Interview Only w/ Leigh Ann Caldwell - Trump 2.0 Has Made Capitol Hill Irrelevant

It's sponsorship time. But you know what, it's really great when you get a sponsor that you already use. And guess what. Quint's is something that in the Todd household we already go to. Why do we go to Quint's Because it's a place you go where you can get some really nice clothes without the really expensive prices. And one of the things I've been going through is I've transitioned from being mister cot and ty guy to wanting a little more casual but to look nice doing it.

I love it. It's great. Actually, it's a good place to work. I get to cover what I want to cover. No, yeah, it's it's great. It's I don't really.

Have You've been at the Washington Post at NBC. Right, It doesn't get more mainstream media than that. You and I got to know each other at NBC.

Yeah, I hired me at NBC.

I hired Well. I wasn't going to be so presumptuous, but I'd like to think I had good judgment here. What how do you answer the question of, hey, what's the difference between LeAnn called Well the reporter for Puck and Leanne called Well, the reporter for NBC and the Washington Post. How do you answer that question?

Oh, my gosh, that's that No one's actually asked me that question in that way. I would say, there is not actually a lot of difference in my and how I approach my job specifically. I am still covering the hill, still covering politics. I think what is different is that I have changed my focus completely away from the incremental and I now think more deeply about the impacts of

Yeah, I sort of answer it very similarly. I'll say, you know, look it, I don't have to worry about the busy work of Washington reporting. And what do we mean by the busy work of art? Look what you just described as incrementalism, like what time is this brief and going to be? Is this going to happen the next tomorrow or the next day? All important information that major news organizations it might be planning planning specials around it, or planning coverage or trying to These are all important

Right absolutely, yes, yes, because you have to as you

Course, you and I are a questioning do they need it? Like you know, the amount I mean, I think that's the thing, Like, I mean, I didn't mean to cut you off there, but it's like, yes, if you think through if you think about the network through the prism, the older prism, then yeah, it makes sense. When you think about how consumers get information, it made no sense.

Yeah, no, I mean that's that's an absolutely great point. And also it's like, you know, from a reporter standpoint, it was a lot of making sure you had what someone else had, and so there was very little ability to do original thought because it was always making sure that everyone, every network or every outlet was in the same place jaistically with the content.

And oh, well, that's an important it's an important point. Let me put a put a signpost on that wall. Street journal is reporting that there's going to be a vote tomorrow on the ACA subsidies. Hey, Leanne, can you go check that out? Is it tomorrow? Right?

Like you're like, can you confirm that?

Yes? And it's like yeah, and maybe in the maybe confirming that information might get you another piece of information that can't help your reporting. Don't get me wrong, Like doing that was a totally useless exercise, you know, because you were then suddenly all right, well maybe you know what else can you tell me? And then suddenly you're like, Okay,

Totally. That's exactly what I tell people, you know, when you they ask a different version of the question you asked me. No one at PUCK has ever said, can you can affirm this? Like not once it's been It's amazing. I have spent zero time confirming other people's reporting.

Yeah, let's talk about Congress this year. There are days you think, oh my god, the sky is falling, and there are days you're like, yeah, this is just another day in the life at Congress, and you know this is is this your fifth year covering Capitol Hill?

No? Oh my godcha longer than that.

Everything, the time space time continuum is just done for me.

With Covidney right the day after Trump got elected first term. So what's that?

So it's almost about nine years, So you're nine years, nine years you've been covering the Hill nine years. I could sit here and say you've covered a more dysfunctional version of Congress than when I started covering Capitol Hill in nineteen ninety three and ninety four going through there. And yet there were veterans back then who'd say, oh, you have no idea, you're covering a very this Gingrich era,

Well, let me just say I'm gonna expand that a little bit. A lot of people do blame the Gingrich years for like going off the cliff. So I guess you were there at the beginning of what people now maybe it's real.

