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Ben Jacobs

Contributor, Intelligencer

Ben Jacobs is a reporter in Washington, D.C. He has covered four presidential campaigns and countless federal and state elections as well as Capitol Hill, the White House, and the Supreme Court.

  1. early and often
    Sidelined and Self-Sabotaged: What The Last Politician Says About Kamala HarrisFranklin Foer’s deep dive on the Biden administration offers new details about the vice-president’s difficulties racking up accomplishments.
  2. early and often
    It’s Payback Time for the House Far RightAccused of betrayal over the debt-ceiling deal, Kevin McCarthy is losing power to a group of rebels who show no sign of giving up.
  3. early and often
    Kevin McCarthy Really Did ItThe debt-ceiling deal passed the House by sweeping bipartisan margins, leading the Speaker to dunk on his haters.
  4. early and often
    The Quirky Conservative Who Saved the Economy and McCarthyThomas Massie broke with fellow far-right Republicans, who are determined to make the House Speaker hurt.
  5. early and often
    CPAC Is Rocked by a ResignationThe treasurer of the conference’s organizer quits, citing financial mysteries around chairman Matt Schlapp, who is being sued for alleged assault.
  6. early and often
    Jamaal Bowman Is Getting Into ItThe New York congressman says his spontaneous sparring with GOP colleagues is just him finally being himself in Washington.
  7. early and often
    Trump’s Indictment Has Become His PlatformIn his first post-arrest speech, Trump tried to turn his legal peril into bragging rights.
  8. early and often
    GOP Insiders Say Everything’s Coming Up TrumpAfter a low-energy start, Alvin Bragg and Ron DeSantis have energized him.
  9. early and often
    CPAC Was a Janky Half-Empty Trump ConventionThe 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference lacked both conservatives and action.
  10. the capitol
    The Hecklers Have Won: The Polite State of the Union Is DeadMarjorie Taylor Greene and other vocal Biden detractors turned it into something like a rowdy parliamentary session. Expect that to continue.
  11. early and often
    The Democrat Who Could Take Down Kyrsten SinemaRuben Gallego will try to fulfill the left’s dreams by challenging Arizona’s newly independent U.S. senator.
  12. sports
    Something’s Still Not Quite Right at the Baseball Hall of FameBarry Bonds and Roger Clemens are finally off the ballot, but the steroid era’s influence lingers.
  13. house arrest
    Kevin McCarthy’s Tarnished TriumphHe finally got the Speakership he wanted, but at what cost?
  14. house arrest
    A House Without Rules Makes for C-Span Gone WildInsults about public drinking? Crazy video-game memes? Marjorie Taylor Greene acting normal? It’s chaos on the Hill.
  15. house arrest
    Kevin McCarthy Is Stuck in PlaceHe’s still far from becoming Speaker of the House, and it’s anyone’s guess what happens next.
  16. early and often
    GOP Leadership Fight in Congress Shows a Party of WarlordsA civil war started this week with convoluted battle lines.
  17. early and often
    The Man in the MAGA MiddleKevin McCarthy’s campaign to be Speaker means no enemies to the right, left, or center in his caucus.
  18. episodes
    Emails Show Kanye’s 2020 Campaign Was a Warning SignThis isn’t the first time people saw financial opportunity in his instability.
  19. encounter
    Everything’s Coming Up SchumerThe Senate majority leader has a “different way of getting things done” that saved Biden’s agenda and maybe their party.
  20. early and often
    Democrats Are Riding the Backlash to the End of RoeA New York special election is the latest in a string of surprises since the Supreme Court’s ruling, with some candidates outperforming Biden.
  21. early and often
    Carl Paladino, Buffalo’s Donald Trump, Loses Republican PrimaryUpstate Republicans reject the state’s most notorious Republican, who has a history of racist comments.
  22. anonymous
    ‘Things Will Be Fine’: GOP Insiders Doubt Overturning Roe v. Wade Will Cost ThemThey don’t seem all that worried the Supreme Court’s decision to end the right to an abortion will come back to haunt them in the midterms.
  23. texas school shooting
    For Trump and Other NRA Speakers, the Answer to Uvalde Was More GunsThe horror of Tuesday’s school shooting in Texas left an impression at the NRA’s annual conference, but it didn’t make a difference.
  24. early and often
    Madison Cawthorn’s Self-destruction Is CompleteThe youngest Republican representative in history lost on Tuesday following a series of bizarre scandals.
