What A Day

For the last two weeks, a critically important climate conference has been taking place in Belem, Brazil. For the first time in 30 years, the United States did not send a delegation to the conference. Outside of the event, massive groups of Indigenous people have gathered to demand that world leaders do something to curtail the effects of climate change, which their communities are already feeling. Somini Sengupta, international cl...

President Donald Trump joyously welcomed Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, also known as MBS, to the White House on Tuesday. That's despite the fact that, according to US intelligence, MBS allegedly ordered the 2018 murder of Saudi dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The meeting was supposed to center on Saudi investments in the United States in exchange for military equipment and possible access to nuclear tec...

This week, President Donald Trump told reporters that he would be willing to hold talks with Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro. His statements came as the Navy’s largest aircraft carrier arrived in the Caribbean Sea. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has conducted weeks of attacks on alleged drug boats off the coast of the South American country. But these drug trafficking allegations might just be a distraction from the real ...

The longest government shutdown in American history ended last week, thanks to 8 Senate Democrats giving up the fight to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies. The infighting between Democrats hasn't stopped since. But what if Democrats' caving was actually a good thing? Tim Miller of the Bulwark joins the show to discuss how the Democrats may be in a prime strategic position as Republicans deal with scandals, skyrocketing costs of ...

Good policy is good politics, or so the saying goes. 

So, uh, how do we agree on what that is? Jane Coaston talks with three of the left’s most prominent policy thinkers: Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid, Neera Tanden of the Center for American Progress, and writer Matthew Yglesias of Slow Boring.

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This week, a court filing showed that the Trump Administration has declared the current funding structure for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to be illegal. The agency was created in the wake of the global financial crisis to protect consumers and collect consumer complaints. Project 2025 architect Russell Vought is currently acting director of the CFPB. He has said repeatedly that he wants to see the CFPB close its doors,...

The House returned on Wednesday and ended the longest shutdown in government history. House Republicans were joined by six democrats to fund the government through January 30th. Two Republicans voted against the bill. The final vote was 222-209. Earlier in the day, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released three emails from and to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that appear to indicate that President Donald Trump k...

The government shutdown is inching closer to an end as members of the House of Representatives return to Washington today. They are expected to vote on a bill to end the shutdown this week, after eight Senate Democrats voted with Republicans to advance a budget package on Monday night. The package includes funding for the government until January and would also reinstate federal employees who were laid off during the shutdown. But,...

Monday night, the Senate passed legislation to reopen the government, sending it to the House. The eight Senate Democrats who reached a deal with Republicans over the weekend defended their compromise ahead of the vote Monday. But many Democrats publicly criticized them for caving to the GOP without guaranteeing an extension to Affordable Care Act subsidies. Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders has been one of the toughest cr...

On Sunday evening, senators from both parties reached a deal that could bring an end to the government shutdown, which has lasted well over a month. The deal would include a new stopgap measure that would fund the government through January, plus three different spending measures. Democrats are also negotiating the rehiring of the more than 4,000 federal employees who were laid off during the shutdown. But Democrats aren’t getting ...

After Tuesday’s election results, everyone seems to have gotten the message that affordability is king. Democrats, Republicans, and even President Donald Trump have been talking about the costs of various things, like healthcare, groceries, and Thanksgiving dinner ever since. But for a lot of Americans, making ends meet has been hard for a while. To talk more about the disconnect between what the Trump administration is saying abou...

It was a big day for President Donald Trump as the Supreme Court heard arguments on his power to impose tariffs unilaterally. And the justices seemed… skeptical. Even Trump-friendly Justice Neil Gorsuch questioned Trump Administration lawyers on their claim that tariffs are foreign policy, so the President can do what he wants. Oregon is one of the states suing the Trump administration over tariffs. To find out more about what they...

Tuesday was Election Day and Democrats won big! Voters in New York City elected Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani as their next mayor. In Georgia, Democrats won their first statewide elections in 20 years, flipping two seats on the board that controls electricity costs in the state – a direct response to rising power prices. And in New Jersey, Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill won a tough race to keep the state's governor's mansion bl...

A federal judge once again blocked the Trump Administration from sending the National Guard to Portland over the weekend — but if Trump is successful in the courts, Portlanders can look to the great city of Chicago for a preview of what may be in store. Since ICE began operations in September, there have been violent raids on apartment buildings and near-constant activity from aggressive federal agents rounding up immigrants who ar...

Last week, former Fox News host and conservative pundit Tucker Carlson invited white supremacist and antisemite Nick Fuentes onto his highly-ranked podcast for a friendly conversation about Israel and conservatism. The podcast episode has garnered millions of views – and highlighted a dangerous schism on the American Right. Because while many conservatives condemned Fuentes for his racism and antisemitism and Carlson for basically ...

President Donald Trump announced a trade truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping after a 90-minute meeting in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday. But what actually came out of the truce seems… less than meets the eye. According to Axios, Trump reduced tariffs against China in exchange for promises from the Chinese president to buy American soybeans and oil. However, the deal appears to be largely temporary, with few actual binding det...

A Virginia judge allowed the state’s Democrats to pursue a redistricting plan on Wednesday that would permit them to amend the state’s constitution and redraw its congressional districts before next year’s midterm elections – despite a lawsuit from Virginia Republicans. Those Democrats are following a national trend, kicked off by President Trump. Back in August, Trump called on Texas to redraw its congressional maps ahead of the 2...

Highly anticipated elections are happening across the country on Tuesday. In states from California to Virginia, Americans will head to the polls in big numbers on November 4th. In New York City, voters are set to pick a new mayor – choosing between former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, Republican Curtis Sliwa, and the frontrunner, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani. Even if you don't live in NYC...

The main issue keeping the government closed is healthcare — specifically, the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that have been in place since 2021 and further lowered premium costs for Americans. Democrats want the enhanced subsidies extended, Republicans don’t. Without them, folks who rely on healthcare plans they bought on the exchange will see their premiums skyrocket. But there are other countries with private insurance o...