The Playbook Podcast

The Congressional Progressive Caucus welcomed its largest incoming class in a generation. While their priority list is long, there’s one looming question: Will they support Hakeem Jeffries? Then the other stories animating Washington: President Trump admits his deportation crackdown may have gone too far and opens the door to an immigration deal with Democrats. And a gaggle of potential Democratic 2028 contenders descended on Crooked Con, where a straw poll produced some surprising winners.

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In an exclusive interview with Dasha Burns, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) gives his first reaction to Democrats’ historic midterm wins, reveals which potential 2028 candidates have already called him up, and explains why he thinks the path to the White House in 2028 runs through the South.

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President Donald Trump is shaking up the White House after Republicans’ humiliating midterm defeat, ousting chief of staff Susie Wiles and replacing her with Stephen Miller. But Miller’s rise didn’t happen overnight.

New reporting from POLITICO’s Dasha Burns and Will Steakin reveals how Miller’s wife, Katie, spent weeks lobbying Trump allies to help secure the job for her husband. In a special weekend edition of the Playbook Podcast, Dasha and Megan Messerly unpack the West Wing power struggle, Wiles’ downfall and what Miller’s promotion means for the next two years of Trump’s presidency.

The race for Rep. Jim Clyburn’s coveted 2028 endorsement is already heating up. He tells Dasha Burns in an exclusive interview who he has spoken to and what it will take to win his support. Then the other stories animating Washington: 2028 is already here with a new movement to draft Rep. Ro Khanna for president and Pete Hegseth is facing fresh scrutiny after Republicans’ midterm wipeout.

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A decade after Sen. Bernie Sanders nationalized his brand of economic populism, Democrats are winning on his message. What lessons have they learned since 2016 and could a new progressive movement carry that momentum into 2028? Then the other stories animating Washington: President Donald Trump is taking the GOP's midterm drubbing in a surprisingly Zen fashion, while Vice President JD Vance points the finger at the Iran war, with Trump's blessing.

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