You know what the Gingrit's apologists would say, It started with Jim Wright, and it started with the Democrats in eighty six when they insisted on seating that's called it's this fight called the Bloody Eighth, Indiana's eighth congressional district. A recount indicated that the Republican won. The Democrats didn't accept the recount, and they literally seeded the Democrat even though the recount had So the point is is that it's just like the judiciary wars, Terry Read's fault, It's

Yeah, totally. So the past nine years during Trump, I guess, you know, Trump and then Biden and then Trump again. Now it's just you know, first four years of Trump, the story was what everyone how every Republican secretly hates Trump. Like the story would always be, can you react to whatever Trump tweeted it was Twitter back then, or whatever he said, and people would start to say, oh, I didn't see it, you know, try to dodge, but it was there was so little respect for the man, and

Course, and it's no longer theater. It used to be theater. Yeah, behind the scenes. Boy, let me tell you Tom Cole he gets along with everybody, and he may still get along with everybody right by the way, for what he's probably right. Everybody loves Tom Cole. You know, he's too he doesn't know how to be mean, which you know, but for the most part, you would hear it seemed more theater than not. And now it seems real, like this stuff's personal.

It feels well, yeah, it's it's very personal. And it's not just for the member level too. The staffs don't really like each other like and that's like another layer where the staffs. You know, everyone kind of got the joke. And now, for the most part, there are very few people who hang Republicans who hang out with Democrats and vice versa. Yes, there are some.

Is that just is that a generational phenomenon. I've gotten a sense that the younger congressional staffers are a bit more are well, I mean they were, they were They've learned politics in the social media era, which is a very which is to me, a very awful way to have learned politics. But they they sort of believe that their counterparts are what the social media caricature has created of them.

Yeah. Yeah, I think that. I think that there is

Still they know how to still like work with the other side, or at least at least they know somebody they can work with on the other side.

Yeah, yeah, totally. And there's like the appropriators, you know, they have to work with each other, et cetera. But it's just, you know, January sixth did a lot a lot of damage, and it took years for it to kind of get back to a base level. And then now It's just I think that the Congress story is, you know, how diminished of an institution will Congress be

Well, it was interesting. We were you know, we've gone through these fits and starts of strong speakers and week speakers. It was a strong speaker, Tom Foley was a week Jim Wright. Tom Jim Wright wanted to be a strong speaker. It sort of got him out, It sort of cost him the speakership. Fully was a week speaker. Gingrich was a strong speaker. Then we had hasted extraordinarily weak speaker.

Yeah, I think so. I mean, especially how this Congress, this session of this Congress ended up.

We're not and we're not done, right, Like, I mean this Congress, you know, this.

Year of this Sea Congress. Yeah, right, and the last week was tumultuous.

Well, and it's been tumultuous arguably for the last two months. Right. There was that day where you had a party on party crime, right, you had the Democrats trying to censure another Democrat. Republicans were met. I mean, it seemed I was talking with Mike Turner the day after it happened, and he goes, he said, the only thing missing were the canes, you know, where they were just going to start like actually physically assaulting each other. But that, I mean,

Yeah, he literally wrote the Institution irrelevance and it I was shocked at the number of Republicans who were okay with it, but it proved it. Yeah, it proved to be a massive mistake. They are going to come out as being extremely unproductive. They could have been working on

So, why do I think we are underplaying the possibility of another shutdown? In January. Why do we assume there won't be one. It feels like to me all the ingredients are there for another shutdown in January.

I think that based on my discussions with Democrats so far,

Having good life insurance is incredibly important. I know from personal experience. I was sixteen when my father passed away. We didn't have any money. He didn't leave us in the best shape. My mother, single mother, now widow, myself

I mean, I think Democrats absolutely want the issue. It's good politics for them. You know, they would never say that or admit it, but they do know that the issue helps them. But there is actually some I think overly optimistic belief that there are some chances for some bipartisan agreement and anyway, I.

