WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
From the award-winning opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal, Paul Gigot, Kim Strassel, Bill McGurn and Kyle Peterson discuss the latest from Washington. Get critical perspective and the analysis you need on developments from the nation’s capital. Join them every weekday. Send your feedback to pwpodcast@wsj.com
Episodes
August 8, 2025 • 25 mins
Donald Trump signs an executive order designed to combat 'debanking,' which deprives individuals and businesses of financial services. How bad is the problem, what's in the Trump order, and will it be enough to rein in regulators that put pressure on banks to cancel customers that supposedly pose "reputational risk"? Or does Congress also need to pass legislation making the changes permanent, reforming the Bank Secrecy Act, and enc...
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August 7, 2025 • 24 mins
Republicans started the latest round of redistricting conflict in Texas, but Democrats are promising to fight back in California and Illinois, and now Republicans are promising to escalate further in other states. What's the end game?
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August 6, 2025 • 27 mins
Israel faces a hard decision of whether to reoccupy Gaza and risk more casualties, or stepping away and giving Hamas a chance to return to running the territory.
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August 5, 2025 • 30 mins
Dozens of Texas lawmakers flee the state, denying a legislative quorum that Republicans need to enact a new U.S. House map that could gain them five seats in the 2026 midterms. But how long can the absent Democrats stay away, since Gov. Greg Abbott can keep calling special sessions? And will Democrats really retaliate by redistricting California, New York or Illinois?
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August 4, 2025 • 27 mins
After fresh numbers show that hiring has substantially slowed, Donald Trump responds by firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, accusing the agency of manipulating the figures to make him look bad. But denying negative economic news doesn't change reality, and the White House's newly unveiled list of reciprocal tariff rates isn't doing much for business certainty.
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August 1, 2025 • 26 mins
The Environmental Protection Agency moves to repeal the 2009 "endangerment" finding that underpins federal regulation of greenhouse-gas emissions as pollutants. Plus, the Energy Department releases a report that reviews the science of climate change, but with an emphasis on uncertainty, and without the catastrophic outlook that is now in common circulation.
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July 31, 2025 • 30 mins
The Federal Reserve chooses not to change interest rates despite calls from the Trump administration to cut them. So how much will President Trump’s August. 1 deadline for reaching tariffs agreements contribute to the economy, which is growing slowly, but still confounding the experts.
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July 30, 2025 • 27 mins
A top official at the Food and Drug Administration steps down after the agency changes course on a treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. What does this episode say about the Trump Administration's approach toward drug development and innovation? Plus, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he plans to overhaul the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
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July 29, 2025 • 27 mins
Donald Trump unveils trade agreements with the European Union and Japan that will set baseline tariffs at 15%, with promises that they'll also invest billions of dollars in the U.S., details unspecified. Yet the United Auto Workers warns that this could disadvantage U.S. carmakers, and the question now is whether more deals are coming before Trump's Aug. 1 deadline.
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July 28, 2025 • 26 mins
Polls give him so-so marks, especially on the issues of inflation and the economy that helped him win the Presidency a second time. The good news for the President is that Democrats are in worse shape.
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July 25, 2025 • 26 mins
Border czar Tom Homan and acting ICE director Todd Lyons say that masked immigration agents are merely trying to protect their identities from online “doxxing” efforts targeting them and their families. On the other hand, critics worry that routine masking of police will erode accountability and public confidence, as Democrats push for legislation to prohibit the practice.
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July 24, 2025 • 25 mins
Mike Johnson adjourns the House for the summer to prevent a vote on releasing files from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. How did the GOP get into this mess, and how can it get out?
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July 23, 2025 • 24 mins
State Sen. Omar Fateh wins the backing of his city's party machine, after Democratic convention delegates snub the incumbent, Mayor Jacob Frey. What is Fateh's platform, how does it compare with Zohran Mamdani's in New York, and is this another sign of where Democrats are going? Plus, Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams debate which of them should drop out.
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July 22, 2025 • 30 mins
Donald Trump says the GOP could pick up five House seats in the 2026 midterms by redistricting the Texas political map. That could double Speaker Mike Johnson's current majority, but Democrats promise to respond, and Gov. Gavin Newsom suggests further gerrymandering California. Is this simply the way the political game is played, or could Congress put limits on it?
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July 21, 2025 • 28 mins
The European Union places tougher economic sanctions on Russia amid its war on Ukraine. Will Donald Trump do the same at last? Plus, a populist wave hits Japan as the Liberal Democratic Party loses its majority in the upper house as voters revolt against inflation.
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July 18, 2025 • 25 mins
The Senate gets moving on Donald Trump's appeals-court nominees, including Emil Bove for the Third Circuit, despite a Democratic walkout of the Judiciary Committee meeting. What questions remain about Bove's record at the Justice Department, including his handling of the Eric Adams case? And could his appointment affect whether other judges choose to retire?
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July 17, 2025 • 26 mins
Donald Trump says Republicans have been 'duped' into furthering the Jeffrey Epstein saga, though his own supporters promoted the theory that the sex offender didn't commit suicide in jail. Could a special counsel keep Democrats at bay, or would such an appointment make matters worse for the President?
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July 16, 2025 • 24 mins
Sen. Rand Paul issues a report on the Secret Service's failures to protect Donald Trump last summer in Butler, Pa. What has been learned in the year since then, and does the Secret Service need bigger reforms, such as giving up the job of investigating financial crimes? Plus, the Senate moves on $9 billion in spending rescissions, including cuts to public broadcasting.
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July 15, 2025 • 23 mins
Prices rose faster in June than a month earlier, amid Donald Trump’s tariffs that will be felt throughout the economy. Yet Trump again calls on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates anyway, while the White House also raises complaints about Powell's handling of an over-budget $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed's offices in Washington.
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July 14, 2025 • 23 mins
Reporting from Ukraine, Jillian Kay Melchior describes the scene on the ground as Vladimir Putin launches some of Russia's largest aerial attacks yet, involving hundreds of drones and decoys. What are the lessons of this emerging kind of warfare? Meantime, Donald Trump announces the U.S. will send Ukraine more weapons, which will be paid for by European allies.
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