The NPR Politics Podcast

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Every weekday, NPR's best political reporters are there to explain the big news coming out of Washington and the campaign trail. They don't just tell you what happened. They tell you why it matters. Every afternoon.

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Roundup: Congress, Cameos &...

12.08.2023

Lawmakers are scrambling to get things done before the end of the year, but is there an appetite to fund more aid for Ukraine if Republicans' immigration priorities are not met? And, a look at the end of two long-running ...

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12.08.2023 Roundup: Congress, Cameos & Clapbacks Lawmakers are scrambling to get things done before the end of the year, but is there an appetite to fund more aid for Ukraine if Republicans' immigration priorities are not met? And, a look at the end of two long-running ...
12.07.2023 Merrick Garland's Had A Lot On His Plate The Department of Justice this week announced war crimes charges against four Russian soldiers for alleged torture of an American citizen in Ukraine, and the arrest of a former U.S. ambassador on charges of working for Cuban intelligence services. Both ...
12.07.2023 Sparks Fly At Fourth Republican Primary Debate Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley & businessman Vivek Ramaswamy attacked each other during the final Republican primary debate before the Iowa caucuses. Former president Donald Trump, who has refused to ...
12.05.2023 Trump Plans A More Radical Second Term The former president and his allies have made clear they don't want obstacles that stymied them in their first term to get in the way during a potential second term. Overhauls of the civil service, the judiciary & more are ...
12.04.2023 Nikki Haley, Feminism & The Modern Republican Party The former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador threads the needle while running for president: she says her gender is important to her candidacy, but she does not think it is the main reason why people should vote for her. ...
12.01.2023 Weekly Roundup: The House Expels Santos, and A Clash of Two Governors Rep. George Santos became the sixth person ever expelled from the House of Representatives Friday. And while Santos has been a political thorn in Republicans' side since his election, not everyone was comfortable kicking him out. Plus, Florida Gov. Ron ...
11.30.2023 President Biden Is Sharpening His Attacks On Former President Trump For a while, President Biden was treating former President Trump a little like Lord Voldemort: He Who Must Not Be Named. But now, Biden is saying Trump's name a lot. With his approval rating hovering around 40 percent, Biden has ...
11.29.2023 The GOP Is Having An Identity Crisis Over America's Role in The World From Israel, to Ukraine, to China, global crises and conflicts are dominating headlines. And there are key divides among Republican presidential candidates on how to respond to those crises and conflicts. We break down where the 2024 hopefuls stand on ...
11.28.2023 Trump Is Breaking All The Rules Of The Iowa Caucuses — And Still Winning The Iowa caucuses are less than two months away, and former President Trump remains the clear frontrunner in state polls. But, challengers Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis have recently picked up key endorsements that could challenge Trump's hold on that ...
11.27.2023 A Court Ruling Poses A New Threat To The Voting Rights Act's Protections Last week, a federal appeals court ruled that private individuals and groups, like the ACLU or NAACP, can't sue under a key section of the Voting Rights Act. It's a decision that could reshape the political landscape, at a time ...
11.24.2023 The Supreme Court's Shadow Docket Roe. Brown. Obergefell. Dobbs. These Supreme Court decisions are the ones that make headlines, and eventually history books. But today, the vast majority of the Court's work actually happens out of the public eye, on what's become known as the ...
11.23.2023 A Thanksgiving Treat: The NPR Politics Podcast Quiz In this edition of the podcast, originally only available to NPR Politics Podcast+ supporters, Tamara Keith and Ron Elving quiz one lucky listener on the month that was in political news. This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, and ...
11.22.2023 Israel and Hamas Agree to Temporary Cease-fire and Hostage Release After six weeks of war, Israel and Hamas have agreed to a four-day pause in hostilities. As part of the agreement, 50 hostages currently held by Hamas and 150 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel will be released. The deal is ...
11.21.2023 The Jan. 6 Case Against Donald Trump is Taking Shape The federal election interference case against former President Trump is months away from going to trial, but last week we got a sneak peek at how prosecutors plan to make the case that Trump was responsible for the violence of ...
11.20.2023 GOP Presidential Hopefuls Are Trying To Thread The Needle On Abortion For decades, abortion has been a motivating force for the Republican base. But in a post-Roe, world, it's become a political liability in general elections. That leaves 2024 presidential hopefuls attempting a balancing act: how to appeal to primary base ...
11.17.2023 Fights, Fowl, Flagging Polls & Funding The Government It was a busy week in Washington. President Biden's support from Arab-American and Muslim American voters over Israel's war with Hamas. Congress managed to avoid a shutdown, but not without members verbally — and physically — attacking each other. And, ...
