FiveThirtyEight Politics

Galen speaks with Nathaniel Rakich and Mary Radcliffe in this late night reaction to President Trump's address to Congress.

Congress has kept relatively quiet during the first month of President Donald Trump's second term, but in the coming weeks it will be thrust into the spotlight. Amidst intraparty Republican debate over tax and spending cuts, Trump will deliver an address to Congress on Tuesday night. Legislators will also be tasked with funding the government by March 14 or face a shutdown. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, Galen speaks with Rachael Bade and Geoffrey Skelley about what to expect from congressional negotiations. They also ask whether a new poll on attitudes around gender norms is a good or bad use of polling.

It has been a difficult month for Americans afraid of flying. On Jan. 29, an American Airlines jet collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River, killing 67 people. It was the first major U.S. commercial airline crash in more than 15 years and in the weeks since, there has been coverage of more plane crashes, accidents and near misses across the country. If headlines like these give you anxiety, you are not alone. According to polling from the AP, the share of Americans who say flying is somewhat or very unsafe has increased, from 12 percent a year ago to 20 percent this month. And that poll found something else. The decrease in trust Americans have in flying is not spread evenly across partisan groups. Republicans’ feelings about air travel remain virtually unchanged from 12 months ago, while trust has fallen among Democrats and independents. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, Galen discusses the data with CNN Senior Data Reporter and 538 alumnus himself Harry Enten.

The Democratic Party has reached at least a 15-year low in the public’s view, according to a recent Quinnipiac poll. Fifty-seven percent of registered voters have an unfavorable view of the party, while that’s just 45 percent for the Republican Party. And more Democrats than not have an unfavorable opinion of their own members of Congress. Some Democrats say the party isn't doing enough to counter President Donald Trump, but when it comes to how the party should change, there doesn't seem to be clear agreement. In this installment of the 538 Politics podcast, Galen speaks with Washington Post data scientist Lenny Bronner and New York Times polling editor Ruth Igielnik about how parties usually handle being in the political wilderness and how the party might evolve. They also discuss the results of Sunday's election in Germany.

In honor of Presidents’ Day, in this installment of the 538 Politics podcast Galen speaks with constitutional law professor Peter Shane about presidential power and its limits during President Trump's second term.

On this Valentine’s Day installment of the 538 Politics podcast, Galen is joined by Daniel Cox and Kelsey Eyre Hammond of the Survey Center on American Life. They discuss the troubled state of American dating life and how the country fell into a “romantic recession.”

In this post-Super Bowl edition of the 538 Politics podcast, the crew kicks things off with some prop bets and a look at the rapid rise of sports gambling. Then they dig into the offlining of key government datasets under President Donald Trump and why it matters for more than just data nerds. Finally, they analyze the high rate of Republican turnover in a Congress that’s becoming increasingly aligned with Trump.

In the post-war world order, the United States and Europe have been among the closest of allies. What happens if President Donald Trump upends that equation? Jeanna Smialek, Brussels bureau chief for The New York Times, joins the show to break down the view from Europe. They take a look at how European leaders are reacting to the early days of Trump’s second term, the strategies EU nations are using in response to Trump's abrasive rhetoric, and how a tariff fight might play out across the European economy.

After months of promising to impose tariffs on U.S. trading partners, President Donald Trump has made good on his word. On Friday, he announced 10 percent tariffs on China and 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, though the latter has been delayed by a month. Today on the 538 Politics podcast, the crew breaks down these tariff orders and how Americans feel about them. They also dive into Trump’s approval rating using 538’s new tracker and discuss how Democrats are preparing for a future counteroffensive.

This week, the Trump administration oversaw a federal funding fiasco. The Office of Management and Budget issued a memo attacking DEI programs and putting trillions in government funding at risk. States sued, and the administration backtracked —rescinding the memo but keeping the underlying order intact. As this unfolds, we ask: How much power does Trump’s administration actually have to withhold funding? Matt Glassman, senior fellow at the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University, joins the podcast to discuss impoundment, executive power and the legal battles ahead.