Politics

America’s Second-Worst Scenario

So far, cumulative acts of civic virtue have saved the republic. But the constitutional order is still in danger.

• Barton Gellman
• 8:00 AM ET

Pramila Jayapal Is ‘Next-Level’ Angry

The congresswoman tested positive for COVID-19 after sheltering with Republicans who refused to wear masks.

• Elaine Godfrey
• January 15, 2021

Mike Pence Has Nowhere to Go

The vice president has no obvious place in GOP electoral politics.

• Peter Nicholas
• January 15, 2021

Joe Biden’s Looming War on White Supremacy

The insurrection could spur a federal-government crackdown on white-nationalist groups, as well as strengthen the case for systemic police reform.

• Ronald Brownstein
• January 15, 2021

The Boogaloo Bois Prepare for Civil War

As the FBI warns of violence, anti-government extremists are ready to get in on the chaos.

• Michael J. Mooney
• January 15, 2021

The Big Story: America After Trump

Atlantic writers will discuss the future of democracy after last week’s insurrection, live at 11 a.m. ET on Thursday.

• January 13, 2021

I Asked My Colleagues to Wear Masks. They Laughed.

Delaware’s congresswoman thought she might die in the riot at the Capitol. Then her Republican colleagues mocked her for handing out masks while they sheltered together.

• Lisa Blunt Rochester
• January 13, 2021

Impeaching Trump Was an Act of Self-Defense

In impeaching President Trump a second time, Democrats believe they’re acting to remove “a clear and present danger” not only to American citizens and democracy at large, but to themselves specifically.

• Russell Berman
• January 13, 2021

MAGA-land’s Favorite Newspaper

How The Epoch Times became a pro-Trump propaganda machine in an age of plague and insurrection ​​​​​

• Simon van Zuylen-Wood
• January 13, 2021

How a Well-Meaning Health Policy Created California’s Coronavirus Nightmare

The state’s hyperefficient health-care system runs pretty well—unless a pandemic strikes.

• Olga Khazan
• January 12, 2021

Trump Rallies Were a Preview of the Capitol Attack

Those following the president’s events around the country for the past four years were not surprised by the mob violence that unfolded in Washington.

• Peter Nicholas
• January 10, 2021

It Was Supposed to Be So Much Worse

And the threat to the U.S. government hasn’t passed.

• Elaine Godfrey
• January 9, 2021

Republicans Confront the Consequences of Their Doomsday Rhetoric

The Capitol riot showed how the ominous tenor of contemporary GOP messaging could be fueling white conservatives’ extremism.

• Ronald Brownstein
• January 9, 2021

Listen: John Bresnahan Helps Us Understand What the Hell Just Happened

The veteran congressional reporter shares his firsthand experience of the pro-Trump mob storming the Capitol.

• Kevin Townsend
• January 8, 2021

Jamie Raskin Lost His Son. Then He Fled a Mob.

The day before the Capitol riot, a congressman buried his 25-year-old son, who had left a note for his family on New Year’s Eve.

• John Hendrickson
• January 8, 2021

‘Secure the Capitol’ Misses the Point

More roadblocks and police officers won’t stop the next attempted coup.

• Robinson Meyer
• January 8, 2021

Why Trump Suddenly Changed His Tune

What frightened the president into releasing a video calling for calm?

• Nick Baumann
• January 8, 2021

A Christian Insurrection

Many of those who mobbed the Capitol on Wednesday claimed to be enacting God’s will.

• Emma Green
• January 8, 2021

How Joe Biden Watched the Capitol Assault

It was a day of chaos in Washington, D.C. But in Wilmington, Delaware, President-elect Joe Biden pulsed with quiet anger.

• Edward-Isaac Dovere
• January 6, 2021

Mass Delusion in America

What I heard from insurrectionists on their march to the Capitol

• Jeffrey Goldberg
• January 6, 2021