Where It All Starts

The Atlantic published the entire Signal conversation centered on strikes on Houthi militants in Yemen between multiple administration officials and, mistakenly, Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg. Paul Rosenzweig, the former deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush, joins us to give us some context on the scale of the Signa...

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe were on Capitol Hill Tuesday for what was supposed to be a routine annual hearing in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Except it ended up being anything but routine, coming one day after The Atlantic published a damning report about how top Trump officials shared imminent battle plans in a private group chat...

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin has been busy since assuming office earlier this year. Zeldin's been pushing President Donald Trump's climate agenda by rolling back Biden-era climate protections, deregulating businesses, and cutting staff at the agency. Former EPA Administrator and White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy joins us to discuss how states and cities...

In just about two months, President Donald Trump has managed to thoroughly shake U.S. democratic structures to the core. From firing thousands of federal workers and plunging the U.S. into a trade war, to testing the limits of our three supposedly coequal branches of government, it's been a lot to process. And the constant chaos makes it hard to grasp what's actually happening, big picture: Are we...

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to officially start shutting down the Department of Education. The thing is... he can't do that, at least not unilaterally. Shutting down the Education Department will require an act of Congress. But the Trump administration has already done a pretty thorough job of gutting the department from the inside, cutting the DOE's staff in half ear...

Are we in a constitutional crisis? That’s the big question on the minds of legal experts across the country right now, as President Donald Trump and his allies ramp up attacks on federal judges who rule against him. The president’s latest beef is with the federal judge who tried to block his administration from deporting more than 250 migrants, mostly from Venezuela. A swath of the American Right,...

Tuesday was a big day in foreign policy news. Israel launched a barrage of airstrikes on Gaza Monday night, its first attack since a ceasefire with Hamas took hold in January. Officials in Gaza say more than 400 people were killed. And President Donald Trump held a 90-minute phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine. Putin ostensibly agreed to a 30-day limited cease...

In both court and in interviews Monday, the Trump administration doubled down on its decision over the weekend to deport more than 250 migrants, mostly Venezuelans. About half of them were removed under the Alien Enemies Act, a centuries-old war-time law President Donald Trump has invoked to deport suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua with little to no due process. It's just one...

While Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer may have kept the U.S. government from shutting down last week, his decision to help Republicans pass a spending plan has kicked off a civil war within the Democratic Party. Many on the left are desperate for a fight with President Donald Trump and seething mad at their own party, which they view as, at best, too complacent in the face of Trump's attacks....

It’s shutdown day in America, with lawmakers facing a midnight deadline to pass a government funding bill that keeps the proverbial lights on. After days of back and forth, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday he would vote to advance the House Republicans' spending plan to a final floor vote, signaling Democrats may fold on their earlier threats of a funding standoff. But Senate Rep...

It’s a rough time for people who worry about infectious diseases. A new study shows bird flu is more widespread in U.S. cows than previously thought. Around 250 Americans have been infected with measles, including two people who died. And globally, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is struggling to contain a Mpox outbreak, Uganda is battling Ebola, Tanzania is fighting Marburg, and Lassa fever...

The Department of Education announced Tuesday it would lay off around 1,300 employees, or about half of its workforce. In a statement, Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the job cuts part of the agency's 'final mission,' and a 'significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system.' While President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to shutter the Education...

The Supreme Court announced Monday it will hear a challenge to Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for LGBTQ kids. It’s the latest example of how Democratic state attorneys general are fighting a multi-front fight right now. They’re the top law enforcement officials in their respective states, responsible for protecting their laws and policies. At the same time, they’re pitched in a near-daily ba...

Will the government shut down this week? That's the big question rocking Washington right now. House Republicans floated a plan over the weekend that would boost funding for the Pentagon and deportations while cutting billions in non-defense spending. Democrats say they're a 'no' on that. But with slim margins in both the House and the Senate, some level of bipartisan support is necessary to keep...

Dozens of Democratic governors across the country are facing a nearly impossible task: Manage the day-to-day operations of their state while also playing wack-a-mole with the waves of awful federal policies coming out of Washington right now. From tariffs to mass government layoffs to threats to shutter the Department of Education, it's a lot! New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul talks about how...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dealt one of its first blows to President Donald Trump’s aggressive agenda to reshape how the federal government works. It was a minor decision: The justices rejected an emergency request from the administration to keep frozen some $2 billion in foreign aid payments. Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts joined the three liberals, raising questions...

President Donald Trump gave his first speech to the American people since taking office Tuesday night, and it was long. The president's address to Congress lasted more than 90 minutes breaking Bill Clinton’s 2000 State of the Union record. Trump talked about everything from tariffs to immigration to trans kids to the economy. Pod Save America’s Jon Lovett joins us to debrief the president’s rambli...

Tonight, President Trump will give his first major address to the nation since the inauguration of his second term. He’ll probably talk about how great of a job he's doing, the Gulf of America and deporting undocumented immigrants. Who knows, he might even rant about the Russian influence investigation some more. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut tells us why he won’t be attending Tru...

European leaders met for an emergency summit in London Sunday to shore up support for Ukraine and wrest control of ceasefire talks with Russia. The rushed gathering came on the heels of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s disastrous Oval Office meeting Friday, where he was publicly berated by President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance for being ‘disrespectful’ and ‘gambling with Wo...

WAD is taking a break from the daily horror show that is political news to talk about the scandals plaguing another American institution: Hollywood. Specifically, the swirling controversies around this year’s Oscars race, which culminates Sunday at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. From ‘Emilia Perez’ going from a sure-fire Best Picture winner to cinematic albatross, to the use of AI in ‘The Bru...

Tax season is upon us, with millions of Americans preparing to file lots of complicated paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service to figure out how much they owe the federal government. Potentially complicating things this year, though, is the Trump administration's decision to fire thousands of IRS workers, just as all that complicated paperwork starts rolling in. Economist Lindsay Owens, execu...

Right now, it feels like President Donald Trump and billionaire ‘first buddy’ Elon Musk are holding all the political cards. While we’re out here just trying to figure out if our local library will still carry books about the Civil Rights Movement, Musk is busy trying to fire every government worker he can find while Trump pitches a golden pathway to citizenship for millionaires. It’s… a lot. And...

As House Republicans prepare to begin voting on their big policy blueprint this week, one of the programs they're targeting for major cuts is Medicaid. The federal healthcare program covers around 80 million Americans, mostly people living near or below the poverty line. While President Donald Trump has endorsed the House's budget plan, he has also said that Medicaid is 'not going to be touched.'...

The Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, wrapped up Saturday. While billionaire Elon Musk ate up a lot of the attention by wielding an actual chainsaw on stage to symbolize his attacks on government waste (and subtlety), the annual conservative conference featured a host of other speakers with far-right ties. That included people like Jack Posobiec, a right-wing influencer who was re...

Thursday marked one month since President Donald Trump officially took office. Since then, he’s signed dozens of executive orders. And the fallout from all his unilateral actions is starting to become clear. The administration’s funding cuts for foreign assistance have already hit millions of people receiving aid around the world through USAID, as well as many American businesses and nonprofits wh...