11.16.2023 Poll: Americans Divided Over Israel's War With Hamas The latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll shows a growing number of Americans think Israel's military actions against Hamas have gone too far compared to data from last month. Respondents also are split on whether to continue financial & military support to ...
11.15.2023 Speaker Mike Johnson's Ties To The Christian Right Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., has long-held ties to Christian activists and leaders — some of whom are linked to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and the growing Christian nationalism movement. We explore what those views are, and ...
11.14.2023 Arizona Voters May Decide 2024 — What Are Their Priorities? It's a state with lots of older and younger voters, and whose population is increasingly diversifying. Combine that with a plurality of Arizona voters no longer identifying as Republicans or as Democrats, and conditions are rife for a tough election ...
11.13.2023 Why Is It Getting Harder To Fight Election Misinformation? Between lawsuits, threats & difficulty doing research, both elections officials and researchers studying misinformation say their jobs are becoming more difficult — and it's not set to get better before the 2024 presidential vote. And, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., leaves ...
11.11.2023 Trump's Trials: Why lawyers say 'never write anything down' Today we're sharing an episode of a new NPR podcast called Trump's Trials, hosted by Scott Detrow with regular analysis from Domenico Montanaro. Each week they'll break down the latest courtroom drama, testimony, and legal maneuverings in the criminal and ...
11.10.2023 Roundup: Manchin's Moves, Election News, Panda Blues Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced he wouldn't seek another term, fueling speculation he's gearing up for a presidential run. Meanwhile, new speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) is facing a major challenge to avoid a government shutdown next week, ...
11.09.2023 Can Nikki Haley Be Republicans' Presidential Nominee? The former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor is attracting new attention with voters. But, she still has a lot of ground to make up to catch former president Donald Trump. Does she have a path to win the nomination? ...
11.09.2023 In South Florida, GOP Candidates Debate While Trump Rallies Five candidates — former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, and South Carolina senator Tim Scott met on a debate stage in Miami, each trying ...
11.07.2023 What's At Stake For Trump As N.Y. Fraud Trial Continues The former president took the stand Monday in a New York courtroom and was at times combative and defense when asked to answer questions over his knowledge of fraudulent financial statements filed by the Trump Organization. This episode: senior White ...
11.06.2023 Abortion Is On Ohio Ballots — What You Need To Know Voters will decide whether to codify reproductive rights in the state's constitution this Election Day, continuing a trend of state referenda on abortion access after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. Ohio's current abortion ban, prohibiting the procedure after ...
11.03.2023 Weekly Roundup: New Speaker, Same Challenges Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) has a lot on his agenda — aid to Israel and Ukraine, a looming government shutdown & more. He'll need bipartisan support to get things done, but how doable that is remains to ...
11.02.2023 Republicans Turn On Tuberville Over Military Blockade Senate colleagues are frustrated with Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who continues to block appointments to the military chain of command as a form of protest over policy allowing servicemembers to reproductive care. And, efforts to castigate three House members fell ...
11.01.2023 Democrats Divided Over Israel President Biden has offered strong support for Israel in its war against Hamas, even traveling to the country to show the United States' commitment to Israel's defense. But that stance has some Democrats sharply critical of the Biden administration for ...
10.31.2023 How A Colorado Trial Could Force Trump Off The Ballot A suit filed in the state alleges the former president is ineligible to seek public office based on a provision in the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. What does the suit claim, and what could happen next? This episode: ...
10.30.2023 Term Limits Won't Fix Congress — Here's What Might The idea of term limiting congressional representatives tends to poll well, but — in practice — the idea probably wouldn't reduce extreme partisanship or curb outside influence. But there are some ideas, like multi-member districts and reforms to primary elections, ...
10.27.2023 Roundup: GOP Boosts Power By Gerrymandering North Carolina Drawing congressional and statehouse districts in a way that solidifies a party's political power is a primary driver of the country's extreme, hyper-partisan political environment. Here's how the fight over new maps in Georgia and North Carolina is expected to ...
10.26.2023 Trump Allies Take Plea Deals In Georgia — How That Changes The Case Trump-aligned lawyers Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro and Jenna Ellis have agreed to plea deals in a Georgia case related to Trump's effort to overturn Biden's election win in the state. That might help prosecutors there build a strong case against ...
