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Walter Shapiro

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., walk in the Capitol earlier this year.

House Republicans marching toward ‘Cloud-Cuckoo Land’

By Walter Shapiro
Posted September 12, 2023 at 6:30am
The private plane of former President Donald Trump is parked on the tarmac at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J., on Aug. 3 before taking him to Washington, D.C., for a court proceeding.

The trials and tribulations of Trump’s Capitol Hill enablers

By Walter Shapiro
Posted August 9, 2023 at 6:00am
Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a "Farmers for Trump" campaign event on July 7 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Nine ways the 2024 campaign could go haywire

By Walter Shapiro
Posted July 25, 2023 at 6:00am
In this photo illustration, the logos of Threads and Twitter are seen displayed on a smartphone.

‘Caveat emptor’: 2024 will be the biggest stealth campaign in US history

By Walter Shapiro
Posted July 11, 2023 at 6:00am
A pot sits on a gas-burning stove, an appliance the House is seeking to protect.

When push comes to stove, silly season is just getting warmed up

By Walter Shapiro
Posted June 13, 2023 at 6:00am
Reps. Garret Graves, R-La. (left), and Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., speak to reporters about debt ceiling and spending negotiations on May 23.

The ultimate no-win debt deal for McCarthy, House Republicans

By Walter Shapiro
Posted May 31, 2023 at 6:00am
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and other Republicans are a big reason why government is so inefficient, columnist Walter Shapiro writes.

Why can’t we run government like a business? Start by blaming Congress

By Walter Shapiro
Posted May 16, 2023 at 6:00am
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and other House Republicans during a March 30 press conference.

The GOP’s march of folly on the debt ceiling

By Walter Shapiro
Posted May 2, 2023 at 6:00am
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and other GOP members at a news conference on March 30.

What McCarthy, GOP should fear about the never-ending abortion controversies

By Walter Shapiro
Posted April 25, 2023 at 6:00am
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan is seen during a field hearing on violent crime in New York on Monday.

House Republicans’ NYC violent crime hearing was a political farce

By Walter Shapiro
Posted April 18, 2023 at 6:00am
Demonstrators gather outside the Capitol to demand action on gun safety on May 26, 2022, in the wake of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Texas.

Mass shootings show ‘Stein’s Law’ has sadly met its match

By Walter Shapiro
Posted March 29, 2023 at 6:00am
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., conducts a news conference at the Capitol on March 7.

Why this liberal is calling for a (muted) cheer for Mitch McConnell

By Walter Shapiro
Posted March 21, 2023 at 6:00am
A sign outside the Capitol on Jan. 10, 2022, reminding people to wear a face mask because of COVID-19.

State of the COVID-19 union: Honing our selective memories

By Walter Shapiro
Posted March 7, 2023 at 6:00am
Sen. J.D. Vance delivers remarks alongside former President Donald Trump at the East Palestine Fire Department on Feb. 23. Virtually every House committee — with the possible exception of Ethics — is poised to weigh in on the Ohio train derailment, Shapiro writes.

The limitations of the House GOP’s power to probe

By Walter Shapiro
Posted February 28, 2023 at 6:00am
The conventions of political journalism suggest that politicians are in constant flux. Usually, they are not, Shapiro writes. Above, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene yells during last week’s State of the Union.

The unchangeable Marjorie Taylor Greene

By Walter Shapiro
Posted February 14, 2023 at 6:00am
As Katie Porter and others announce their bids for California’s Senate seat, Democratic donors should resist the urge to play along, Shapiro writes.

The siren song of the California Senate race for out-of-state Democrats

By Walter Shapiro
Posted January 31, 2023 at 6:00am
No one believes Kevin McCarthy and House Republicans would have the good sense to let a rewrite of the 1887 Electoral Count Act ever reach the floor in 2023, Shapiro writes.

Republicans have a very strange idea of self-interest

By Walter Shapiro
Posted December 13, 2022 at 6:00am
COVID-19 funding should be a top priority, but instead it’s a political football in the lame-duck Congress, Shapiro writes. Above, a pharmacist administers a vaccine last November in Washington, D.C.

