The unexpected announcement from the Pentagon comes as the Taliban is rapidly increasing their control over the country. And new census data out this week shows that the share of Americans who identify as multiracial is up nearly 300 percent since 2010. This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, congressional correspondent Susan Davis, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, and national correspondent Hansi Lo Wang. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here . Email the show...
Aug 13, 2021•26 min
In the latest installment of the Docket, our series on legal issues, NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben and Carrie Johnson talk about vaccine mandates with Lindsay F. Wiley, a law professor at American University. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here . Email the show at [email protected] Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group . Listen to our playlist The NPR Politics Daily Workout . Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter . Find and support your local public radio station . Learn ...
Aug 12, 2021•18 min
Once talked about as a future presidential candidate, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) will leave politics in disgrace after the release of a report detailing multiple allegations of sexual harassment. Some allegations he denies, others encounters he says are being mischaracterized. Now, there are big questions about the future of politics in the state. This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, New York State Public Radio reporter Karen DeWitt, political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben, a...
Aug 11, 2021•15 min
President Biden's infrastructure deal passed the Senate with 19 Republican votes, bolstering his claim that he can secure deals in today's Washington. But now he has to contend with competing priorities within his own party. Also: Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) has said he will resign. This episode: political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben, congressional correspondent Kelsey Snell, and senior political editor and correspondent Ron Elving. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here . Emai...
Aug 10, 2021•14 min
President Biden said that the United States will cut its greenhouse gas emissions to half of 2005 levels by the end of this decade. The Senate is on track to approve billions for climate resiliency programs this week and Democrats have made climate policy a central piece of their forthcoming $3.5 trillion economic package. The proposals are all unprecedented — but are they enough to meet the scale of the challenge? This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, congressional correspondent ...
Aug 09, 2021•14 min
The unemployment rate dropped to 5.4% in July — a low for the pandemic. Nearly a million new jobs were added to the economy — although restaurants and factories are still hurting for workers. Covid cases continued to rise, too. We take a look at the two ends of the response spectrum: New York City's vaccine mandate and Florida's free-for-all. This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, White House correspondent Asma Khalid, chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley, national correspo...
Aug 06, 2021•26 min
People agree: prices are up on everything from gasoline to used cars. But both experts and voters disagree on the cause and whether inflation is here to stay. That uncertainty makes the economy a potent messaging tool ahead of the 2022 race for control of Congress. This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow and White House correspondent Asma Khalid. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here . Email the show at [email protected] Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group ....
Aug 05, 2021•15 min
Gene Sperling oversees the White House's rollout of COVID relief. On Monday, he told reporters that President Biden had "quadruple-checked" whether he had the legal grounds to extend the eviction moratorium unilaterally but said ultimately the president's hands were tied by a Supreme Court ruling that blocked the administration from extending its past moratorium beyond the end of July. Yesterday, the administration extended the renter protections anyway. And, the U.S. continues the hard task of ...
Aug 04, 2021•14 min
An investigation found that Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women in and out of state government and worked to retaliate against one of his accusers, New York's attorney general announced Tuesday. The findings quickly renewed calls for the Democrat's resignation or impeachment. Cuomo smacked down the allegations, citing generational differences, and calling the investigation politically motivated. This episode: White house correspondent Asma Khalid, White House correspondent Tamara ...
Aug 03, 2021•14 min
A vote on the t rillion-dollar proposal is expected as soon as Thursday. Also, President Biden has been denying tens of thousands of migrants asylum proceedings, citing public health fears. After months of stagnant negotiations, immigration and civil rights groups are taking the White House to court. This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, congressional reporter Claudia Grisales, national political correspondent Mara Liasson, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Connect: Subsc...
Aug 02, 2021•13 min
President Biden gave a speech Thursday afternoon begging folks to get vaccinated. A CDC document warns that the very contagious delta variant means "the war has changed" against COVID. The bipartisan infrastructure deal which passed its first vote in the Senate this week is evidence that President Biden may be able to foster cooperative lawmaking in modern Washington, as he promised during the campaign. Will it help his party hold onto congressional majorities during a difficult midterm election...
Jul 30, 2021•28 min
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was born from the civil rights movement of the '50s and '60s, but in recent years the Supreme Court has effectively nullified its key provisions. We explore why the law was first passed and what it means for voters of color now that its powers have been gutted. This episode: congressional correspondent Susan Davis and national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here . Email the show at [email protected] Join the NP...
Jul 29, 2021•16 min
The White House says it is "following the science" on masks after the CDC issued new guidance, but some experts say they're falling short on the social science: how to convince the remaining 40 percent of American adults to get vaccinated. Alabama has the lowest vaccination rate in the nation and residents there aren't likely to listen to President Biden. Can football coach-turned-Senator Tommy Tuberville convince the rest of the state to get inoculated? This episode: White House correspondent S...
Jul 28, 2021•14 min
The officers — Pfc. Harry Dunn and Sgt. Aquilino Gonell of the U.S. Capitol Police, and Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department — testified before a congressional committee investigating the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump's supporters. The officers each detailed brutal violence and abuse at the hand of protestors that left them with ongoing physical and mental injuries. This episode: White House correspondent Ayesha Rascoe,...
Jul 27, 2021•17 min
Customs and Border Protection reported encounters with 188,829 migrants and asylum-seekers at the U.S. southern border last month, the highest level in a generation. The Biden administration has struggled with how to respond. This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here . Email the show at [email protected] Join the NPR Politics Podcast Faceb...
Jul 26, 2021•12 min
A hearing next week featuring testimony by Capitol Police officers will be held without any members nominated by Republicans. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is boycotting the process after the House's top Democrat Nancy Pelosi vetoed some of the members he selected to serve. And the rate of violent crime is sharply up in some cities across the United States. There are no simple answers about what's driving the increase, but it it is certain to be a central issue in the Republican effort to retak...
