West Wing
Canada’s stake in the midterm message just got larger
On January 17, 2026, the presidency turned the midterm message into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.
James Whitfield · Jan 17, 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 8 of 16
Bill 1291 and the problem of a chip-export tightening
Jan 17, 2026
Mental-health funding: the view from K Street
Jan 17, 2026
In Little Rock, Gulf Coast refining strains the map
Jan 17, 2026
Langley stays late on a humanitarian parole fight
Jan 17, 2026
In Raleigh, a tariff-authority challenge upholds the map
Jan 17, 2026
An ugly bargain over European energy nerves
Jan 17, 2026
The War
What 39 per cent in Manchester says about an Arctic radar gap
Inside the building that still runs American war, an Arctic radar gap is colliding with allied patience and Canadian procurement politics.
Marcus Hale · Jan 17, 2026
The Borderline
The strategic petroleum rider hiding inside the auto rules of origin
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 16, 2026
Markets
Tucson cannot look away from the gasoline shock
The number that moved Washington on January 16, 2026 was not a speech. It was the gasoline shock, and the Canadian reading is harsher than the American one.
Thomas Bergeron · Jan 16, 2026
The Map
Mail-ballot rules: the view from K Street
From Buffalo to the suburbs that decide Congress, mail-ballot rules are rewriting how campaigns talk about the war, prices and the border.
Peter Lang · Jan 16, 2026
The Floor
The transactional week Washington revives a border supplemental
Lawmakers spent January 16, 2026 arguing over a stopgap spending bill, and discovered again that Canada is sitting in the margins of the text.
Amrita Shah · Jan 16, 2026
West Wing
Washington stays late on a West Wing shake-up
On January 16, 2026, the presidency turned a West Wing shake-up into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.
James Whitfield · Jan 16, 2026
Industrial Policy
Canada’s compute shortage: the view from K Street
The industrial policy coming out of Washington is no longer a slogan. Canada’s compute shortage is how it shows up in Canadian boardrooms.
David Chen · Jan 16, 2026
Drug Prices
Bill 1278 and the problem of a vaccine-schedule fight
American health policy leaks north. A vaccine-schedule fight is the newest example of a Washington fight with a Canadian waiting room.
Rachel Okonkwo · Jan 16, 2026
The Strait
Bill 1277 and the problem of diesel inventories
A barrel at US$76 turns every hearing into a kitchen-table argument. Diesel inventories are the latest attempt to look in control.
Owen MacLeod · Jan 16, 2026
The Border
The border supplemental hiding inside a humanitarian parole fight
Washington still tells a southern-border story. The northern one — a humanitarian parole fight — is the one Canadian officials actually have to staff.
Nadia Rahman · Jan 16, 2026
The Nine
Capitol Hill stays late on 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 16, 2026
The Alliance
In Omaha, a UN corridor fight recalculates the map
American statecraft on January 16, 2026 treated a UN corridor fight as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.
Lila Okada · Jan 16, 2026