10.25.2023 Meet Mike Johnson, The Republican Just Elected Speaker Of The House The Louisiana Republican is known as an easy friend among his colleagues, a devout Christian and fervent social conservative who joined the majority of his Republican peers who voted against certifying Joe Biden's presidential election win. He won unanimous party ...
10.24.2023 Trump And Allies Doom Latest GOP Speaker Nominee, GOP Regroups "I have many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the House, and some are truly great Warriors. RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of them," Donald Trump said in a post on his ...
10.23.2023 Can GOP Remake Election Data System Undermined By Conspiracies? The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) helps member states keep their voter rolls up-to-date, which prevents voter fraud. But after a slew of GOP-led states stopped participating in the compact under pressure from voters swayed by conspiracy theories about the ...
10.20.2023 Who Wants To Be Speaker Of The House Of Representatives? Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) failed to win a majority of votes in the House on his third attempt to become speaker. The Republican conference then decided Jordan will not be their nominee for the role going forward, bringing the chamber ...
10.19.2023 Republican Chaos: Still No Clear Path To Speaker After wavering and backing a temporary leader, Rep. Jim Jordan says he will push ahead with another round of voting in his bid to become Speaker of the House. Meanwhile, President Biden is set to address the nation from the ...
10.18.2023 In Israel, Biden Affirms Support, Warns Against Acting Out Of Rage The president delivered the remarks during his trip to Israel. An additional stop in Jordan to meet with Egypt's leader and the head of the Palestinian Authority was cancelled. Majorities of both parties in the U.S. favor American support for ...
10.18.2023 If Republicans Don't Solve Their Spat, Congress Can't Pass Laws Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio was opposed by twenty of his fellow Republicans in a vote before the full House today, leaving him far short of the support he needs to become Speaker of the House. He's called for another ...
10.16.2023 Voters Have Complicated Views Of Biden's Climate Action The White House describes the $369 billion of spending inside the Inflation Reduction Act as the biggest investment in combating climate change in the history of the world — but climate-minded voters remains frustrated about concessions he's made to allow ...
10.14.2023 Roundup: Congress Still Stalled, Republicans Can't Agree On Leader With a massive humanitarian crisis in Israel and Gaza, dwindling funds for Ukraine and a rapidly approaching budget deadline, Republicans selected Jim Jordan as their latest nominee for speaker — though, with a number of Republicans still openly opposing him, ...
10.12.2023 Trump Visits Early States As Crowded Field Stymies Rivals Donald Trump has visited Iowa and New Hampshire more frequently in recent months, though skipping the retail politicking that has historically defined the campaign culture of the early states. It hasn't seemed to impact his standing in the polls though ...
10.11.2023 Can Republicans Unite Behind Steve Scalise As Speaker? The conservative Louisiana Republican has now been backed by his primary rival in the race for Speaker, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. But it is not yet clear if Scalise can martial the support of the full GOP conference and ...
10.10.2023 Congress Can't Pass Israel Aid Until House Republicans Find Consensus Republicans must pick a Speaker of the House before Congress can pass any legislation — and are facing new pressure to move quickly in order to respond to a war in Israel that has left hundreds of civilians dead, including ...
10.09.2023 SCOTUS Banned Affirmative Action — Except At Military Service Academies This summer, the Supreme Court overturned the legality of race-based affirmative action at higher education institutions everywhere, with one glaring exception: military service academies. Members of the conservative-leaning court like Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice John Roberts have long been ...
10.06.2023 Roundup: Abortion Could Soon Be Back Before Supreme Court And U.S. officials are likely to show up empty-handed to a international meeting coordinating aid to Ukraine as House Republicans block additional funds. Some lawmakers say they want to understand an end game for the conflict before authorizing spending, as ...
10.05.2023 Most Trump-Leaning Independents: He Shouldn't Be POTUS If Convicted According to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, 49% of Americans believe he has done something illegal and an additional 26 percent believe he has done something unethical but not illegal. Still, half of all independents prefer Trump to Biden — ...
10.04.2023 This GOP Fight Could Devastate George W. Bush's Global Health Win Concern from some Republicans over abortion — and resurgent skepticism of foreign aid — could severely curb the effectiveness of the AIDS prevention program PEPFAR. Also known as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR is credited with saving ...
10.04.2023 Speaker McCarthy Fired By Hardliners As GOP Coalition Collapses Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida was joined by seven other Republicans and the Democratic party in a first-of-its-kind maneuver. There is no plan for what comes next. We want to hear from you about the show: npr.org/politicssurvey This episode: White ...

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