The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Jen Psaki shows Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Vice President JD Vance explaining out loud that the reason they don't want to fund food assistance to millions of Americans is because if they do, Democrats will have even less incentive to vote for the Republicans' budget bill, in effect admitting that they're deliberately causing pain to people they know Democrats care about as leverage to get their way on a bad budget bill.House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries talks with Jen Psaki about Republicans trying to use the pain of tens of millions of Americans going without food as a means of manipulating Democrats to vote for their bad budget bill, and points out the irony that while Donald Trump has never met a law he didn't think he could ignore, he is trying to use the law as an excuse to avoid funding the food assistance program SNAP.Curiously coinciding with a fictional TV movie about U.S. nuclear readiness, Donald Trump has taken a sudden interest in testing U.S. nuclear capability and, against conventional good judgment, has announced that interest out loud in public. Mark Hertling, former commanding general of United States Army Europe, joins Jen Psaki to discuss how nuclear issues are addressed when they're handled by a competent administration, and why it's a bad idea for U.S. leaders to muse about the possibility that the nuclear arsenal doesn't work. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki shares reporting on the suspension of two federal prosecutors after they submitted a sentencing recommendation for January 6 rioter Taylor Taranto after his conviction on charges unrelated to the insurrection. The recommendation was refiled with alterations made in the references to January 6 and Donald Trump.Jen Psaki relays reporting from "Retribution," the new book from Jonathan Karl, ABC News chief White House correspondent, which offers a look behind the scenes at how Donald Trump put together a Cabinet full of wildly unqualified sycophants. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan talks with Jen about shutdown drama in the Senate today as Republicans are freaking out that Democrats aren't caving like they usually do and Americans are suffering as a result of Trump's indifference and Republican deference to Trump.Captain Dylan Blaha joins to discuss Trump's abuse of the National Guard. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Maine Senate race was rocked this month when revelations about the Democratic frontrunner Graham Platner threatened to completely upend the Democratic primary to select a candidate to try to unseat Susan Collins. Jen Psaki had Platner back on The Briefing to ask him directly about past offensive internet comments, a tattoo identified as being associated with Nazism and the state of his campaign in the wake of a tumultuous month.Graham Platner, an upstart outsider who appears to still be leading the Democratic primary race for a chance to unseat Maine's Republican Senator Susan Collins, talks with Jen Psaki about weathering scandal on the campaign trail and succeeding as a Democratic candidate despite considerable resistance from powerful figures within the Democratic Party. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In a move seen as a test run for intimidation tactics during the midterm elections, Donald Trump is reportedly sending poll watchers to a few polling places around the United States. Rick Hasen, professor of law and political science at UCLA, explains why the steps Trump is taking this year may only be a dress rehearsal for how he intends to disrupt the 2026 election which could cost him control of Congress.Even though incompetence and corruption are endemic in the Trump administration and can often explain the shoddy work of Trump staffers, the poorly supported legal cases against James Comey, Letitia James, and Adam Schiff reveal that these cases are less about winning and more about trying to drag people who Donald Trump doesn't like through the mud. Michael Schmidt, investigative reporter for the New York Times, talks with Jen Psaki about the point of these political prosecutions being to smear the subjects, not actually win the cases. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki observes that as Donald Trump gets more comfortable with his autocrat persona, the traits that made him a societal laughing stock all his life are coming to define his leadership style. And the mockery he has become has so diminished him that his opponents are emboldened to get in the way of his demolition of the United States.Donald Trump's lackeys in Congress are trying to support his effort to exact revenge on the public servants who tried to hold him to account. Former special counsel Jack Smith is a prominent name on Trump's enemies list, so it's not surprising that Congressional Republicans would try to discredit him with their investigating-the-investigators hearings. Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann talks with Jen Psaki about why Jack Smith is smart to agree to participate in the hearings on the condition that they be public.  Jen Psaki addresses questions posed at the White House press briefing, giving more honest and direct answers than the White House is willing to offer on questions ranging from Donald Trump's desecration of the White House to Trump's pardoning of a crypto-criminal business associate.