This week voters in Wisconsin elected a Democrat to the statehouse in a special election upset. Gov. Scott Walker called it "a wake up call for Republicans."
Democrats and Republicans are blaming each other for the government shutdown. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland.
Last year, Albert Kiecke came to D.C. to celebrate President Trump's inauguration. His friend Becky Dinsmore came to protest. NPR's Scott Simon talks with them about their friendship and politics.
In South Carolina, a former Trump campaign staffer won a seat in the statehouse this week. Nancy Mace is also the first woman to graduate from what was once an all-male military school.
Now out of prison, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship says he's running for a seat in the U.S. Senate. At a town hall this week, West Virginians didn't appear to hold it against him.
NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Roger McNamee, a former mentor to Mark Zuckerberg and an early investor in Facebook. He believes the company threatens democracy because it has helped spread fake news.
The government is now in a partial shutdown — happening on the first anniversary of President Trump's inauguration — after Congress failed to keep funding going ahead of a midnight deadline.
Trump has continued to own a business empire while serving as president. That has revealed that expectations about handling presidential wealth, businesses and brands was about norms not laws.