The Playbook Podcast

Some of the youngest staffers working in government are challenging norms that have been in place for decades by speaking out when they don’t agree with the Biden administration. The unwritten code of conduct is to keep quiet or quit, but the newest generation is speaking up, speaking out, and staying on the payroll. Playbook co-author Eugene Daniels walks co-author Rachael Bade through how the pr...

Former President Donald Trump will appear in a D.C. Circuit Court Tuesday as oral arguments are heard in the case claiming he attempted to subvert the 2020 election. But, as senior legal affairs reporter Josh Gerstein tells Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza, Trump’s presence — which isn’t required— could be performative ahead of the kickoff of GOP primary voting. Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza intervie...

Over the three week-long holiday break, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer appear to have reached an agreement on top line spending numbers. Plus, Senate negotiators say they've made progress on discussions about the U.S.-Mexico border. But as Playbook co-author Rachael Bade explains, multiple complications remain before either deal can be finalized.

Grassroots groups looking to add a constitutional amendment protecting the right to an abortion are inching towards procuring enough state-certified signatures by the Feb. 1 deadline to put a referendum on the 2024 ballot. If successful, the move could undo the state’s abortion bans and deliver a hard blow to Governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis. Florida-based health reporter Arek Sarkis...

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is rising in the GOP presidential polls. With New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu’s endorsement, she’s prepared to enter the state’s primary in a strong position. But the elephant in the room is that at this point, it is still a race for second place. So has anything changed? Massachusetts-based political reporter Lisa Kashinsky tells Playbook co-author E...

As the election year kicks off, President Joe Biden is making plans. In the coming weeks, Biden will headline big speeches in both Pennsylvania and South Carolina. Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson is applying pressure on the president to act more aggressively about the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, which just happens to be an area where the president consistently polls weakest. Playbook c...

Though the House and Senate are still on holiday recess, two big pieces of business from 2023 remain unfinished. Government funding for the new fiscal year and the $100 billion supplemental for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan — a bill that Republicans are demanding be paired with new border security policies — are likely to dominate the first few weeks on the Hill. The looming Iowa caucuses, too, Playb...

For 40 years, Michigan’s Macomb County has been something like the de facto national capital of white middle America — home of the “Reagan Democrats” and a must-visit for every serious presidential contender. But behind that very familiar story is one you’ve never heard — and which hasn’t really been told in full until this morning, in Politico Magazine. Deputy editor Zack Stanton joins Playbook c...

Deep blue California is shaping up to have one of the most consequential and hard-fought Senate races of the 2024 cycle — and that’s before the general election takes shape. A new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll finds that Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat of Burbank, is in the driver’s seat, with a wide lead heading into election year. But in the race for second place, two prominent Democrats — Reps. Ka...

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that former president and 2024 GOP frontrunner Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the state’s ballots, citing his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol. Senior legal reporter Kyle Cheney joins Playbook co-author Eugene Daniels to break down what this means going forward, and how it may impact the election at large. Playbook co-au...

At a number of recent appearances, President Joe Biden has shown he is not afraid to draw comparisons between the rhetoric of former President Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler. Though not wholly unexplored territory, the move is unusual and seen by some as extreme. White House bureau chief Jonathan Lemire joins Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza to discuss why the Biden team has decided to cross the line,...

With senators stuck on the Hill for another week before the Christmas holidays — thanks to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer — the pressure is on to pass President Joe Biden’s $106 billion national security supplemental. But Republicans aren’t going for it, so it is unclear whether there will even be a hearing before the new year. Plus, more trouble in the DeSantis camp as Jeff Roe, the leader...

It’s the race that political obsessives across the nation are looking to: the special election to succeed ousted GOP Rep. George Santos in New York’s third congressional district. And the nascent campaign to become his replacement is set: Republican Mazi Melesa Pilip, a Nassau County legislator and Ethiopia-born former IDF soldier, vs. former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi. New York Playbook author Em...

As it weighs how to proceed in negotiations over a new tranche of aid to Ukraine, the Biden administration faces a dilemma of both policy and politics: How much can they concede on border security without losing ground with Democratic voters in 2024? The answer to that question is complicated — both on Capitol Hill, where progressives are fuming at Biden for what they see as caving to the right, a...

In a last ditch attempt to convince Congress to agree to send more humanitarian aid to his country before the end of the year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Capitol Hill. He met with House Speaker Mike Johnson and other senior officials, and hosted a press conference with President Joe Biden. But, as national security reporter Alex Ward tells Playbook co-author Eugene Daniels...

On Monday, special counsel Jack Smith — who is investigating Donald Trump's attempt to subvert the 2020 election — asked the Supreme Court to leapfrog the D.C. Circuit court and take up the case in order to keep it on track. He reasoned that the case will ultimately end up with SCOTUS regardless, and it should decide the issue before the end of the current term. But that’s not the only thing Smith...

House Republicans are ready to get rolling on formally authorizing an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden with a floor vote later this week. Despite a lack of evidence, accusers say Biden may have benefited from his son’s business ventures. Right now, as Congress reporter Anthony Adragna explains, the GOP is largely united in supporting the  investigation. But that doesn't necessarily mea...

Hunter Biden’s legal jeopardy reached dramatic new heights late Thursday night, when he was charged with nine criminal counts stemming from allegations that he failed to pay taxes. National correspondent Betsy Woodruff Swann tells Playbook co-author Eugene Daniels that the severity of the new charges may be cause for concern for both Hunter and for his father — who is less than a year out from run...

It was the last scheduled GOP debate before primary ballots start being cast. But did it change anything? Last night in Tuscaloosa, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy traded barbs, unspooled occasionally outlandish talking points and did their best to recapture the narrative in the final month of the primary race. Yet it was the candidate not in attendance — Donald Trump...

The Colorado Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today on whether Trump should be disqualified from the ballot in 2024 based on alleged violations of the 14th amendment. The case, which legal reporter Kyle Cheney explains is almost bound to end up being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, has implications both for the 2024 election and legal precedent for years to come. Playbook co-author Eugene D...

The future of the $106 billion budget supplemental funding package hangs in limbo as negotiations between Democrats and Republicans failed to resolve over the weekend. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he will bring a clean supplemental to the floor this week, but Republicans have vowed to filibuster, White House reporter Jen Haberkorn tells Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza. With the clock ti...

The agenda this week includes the White House making a final plea to Congress for Ukraine aid, a likely vote on the $106 billion supplemental funding package, and a potential re-gagging of former president Trump. Topping it all off is a new focus for Democrats as election season nears: so-called MAGAnomics, the GOP’s policy plans.

GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis met with California Gov. Gavin Newsom for chaotic debate Thursday night. The two—and moderator Sean Hannity— set out to contrast the Republican and Democratic ways of governing during the 90 minute spectacle billed as the red vs. blue debate. A gamut of topics were covered and slews of fiery buzzwords were hurled at one another, but did the...

There is a lot going on on Capitol Hill, and not much time left in the year to get it all done. First, House freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Scott Perry has suggested conservatives may consider compromising on demands for steep spending cuts and accept the funding deal that contributed to the demise of Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s speakership. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, on the other hand, is looking for a way o...

The White House and Congress are trying to find common ground on immigration, an issue President Biden has significantly struggled to gain popularity on in the past. Right now, as White House reporter Myah Ward explains, there are three areas of focus at the center of the debates. Asylum reform, safe third country restrictions, and changes to the country’s parole system are what is causing conflic...