The NPR Politics Podcast

According to testimony from White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, Trump knew that the some protesters were armed before encouraging them to march on the Capitol, didn't want to intervene once they stormed the building, and indicated he agreed with the chants that Vice President Pence should be hanged. Hutchinson said that Rudy Giuliani and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows sought pardons. And, in an inte...

On Saturday, Biden signed legislation designed to prevent people convicted of domestic abuse from owning a gun and increase the prevalence of state "red flag" laws. The new law comes just days after the Supreme Court's conservative majority ruled there is a constitutional right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense, striking down a long-standing New York law that restricted concealed carry...

In a 6-3 vote along partisan lines, the Supreme Court's conservative majority has overturned Roe v. Wade , the 50-year-old case that was the basis for legal abortion across the United States. The result: a split national landscape, with states free to enforce laws prohibiting abortion. This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, national correspondent Sarah McCammon, demographics and cul...

Top Trump-era Justice officials, including acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen, testified about the former president's push to have the Justice Department substantiate his election fraud claims. He came very close to firing the officials who stood in his way and installing one who would not. And a number of Republicans who supported Trump's efforts to subvert the Democratic process asked the pre...

In Nashville last week, Christian conservatives echoed Trump's claims about fraud after his speech at their conference. In Texas, the state GOP incorporated the idea that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent into the party's new platform. Sharply-partisan districts and an ever-more polarized public have drawn lawmakers like Rep. Elise Stefanik, once known for her moderate politics, to pub...

The officials who appeared before the Jan. 6 committee were Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his chief operating officer Gabriel Sterling — all Republicans who indicated then-President Trump pushed them to violate their obligations to the Constitution. The committee also heard from Shaye Moss, a former staff election worker in Georgia who was ta...

A special episode from our friends at Code Switch : In the wake of violence and tragedies, people are often left in search of ways to feel safe again. That almost inevitably to conversations about the role of police. On today's episode, we're talking to the author and sociologist Alex Vitale, who argues that many spaces in U.S. society over-rely on the police to prevent problems that are better ad...

Take our survey: https://www.npr.org/podcastsurvey Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, reportedly said she'd be willing to speak to the committee following reporting by the Washington Post that Thomas was communicating with a Trump legal adviser at the heart of the probe. And the Federal Reserve escalated its battle against inflation Wednesday, announcing the largest i...

The committee centered its third hearing around one person in particular: former Vice President Mike Pence, honing in on the pressure put on him by former President Trump to overturn the 2020 election. Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney began the hearing by saying: "What the president wanted the vice president to do was not just wrong. It was illegal and unconstitutional." The hearing featured li...

Ahead of those elections, NPR held discussions with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters in the Nevada about their concerns and priorities ahead of the midterms, ranging from the cost of living to gun violence. Then, a look at what Congress is doing to address gun violence in the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas, and whether any legislation has a chance of pa...

One theory: as polarization pushed policy-making out of Congress and toward states, divergent policies passed in red and blue-leaning states may have caused a big — and growing — gap in health outcomes. Read more: https://n.pr/3NUFJZr This episode: political correspondent Susan Davis, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, and health correspondent Allison Aubrey. Support the show and unlock spo...

The second hearing into the Jan. 6 insurrection featured a slew of clips from top Trump aides from the campaign and administration testifying that the former president was repeatedly told that voter fraud claims were not true — but he continued to double-down, both publicly and privately. And senators came to a very narrow agreement on measures designed to curb gun violence. This episode: congress...

The hearing documenting former President Trump's role in the January 6th riot was largely told through recorded clips. But Rep. Liz Cheney — a Republican from Wyoming and an ousted member of GOP leadership — also played a starring role. Why did she break with her Republican colleagues? And in California, progressive Democrats had setbacks in two high-profile elections — the LA mayoral primary and...

Rep. Liz Cheney, the committee's vice chair, summed up the hearing's thesis like this: "On this point, there is no room for debate: Those who invaded our Capitol and battled law enforcement for hours were motivated by what President Trump had told them." The hearing featured produced videos of the assault on the Capitol, recorded clips of interviews with insurrectionists and senior aides to Donald...

Trump voters largely remain enthusiastic about the former president and would considering voting for him again in 2024, but some had a hard time seeing past their affection for the conservative, incumbent politicians he was opposing when casting their primary ballots. That was great news for Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. This episode: White House cor...

The United States is hosting a major gathering of heads of state from the Americas, but some countries are upset President Biden has elected not to invite some leaders the White House described as "dictators." The move led other leaders to boycott — raising questions about whether the summit can effectively address pressing challenges like migration. This episode: White House correspondent Asma Kh...

The Commerce Department is investigating whether China is skirting U.S. tariffs by routing solar panel parts through southeast Asian manufacturers — the biggest U.S. solar panel suppliers. That scared U.S. solar panel installers, who were worried the Commerce Department would impose retroactive fees on projects built during the investigation. Forecasts for new solar energy fell by almost half. On...

The Labor Department said Friday that U.S. businesses added 390,000 jobs in May, as the unemployment rate held steady at a very low 3.6 percent and, despite rising prices, American continue to spend. Nevertheless, voters remain concerned about the economy and the White House is scrambling to find a convincing message. This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, White House correspondent...

Despite bipartisan efforts at a modest deal, Senate Republicans could filibuster any gun control measures that are brought to a vote. That would increase the amount of support needed to pass legislation and imperil its passage. In his speech, Biden noted that guns are the number one cause of death for American children. This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, congressional correspond...

The conservative majority so far appears unmoved by prevailing public opinion on the controversial social issues before them this term, though they have been notably slow to issue final opinions. That will make for a busy few weeks of rulings as the Supreme Court races to conclude its term by the middle of the summer. This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, legal affairs corresponden...

And President Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited with victims and their families in Texas on Sunday. The White House is considering more executive actions on guns, though substantial reform would require congressional action — something that remains very unlikely despite ongoing negotiations. This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, congressional reporter Claudia Grisales, and se...

In the latest installment of our book club, Danielle Kurtzleben talks to professor Carol Anderson about the ways in which redistricting and state voter restrictions work to shape who really has a say in elections. One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy, by Carol Anderson Support the show and unlock sponsor-free listening with a subscription to The NPR Politics Podca...

Most people know John Legend as an award-winning actor and musician. But he also has a long record of political activism. He talked to political correspondent Juana Summers about his latest push for criminal justice reform: endorsing progressive candidates in local prosecutor or district attorney's races. This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow and political correspondent Juana Summer...

The Senate is negotiating over limited legislation aimed at reducing gun violence, although those negotiations are narrow in scope and unlikely to produce results. And the number of competitive elections to serve in the House of Representatives has been declining rapidly over the last 20 years, thanks to gerrymandering and partisan sorting. This episode: congressional correspondent Susan Davis, co...

An opt-in police misconduct database and new conduct standards for federal police: President Biden's police reform executive action enacts reforms that fall well short of what advocates hoped for. Lawmakers previously failed to agree on a more substantial effort. This episode: congressional correspondent Kelsey Snell, White House correspondent Tamara Keith, national justice correspondent Carrie Jo...