The NPR Politics Podcast - Welcome to the NPR Washington Desk

Episode Date: January 1, 2026

Happy New Year! In this special episode, the Politics Podcast team is inviting you into our office to hear from reporters as they reflect on the year we’ve had, and look forward to the year in politics ahead.This episode: political correspondent Ashley Lopez, congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt, White House correspondents Danielle Kurtzleben and Franco Ordoñez, justice correspondent Ryan Lucas, and political reporter Elena Moore.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for NPR and the following message come from Yarl and Pamela Mone, thanking the people who make public radio great every day and also those who listen. Hey there, it's Ashley Lopez, wishing you a happy new year. Today on the show, we're doing something a little different. To kick off 2026, we're inviting you into our newsroom. On this virtual tour around the Washington desk at NPR's headquarters, you'll hear from some of the folks you regularly hear from on the politics podcast about what they think are some of the biggest moments in politics in 2025

and look ahead to what's to come now that we're in 2026. Hey guys, this is Barbara Sprunt. I cover Congress. I'm Ryan Lucas. I cover the Justice Department. I'm Elena Moore. I cover politics. And I had too much coffee today. so I'm sorry in advance. If I say something that I shouldn't. I'm Danielle Kurtzleben, White House correspondent. I am Frank Ordonez, and I cover the White House.

I have been working in politics. I mean, it's really kind of hard to say how long I've been working in Washington since 2011, but I was largely a policy person covering immigration, local state coverage for North Carolina and then doing some investigative work until Trump was elected in the first administration in 2016. I was actually pulled from policy into covering the White House literally just a few days from inauguration day.

So I started covering politics in 2015 and I remember being like, whoa, this is so wild that the first year that I started covering politics is going to be the craziest year of politics ever, and it will never be this crazy again. And then, of course, that was not the case, because then we had, you know, all of the midterms that followed, which were crazy, wild presidential elections, the COVID pandemic. I mean, yeah, I think I maybe jinxed everything for everyone because of the way I thought about 2015. Whoops, sorry, guys. Gosh, I have been at NPR for 10 years covering politics that whole time.

Before then, I was at a couple of other outlets covering economics but getting pulled into political coverage, so, oh, Lord, 15 years, yeah. My first presidential campaign I covered was in 2012 covering Mitt Romney, and I remember at an event in Iowa, I met Don Gagne, who was sitting next to me at a table, and I was just fan-girling. I was tongue-tied. I couldn't talk to him. And now I get to work with him. It's awesome. Well, I'm kind of an NPR baby because I was an intern on the Washington desk in the summer of 2019. I graduated and then the next day started here. So super chill. And I've basically been here ever since. In the realm of politics. So I started my career as a foreign correspondent would do politics that was overseas, but in terms of U.S. politics specifically, probably for 10 years. What is a significant or surprising politics moment of 2025? I'm going to come at this from a slightly

different perspective in that I cover the Justice Department. I think the president, the president, targeting of law firms and using the power of the presidency to try to punish law firms for representing people or causes that he doesn't like was something that a lot of us had not anticipated and was a move that that was unexpected, I would say. I mean, AI, I think, is up there. I mean, because tell me another thing that happened this year that's going to be that consequential in our politics. We already have a broken sense of truth and facts in our politics, what could break that more? We found it.

Surprising moments in politics in 2025. That is my brain thinking. Surprising moments of 2025. You really didn't prepare us for these. I should have like, what I think about this? I think one of the most surprising moments and 2025, and this is based on the fact that I covered the first Trump administration as well, is the lack of palace intrigue in this administration, in this current administration.

In the last Trump administration, there was always these colors behind the scenes. There were these factions in the White House of groups of individuals, of staffers who are kind of competing against the other. You know, there are all these leaks as a big currency for journalists at that time. This time, it's a much more closed shop. The message is much more controlled. No question. There is still a lot of, you know, it's still a roller coaster covering this White House, and there's so much going on.

It's always changing. But it is a different ship. It is a different way that it's happening. It's not as much, you know, this shocking. breaking news on a Friday night at 9 p.m. like it was in the first administration. So I would guess I would say that's probably the most, that was one of the most surprising things of 2025 because we really did, or I really did think that we were going to be going back to the times of, you know, this big news drop in the middle of the night and all of us were going to be scrambling.

Well, you know, covering young voters, it's kind of crazy because I'll, you know, talk to some up-and-coming person. And then a few years later, you see. them in a completely different role. And you're like, oh, my goodness. And I think a prime example of that is in 2022, some of the first reporting I did on young voters is I covered this first-time candidate in New Hampshire, who was the Republican nominee for this really kind of closely contested district. And that was Caroline Levitt. You know, now the White House press secretary. She didn't win that seat, but obviously she has a huge role now in government. And I think it was very striking to see Trump announce her as his pick

and see her as one of the most high-profile people in Washington now and just a few years ago, we were talking about her run for Congress. So time flies. I mean, for me, like thinking about 2025, the shutdown was so, such an interesting and unexpected. I mean, I kind of think that we all thought there would be a shutdown and it would be for a significant amount of time. But just how long it went on for and how,

the house was sent home. I mean, it's like something, I'll do what we're doing. It's such a fun office, y'all. Yeah, and like seeing the house get sent home for so long and then trying to like find out what members are doing in their districts. I mean, that was different and that was interesting. And I do think it kind of sets the tone going into next year, yeah. That's the thing about covering politics.