Think something's coming. I do, well, this is a I think that is coming. But b I think you have to use the threat of a shutdown to get it done.

Yeah, And I think that they, you know, maybe they go there. Like I said, it's it's it's early. They definitely do not want people to start, any of their members to start threatening a shutdown right now, because then they look like arsonists and and so, you know, obviously it's very much it's very much a possibility. I personally, I don't think that they're going to do it. I think that they're too risk averse to do it.

But I expected Trump to flip on this and he hasn't. He's digging in and he dug in again last night, and it's like I, I, you know, there's a part of me that's you know, it sits there and says, well, yeah, I'd love to you. I would beat up the insurance companies too, like why do we want to give more money that? But then my response, my follow up is what's the alternative system to insurance companies? Mister president? Right, Like, this is the problem the Republicans have, Well, we don't

Yeah? No, you're going to give them money to the people instead, but you still have to pay the insurance company.

Right like the people, right, not of it. Really, it feels like a great it feels good to say it. We're not going to give it directly to the insurance companies. We're going to give it to you to give directly

I know. I was actually surprised too, because there's the populis strain in the Republican Party that Trump purportedly believes in, which we all know he doesn't.

That.

Thinks that these Obamacare subsidies need to be extended, at least for now, until there's another plan or whatever. You know. Josh Holly is one of those people who's really been pushing it, and I thought that he was going to

Just you know, it's his own polster telling everybody that this is a disaster in the making.

Yah.

It's Tony Fabrizio that has been sounding this alarm, which is why I expected him to flip.

Sorry, yeah, no, I was gonna say. But I think that I'm only speculating here, But you know, I think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that it is Obama Care, that there is a lot of disdain for anything Biden. I mean, his whole presidency so far has been undoing what Biden did, and he obviously hates Barack Obama and so not wanting to prop up something that his predecessor did and like creating this healthcare system, and that that is a big that's

So basically, while Donald Trump thinks everybody's got Trump Arrangement syndrome, what you're saying is that there are a lot of Republicans who still have Obama derangement syndrome.

Yes, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

That ultimately is the virus that has not been cured.

Yeah. No, I mean, and actually Josh Holly will say that on the record too. He'll say, look in these private meetings, the closed door meetings with Senate Republicans, there are just people who are so dug in on anything anti Obamacare that they just won't even consider it.

It really is such an intell it's such an intellectual, intellectual, dishonest argument, right, because what Obamacare turned out to be was was essentially not government health care, but government support

Take and admit yeah, because remember Obamacare, the compromise is what Democrats wanted was a single payer plan and this

You know what Trump wants. What Trump has been advocating is a form of a single payer plan. Yeah, yeah, he actually had. Anytime he talks about it, it's the closest you know, he comes to. You know, it is it is. It is amazing to me how often that they messed this up, right, Like, you know, look, Democrats seem to be allergic to border security. Right, there is

Part of this, you know, yeah, I mean it's a great This is an issue that is obviously confounded Republicans for decades. I mean, this is a hard issue. It took Democrats really, I mean, you know, Hillary Kinkin, like you said, had her plan that didn't go anywhere.

If you if you're going to let the private sector deal with healthcare, there, you know the system is going to always look this gobbledly good. You know, we're allergic to government run stuff here, right, unless it's so security, unless it's better, you know, but it is, you know, they're all I am surprised that Trump didn't just expand Medicare and call it trump Care.

I know.

I mean he could have brought it down to fifty plus, said no to the subsidies, but brought that down to fifty plus, that letting people buy into Medicare at fifty years old, rather than the you know, you'd had Democrats

And also that's why during the government shutdown, Democrats I thought it was kind of lame at first or dumb at first that they were so focused on what Trump was saying and what Trump was going to do. But I came to realize towards the end that Republicans couldn't do anything without Trump, and so they put all of their focus on and well, what, you know, what is

So there's not going to be another reconciliation, huh.

