Connect with us

Politics

Welcome to a new era of West Wing Playbook

Published

on

Donald Trump returned to power exactly one month ago today, and it is hardly possible to overstate the magnitude of the changes he has brought and is seeking to bring to the federal government and to the workings of power in Washington.

The modern federal government — and much of the economy that gravitates around government in the nation’s capital — is overwhelmingly the product of a few big historical movements: the New Deal in the 1930s, World War II and the 45 years of Cold War that followed, and the burst of government social and regulatory activism in the 1960s and 1970s.

The policies and agencies of government that flowed from those movements shaped national life and the lives of many millions of people for decades. It seems certain that the disruption the Trump administration is promoting now — seeking to transform or eliminate vast sections of the executive branch, and to alter the balance of power emphatically toward the presidency — has equally large implications, for the present and for many years into the future.

Today, we’re relaunching one of our signature products to capture this moment authoritatively for this audience: West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government.

Blue Light News has the capital’s most talented reporters covering the White House, federal policy, legal and political beats. Our aim is to harness this expertise in a way that is most useful to the audience that is most interested in and affected by the unprecedented changes and confrontations that are underway.

The revamped newsletter will land in inboxes Monday through Friday afternoon to capture the latest news about President Trump’s effort to remake government: the key decisions, the critical characters and the power dynamics that are driving the day. Our team will report on the actions of the Department of Government Efficiency being led by Elon Musk, the strategy being carried out by the Office of Management and Budget under Russ Vought, related interventions and the resulting outcomes and conflicts playing out in agencies, the courts and Capitol Hill.

We hope this newsletter will be useful to everyone around the country and even the world who is interested in this effort to remake Washington, but above all it must be indispensable to the people with the most at stake. This includes people in the federal workforce, and also the people carrying out President Trump’s directives. We need to know everything about their choices, the ideas and arguments behind those choices, and most importantly the real-life consequences of those choices.

We want the newsletter to reflect and drive the conversation at top levels, deep in the federal agencies, and in every private sector and nonprofit policy operation that is concerned with how government works and how it could work better.

The newsletter, of course, is just one of the ways that Blue Light News is rising to meet this historical moment. Our entire publication, and especially our large roster of policy and political journalists in Washington, is in the midst of organizing itself to illuminate every aspect of this drama. The short-term surge underway is part of our long-term commitment to covering the work of the federal government with more reporting and more authority than any other news organization.

To be clear: Blue Light News’s power flows from our reporting and our zeal to illuminate. We are curious and clear-eyed. We aren’t boosters or adversaries of any party or political movement. We are professionals who are devoted to answering important questions on behalf of our audience.

I’ll close with an observation about Washington reporting. When I first arrived here, in the 1980s, there was a very substantial body of journalists, from multiple publications, devoted to covering the workings of the federal government. For a variety of reasons, many news organizations have retreated from this task. A proliferation of old and new publications are focused, as we are, on the political dynamics of Washington, but there are fewer than ever that harness this reporting to the substantive policy choices of government.

This reality gives Blue Light News special responsibilities, as well as a great opportunity to engage with and deepen our connection to a large audience of people who work on and care deeply about those choices.

Our newsroom is committed to meeting this moment with the best and most vital work of our careers.

John Harris

Editor-in-Chief

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Politics

Trump critic George Conway files to run for NY House seat

Published

on

George Conway, a conservative lawyer and vocal critic of President Donald Trump, filed paperwork on Monday to run as a Democrat for the seat Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) is vacating.

News of Conway entering the race began surfacing last month, especially after Conway confirmed he had hired a Democratic pollster to weigh his chances.

Conway was previously married to Kellyanne Conway, who helped manage Trump’s 2016 presidential bid and then served in the White House during Trump’s first term.

Though George Conway was also offered a position with the administration during Trump’s first term, he declined. The relationship between the president and Conway turned contentious, with Conway often criticizing Trump and the president in turn commenting on the Conways’ marriage.

