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Leigh Ann Caldwell, Julia Ioffe, Peter Hamby, Abby Livingston & John Heilemann
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Sunday through Thursday
Puck’s daily political newsletter from Washington—featuring Leigh Ann Caldwell, Julia Ioffe, Peter Hamby, Abby Livingston, and John Heilemann—on what’s really happening in this town, from the White House to the Pentagon to Capitol Hill, K Street, and the campaign trail.
THE LATEST ARTICLES
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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November 5, 2025
Trump’s Nuclear-Option Test
After an election night shellacking, the president is leaning on Senate Republicans to rid him of the meddlesome filibuster—the first real test of G.O.P. unity since Trump’s re-inauguration. Meanwhile, Republicans in competitive districts face a choice before the midterms: Stick with Trump, or start drafting the divorce papers.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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November 2, 2025
’26-7
Under the stormy skies of Trump 2.0, both parties are limbering up and probing for advantage in a midterm brawl to decide control of the House—a fight neither side can afford to lose. Naturally, strategists on both sides claim the wind is at their backs.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 29, 2025
29 Days Later
News and notes from D.C. as the government shutdown enters a fifth week: a potential way out, the Trump power void, Thune’s false “rifle shot” proposal to force incremental votes, bubbling questions about Schumer, and why some Democrats are eyeing November 21 as their date of maximum leverage.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 26, 2025
Johnson & Thune’s Long Surrender
Nine months into Trump’s second term, the House speaker and Senate majority leader are relinquishing many of their powers to the president. “I think it’s fair to say that most of our leadership class in this country has bent the knee,” one G.O.P. senator told me. But almost no Republicans dare push back in public.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 23, 2025
Rounds in the Ring
The South Dakota senator dishes on A.I. policy, as well as the latest on the government shutdown, and whether Pete Hegseth should go.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 19, 2025
The Zohran Red Line
Zohran Mamdani, the presumptive future mayor of New York, still hasn’t received the endorsements of his fellow New Yorkers Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries. The snub speaks volumes about Democratic insecurities: Is Mamdani the future of the party, or a midterm liability? How about both?
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 15, 2025
Schumer’s Shutdown Prophecy
Back in March, the Senate Democratic leader feared a shutdown would unshackle Trump to run roughshod over what remains of Congress’s funding power. His predictions are now coming true—but Dems feel fine.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 12, 2025
Who’s Down with M.T.G.?
As Marjorie Taylor Greene has publicly broken with Trump and the G.O.P. on issues from Israel to Epstein to Obamacare, her posturing might be about something much bigger than frustration with her party.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 8, 2025
Miller’s Crossing
As Trump’s senior advisor gets louder and bolder—describing protesters as terrorists and inconvenient court rulings as “insurrection”—some Republicans are beginning to worry that the administration’s hard-line power grabs will backfire… and maybe even hurt the country, too.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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October 5, 2025
An Officer & A Jentleson
After a year of drift and division, the Democratic Party’s sudden unity over healthcare as a redline in the government shutdown offers a way forward to the 2026 midterms. Democratic strategist Adam Jentleson offers his candid observations on the shutdown, his party’s tactics, and the Schumer of it all.