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki reacts to Donald Trump's demolition of the White House's East Wing to make room for his vanity project ballroom, and takes heart in the increasing, and increasingly creative, ways that Americans are pushing back against Trump's authoritarian overreach. Rep. Jamie Raskin explains the maneuver Donald Trump is trying to pull off by getting the lawyers he installed at the top of the DOJ to agree to have the Justice Department pay him $230 million, the laws Trump is trampling, as well as what Congress can do to stop him if Democrats regain control of the House in 2026.In what may be the most important story in the country right now, Democrats and democracy advocates are finding ways to counter Republican efforts to rig the 2026 midterm elections by gerrymandering states with Republican legislatures to take the voice away from Democratic voters and ensure Donald Trump's uninterrupted power by keeping the House in the hands of spineless sycophants. Jen Psaki explains. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It has been weeks since Adelita Grijalva was elected to represent Arizona's 7th congressional district in Congress, but because Grijalva would represent the deciding vote to force a vote on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation files, Mike Johnson has found every excuse he can to postpone swearing Grijalva into office so she can officially begin work on behalf of her constituents. Now Arizona is out of patience and has sued Johnson directly for denying representation in Congress to the American voters who elected Grijalva. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes joins Jen Psaki to discuss.Fresh from the massive success of Saturday's "No Kings" protest, many people are asking what comes next. Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, talks with Jen Psaki about how the No Kings movement can make productive use of its momentum, and the launch of the "No Kings Alliance" for rapid response activism.Jen Psaki reports on Paul Ingrassia, Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Office of the Special Counsel, who managed to stay in good standing with Republicans despite a long string of scandals, but ultimately withdrew his himself from the confirmation process after new reports, which he disputes, that he once described himself as having a 'Nazi streak,' an accusation that cost him too many Republican votes to sustain his nomination. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ahead of the premiere of her new documentary, "Andrew Young: The Dirty Work," Rachel Maddow talks with Jen Psaki about parallels between the activism of the civil rights movement and the anti-Trump "No Kings" protests that are sweeping the nation. As Donald Trump continues to push his anti-immigrant agenda, viral videos of ICE agents abusing people have steadily increased in number, prompting a growing public outcry for accountability for agents terrorizing neighborhoods and breaking local laws. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker talks with Jen Psaki about reports that he is looking into holding law-breaking ICE agents responsible.Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, talks exclusively with Jen Psaki about how he plans to stand up to Donald Trump and protect the city from Trump's abuses if he becomes mayor. Mamdani also addresses issues of religion and intra-party Democratic politics. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki looks at ways Republicans are trying to avoid accountability for Donald Trump's failures by rigging the election system to take power away from voters who would reject them.As the federal government shutdown drags on, House Speaker Mike Johnson does not appear motivated to use his uniquely powerful position to resolve the crisis. Nor does he seem inclined to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva who recently won a special election. Grijalva and Rep. Robert Garcia talk with Jen Psaki about how Mike Johnson's political games are hurting Grijalva's constituents in Arizona and why the only real reason for Johnson's delay is to hold off a vote on a discharge petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein investigation files.Federal workers are unbowed in their resistance to Donald Trump even as Trump has devoted his second term to making their lives miserable. Senator Andy Kim tells Jen Psaki that federal workers he has talked to tell him that Donald Trump's attempt to use the federal government shutdown as an excuse to fire more federal workers is plainly false because they've lived through Trump gunning for them since his second term began. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki is on a mission to show us how the Democratic party can use this political moment to fight and win again. On Season 2 of her podcast, “The Blueprint,” she interviews the people reshaping the party, starting with Texas Congressman Greg Casar, Chair of the Progressive Caucus.The first two episodes of “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki” are available now, and will continue to drop every Wednesday, from now through mid-November. Stay right here to listen to a special preview. And for the full episode, search for “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki” and follow the show. Plus, subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts for ad-free listening. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.