I mean members of Congres like Speaker Johnson says that there he's going to try. He wants one, other members of Congres, other Republicans want it, but if Trump's not involved, they can't get it. That's why healthcare fell apart, is because Trump completely absent.

Well, it's because you know, I've been calling Mike Johnson a Spino speaker in name only.

Yeah, yes, yes, you know.

I keep I keep hoping this will, you know, the way Scotis and Potus takes off Rhino and Dino Spino right speaker, And I keep waiting for that to to get some traction. But it is, it's up to Trump and there so if Trump's got I mean, the only thing he wants from Congress, I'm guessing is him is a Congressional order changing the name of the Kennedy Senator to the Trump Kennedy Center, right, like that that that's about all he would care about getting out of Congress.

Yeah, well, I mean look at the look at the military pay that he announced.

That's money that was already appropriated to the Defense Department. And it's discretionary. It's essentially discretionary housing allowance, right.

Yes, absolutely, And he is claiming that it's tariff revenue money. He's not even admitting that Congress passed this because like he just is not.

I mean, he's not the first president to try to take something that was already done and put a new label on it and stamp it. Hey, look at I've done, right, Like, you know, oh, we're giving the military extra money. Well let's call it my pay raise, you know, or my bonus.

Or right totally. But like, why don't you just say, look at what we passed or whatever, rather than say it's from tariff revenue, which actually is a I don't know why he would say it anyways, because then he'd have to take them, well, repay their tariff money if the Supreme Court rules.

So this gets to a question about the next six months, because it's interesting, you don't think there's really much legislating that's going to happen other than what they have to the have to stuff that we're not going to see

I mean, yes, So I had heard from you know, outside from lobbyists who say that they are already considering like how to go to Congress for for how to pass the tariffs. I you know, I don't even know if House Republicans will do it, though.

Check.

I think that as polling is continuing to as polling is suggesting that people are starting to tie tariffs with high costs. These Republicans who are facing voters in you know, a few months from whenever this tariff decision comes out, I just don't see them giving Trump like blanket authority to continue this tariff regime. Definitely in the Senate and even in the House, we'll see. But I just I really think that, you know, outside circumstances are going to

Well, I do expect the White House to find other I mean even the President has sort of hinted, he goes, well, if they take it away, I've got other ways to do this. But it will be harder, and it will be more complicated, and it will get in the way of his so called deal making that he's done, that's for sure. So if if if there really isn't going to be much legislating, then how many more retirements are

Yeah, I know. So I wrote and reported a couple of weeks ago that people were Republicans were really bracing for a lot of retirements.

What is a lot another dozen?

Well, I was told at least twenty.

Another twenty. We already are at a fairly Look this is we're in the higher end of the retirements. It's nowhere near the all time record, but we're at the higher end. Another twenty would put us in an all time situation.

Yeah, so we'll see if that plays out. I was told that obviously a lot of these people are still making their decisions but serving, you know. And the Republicans that some of the Republicans I talked to, they were like, look, don't don't don't make this a a that most of these people are from safe seats really or maybe that second or third tier competitive seat, but it is an indictment on what it's like to serve in Congress right now?

We're mad at the White House and Johnson. Right, they're somehow mad that Johnson can't tell the President no, that's I guess what they're mad at him at right.

Yes, yes, they are not standing up for them, especially on the redistricting effort. Even though some of these seats were made safer for Republicans. People don't like to.

But they're new districts. You have to be.

New with new lines and meet new people and fundraising.

Now, this is one of those perfect storms. The times that we've had record breaking retirements are when we've had both an unpopp the majority party is in the White House and it's unpopular, coupled with a reapportionment. Right, it's a redistricting year. Nineteen ninety two is one of the ninety four cycle sort of was a big one on that both ninety two and ninety fourths or two cycles in a row, and here we are in a mid decade.

