WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch

Donald Trump delivers on his promise of sweeping tariffs, causing markets to plunge in response. The White House says the long-term gain will be worth the short-term pain, but how will the American consumer and the world at large be affected? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The liberal candidate wins a Wisconsin Supreme Court election in a 10-point blowout, while the GOP retains two Florida congressional seats, but with closer margins than in November. Is this the start of a MAGA voter backlash against Donald Trump and Elon Musk? Plus, House Speaker Mike Johnson cancels this week's agenda after a GOP revolt on proxy voting for new parents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Voters in Wisconsin are picking a new state Supreme Court justice, as Florida fills the U.S. House seats vacated by former Reps. Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz, in elections that the Democratic Party is trying to pitch as a referendum on Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Plus, the U.S. Supreme Court is skeptical of a Wisconsin ruling that denied a tax exemption to Catholic Charities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Financial markets are nervous as Trump prepares for his biggest tariff launch yet on April 2. Plus, the President floats a possible run for a third term, but is it possible he could succeed? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Citing national security, Donald Trump puts 25% tariffs on automobiles, adding to his protectionist experiment, as he pushes U.S. taxes on imports to the highest in 75 years. Plus, the White House's effort to play down its use of Signal to discuss U.S. military actions results in the release of more messages, including one giving specific timing for "F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recent polls have shown approval ratings for Democrats are reaching all-time lows, with voters voicing their dissatisfaction with the way major cities are being run and implementation of liberal initiatives. So what can the party do after some self-reflection? On this episode of Potomac Watch, political scientist Ruy Teixeira tells Paul Gigot what changes Democrats need to make and why the party seems to embrace dysfunction instead of reform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Justices hear two legal disputes that could have lasting consequences. Can Congress lend its taxing power to the executive branch without putting hard limits on its use? That's the question in FCC v. Consumers’ Research. And in a case about Louisiana's redistricting maps, the Court has a chance to say that racial gerrymandering isn't required and isn't even permitted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump's top aides, including Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, reportedly discussed U.S. war plans against the Houthis in Yemen via the chat app Signal, according to the Atlantic magazine's Jeffrey Goldberg, who was apparently added to the group by mistake. What do their texts reveal, and how serious was this as a security breach? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump Administration withholds $400 million in funding from Columbia University unless it institutes various policy changes, which president Katrina Armstrong surprisingly agrees to. Did the university deserve such a punishment, and how could this unprecedented sanction by the government be used in the future? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Surrounded by school children at desks, Donald Trump signs an executive order to begin the elimination of the Department of Education, moving to shift authority back to the states. What does the decision mean for grant money and student loan programs, what kind of legal challenges might the Trump administration face, and is this good politics? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Israel ends a two-week cease-fire with Hamas with a combination of air and ground strikes, but what will it take to secure the release of hostages? Plus, Donald Trump threatens the Houthis in Yemen will be “completely annihilated" if they continue to hold shipping routes hostage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump's phone call with Vladimir Putin didn't produce a 30-day cease-fire in Ukraine, let alone a durable peace agreement. Will Trump now pressure Putin to drop some of his demands? Plus, Europe gets serious about rearming as negotiations drag on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump invokes national security and the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport hundreds of alleged gang members to El Salvador, ignoring a judge's order to halt proceedings. This comes amid growing GOP calls for judicial impeachments, and prompts a rare pushback from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. What's at stake in this fight? And is the country headed for a showdown over judicial power? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump is moving fast, yet one big question is how his more populist GOP will handle the pressing issue of healthcare. On this episode of All Things, Sally Pipes--healthcare aficionado and author of "The World’s Medicine Chest"--lays out the risks of Joe Biden's coming drug price controls, the need to cut billions in waste and fraud from Medicaid, the fading chances for replacing ObamaCare, and the upsides and downsides of some of Trump's health cabinet picks, including HHS Secretary RFK, Jr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The progressive majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court is at stake in an April 1 election, and Democrats have decided their best campaign strategy is to run against Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Will it work? Plus, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer endures the wrath of the left for helping Republicans avoid a government shutdown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Secretary of State Marco Rubio expresses "cautious optimism” for a deal, but Vladimir Putin is making military gains in the Kursk region, raising the question of what the U.S. will do if Russia wants to keep fighting. Plus, Chuck Schumer faces the ire of fellow Democrats after arguing that helping to pass the House GOP spending bill is better than shutting down the government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker Mike Johnson pulls together House Republicans to pass a bill funding the government through Sept. 30, putting pressure on Senate Democrats to agree before a deadline of midnight Friday. Plus, the GOP shields itself from a tough vote on Donald Trump's trade wars, as the president threatens to respond to Europe's tariff retaliation with a 200% levy on imported wine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mahmoud Khalil, a "lead negotiator" for the anti-Israel protesters at Columbia University last year, is detained by federal agents who want to revoke his green card, and President Trump says more such cases are coming. Can speech, such as support for Hamas, be a legal grounds for deportation? What about the First Amendment? And could this case go to the Supreme Court? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amid a measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico that has put 29 in the hospital and killed a school-age child, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calls MMR vaccines an option, while also touting steroids and cod-liver oil as a miracle treatment. Plus, an appeals court upholds a New York law ending school vaccine exemptions for religious beliefs, which could go to the Supreme Court. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How is Donald Trump's much-discussed Department of Government Efficiency working in practice? In this episode of All Things, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin explains his agency's partnership with DOGE and the process by which they are identifying waste and fraud to make the federal government more accountable. What grants or programs are being cut, and why? What's happening to the EPA workforce? How much internal "resistance" is there to these goals? And how does EPA balance its mission of "clean air, land and water for every American" with the goal of a smaller government? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices