Welcome to the Dispatch podcast.

I'm Steve Hayes.

Sarah Isker is off this week.

Today I'm joined by John McCormick,

a reporter, writer for National Review Magazine,

and Haley Bird Will, who covers Capitol Hill for the Dispatch.

We will talk about the chaos that's unfolded

on Capitol Hill this week, particularly on the Democratic side.

We'll talk about the spending amounts,

and we'll talk about the reporting process,

how they go about getting their information.

There's a lot to discuss in terms of what's happening

on Capitol Hill, or as it happens,

we're recording Friday morning,

what's not happening on Capitol Hill.

I think maybe the best place to start

is just with a big picture look, John.

At the beginning of this week,

this week was teed up as sort of the make or break week

for the Biden administration's domestic policy agenda.

You had a package, an infrastructure package on Capitol Hill

that some moderate Democrats liked, progressive Democrats were okay with,

...