It’s time for a Christmas truce in the COVID wars

By Walter Shapiro
Posted November 29, 2022 at 6:00am
In the Democratic playbook, saying you intend to vote is not enough — you have to make a plan, Shapiro writes. Above, Sen. Maggie Hassan speaks at an election eve event in New Hampshire, joined by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Rep. Chris Pappas.

The biggest enigma of 2022? How voters actually decide

By Walter Shapiro
Posted November 8, 2022 at 6:00am
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seen here in 2021, have very different visions of how they would run the House next year, writes Shapiro.

Impeach Biden or investigate Trump? Voters have a choice to make

By Walter Shapiro
Posted October 25, 2022 at 6:00am
It will be hard to forget the courage of Cassidy Hutchinson, who spoke up while her political elders cowered, Shapiro writes. Above, Hutchinson prepares to testify on June 28.

The powerful legacy of the Jan. 6 committee

By Walter Shapiro
Posted October 12, 2022 at 6:00am
Can the polls showing a Democratic comeback be trusted? There is quite literally only one way to find out, Shapiro writes. Above, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at the Capitol this summer.

For those tempted to predict the midterms — don’t

By Walter Shapiro
Posted September 27, 2022 at 6:00am
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi could well have the last laugh, Shapiro suggests.

Why the conventional wisdom about 2022 has been so wrong

By Walter Shapiro
Posted September 13, 2022 at 6:00am
As an antiwar graduate student in the 1970s whose only vehicle was a three-speed bicycle, Walter Shapiro did not fit the mold of typical political striver. Above, demonstrators in Washington protest the Vietnam War in 1970.

A bike, a suit and a dream: How I lost a race for Congress 50 years ago

By Walter Shapiro
Posted August 10, 2022 at 6:00am
A bipartisan group of senators, led by Joe Manchin and Susan Collins, wants to overhaul the Electoral Count Act. The biggest problem is timing, Shapiro writes.

Don’t let the Electoral Count Act rewrite go down for the count

By Walter Shapiro
Posted July 26, 2022 at 6:00am
The next presidential election could have us all quoting “rage, rage against the dying of the light,” Shapiro writes. Above, Joe Biden and Donald Trump debate in 2020.

Rage, rage against the octogenarian steel cage match

By Walter Shapiro
Posted July 12, 2022 at 6:00am
The Biden administration is taking a series of steps aimed at minimizing the impact of the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision.

These days, the Supreme Court shapes the election returns

By Walter Shapiro
Posted June 28, 2022 at 6:00am
As President Joe Biden’s approval rating continues to dip, that spells trouble for Democrats. But the key to the midterms may be EGAD, Shapiro writes.

Egad! It’s a guide to the 2022 midterms

By Walter Shapiro
Posted June 15, 2022 at 6:00am
Video screens display an image of Donald Trump before his speech to supporters near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021.

What did Trump know, and when did he know it?

By Walter Shapiro
Posted June 7, 2022 at 6:00am
John Fetterman is hardly the first politician to omit details about his health, Shapiro writes. Above, the Pennsylvania Senate candidate campaigns on May 10, days before suffering a stroke.

An Rx for politicians — full medical disclosure

By Walter Shapiro
Posted May 25, 2022 at 6:00am
President Joe Biden and his party believe that some political phrasemaker will invent a magical five or six words that will transform the 2022 election, Shapiro writes.

Biden’s ‘MAGA Republicans’ is a meh-ga slogan

By Walter Shapiro
Posted May 17, 2022 at 6:00am
Last September, volunteers placed more than 640,000 flags in front of the Washington Monument to remember those who died in America during the pandemic. Now that number is at the 1 million mark.

The worst pandemic in a century has outlasted our attention span

By Walter Shapiro
Posted May 10, 2022 at 6:00am
In the battle for democracy, you take your allies where you can find them, writes Shapiro. Above, independent candidate Evan McMullin waits to speak to supporters at an election night party on Nov. 8, 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Democratic message from Utah — of all places

By Walter Shapiro
Posted April 26, 2022 at 5:00am
A health care worker conducts a COVID-19 test last September in Washington, D.C. Now is the perfect time to negotiate a cease-fire in the battles over the deadly virus, Shapiro writes.

The era of laissez-faire COVID-19 prevention

By Walter Shapiro
Posted March 29, 2022 at 6:00am
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address Congress via Zoom on Wednesday.

