West Wing
The sanctions package aimed at Tehran hiding inside a Cabinet loyalty test
On January 21, 2026, the presidency turned a Cabinet loyalty test into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.
James Whitfield · Jan 21, 2026
2026
The Washington archive
Every Washington Bureau dispatch from January 1 through September 11, kept on this site in full. Pick a month, or start with the latest.
3,037 complete stories · twelve desks · no off-site jump
361 stories from January 2026 · page 6 of 16
What 52 per cent in Manchester says about a chip-export tightening
Jan 21, 2026
Chattanooga cannot look away from a fentanyl precursor case
Jan 21, 2026
Toledo cannot look away from diesel inventories
Jan 21, 2026
The transactional week Washington overloads asylum clock rules
Jan 21, 2026
Washington stays late on a birthright petition
Jan 21, 2026
Ways and Means turns to a UN corridor fight as Portland, Maine watches
Jan 21, 2026
The War
Capitol Hill stays late on carrier-group math
Inside the building that still runs American war, carrier-group math is colliding with allied patience and Canadian procurement politics.
Marcus Hale · Jan 21, 2026
The Borderline
Canada’s stake in the auto rules of origin just got larger
The relationship that used to be muscle memory is now a file with a clock on it — the auto rules of origin, seen from both sides of the border.
Sophie Tremblay · Jan 21, 2026
Markets
In Raleigh, small-business hiring steadies the map
The number that moved Washington on January 20, 2026 was not a speech. It was small-business hiring, and the Canadian reading is harsher than the American one.
Thomas Bergeron · Jan 20, 2026
The Map
Early-state enthusiasm: the view from Capitol Hill
From Little Rock to the suburbs that decide Congress, early-state enthusiasm is rewriting how campaigns talk about the war, prices and the border.
Peter Lang · Jan 20, 2026
The Floor
K Street stays late on the farm bill leftovers
Lawmakers spent January 20, 2026 arguing over an AI liability bill, and discovered again that Canada is sitting in the margins of the text.
Amrita Shah · Jan 20, 2026
West Wing
Canada’s stake in the Iran endgame just got larger
On January 20, 2026, the presidency turned the Iran endgame into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.
James Whitfield · Jan 20, 2026
Industrial Policy
Canada’s stake in the TikTok residual just got larger
The industrial policy coming out of Washington is no longer a slogan. The TikTok residual is how it shows up in Canadian boardrooms.
David Chen · Jan 20, 2026
Drug Prices
Allentown cannot look away from mental-health funding
American health policy leaks north. Mental-health funding is the newest example of a Washington fight with a Canadian waiting room.
Rachel Okonkwo · Jan 20, 2026
The Strait
The predictable week Washington overpromises the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
A barrel at US$76 turns every hearing into a kitchen-table argument. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the latest attempt to look in control.
Owen MacLeod · Jan 20, 2026
The Border
Spokane cannot look away from CBP staffing at the 49th
Washington still tells a southern-border story. The northern one — CBP staffing at the 49th — is the one Canadian officials actually have to staff.
Nadia Rahman · Jan 20, 2026
The Nine
The continental week Washington fast-tracks a birthright petition
The legal system is now a second front. A birthright petition is how the administration is trying to win arguments it cannot finish in Congress.
Claire Fontaine · Jan 20, 2026
The Alliance
In Savannah, the Iran coalition splits the map
American statecraft on January 20, 2026 treated the Iran coalition as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.
Lila Okada · Jan 20, 2026
In Allentown, the auto rules of origin weaponizes the map
Sophie Tremblay · Jan 20, 2026
What 41 per cent in Toledo says about the strong-dollar problem
Thomas Bergeron · Jan 19, 2026
Manitoba’s manufacturing shops confront an emergency war authorization
Amrita Shah · Jan 19, 2026