress approved the legislation. But the manufactured crisis, brinkmanship and last-minute U-turn are not encouraging signs about the health of the American political system. And how conspiracy theories have undermined an effective voter fraud prevention to...

The early days of the campaign will be easier for Biden this time around: he's got all the advantages of incumbency, including a relative risk-free primary process. Here's a primer on his campaign leadership and how he's using the Democratic National Committee in an effort to win new states. This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, White House correspondent Tamara Keith, and White Hous...

Droughts, worsening fire seasons, temperature swings and monsoons all impact farmers' businesses, food production, utility costs and livelihoods. The new normal has caused some farmers to feel politically homeless — many felt abandoned by Trump-era tariff policies despite generally identifying as conservative voters. And despite the billions in funding for agriculture-related programs in Biden's s...

Democrats took a big gamble: they chose not to raise or eliminate the debt ceiling when they had full control of government, betting that it could create a headache for the Republican-controlled House. Republicans, after repeatedly raising the debt ceiling without issue during the Trump administration, held global financial stability hostage to secure minor policy wins. Now, after flirting with di...

Join us on an audio tour of the U.S. Capitol complex, through Senate office buildings, press work stations, the Capitol subway, and the House floor — originally released as a bonus episode for NPR Politics Podcast+ supporters. This episode: political correspondent Susan Davis, reporter Barbara Sprunt, and producer Casey Morell. The podcast is produced by Elena Moore and Casey Morell. Our editor is...

The fiscal parameters of a deal to avert self-inflicted financial catastrophe have been largely hammered out by House Republicans and the White House — but differences over social programs and energy permitting still need to be resolved. And, over the last decade, the Supreme Court has increasingly leveraged its emergency or "shadow" docket to issue orders that have sweeping implications — but the...

The Florida governor made his campaign official on Wednesday night, in a Twitter Spaces event with Elon Musk beset with technical issues. Quickly attracting criticism from both Republican and Democratic challengers alike, DeSantis cited his pandemic response and battles against critical race theory as reasons why he would be an effective president. This episode: political correspondents Susan Davi...

The latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll shows more than six in 10 Americans are concerned about President Biden's mental fitness, but his approval rating has increased four points from last month's survey. The poll also explored attitudes toward the debt ceiling, and to issues surrounding gun control. We dig into the numbers, and make sense of them. This episode: political correspondent S...

Tim Scott, the junior senator from South Carolina, kicked off his presidential campaign in North Charleston on Monday, and Florida governor Ron DeSantis is expected to follow suit this week, according to multiple media reports. As the field of Republican candidates takes shape, what will contenders need to do to challenge former president Donald Trump successfully — as well as current president Bi...

After cutting short his trip to Asia, President Biden returned to Washington to meet with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to try and hash out terms over increasing the country's debt limit. Where are they finding common ground, and what still needs to be resolved? This episode: political correspondent Susan Davis, reporter Barbara Sprunt, and national political correspondent Mara Li...

Vivek Ramaswamy is a 37 year-old investor and pharmaceutical entrepreneur who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination. A self-described nationalist, he says he can expand Donald Trump's America First message to a wider audience. This episode: political correspondent Susan Davis and White House correspondent Asma Khalid. The podcast is produced by Elena Moore and Casey Morell. Our editor...

As world leaders convene in Japan for the G7 summit, contemporary concerns including climate change and Russia's invasion of Ukraine are on the agenda alongside a resurgent worry: nuclear war. This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, White House correspondent Scott Detrow, and international correspondent Anthony Kuhn. The podcast is produced by Elena Moore and Casey Morell. Our editor...

OpenAI head Sam Altman appeared before a Senate panel this week to talk about his ChatGPT product and the future of artificial intelligence. Lawmakers acknowledge the broad upsides of the fast-moving technology but hope to craft regulation in order to blunt the social and civic drawbacks that arrived alongside past tech breakthroughs. This episode: political reporter Deepa Shivaram, disinformation...

Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, vetoed a bill banning abortion in North Carolina after 12 weeks. But as Republicans hold supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature, it is likely the veto will be overridden, and restrictions could take effect as soon as this summer. This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, senior political editor & correspondent Domenico Montanaro, and WFAE p...

Four senators — two Democrats, two Republicans — are joining forces on a bill to regulate how social media companies can interact with users under the age of 18. They're one of many groups in Congress trying to increase oversight and regulation in this field, but given the country's polarized politics, does their legislation have any chance of making its way to President Biden's desk? This episode...

Lawmakers have yet to reach a deal to avert U.S. default, which could come as soon as next month. In Ohio, Republican lawmakers are attempting to amend the state's constitution to waylay reproductive rights activists' push to safeguard access to abortion. And, in Can't Let It Go, news of a dog who is very old. This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, political correspondent Kelsey Sne...

Social Security provides retirement money to U.S. workers who have paid into the system via taxes. The program could be forced to cut payments within the next decade if Congress doesn't act to shore up its funding. One bipartisan plan, still in its early days, comes from Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, and Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats: an independent...

This episode includes discussion of sexual violence. Jurors found former President Donald Trump liable for battery and defamation in the civil lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, who says Trump raped her in a Manhattan department store. While the jurors did not find that Trump raped Carroll, they agreed that he "sexually abused" her and that he defamed her when he denied her story. Carroll...

Congress has long directed the government to spend more money than it collects in taxes. That means the government has to borrow money to meets its obligations, which it does by selling Treasury securities. Treasury securities are a promise from the government that you if give it money now, it will pay you back with interest later. They have long been considered among the safest investments in the...

As a major pandemic-related immigration policy is scheduled to end, the Biden administration is warning the tens of thousands of migrants hoping to cross into the U.S. via its southern border that they should instead apply for asylum using the government's app or through a processing center in their home countries. This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, White House correspondent Fra...