The New Republic

The following is a lightly edited transcript of the May 5 episode of the Daily Blast podcast. Listen to it here.Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network. I’m your host, Greg Sargent.Faced with…

American democracy, it’s blindingly evident, is in crisis. Terms that once characterized faraway repressive regimes—oligarchy, elite, plutocracy—are now invoked to describe the current political moment. And Americans are aware of the threat the…

Great news, my fellow Americans! Tariff…

Last month, in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff regime, China imposed new export controls on rare earth materials and magnets. Officially, these aren’t bans—but practically, shipments have stopped. This is no small issue: America’s tech…

As Republicans in Congress struggle to write a massive bill that would slash government spending and extend a bevy of tax cuts from President Donald Trump’s first term, one gargantuan point of contention looms above all others: whether to cut funding for…

President Trump has recently been erupting at Fox News over its new poll finding him with 55 percent disapproval. Trump described Fox’s pollster as “Trump hating” and demanded that the firm be “investigated.” Stephen Miller subsequently called for…

In early March, the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service released its annual Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings, based on a survey of over one million civil servants across 75 agencies. Good news! Over two-thirds of the respondents to…

He has now said it right out in the open—not once but twice. In two major interviews, President Donald Trump openly declared that he has the power to bring the wrongfully deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the United States. And on both occasions, Trump…

The Trump administration did not rule out that its pitch to replace the nation’s space launch system could massively benefit Elon Musk.In an interview with Fox Business Friday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russel Vought refused to clarify if the…

Republican Representative Mike Collins is freaking out over a halal restaurant coming to the cafeteria in the House’s Rayburn building.The skittish conservative complained on X Friday morning about CHA Street Food, a Pakistani restaurant, replacing Steak n…

Alabama’s “dumbest” senator appears to be running an especially stupid con at the moment.In a gambit for Alabama’s governorship, Senator Tommy Tuberville is in the midst of trying to prove he actually lives there. In order to qualify for the race,…

Republican strategist Scott Jennings had to be reminded how the U.S. Constitution works, during an explosive CNN roundtable debate Thursday night.Jennings, a senior political commentator at the network, argued that a federal judge had overstepped their…

At least 11 federal judges and their families have been threatened and harassed since they ruled against President Trump on issues of deportations, federal funding, and his war on “wokeness.” The judges, under anonymity, told Reuters that they had…

Donald Trump has just sent Republicans in Congress a budget proposal that cuts nearly everything, and if they don’t like it, he says he’ll withhold cash that they approve, setting up a constitutional crisis.The budget proposal, released Friday, would slash…

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller may be up next for a new position in Donald Trump’s administration: Axios reported Friday that he’s a top candidate to replace Mike Waltz, Trump’s departing national security adviser.Miller, the ghoulish…

When Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic, was accidentally added to a group chat in March with the leaders of the national security Cabinet, the incompetence and sloppiness on display distracted from what the other participants in that chat were…

Conscience, a Freedom Flotilla aid ship aiming to break Israel’s two-month siege on Gaza, was struck by drones off the coast of Malta in the early hours of Friday. There were no casualties as a nearby tugboat helped put out the fire.Footage shows smoke,…

Donald Trump, who saw an increase in support from rural voters in the 2024 election, is now seeing huge defections, according to a new PBS/NPR/Marist poll. The poll taken last week found that only 40 percent of rural voters approve of Trump’s job…

CBS’s flagship news magazine show 60 Minutes is upping the ante in its fight against Donald Trump. The show’s upcoming Sunday segment will focus on how the Trump administration has targeted law firms in an apparent quest to punish those who dared to…

Senator John Fetterman isn’t in good shape—and could be a danger to himself and those around him. New York magazine reports that Fetterman, who suffered a stroke in 2022 one month before being elected to the Senate, is unrecognizable to his past and…

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has had enough of the Trump administration’s unchecked bullying of the nation’s judicial branch.The Supreme Court’s most junior justice condemned Donald Trump’s attacks on the country’s judges Thursday night, decrying…

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, a formerly progressive Democrat who has decidedly shifted right in recent years, delivered a hard-line—and honestly bloodthirsty—stance in opposition to a ceasefire in Gaza during a meeting with pro-Israel group J…

The Department of Health and Human Services plans to end research into how to improve child welfare programs like Head Start, according to an email mistakenly sent by an HHS employee to grant recipients. The email contained a spreadsheet listing 150 research…

The version of Signal that recently ousted national security adviser Mike Waltz was caught checking during a Cabinet meeting Wednesday is an unofficial edition of the app meant to archive messages, according to 404 Media. The archiving capability suggests that…

At least one Republican is thinking about the millions of Americans that depend on Medicaid.Representative David Valadao, a California dairy farmer, represents more Medicaid recipients in his district than anyone else in his party. He also appears to be one of…

When I was growing up in Morgantown, West Virginia, I remember very well when that new building went up at the end of Willowdale Road, near the West Virginia University Medical Center and not too far from my friend Doug’s house.These days,…

Happy birthday, Mr. President—it looks like Donald Trump may be getting his wish of a massive parade in his honor.The Associated Press reported late Thursday that the Army’s most recent plans to celebrate its 250th anniversary include a large military…

President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that ends public government funding of NPR and PBS in yet another culturally polarized attack on anything deemed “woke.”“Unlike in 1967, when the CPB was established, today the media landscape is…

Donald Trump is trying to force Harvard University into subservience, and on Friday he announced that the institution will lose its tax-exempt status. “We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” Trump posted…

The following is a lightly edited transcript of the May 2 episode of the Daily Blast podcast. Listen to it here.Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network. I’m your host, Greg Sargent.Big news: A…