The feud ultimately culminated in Trump calling Conway a “stone cold LOSER & husband from hell” and Conway calling Trump a “fascist.” Conway went on to pen an essay that called Trump “unfit for office.”

The lawyer eventually co-founded The Lincoln Project, a PAC of former Republicans with a self-described purpose of defeating Trump, and has continued to criticize the president.

Conway will join an increasingly crowded primary race for Nadler’s seat. At least 10 hopefuls — including Jack Schlossberg, the only grandson of John F. Kennedy — have filed to run for the position since Nadler announced in September he would not seek reelection.

March for Our Lives organizer Cameron Kasky, Assemblymen Alex Bores and Micah Lasher and Councilmember Erik Bottcher have also filed to run for the Manhattan-based seat.

Continue Reading

Politics

CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ segment on notorious El Salvador prison

Published

on

CBS News abruptly pulled a “60 Minutes” investigation featuring Venezuelan men deported to El Salvador’s CECOT prison on Sunday, sparking swift backlash within the newsroom, including from the story’s veteran correspondent.

The canceled segment, yanked at the behest of newly appointed editor in chief Bari Weiss, focused on the notorious El Salvador prison that President Donald Trump has deported immigrants to despite reports of human rights violations within the prison. Several men now released from the prison were featured in the segment describing the conditions they endured within CECOT.

But Weiss nixed the segment just hours before it was set to air after calling for multiple additions, according to The New York Times, including an interview with top Trump adviser Stephen Miller or another top official in the Trump administration.

CBS said in a statement that the segment will air at a later date, and Weiss defended the decision to hold the segment in a statement to The New York Times.

“My job is to make sure that all stories we publish are the best they can be,” Weiss said. “Holding stories that aren’t ready for whatever reason — that they lack sufficient context, say, or that they are missing critical voices — happens every day in every newsroom. I look forward to airing this important piece when it’s ready.”

But Sharyn Alfonsi, the veteran correspondent on the story, condemned Weiss’ decision.

In an email obtained by The New York Times and later shared on social media by Times reporter Michael M. Grynbaum, Alfonsi told her CBS colleagues that reporters on the segment had requested comment from the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department. She added that the segment had also already undergone a rigorous review and fact-checking process.

To pull the story so close to airtime, Alfonsi said, is “not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”

“Government silence is a statement, not a VETO,” Alfonsi wrote. “Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story.”

She continued, “If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find convenient.”

Alfonsi added that if CBS’ new standard for airing a segment requires government interviews, then the government “effectively gains control over the ’60 Minutes’ broadcast.”

“We have been promoting this story on social media for days. Our viewers are expecting it,” Alfonsi wrote. “When it airs without a credible explanation, the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship. We are trading 50 years of ‘Gold Standard’ reputation for a single week of political quiet.”

CBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The cancellation of “Inside CECOT” is the latest in a string of controversial moves made by the media giant this year.

In July, CBS announced a $16 million settlement with Trump, who sued the company as a private citizen following his own appearance on “60 Minutes.” It was after that settlement that the Trump administration approved Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of CBS.

Weiss, founder of The Free Press, was appointed as editor in chief by Paramount owner David Ellison in October to overhaul the newsroom.

Trump has continued to express his displeasure with CBS, but that hasn’t stopped Ellison from courting the administration’s favor as he seeks to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.

Continue Reading

Politics

Omar Fateh responds to Vance’s ‘mayor of Mogadishu’ comment made in Turning Point speech

Published

on

Omar Fateh responds to Vance’s ‘mayor of Mogadishu’ comment made in Turning Point speech

After Vice President Vance slammed Minnesota state Sen. Omar Fateh (D) on Sunday, Fateh fired back, saying Vance “took time away from the couch to try out comedy.” Vance, during his speech at Turning Point’s AmericaFest in Phoenix, said that Democrats “are not sending their best,” referencing Fateh’s unsuccessful candidacy for Minneapolis mayor…
Read More

Continue Reading

Trending