  25. early and often
    The Republicans Who Saved Trump After January 6This Will Not Pass demonstrates how GOP leaders betrayed their conscience in the name of power.
  26. early and often
    J.D. Vance Explains His Conversion to MAGATrump’s man in Ohio once called him “America’s Hitler,” but there’s an explanation.
  27. politics
    The January 6 Committee Prepares to Go PublicDemocrat Elaine Luria on the “shocking” details they’ve found so far and how they plan to use televised hearings as soon as next month.
  28. just asking questions
    Was Ted Cruz Right About Russia?He spent years fighting Putin’s prized pipeline, which Biden allowed to go forward until the war.
  29. politics
    Will the Bush Dynasty End Tonight?George P. got into the race against the Texas attorney general with everything going for him — except Trump’s endorsement.
  30. politics
    Trump and CPAC Had a Different War on Their MindsUkraine was mostly a side note at the annual conservative conference, where speakers were mainly vying to be America’s top culture warriors.
  31. politics
    Marjorie Taylor Greene Was Surprise Speaker at White-Nationalist EventThe congresswoman delivered remarks at the America First Political Action Conference on Friday, shortly after a round of applause for Vladimir Putin.
  32. politics
    Will Sinema and Manchin Screw This Up?Nothing may unite Democrats better than putting the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.
  33. sports
    The Baseball Hall of Fame Is As Broken As Everything Else in AmericaThe moral uncertainty of the steroid era has left the venerable institution in a dark place.
  34. politics
    Kyrsten Sinema’s Moment of InfamyThe enigmatic Democrat votes for the filibuster and against her party.
  35. politics
    What Democrats Hope to Win by LosingThey still want to try to move forward on voting-rights legislation, but it’s hard to see past the brick wall of the filibuster.
  36. politics
    Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene Speak for the GOP on January 6Establishment Republicans stay away, leaving the MAGA fringe to play.
  37. politics
    It Took Mock Killing AOC for Paul Gosar to Finally Get PunishedThe Republican has palled around with white nationalists and fomented insurrection, but he was finally censured after going one tweet over the line.
  38. politics
    Democrats Release Their Hostages and Give Biden a WinIt was ugly, but the House finally passed an infrastructure bill and advanced the president’s prized social-spending bonanza.
  39. politics
    GOP Insiders: ‘Joe Biden Was More Relevant in the Race Than Donald Trump’GOP insiders think their party is cutting loose the baggage of the recent past after winning Virginia.
  40. politics
    Biden’s SacrificeThe president finally advances his agenda in Congress, cut by cut.
  41. politics
    Anybody Can Be Joe Manchin Right NowA clutch of Democrats threaten to torpedo Biden’s agenda unless he agrees to lower taxes for middle-class blue-staters.
  42. debt default
    McConnell and Schumer Find a Temporary Solution to a Pretend CrisisThe leaders have solved the debate over the looming debt default by kicking the issue a few months down the line.
  43. politics
    Biden Backs Progressives Amid Capitol Hill ImpasseIn a meeting with the House Democratic caucus, Biden insisted that passing the infrastructure bill must be linked to the reconciliation bill.
  44. politics
    The Left Is HoldingMany Democrats bet progressives would fold ahead of a key vote on Thursday, but they instead forced leadership on its heels.
  45. politics
    Washington Is Waiting on Manchin and Sinema: UpdatesMeanwhile, House progressives double down and say they’re willing to kill the infrastructure deal unless their demands on a larger bill are met.
  46. politics
    Will Progressives Really Sink Joe Biden’s Agenda?Congressional Democrats’ high-stakes internal standoff is about to come to a head.
  47. books
    The Banality of BonkersBob Woodward and Robert Costa’s new book on the transition of power from Trump to Biden offers plenty of new details but little surprise.
  48. war
    The Shocking New Book That Exposes U.S. Lies About AfghanistanAt least $19 billion from American taxpayers fell into Taliban hands, and that’s just one of the bombshells in Craig Whitlock’s Afghanistan Papers.
  49. politics
    The Elephant in the RoomRepublicans carefully run for president, not knowing if the last one will, too.
  50. politics
    Is Kathy Hochul Ready for This Mess?A political survivor prepares to succeed Cuomo.
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