Things change a lot. It's time for a quick break, but when we come back, we'll share some of our most anticipated moments. of 2026. This message comes from Wise, the app for international people using money around the globe. You can send, spend, and receive in up to 40 currencies with only a few simple taps. Be smart. Get Wise. Download the Wise app today or visit Wise.com. Tise and Cs apply. Support for NPR and the

The following message come from Yarl and Pamela Mohn, thanking the people who make public radio great every day and also those who listen. And we're back, and we've been going around the office reflecting on some of the biggest political moments of 2025. But now it's time to look ahead to 26. Let's ask our reporters what major stories or topics they'll be keeping a close eye on this year. I think the thing we're all going to be watching for in 2026, is just how often both sides of the aisle talk about the economy. I think it's clearly the issue that I think folks around the country are kind of rallying around. Obviously, it affects people differently.

So I think it'll be really interesting to just see how different campaigns talk about that issue and how they try to relate to people on young voters. I think something I'm watching for this year is just, you know, everyone's always like, be authentic, be yourself. And that's, I think, kind of hard in politics, if you've ever. seen any lawmaker try to do a TikTok. So I'll also be watching both how folks talk about the economy, but also just how people try to be normal people to voters, because I think that's going to prove quite impactful. What am I watching for this year? Again, from the perspective of the

Justice Department, I think whether we will continue to see the Justice Department use its powers to go after the president's perceived enemies like we saw them go after Tish James, the New York Attorney General and former FBI director James Comey this past year, whether we'll see the Justice Department continue to pursue such prosecutions in the coming year. Yeah, I think it is going to be a very big year in politics. Obviously, you have the midterms coming, so that's going to be huge. You're looking at, you know, the Republican Party, and you're starting to see little bits of fractures. But I cover a lot of foreign policy and the Trump administration, foreign policy, the White House is foreign policy. So I think the two big things I'm probably looking at are Ukraine

and whether this White House continues to kind of, you know, the back and forth of support for, you know, kind of sympathy for Russia versus sympathy for Ukraine, which direction is it going to lean? and can this White House actually bring an end to that war because the two sides are so, so divided. Their heels are so dug in that it seems hard that they're going to break that impasse, but the White House continues to talk that they're making progress. So we'll see, I think the other big one is the military buildup in the Caribbean and the pressure. and the pressure campaign against Venezuela and the Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro,

what's going to happen with all that military power in the Caribbean? What are they going to do? And how could it impact the rest of the hemisphere? So one thing that stood out to me about looking at 2026 is we get those calendars for the House and Senate and we get to kind of map out what the next year will look like. When are people going to be legislating and doing all of their long? maker duties in D.C. And would you believe it? There's, no, they're not going to be there

that much. There's, like, a lot of red on that calendar, meaning, like, you know, people are going to be back home in their districts and their states. And that's not super surprising because it's a midterm year. But I do think it means there's a lot of interesting opportunities for going out into the world, getting out of the D.C. bubble, which I'm really excited to do, and see, like, how people are campaigning and how people are receiving the messages, right? I mean, And like, there's a lot that's going to go on next year. So a lot of time outside of D.C. for all of the people on Capitol Hill and hopefully for yours to really do. The Supreme Court ruling on Trump's tariffs, that is going to be massive because it could fundamentally shake Trump's entire economic agenda.

Okay, so that's what people are expecting in politics this year. But what about the unexpected? If there's one thing reporters hate being asked, that's to speculate, and that's exactly what we asked ours to do, just this once. If I were to make a political bingo card for 2026, what do you mean by a political bingo card, though, like? Okay, I'm ready. If I were to put something on a political bingo card for 2026, I think I would have to, I would have to, I, I was just at the World Cup draw with the president. I would maybe put whether Trump continues to talk about changing the name soccer to football.

He talked about that during the draw. The World Cup is coming. It's the biggest sporting event in the globe. I'm very curious whether Trump will continue to make that push, even if jokingly, because you know, everybody knows, Americans are not going to have that. They love their football. They love American football. So I'm very curious about kind of that divide. Okay, if I was making a politics bingo card for 2026, I think we need another animal in the White House. Like, I miss the first dogs and the first cats. Maybe we get an animal. I'll put that on the bingo card. And then, I'm trying to think. I don't know. I'm going to manifest.

another mom, Donnie, and Trump meet up in the Oval, but I don't know how that's going to go. What would I put on my bingo card? I would desperately attempt not to play bingo this year. I think that's all I got. This, anybody who follows me on the blue sky will not be surprised by me saying this, but Democrats have been obsessed since 2024. Understandably, I've been. believe, if you look at exit polls, with bringing young men back into their fold. And with

candidates like Graham Platner, Josh Turek in Iowa, a whole mess of candidates out there. I think you're going to see Democrats really lean into young, sporty, guys, guy type candidates. I think Democrats are really kind of in that lane right now. A bingo card or a drinking game would be like like how many times are we going to hear about affordability i'm thinking a lot um yeah the bingo card let's see hmm i mean i'm thinking about like are there going to be more like what's the continuing resolution i feel like yeah key buzzwords for your bingo card or drinking game please drink responsibly is affordability continuing resolution appropriations um government shutdowns, you know, all that jazz.

That's all for today, but before we go, here's a little send-off from some of our staff. Happy New Year, everyone. It is so important that we take time to reflect about all of the things that, like, we're grateful for. Yes, happy New Year, everyone. I hope everyone has a great and happy New Year. I would love to wish all of the listeners of the NPR Politics podcast a very happy New Year. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and a, I hope you have a very, very good beginning of 2026. Stay warm. Stay sane. Stay going along. Continue. Yep, that's the slogan. Put that on a mug.

Do I want to wish everybody a happy new year? I mean, sure, why not? Happy New Year. I'm Ashley Lopez. Happy holidays. And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast. Support for NPR, and the following message come from Yarl and Pamela Mohn, thanking the people who make public radio great every day and also those who listen.