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‘It Was Pure Retaliation’: The Feud That Will Define the Senate GOP

Rick Scott hasn’t given up his quest to vanquish Mitch McConnell and restore his own battered image inside the Republican conference.

Sen. Rick Scott speaks during an event.

Florida men are taking over the GOP

By Kimberly Leonard and Gary Fineout

Congress

Scott’s aim to succeed McConnell disrupts GOP leadership race

By Burgess Everett

Biden urges ‘constant vigilance’ to maintain democracy in West Point speech

Trump is still pushing the limits of the gag order. It could come back to haunt him at sentencing.

By Ben Feuerherd

Libertarian convention devolves into fighting, obscenities on eve of Trump’s visit

By Alex Isenstadt, Peder Schaefer and Brittany Gibson

Geopolitics of 2024

We’re All Living in Mexico Now. Politically Speaking.

By Matthew Kaminski

VIDEO

Defense witness provokes Trump trial judge: A bobblehead recap

Defense witness provokes Trump trial judge: A bobblehead recap

NEWSLETTERS

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Photo illustration of a series of faded gavels laid out. One clear gavel in the center is laid within an outline of D.C.

COLUMN | CAPITAL CITY

The Ludicrous System That Makes It So Hard to Fight Crime in DC

The feds blame local D.C. for crime, but the city can point the finger right back. Is this any way to run a capital?

By Michael Schaffer

Scarlett Johansson attends the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

High Tech

Sam Altman’s Scarlett Johansson Blunder Just Made AI a Harder Sell in DC

The latest scandal over seemingly appropriating a movie star’s voice will only inflame tensions between Washington and Silicon Valley.

By Derek Robertson

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi attends a meeting.

Washington And The World

What the Death of Iran's President Really Means

The fatal helicopter crash will accelerate a transition already underway to a faction that is eager to complete the country’s nuclear weapons program.

By Ray Takeyh and Suzanne Maloney

Ambassador Meg Whitman and President William Ruto speak onstage.

Column | Compass

Meg Whitman’s Trying to Be A Different Kind of US Ambassador. Washington Is Noticing.

Meg Whitman is determined to be the ambassador who makes good on U.S. rhetoric that it is prioritizing business in Africa.

By Nahal Toosi

Mike Schmidt is pictured.

Column | On Politics

Democrats Beware: A Progressive DA Fights for His Job — in Hipster Portland

The backlash against criminal justice reform is real, and Joe Biden needs to take note.

By Jonathan Martin

Here's what Ramit Sethi would advise Biden on housing

Q&A

A Finance Guru on What the Inflation Debate Gets Wrong

The bestselling author and Netflix star Ramit Sethi sees a major opportunity for the Biden campaign to change the conversation about the cost of living.

By Alexander Burns

The White House is seen in Washington.

White House

Opinion | Time to Close the Hatch Act’s Escape Hatch

The head of the Office of Special Counsel announces an enforcement update for White House officials.

Opinion by Hampton Dellinger

Jim Woodward on his property in Sagle, Idaho on April 2, 2024. Woodward is running against opponent Scott Herndon for both Senate and for Precinct.

Letter from Idaho

North Idaho Has Drifted to the Extreme Right. One Republican Thinks It’s Hit Its Limit.

One candidate is testing the power of a moderate coalition to stand up to extremism in a region that has been powerless to its advance.

By Cassidy Randall

GEOPOLITICS OF 2024

The Coming War Between DC and Silicon Valley

A political fight is brewing over who’ll benefit most from the AI revolution — and what if anything Washington should do to shape the outcome.

By Matthew Kaminski

Demonstrators build a barricade to close an entrance of the Parliament building during an opposition protest.

LETTER FROM GEORGIA

‘They Say They Will Wait for Me There to Beat Me Up’: A Week of Attacks Rocks Georgia

Vicious crackdowns have taken the small country’s democracy to the brink.

By Paul Salopek

An illustration featuring grayscale photos of Hannah Arendt, Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler

Q&A

‘A Truer Reality Beyond Reality’: Hannah Arendt's Warning About How Totalitarianism Takes Root

A Q&A with a leading Arendt scholar adapts the philosopher’s ideas to today’s politics.

By Joanna Weiss

Then President Donald Trump, left, and then Democratic nominee Joe Biden speak during the debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn

Q&A

‘Political Malpractice’: The Debate Commission Chief Thinks Trump Blew It

Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr. lets loose on the potentially mortal wound to the Commission on Presidential Debates, and why Biden got the better of Trump.

