Stay ConnectedEvery weekday, NPR’s best political reporters are there to explain the big news coming out of Washington and the campaign trail. They don’t just tell you what happened. They tell you why it matters. Every afternoon.
Support public media by joining NPR+ at plus.npr.org. You’ll get perks for over 25 NPR podcasts, including bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for The NPR Politics Podcast.
Copyright: © Copyright 2015-2026 NPR - For Personal Use Only
The Biden administration laid out his main priorities as the president took office: tackling the pandemic, responding to the climate crisis, addressing racial inequality, and rejuvenating the economy. Over the next few weeks, the NPR Politics Podcast will check in on whether those goals being met.
President Biden's first legislative push was the American Rescue Plan, a roughly $2 trillion economic stimulus plan that expanded help for unemployed workers and issued direct cash payments to millions of people. The pandemic and supply chain issues, though, have proved tenacious. Many workers have seen their nominal wages rise, but persistent inflation has blunted the impact of the gains.
This episode: White House correspondent Ayesha Rascoe, White House correspondent Tamara Keith, and chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley.
Connect:
Email the show at nprpolitics@npr.org
Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.
Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.
Find and support your local public radio station.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
The Biden administration laid out his main priorities as the president took office: tackling the pandemic, responding to the climate crisis, addressing racial inequality, and rejuvenating the economy. Over the next few weeks, the NPR Politics Podcast will check in on whether those goals being met.
President Biden rejoined the Paris climate agreement and pledged to halve U.S. greenhouse gas pollution from 2005 levels by 2030. But his ambitious goals, which scientists say are necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change, have been stymied by a coal-state Democrat and constraints on executive power.
This episode: White House correspondent Ayesha Rascoe, White House correspondent Scott Detrow, and climate correspondent Jeff Brady.
Connect:
Email the show at nprpolitics@npr.org
Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.
Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.
Find and support your local public radio station.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
The Biden administration laid out his main priorities as he took office: tackling the pandemic, responding to the climate crisis, addressing racial inequality, and rejuvenating the economy. Over the next few weeks, the NPR Politics Podcast will check in on how those goals are going.
Building on President Trump's Operation Warp Speed, the Biden administration managed to make vaccines widely-available across the country within a few months of taking office. Convincing everyone to take the vaccine proved a bigger challenge, and now the country is facing another surge of the virus,
This episode: White House correspondent Ayesha Rascoe, White House correspondent Tamara Keith, and health correspondent Allison Aubrey.
Connect:
Email the show at nprpolitics@npr.org
Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.
Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.
Find and support your local public radio station.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
In an appearance on Fox News Sunday, the West Virginia Democrat said he would not support the Build Back Better Act, the centerpiece of President Biden's domestic agenda. The announcement, which came after months of wheel-spinning in Congress, dooms legislation that Biden says would allow the U.S. to curb the climate crisis and better support working families.
Read more: Manchin says Build Back Better's climate measures are risky. That's not true.
This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, congressional correspondent Kelsey Snell, and acting congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh.
Connect:
Email the show at nprpolitics@npr.org
Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.
Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.
Find and support your local public radio station.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
President Biden acknowledged Thursday that the centerpiece of his agenda, a nearly-two trillion dollar social programs package known as the Build Back Better Act, won't pass the Senate before Christmas as Democrats had hoped. West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin is a key holdout. But Congress was able to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling, despite doubts that they could reach consensus.
And: is there a rising workers' and unionization movement in the United States? Many low-income workers have seen a sharp increase in their pay during the pandemic, though an increase in the cost of goods stemming from an overloaded supply chain has softened the impact of the pay jump.
This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, White House correspondent Asma Khalid, congressional correspondent Kelsey Snell, and business correspondent Alina Selyukh.
Connect:
Email the show at nprpolitics@npr.org
Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.
Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.
Find and support your local public radio station.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Following in the footsteps of Lucy McBath, a Georgia Democrat who won a seat in the House of Representatives after her son was shot and killed, gun control activists across the country are training to run for office at the local, state, and federal level. They face an entrenched political climate that has doomed substantive action on the issue for decades.
This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, politics correspondent Juana Summers, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.
Connect:
Email the show at nprpolitics@npr.org
Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.
Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.
Find and support your local public radio station.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is feeling hopeful about the midterms: President Biden's approval numbers are low and inflation is at least temporarily high. But some Republican representatives are worried their peers are too focused on Trump-style bomb-throwing and jeers to stick to a uniform, policy-focused campaign message.
This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, congressional correspondent Kelsey Snell, and acting congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh.
Connect:
Email the show at nprpolitics@npr.org
Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.
Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.
Find and support your local public radio station.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol recommended that Mark Meadows, White House chief of staff under President Trump, be charged with contempt of Congress after he stopped cooperating with the panel. The decision comes as the committee disclosed messages sent during the attack by Fox News Channel hosts, Republican lawmakers, and Donald Trump Jr. asking Meadows to act to stop the assault on the Capitol.
In case you missed it:
The Docket: Executive Privilege
Connect:
Email the show at nprpolitics@npr.org
Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.
Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.
Find and support your local public radio station.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
U.S. officials have accused Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko of being the latest to take advantage of desperate migrants. They say he helped bring migrants from war-torn nations to the Belarus border in order to create a humanitarian crisis and put political pressure on his European neighbors. Officials worry this type of strategy might be used again.
This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, and reporter Charles Maynes.
Connect:
Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here.
Email the show at nprpolitics@npr.org
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.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
The Supreme Court is allowing a lawsuit challenging Texas's 6-week abortion ban to go forward, but keeping the law in place while the suit moves through the courts. The move will maintain the status quo for abortion access in the state, while the court considers another case that could redefine Roe v. Wade.
Also, a new NPR/Marist poll out this week found some major warning signs for President Biden and Congressional Democrats. Namely, many Americans aren't feeling the benefits of recent measures meant to offset the economic pains of COVID.
Connect:
Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here.
Email the show at nprpolitics@npr.org
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.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