Jul 23, 2021•27 min
A group of 21 senators from both parties but out a statement that they're close to a deal and another vote is expected as soon as Monday. And an Ohio Democratic primary race to replace Biden official Marica Fudge in the House of Representatives is getting a lot of national attention, including from this podcast. This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, congressional correspondent Susan Davis, and demographics and culture correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben. Connect: Subscribe to the N...
Jul 22, 2021•14 min
Coronavirus cases are on the rise in parts of the United States and there have been new cases among fully-vaccinated lawmakers and government staff. The country as a whole saw a nearly 150% increase in the seven-day case average compared with two weeks prior. The vaccines, though, are still preventing serious infections and mostly keeping people out of the hospital. Now, President Biden and the White House are struggling to figure out how to get the remaining one-third of American adults vaccina...
Jul 21, 2021•14 min
Ben Shapiro's conservative commentary and news aggregation site The Daily Wire is a dominant force on Facebook, where sharp headlines drive massive engagement. The upstart The Georgia Star News has pushed outright disinformation about the 2020 presidential election and subsequently scored an exclusive interview with Donald Trump. The two sites illustrate a number of distinct ways in which outrage, social media, and political polarization have reshaped the media landscape. This episode: congressi...
Jul 20, 2021•15 min
President Joe Biden's primary policy initiatives, his trillion-dollar infrastructure and economic plans, face their first test in the Senate this week. And does a federal court ruling limiting the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, increase the urgency around immigration in Congress? This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, congressional reporter Susan Davis, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast...
Jul 19, 2021•15 min
Elizabeth Hinton's book America On Fire explores how aggressive policing sparked thousands of incidents of mass violence in Black communities across the United States beginning in the 1960s. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben talks to the author about how the government's typical response to these "rebellions" — more policing — is both escalatory and inadequate. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here . Email the show at [email protected] Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group . Liste...
Jul 17, 2021•15 min
Voting rights activists feel that they have done the work of energizing and organizing voters to care about the issue. Now, they want President Biden to step up the pressure on Congress from the bully pulpit. And Hunter Biden's art sales will be anonymous, which the White House is calling an ethics win. Good governance experts aren't buying it. This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, White House correspondent Tamara Keith, political correspondent Juana Summers, and senior political...
Jul 16, 2021•27 min
In his April address to Congress, President Joe Biden said he hoped to prove that democracy and the federal government were still capable of delivering for the American people. This week, Senate Democrats unveiled Biden's chief effort to meet that promise: a $3.5 trillion dollar plan that would — among other things — dramatically expand access to child and health care, as well as overhaul the energy sector to curb climate change. The proposal faces a difficult road to passage and could see consi...
Jul 15, 2021•14 min
Faced with food and fuel shortages, Cubans have begun unprecedented protests against the country's communist government. President Biden's response could help boost Democratic support among Florida's many Cuban American voters. The party has lost a number of key elections in the state, thanks in large part to lackluster support among conservative expatriates who hope to see Democrats take a harder line against Cuba's communist government. This episode: congressional correspondent Susan Davis, Wh...
Jul 14, 2021•14 min
Take our survey: npr.org/podcastsurvey Vice President Harris talked to NPR's Asma Khalid about the administration's path forward on their voting rights agenda given the major roadblock in the Senate: some Democrats in the chamber are unwilling to change the filibuster, a rules quirk that forces a sixty-to-forty majority to pass most legislation. And many Democrats from the Texas statehouse have come to Washington D.C. to meet with federal lawmakers, fleeing their own state in a procedural stunt ...
Jul 13, 2021•17 min
Take our survey: npr.org/podcastsurvey Domestic travel is surging as the country reopens, but there is still an international-sized hole in the bottom lines of some U.S. tourism businesses. Would-be foreign visitors are mostly barred from coming stateside as coronavirus travel bans persist — and there have been few concrete answers from the Biden administration on when that will change. And vaccine maker Pfizer has begun talking about providing a coronavirus vaccine booster shot. That could be a...
Jul 12, 2021•14 min
President Biden gave a defensive speech Thursday updating the American public on his plan for withdrawal from Afghanistan. He said that the United States accomplished its mission in Afghanistan, though his administration acknowledged earlier in the day that the two-decade war "has not been won militarily" and that there are ongoing risks to the safety and prosperity of Afghans. Domestically, the White House is stalled on voting rights reforms: Democrats in Congress can't find a route around the ...
Jul 09, 2021•26 min
Former president Donald Trump filed a lawsuit this week claiming that his rights are violated by social media bans, claims legal experts say are spurious. But there has long been a push for big tech regulation in Washington, and it appears that the wheels are starting to turn. This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, congressional editor Deirdre Walsh, and technology correspondent Shannon Bond. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here . Email the show at [email protected]...
Jul 08, 2021•14 min
Though crime rates remain well-below historic highs, assaults and murders have spiked since the pandemic began. Democrats in New York picked ex-cop Eric Adams as their mayoral nominee; he's likely to win. Biden traveled to Chicago to talk gun violence with the city's mayor Lori Lightfoot. This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson, and WNYC reporter Brigid Bergin. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here . Email the show at nprpo...
Jul 07, 2021•14 min
More than five hundred people have been charged in what is on track to be one of the largest criminal investigations in the country's history. Now, a House committee is charged with an impossible task: establishing a widely-accepted set of facts about what happened on January 6th. This episode; White House correspondent Tamara Keith, congressional correspondent Kelsey Snell, and justice correspondent Ryan Lucas. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here . Email the show at nprpolitics@...
Jul 06, 2021•15 min