By Ryan Lizza

INTERACTIVES

Photo illustration of Joe Biden signing a bill (center) paired with photos surrounding him of (left to right): A broadband tower outside the Comporium, Inc. building in Brevard, NC, ; Biden walking with workers in Chandler, Arizona, at the Intel Ocotillo Campus; The Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati, Ohio; and Biden speaking to a roomful of people at the Pieper-Hillside Boys & Girls Club, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Biden’s biggest challenge: How do you even spend $1.6 trillion?

Portrait of Donald Trump

Tracking the Trump criminal cases

CARTOON CAROUSEL

Poltical cartoon

The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics

By POLITICO Staff

TRUMP HUSH MONEY TRIAL

Walt Nauta (center) valet to former president Donald Trump, his attorney Stanley Woodward (rear) and Carlos De Oliveira, foreground, the property manager of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, leave the Alto Lee Adams Sr. U.S. Courthouse.

‘Garbage argument’: Hearing in Trump’s classified docs case gets heated

Judge Aileen Cannon did not rule on a bid by one of Trump’s co-defendants to dismiss the charges.

By Kimberly Leonard

Donald Trump sits in a courtroom next to his Todd Blanche.

New York trial winds down — without Trump's testimony

By Natalie Allison

Donald Trump, left, speaks alongside his attorney Todd Blanche, right.

Despite gag order, Trump again assails one of his prosecutors

Attorney Robert Costello talks to reporters.

Costello testifies that Cohen told him 'Trump knew nothing about' the Daniels payment

CONGRESS

Sen. Dick Durbin (left) confers with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.

Top Senate Judiciary Democrats seek meeting with Roberts over Alito concerns

The pair of senior Democrats asked the chief justice to ensure Alito recuse himself from all 2020 election-related cases.

By Anthony Adragna

Roger Marshal speaks at a press conference.

Why Senate conservatives are taking a populist turn

By Burgess Everett

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (center) speaks.

Senate border vote fails again, losing support from both sides

By Ursula Perano

Nancy Pelosi departs the U.S. Capitol.

Dozens of House Democrats join most Republicans in passing sweeping crypto bill

By Anthony Adragna and Eleanor Mueller

2024 ELECTIONS

Former President Donald Trump dances during a campaign event in Crotona Park.

‘Biden didn't come to the Bronx’: Trump makes a foray into Democratic turf

Trump’s campaign specifically sees an opportunity with Black and Hispanic voters.

By Meridith McGraw and Jeff Coltin

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks at a press conference.

Gov. Wes Moore stakes his reputation on the high-profile Senate race

By Brakkton Booker

Trump: Haley will be on our team ‘in some form’

Trump stays mostly silent on Haley after she backs him

By Natalie Allison

Donald Trump is pictured.

Biden and Trump campaigns call each other ‘racist’ as they seek to court Black voters

By Brakkton Booker

LEGAL

Wael Hana, left, Sen. Bob Menendez, center, and Fred Daibes, sit in Manhattan federal court with Judge Sidney H. Stein presiding during jury selection.

Judge rules Menendez's prosecutors can't show 'critical' evidence

It puts a hole in prosecutors' central claim against Menendez

Bob Menendez arrives at Manhattan federal court holding notebooks.

A constitutional fight is brewing in Menendez’s corruption trial

The U.S. Supreme Court is seen.

Supreme Court rejects claim that South Carolina’s congressional map was racially gerrymandered

By Josh Gerstein and Zach Montellaro

Boxes of records are seen stored in a bathroom and shower in the Lake Room at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

Lawyers found classified docs in Trump’s bedroom 4 months after Mar-a-Lago search

WHITE HOUSE

Schumer touts diversity of Biden's 200 federal judge appointments

The White House is in a race against the clock to confirm more judges than Trump

With major legislation likely behind it, the White House wants to finalize its imprint on the judiciary.

By Jennifer Haberkorn

Kush Doleo smokes a joint.

Biden helps California move closer to cannabis cafes

President Biden speaks with supporters during a campaign stop in Detroit on Sunday.

Biden’s grassroots fundraising has yet to take off

By Eli Stokols and Lauren Egan

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. (center) speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (right) and Pentagon Press Secretary Gen. Pat Ryder, in background at left.

Biden admin openly hammering Israel’s military strategy in Gaza

By Alexander Ward, Erin Banco and Lara Seligman

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Palestinians holding dishes line up for free food.

Israel must halt Rafah offensive, orders UN top court

ICJ cites “immediate risk” to Palestinians.

By Ali Walker and Jamie Dettmer

Members of the Kenya Defence Forces clap and sing as they prepare to deploy.

Kenya to get major non-NATO ally status during president’s US state visit

By Alexander Ward

A Palestinian woman stands outside her house with rubble all around her.

US preparing for ‘prominent’ role in postwar Gaza

By Alexander Ward

A boy waves a Palestinian flag as demonstrators march during a protest in support of Palestinians and calling for an immediate cease-fire.