This cycle, right, totally, totally. And one member from a swing district, you know, said that they're going to have to raise tens of millions of dollars for you know, they're in a big media market whatever. But you know, they just said that they're race could be a sixty million dollar race for not you know, total, but for a district, which is which is mind boggling these days.

And you know, you know, I've never been like a huge the whole money in politics thing like I've I've I've I empathized with those that fight, you know, that are in that advocacy world, and it's just like, hey man, money in politics, it's just you're never going to you know, get rid of it. But but you do. You're like, Okay, this is getting crazy because North Carolina Senate, it's probably

Yeah, or be rich. It's you know, I was talking to a couple members the other day and they said that now fifty percent of their time is spent fundraising. And you know, I mean, I don't even know how

Do you hate hangovers, well, say goodbye to hangovers. Out of Office gives you the social bus uzz without the

Well, then Trump has, you know, a billion dollars of his own money that he could spend to help House Republicans keep the majority. He hasn't yet. He has said that he will help, but they have not yet gotten a commitment as to how much, how what that's going

But no, you're probably just dividing your own party and just making it that much harder to have a good mature Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, and getting back to the lack of legislating. Trump is so determined to keep control of the House that he unleashed this entire bloody redistricting war for what not to legislate because he does not want to get impeached again.

Like, so, what's the likelihood of that? I mean, I find it.

I think I think it's low.

I don't think I think it's I can't think of a dumber idea for House Democrats in the seventh year of Trump being in president of the United States to impeach him. I mean, look, I'm not saying you might have grounds to do it. I'm not saying to me, if if the next group, if if people want to impeach him, let the Republicans impeach him.

Yeah, no, I agree, And I think that it's I think that Democrats aren't going to do it. We'll see what Trump does. But yeah, so he's operating. Trump is

All right, of the let's talk about the four leaders, Yeah, Johnson Jeffrey Schumer. Soon, let's start with who I think are the two most unpopular within their own party these days for a variety of reasons. Johnson on the Republican side, Schumer on the Democratic side. Who's more likely to return as leader of their of You know, in this case, Johnson might be the minority leader, but he would still be the leader if Republicans lose the House come January fourth,

I think Schumer I don't think he'll be there, Yeah, and Johnson won't Yeah. I mean, of course, it all will depend on the outcome of the.

Miss Johnson only come back if they somehow hold the House.

Yeah. Yeah. If they lose the House, I think that there's going to be a huge shake up in leadership.

On likelihood that Johnson seeks reelection, so.

He'll serve you know for twenty eight you mean, no, I think for you think he definitely runs through re election this cycle, right, I think he definitely runs.

Because that would send does he because remember Paul Ryan announced in April, right of eighteen he wasn't coming back. Yeah,

I don't. Johnson thinks way too highly of himself and his ability to bow out. Now. Yeah, I think he's in it for this cycle. I think that if Republicans lose the House, you know, they lose that slot, and so there's not a spot for him unless he becomes leader minority leader. But then there's that's the person. I don't know if he's going to run for reelection as Scalise. I think he's a higher probability of not than Johnson. For sure.

He's already found out he's never gonna be speaker, yea, right, he learned that the hard way in his was he six hours that he tried to get the votes. Was that what it was about, right, like, okay, go ahead, you get about six hours so you can get the votes and get the votes. Okay, let's move on.

Yeah. No, yeah, he's not going to be speaker. He just hasn't. He doesn't have the allies among the conference that you need. He has made a lot of people angry. And then who does.

Who would be Is there a committee chair? In fact, is there a committee chair that just gets shipped done on the Republican side that would be like like I remember one of the reasons, but Bob Livingston was supposed to be the person to replace kingrig and the reason was I think he was on ways and me just like you know, he gets stuff done, Like you know the idea that a committee chair that can get stuff done, especially in a tough committee like ways and Means or

Jim Jordan, He's He's he's the quiet, which is crazy that he's quiet if you know quiet, and that's why he is subtle.

