Explore the 2016 election and today’s political news with host Brian Beutler and his friends from both sides of the aisle. A weekly podcast from the New Republic.

Primary Concerns

It’s hard to boil down all the ways the Trump campaign and presidency have reshaped American political norms into a single conceptual frame.

But in his new, best-selling book Devil’s Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and The Storming of the Presidency, Businessweek’s Joshua Green has done just that. He joined New Republic Senior Editor Brian Beutler in studio to discuss the duo's impact on politics, and whether there’s any going back to how things were before.

The Republican Party's Descent Into the Dark Ages

Trumpcare is dead! At least for now. Senate Republicans lack sufficient support to repeal and replace Obamacare, or do anything to the health care system on a purely partisan basis. 

So what happens next? Will Republicans sabotage Obamacare for revenge? Will they feel compelled to stabilize the health care system? And how will congressional Republicans’ passivity toward Trump change now that their legislative agenda is in freefall.  

Daily Beast politics editor Sam Stein joined New Republic Senior Editor Brian Beutler in studio to discuss.

The Republicans' Obamacare 'Waterloo' Moment Has Arrived

The Trump campaign’s efforts to collude with the Russian government against Hillary Clinton have now been established. Donald Trump’s son, Don Jr, produced emails on Tuesday that corroborate a meeting where he and the campaign’s top leadership sought compromising information about Clinton, sourced to the Russian government.

Trump and his allies have been caught in a full year’s worth of lies. Republican congressional leaders have been caught covering up a conspiracy. The question now is what anti-Trump forces can do to make accountability more likely.

Greg Sargent, author of the Washington Post’s Plum Line blog joined us by phone to discuss these issues and more.

Primary Concerns

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Primary Concerns episodes:

The Republican Party's Descent Into the Dark Ages

The Republicans' Obamacare 'Waterloo' Moment Has Arrived

The Trump-Russia Conspiracy Is Real