The Playbook Podcast
POLITICO’s Jack Blanchard and Dasha Burns bring their fresh insight, analysis and reporting to the biggest story driving the day in the nation’s capital.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 6 minutes
- Episodes
- 1942
- Years Active
- 2016 - 2025
April 17, 2024: Another strike against Mike Johnson
On Tuesday, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky became the second congressman to publicly declare support for a motion-to-vacate attempt against House Speaker Mike Johnson. The basis for all of the drama?…
00:09:03 |
Wed 17 Apr 2024
April 16, 2024: Why Johnson’s risky Ukraine gambit might just work
After stalling for months, House Speaker Mike Johnson finally has a plan to tackle aid to Ukraine and Israel — and it amounts to the trickiest legislative issue of his speakership. Among its provisio…
00:07:57 |
Tue 16 Apr 2024
April 12, 2024: A two-tiered Trump-favoring justice system
Donald Trump has been outspoken in his belief that he has been martyred by the U.S. justice system, especially in the lead-up to his hush money trial Monday. But as legal editor James Romoser has unc…
00:10:06 |
Fri 12 Apr 2024
April 11, 2024: MTG wants her MTV
Is Mike Johnson’s time as speaker limited? After weeks of delay, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to vacate — a procedural move that would oust him from the House’s top spot — seems to be coming…
00:07:56 |
Thu 11 Apr 2024
April 10, 2024: Inside PM Kishida’s visit to Washington
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to provide a new centerpiece of sorts for the administration's Indo-Pacific strategy during his visit to the U.S. today, with a main goal of counteri…
00:08:01 |
Wed 10 Apr 2024
April 9, 2024: Trump tries to have it both ways on abortion
Donald Trump’s new video outlining his stance on abortion rights offered the clearest reminder yet that he is being simultaneously pulled in two opposing directions. He wants the credit for appointin…
00:09:13 |
Tue 09 Apr 2024
April 8, 2024: The FISA debate takes center stage
After the two-week spring recess, Congress will return to a plethora of work, including the debate surrounding FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. In the coming days, House Speaker Mike …
00:08:25 |
Mon 08 Apr 2024
April 5, 2024: Biden’s challenge in Israel
In a phone call yesterday with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, President Joe Biden made two central demands: First, to allow the flow of humanitarian aid; second, to empower negotiators to broker a ce…
00:08:49 |
Fri 05 Apr 2024
April 4, 2024: Are Mike Johnson’s days numbered?
House Republicans are fighting again. That’s not a story in and of itself. But the stakes are. There is disagreement over both whether and how to fund Ukraine aid, and nobody is happy about it. “This…
00:08:47 |
Thu 04 Apr 2024
April 2, 2024: Florida’s abortion ban sets the stage for a fight in November
On Monday, the Florida Supreme Court issued a number of significant rulings that will impact abortion politics in the state. The justices upheld a Gov. Ron DeSantis-backed, 15-week abortion ban that …
00:08:38 |
Tue 02 Apr 2024
April 1, 2024: Johnson’s mission to keep his gavel
In an interview with Trey Gowdy of Fox News on the evening of Easter Sunday, Mike Johnson called Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s effort to oust him a distraction from the mission. Attempting to impart …
00:05:34 |
Mon 01 Apr 2024
March 29, 2024: The case for Biden to court never-Trump Republicans
The smattering of prominent Republicans who have refused to commit to supporting Donald Trump in the general election differ in their ideological beliefs, their geography, their offices and their pro…
00:09:13 |
Fri 29 Mar 2024
March 28, 2024: The RFK Jr. wild card
Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential run has been a spectacle from the start. Despite being born into Democratic royalty, the independent candidate holds a hodgepodge of policy views that sometimes veer …
00:09:04 |
Thu 28 Mar 2024
March 27, 2024: Just the beginning of the mifepristone story
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the nation should significantly limit the use of mifepristone, a pill that terminates early pregnancy. A number of justices on the majority-co…
00:08:33 |
Wed 27 Mar 2024
March 26, 2024: Inside the evolving relationship between the U.S. and Israel
In the last 24 hours, the diplomatic dynamic between the U.S. and Israel took on another layer of complexity when the U.S. abstained in voting for a UN Gaza ceasefire resolution, allowing it to pass.…
00:09:49 |
Tue 26 Mar 2024
March 25, 2024: Trump’s trifecta
There are three important things on Donald Trump’s agenda today, and they're all connected. First, the former president has a half-billion dollar bond due stemming from the New York civil fraud case.…
00:08:19 |
Mon 25 Mar 2024
March 22, 2024: A Biden campaign vibe check
Most polls show a tight race between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. But ever since Biden’s notably energetic State of the Union address, his campaign has been feeling a strang…
00:09:42 |
Fri 22 Mar 2024
March 21, 2024: Are Dems Speaker Mike Johnson’s saving grace?
Time and again, Speaker Mike Johnson has relied on an unexpected source to propel legislation to success: House Democrats. We’ve already seen Dems help Johnson pass a $78 billion tax bill, the propos…
00:08:25 |
Thu 21 Mar 2024
March 20, 2024: Trump-endorsed Moreno wins big in Ohio
Bernie Moreno, the car dealer-turned Trump-endorsed Senate candidate, won the Ohio GOP primary quickly and handily yesterday. It is obviously good news for the presumptive Republican presidential nom…
00:09:28 |
Wed 20 Mar 2024
March 19, 2024: What we’re watching in Ohio (and elsewhere) today
Five states — Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, and Ohio — are holding primary elections today. Though President Joe Biden and Donald Trump clinched the presumptive nominations for their respective…
00:10:01 |
Tue 19 Mar 2024
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