The Playbook Podcast

Today, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services faces what’s expected to be a contentious Senate hearing. Health care reporter Daniel Payne joins Playbook deputy editor Zack Stanton to discuss how RFK Jr.’s history as a noted vaccine skeptic and promoter of other disproven medical beliefs may lead to the most controversial hearing of Trump’s presidency. Plus, a federal judge has blocked Trump's unilateral federal funding freeze, but only temporarily. All that, and the rest of the news you need to know today.

President Donald Trump was short on procedure and long on demands in addressing House Republicans at the annual House GOP policy retreat last night. Today, lawmakers will be strategizing about how to actually move these goals through congress. Senior Congress Editor Mike DeBonis joins Playbook Deputy Editor Zack Stanton to discuss. Plus, the Office of Management and Budget has ordered federal agencies to pause all grants and loans starting today in a sweeping policy change rattling Washington.

This afternoon marks the start of the House GOP retreat in Florida, where Republicans will strategize about how to get President Trump’s legislative agenda passed in Congress. The biggest task for the gathering is to finalize a budget blueprint plan for the massive, party-line bill they’re planning, touching energy, border security and tax policy. Congress reporter Meredith Lee Hill joins Playbook deputy editor Zack Stanton to chat. Plus, has the Trump tariff war just begun? All that, plus the rest of the news you need to know today.

Today, President Donald Trump plans to take his first trip outside Washington since taking office, visiting North Carolina and California to assess disaster recovery efforts. California Bureau Chief Christopher Cadelago chats with Playbook Deputy Editor Zack Stanton on whether to expect a sympathetic or confrontational Trump, and how Gov. Gavin Newsom might navigate their relationship of frequent high-profile disagreements and occasional lower-profile cooperation. Plus, Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth looks likely to be confirmed by the Senate tonight, despite opposition from Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.

Last night, in the first Oval Office interview of his second term, Donald Trump let loose on a range of topics — from wildfires in California and his pardons of Jan. 6 rioters to his near assassination and his coming immigration crackdown. What was the takeaway from the interview, and what does it all tell us about the message the Trump team wants to send? White House Bureau Chief Dasha Burns joins Chief Playbook correspondent Eugene Daniels to walk through it all.

With President Donald Trump’s inauguration in the rearview, his cabinet nominees are retaking the spotlight. This week, the Senate takes a closer look at Russell Vought, Pete Hegseth, Elise Stefanik and Sean Duffy, among others. Congress reporter Jordain Carney joins Chief Playbook Correspondent Eugene Daniels to walk through which of these she is keeping an extra close eye on.

President Donald Trump closed his first day with an unprecedented show of executive force, signing dozens of executive orders, including orders to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization, move to end birthright citizenship and grant TikTok a reprieve from a forced shutdown. Trump also pardoned or commuted the sentences of nearly every person who rioted on January 6, 2021, some 1,500 people. Playbook managing editor and author Jack Blanchard and chief Playbook correspondent Eugene Daniels talk through the biggest moments from Monday's inauguration, the impact that President Trump's earliest moves will have and what to expect next.

It has arrived. Today at noon, Donald Trump will be sworn in for a second term as president — the culmination of a political comeback for the ages. But things will look different than we’ve come to expect from past inaugurations: Frigid temperatures have forced the ceremony inside the Capitol for the first time in 40 years. What comes next? A deluge of executive actions bursting out in every direction — from foreign policy to the economy to immigration to gender identity. Chief Playbook correspondent Eugene Daniels and Playbook managing editor and lead author Jack Blanchard walk through what to expect.

In the final days of the Biden White House, all eyes are fixed on President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans’ total control of the levers of power in Washington. But what does the future hold for the opposition party? Chief Playbook Correspondent Eugene Daniels joins Playbook editor Zack Stanton to dig into that question, and talk about what he learned from the DNC panel in Detroit he moderated on Thursday. Plus, Republicans’ divisions over reconciliation are only getting more complex. All that, and the rest of the news you need to know today.

In public, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune get along just fine. Dig a little deeper, and you’ll find that all is not well: Capitol Hill’s two most powerful lawmakers have two very different legislative strategies, and that puts them at a loggerheads as they each vie for President-elect Donald Trump’s ear. How will it all shake out? Capitol bureau chief and senior Washington columnist Rachael Bade joins Playbook deputy editor Zack Stanton to walk through the possibilities. Plus, signs of a ceasefire in Gaza and President Joe Biden bids farewell to the presidency.