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
In a statement former President Donald Trump called Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell a "dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack" and said Republicans will lose if they stick with the senator. McConnell voted to acquit Trump in the impeachment trial but has been critical of Trump in recent weeks. The division between these top Republicans is just the tip of the iceberg of a deeply divided GOP.
This episode: congressional correspondent Susan Davis, senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.
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
House Democrats are putting the finishing touches on their Covid-19 relief package. It is expected to include everything from direct payments to a $15 federal minimum wage, and cost nearly $2 trillion. We break down what's in the bill and what will and will not make it through the Senate.
This episode: congressional correspondent Susan Davis, congressional correspondent Kelsey Snell, and chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley.
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
Seven Republican senators voted to convict former President Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection, making this impeachment the most bipartisan in history. But some of those senators are already facing backlash. As the GOP continues to decide what its future will look like, President Biden forges ahead with his plan to combat the pandemic.
This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, congressional editor Deirdre Walsh, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.
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
All fifty members of the Democratic caucus and seven Republicans said Donald Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection at the Capitol — that's ten votes short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.
This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, White House reporter Ayesha Rascoe, congressional correspondent Susan Davis, and senior political editor and correspondent Ron Elving.
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
In a combative but brief showing, former president Trump's defense team highlighted past uses of fight metaphors by Democratic politicians to suggest the president's rally speech didn't incite the insurrection.
The lawyers also alleged that House Democrats failed to meet various legal standards in their pursuit of conviction — standards that hold little relevance to the political process of impeachment.
Follow our live coverage.
This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, congressional editor Deirdre Walsh, and national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson.
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 House impeachment managers concluded their case against Donald Trump by characterizing a Senate conviction as a way to prevent of future violence — a warning to future presidents who might be also inclined to encourage violence. Tomorrow, the former president's defense team mounts their response.
Follow our live coverage.
This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, congressional correspondent Kelsey Snell, and legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg.
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 Democratic impeachment managers played a series of graphic videos demonstrating just how close senators came to encountering violent extremists inside the Capitol. Soon, those senators will have to decide whether Trump was responsible for the riot that put their lives at risk — and threatened to derail the transition of power.
Follow our live coverage.
This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, White House correspondent Tamara Keith, and congressional reporter Claudia Grisales.
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
Six Republicans voted with Democrats that it is constitutional to try a former president in the Senate after he or she has left office. But it would take another 11 in order to convict him on the impeachment charge.
Follow our live coverage.
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@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 impeachment trial gets underway tomorrow. A new brief suggests that Trump's lawyers will defend him on both process and substance. And a vote to convict the former president always seemed unlikely, but Republican opposition to the president appears to have softened in the month since the insurrection.
This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, congressional correspondent Susan Davis, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.
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
In his first major foreign policy address since assuming office, President Biden promised that the country would once again be a reliable ally to its partners. And Kamala Harris faces a common vice presidential dilemma: what is my role in this administration?
This episode: congressional correspondent Susan Davis, White House correspondent Scott Detrow, and White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez.
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 