He's very He's going to give this one more college tries to be leader of the House Republicans.

In Yeah, So I think it's Jim Jordan. I think that Tom Emmer he has some enemies too, But he

Still shaky, though, isn't it.

I mean, you know, I think it's gotten a lot better this year, especially with he's the guy who kind of has to clean up Johnson's mess a lot, or try to. And Richard Hudson, Yeah, you know Richard Hudson.

Yeah, he's the one that I get, like, I hear good, I hear people don't have bad words to say about him, whether they're mega or non mega.

Yeah, and everyone like really likes him. He's like a fun person. I don't want the job, but but yeah, you know, I forgot about him actually, but yeah, he's someone that you can keep in mind. But as far as like Schumer is concerned, you know Schumer, I do not think he's running for reelection. No one on the hill, no Democrat thinks he's running for reelection.

I can't imagine him doing it. Nobody have talked to New York. I think people would be shocked if he did. And I assume the only way he does is if somehow Democrats get the Senate and he's a majority leader again, then you might not want to give it up.

Yeah, I mean, I think that's a possibility. But I think that he's just like too damaged within the party, I think. But I think the reason he's going to be leader after twenty six, you know, if they win the majority, then absolutely. If they don't, I think he'll still be leader kind of let them.

But there might be a real challenge if they don't, right, especially if like that, Let's say Democrats win forty seats again in the House. Yeah, right, it's a forty seat

Yeah, I mean there's already that people are mad about the primaries and the heavy handed of like Grandpaton, you know, but there's.

So what's about it is that where they're heavy handed is stupid, and where they're not heavy handed, it's stupid, Like like Texas, how did you let that happen? And then you tried to get involved in Iowa and Maine, Like it makes no sense to have gotten involved in Iowa in particular, you know, I with Maine. I kind of get it now. How they how they how they leak that. I just think the way they handled the

I heard it was a DS decision. I don't I you know again, I'm just every but I was I was told that, like the Janet Mills operation, like they're I mean, they're good, you won governor, but they're not like they're not DS material.

Yeah, it really is DS is DS material. I'm sorry, what proof has the DS been anything? Some of those guys I love over there, and they've been good sources for me for decades. But that's the problem. I think

Yeah, yeah, there's obviously, I mean, you are just expressing the frustration with a Democratic caucus who was thinking the exact same thing. But Jillibrand is an ally of Schumer. She's a loyal soldier, and it's really Schumer who's running it. Obviously.

Well, the fact that you don't see jail Brand ever speak about Center racist publicly, I mean she keeps a very low profile. Yeah, it has always been right. It's it's interesting how low of a profile she's kept on this.

Yeah, it actually is. I hadn't even thought about that, but it is, I think because my brain just always goes to Schumer. I don't even didn't even realize it.

Which is what makes the which was what made that decision. I would semi surprise that the rest of the Senate Democrats wanted to concentrate all of that with the two New Yorkers.

Yeah, they didn't.

Let's talk about Jeffries. He's going to get a shot at being speaker, it seems like. But there I feel like there's creeping doubts about whether he's got it, But nobody's going to challenge him per se if it's stepped in front of him, unless they somehow didn't win the House, right.

Yeah, I think that he is being given a very long runway. But I will also say I feel like last week, with the whole health care debacle in on the Republican side, that Democrats that that could be the week that Haakim Jeffries became Speaker of the House. Like I think that maybe you can point and you know, we'll obviously see that happens in the next ten months. But I feel like that was a really critical week

I don't envy. I think he's got the toughest job of anybody right now in leadership outside of Johnson. Johnson's got his own, but he sort of he's he allows himself to be put in a box. Jeffries has got. You know. Look, I think Jeffries and Schumer should take more incoming for for mismanaging the New York City mayors race,

Well also totally. I mean, and the funny thing is is that Schumer and Cuomo have a horrific relationship. Schumer like Yo Cuomo, and and the fact that yeah, and then they still didn't do more. So it was really really mystifying I and that you never really got a good answer about it. I will say that in my reporting, New Yorkers didn't really care about what Humor did. It's just like whatever, No.