Inside the European attempt to reassure Biden before Palestinian statehood decision

By Matt Berg, Shawn Pogatchnik and Nahal Toosi

STATES

Gavin Newsom talks at a lectern.

Gavin Newsom pounces as Republicans come to Big Oil’s defense

The potential Democratic presidential contender called Republican attorneys general “wholly owned subsidiaries of Big Oil.”

By Wes Venteicher

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu takes part in a panel discussion.

Sununu slams Dem governors: Newsom's ‘just a prick’

By Kierra Frazier

A person holds a mifepristone pill.

Louisiana is set to make possessing abortion pills without a prescription punishable by up to 10 years in prison

By Megan Messerly

Students and staff members are seen in the hallway at a New Home Independent School District facility in Texas.

What’s breaking up the Texas Republican party? School vouchers

By Liz Crampton and Andrew Atterbury

EARLIER

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin welcomes Kenya's President William Ruto during an arrival ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, Friday, May 24, 2024.

Austin to transfer power during scheduled medical procedure

By Lara Seligman

Gavin Newsom answers a reporters question.

Newsom signs bill allowing Arizona abortion doctors to work in California

By Rachel Bluth

Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a debate.

The front-runners for the next European Commission

By POLITICO Staff

Rep. Patrick McHenry speaks at a Capitol Hill ceremony.

Crypto's 'huge moment' scrambling US politics

By Jasper Goodman and Eleanor Mueller

Keir Starmer, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party gestures during a question and answer session at a business conference.

Meet Keir Starmer: Britain’s next prime minister?

By Dan Bloom

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a meeting.

Zelenskyy planning to join D-Day and G7 events

By Alexander Ward

Palestinians holding dishes line up for free food.

Egypt aid restrictions are complicating Gaza cease-fire negotiations

Tracy Gordon speaks at a POLITICO Live event.

Five takeaways from POLITICO’s ‘Election 2024: The Future of Taxation’ event

By Benjamin Guggenheim

Palestinians are waiting for aid trucks to cross in central Gaza Strip on Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Ireland and other European countries to recognize Palestinian statehood

By Shawn Pogatchnik

IN SPACE - MAY 23: In this handout image provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, the International Space Station and the docked space shuttle Endeavour orbit Earth during Endeavour's final sortie on May 23, 2011 in Space. Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli captured the first-ever images of an orbiter docked to the International Space Station from the viewpoint of a departing vessel as he returned to Earth in a Soyuz capsule. (Photo by Paolo Nespoli - ESA/NASA via Getty Images)

Pentagon says Russia ‘likely’ launched space weapon

By Joshua Posaner

A US Capitol police officer stands by his car outside the Russell Senate Office Building.

RNC HQ evacuated after blood vials delivered to building

By Christine Zhu and Nicholas Wu

Vince Fong speaks into microphone.

McCarthy’s pick Vince Fong wins special election to complete ex-speaker’s term

By Jeremy B. White

MOST READ

VIDEO

Graham: Alito flying an upside-down US flag at home is 'a mistake'

Graham: Alito flying an upside-down US flag at home is 'a mistake'

Austin: US had 'no part to play' in Iranian helicopter crash

Austin: US had 'no part to play' in Iranian helicopter crash

Biden: Israel’s actions in Gaza ‘not a genocide’

Biden: Israel’s actions in Gaza ‘not a genocide’

Netanyahu blasts ICC for 'outrageous' arrest warrants

Netanyahu blasts ICC for 'outrageous' arrest warrants

Biden pushes for ‘immediate cease-fire’ at Morehouse commencement

Biden pushes for ‘immediate cease-fire’ at Morehouse commencement

WUERKER CARTOONS

Political cartoon

TALKERS

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks with reporters outside the U.S. Capitol.

Personal insults, Greene vs. Boebert and alleged drinking in the Capitol: How one House hearing imploded

Illustration of Sarah Huckabee Sanders holding a the top of a dollhouse version of the Arkansas capitol building replacing the Arkansas flag with a MAGA flag.

‘A Governor Who Doesn’t Seem to Have Much Interest in Governing Arkansas’

Then President Donald Trump, left, and then Democratic nominee Joe Biden speak during the debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn

‘Political Malpractice’: The Debate Commission Chief Thinks Trump Blew It

Jim Woodward on his property in Sagle, Idaho on April 2, 2024. Woodward is running against opponent Scott Herndon for both Senate and for Precinct.

North Idaho Has Drifted to the Extreme Right. One Republican Thinks It’s Hit Its Limit.

Donald Trump gestures at a podium with the National Rifle Association's seal.

Trump at NRA convention floats 3-term presidency

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