The mark of Zelenskyy: History awaits his address to Congress

By Walter Shapiro
Posted March 15, 2022 at 6:00am
Supporters of Ukraine demonstrate outside the White House on Saturday to oppose the Russian invasion.

Ukraine — it’s our fight too

By Walter Shapiro
Posted March 1, 2022 at 6:00am
Ukrainian border guards patrol Monday at the Three Sisters crossing with Russia and Belarus at Senkivka, Ukraine.

The sad but true limits of American power

By Walter Shapiro
Posted February 15, 2022 at 6:00am
Mike Bloomberg spent more than $1 billion to run for the Democratic presidential nomination and only won American Samoa.

Money still can’t buy you love — or an election

By Walter Shapiro
Posted February 1, 2022 at 6:00am
We expected President Joe Biden, here with Senate leader Charles E. Schumer in July, to be a trifle cynical about the realities of 21st-century Washington, but his first-year actions say otherwise, Shapiro writes.

Joe Biden and the dangers of inbred optimism

By Walter Shapiro
Posted January 19, 2022 at 6:00am
President Joe Biden, Charles E. Schumer and Nancy Pelosi and are seen in the Capitol on Thursday. Exaggerated fears of gerrymandering contributed to the biggest political mistake of the Biden presidency, Shapiro writes.

Democrats’ early panic over gerrymandering could prove costly in November

By Walter Shapiro
Posted January 11, 2022 at 6:00am
With his gracious concession to John F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential race, Richard Nixon set an honorable example that many in his party are finding hard to emulate today, Shapiro writes.

Where have you gone, Richard Nixon?

By Walter Shapiro
Posted December 15, 2021 at 6:00am
The politics of pique exhibited by Republicans such as Rep. Lauren Boebert, here at a House Freedom Caucus news conference in July, may not represent rock bottom for Congress, Shapiro writes.

In game of congressional limbo, how low can the GOP go?

By Walter Shapiro
Posted November 30, 2021 at 6:00am
President Joe Biden, here with Speaker Nancy Pelosi in October, allowed left-wing Democrats for months to dream of a $3.5 trillion social spending bill, even though it had no plausible route through the Senate, Shapiro writes.

With Democrats in the doldrums, just how much is Biden to blame?

By Walter Shapiro
Posted November 16, 2021 at 6:00am
Municipal workers rally in New York City on Oct. 25 against vaccination mandates. The state of the mask and vaccine wars next year would be a better midterm predictor than 2021 election results, Shapiro writes.

What the elections in Virginia and New Jersey won’t tell us

By Walter Shapiro
Posted November 2, 2021 at 6:00am
Many see President Joe Biden’s public tolerance for the meandering ways of Congress as a weakness, Shapiro writes.

You can take Joe Biden out of the Senate, but …

By Walter Shapiro
Posted October 5, 2021 at 6:00am
Mitch McConnell and Charles E. Schumer at a 9/11 commemoration last week. McConnell’s refusal to provide any GOP votes to prevent a government default is as ineffective as it is irresponsible, Shapiro writes.

The world has moved on from debt ceiling gamesmanship

By Walter Shapiro
Posted September 21, 2021 at 6:00am
Lawmakers gather on the Capitol steps on the evening of 9/11. The outpouring of we-are-all-in-this-together patriotism that followed the attacks is unlikely to be replicated anytime soon, Shapiro writes.

The brief, shining moment of national unity after 9/11

By Walter Shapiro
Posted September 8, 2021 at 5:30am
Opponents of the filibuster rally outside the Supreme Court in June. Anger at the GOP has blinded Democrats to the reality that Congress is on the cusp of approving unprecedented spending to rebuild America, Shapiro writes.

Democrats are poised for big wins in Congress. So why the doom and gloom?

By Walter Shapiro
Posted July 27, 2021 at 6:00am
Roger Towberman, the senior most enlisted in the US Space Force, displays the service insignia.

In the last mile of our battle against COVID, the enemy is us

By Walter Shapiro
Posted July 13, 2021 at 6:00am
Former President Donald Trump’s vengeance tour against his GOP critics that began with a Saturday night stop in Ohio proves he will never willingly give up the limelight, Shapiro writes.

The man who will never go away

By Walter Shapiro
Posted June 29, 2021 at 6:00am