I get that, but it's not about the public perception. It's about you want to be a leader of your party. Yeah, you're you're you should have jumped in front of the freight train. That was Andy Quaman, say sorry, buddy, no and found a found a candidate and got behind somebody else or done something differently maybe, you know, you could say. But the the way they they behaved as if they were paralyzed by the situation.

Yeah, it was. It was very very odd. And it was the donors. It came down to the donors.

And I guess, yeah, you know, you're right, Well that tells you, right, And they sau out that Cuomo's the only one that could be pro Israel anyway. I just the whole thing is just sort of bizarre to me. Let me get you out of here on this is John Thune the tallest little person? Or does he really has he actually started to develop a power base and a power structure, I asked, because I've heard crankiness about Thune, meaning that they wish Thune. Would they miss Mitch McConnell

Good? I think that that's why you see the least amount written about Thune is because it's hard to come up with like a good story about Thune. People generally like him. The filibuster was a huge test, will continue

No I could I could hear an argument. You know, I didn't think Cornyn was going to file because I thought he would feel pressure not to file. Yeah, because Pax didn't be in the nominee is a huge problem.

Yes, it's an absolutely huge problem. But he filed and they yeah, they've really mismanaged that and they were unable to keep Wesley Hunt out of the out of the race, and so, you know, it is it's a big test

Interesting, Well, it's the best beat in Washington, still, isn't it?

Leantes It is, Yes, it is.

You know, It's always been my mantra. It's the best beat in Washington, don't you know. Don't try to go cover the White House. It sucks covered. The White House is born. Yeah, the Hill is awesome.

Now the White House is more prestigious, but the Hill is the best.

That's where you actually find news. Let me get you out of here on this. How do you describe when you have to tell people what Puck is that aren't familiar with it, how do you describe it?

I describe it as an email subscription newsletter. That the easiest way to describe it, I tell say is it's like a newer vanity fair, like a new version of vanity.

Interesting because because there's you know, there's some culture, there's business, there's there's there's even sports now, right, It's it's sort of the the look I like the idea of the four Corners, Silicon Valley, New York, Washington, LA. Right, like all of the cultural touchstones of America. That's sort of make us, you know, uh, make things run. But it's a I get it, but I imagine it is sometimes hard to.

Describe, right, Yeah, And that's why I say that because also the writing, you know, the writing matters. They really take a lot of we will take a lot of pride in in the presentation. And I feel like I'm writing a mini magazine piece every time I write. And so it just you know, our editors, you know John Kelly who started it, the top editor. They both came from Vanity Fair, like so many people grew up in that Vanity Fair heyday world, and so it's like a modern version of that.

Well it's funny you say Vanity Fair even though Vanity Fair was was a monthly and so didn't you know, I would argue what you what you guys, because I agree it's that it reminds me more of the weekly pieces that Time and Newsweek used to produce, that were filled with because Time and Newsweek didn't have to worry about the day to day Manu Shaw, they got to

So well, thanks. Yeah, I think that it's like a great niche and I think it was missing, especially in this like you know, cable news, yeah, and punch Bowl News of like every minute this is happening.

I'm not going to bring up the there's two news organizations that should have been filling this vacuum and chose not to, and you used to work on one of them.

Yeah.

Yeah, we'll leave it there, Leah Caldwell, always a pressure. Enjoy the holidays, enjoy your break.

Thanks you seek deck.

There's a reason results matter more than promises, just like there's a reason. Morgan and Morgan is America's largest injury law firm. For the last thirty five years, they've recovered twenty five billion dollars for more than half a million clients. It includes cases where insurance companies offered next to nothing, just hoping to get away with paying as little as possible.