Why Aren’t More Young Republicans Running For Congress?

The NPR Politics Podcast

NPR

Politics, Daily News, News

4.5 • 24.9K Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Congress members have returned to Washington, as have partisan fights over Jeffrey Epstein and a possible government shutdown. We discuss what to expect on Capitol Hill, as well as why more young Republicans aren’t running for Congress.

This episode: political correspondent Sarah McCammon, congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales, and political reporter Elena Moore.

This podcast was produced by Casey Morell & Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	A lot of short daily news podcasts focus on just one story.
0:04.4	But right now, you probably need more.
0:07.2	On Up First from NPR, we bring you three of the world's top headlines every day in under 15 minutes.
0:14.0	Because no one story can capture all that's happening in this big, crazy world of ours on any given morning.
0:20.8	Listen now to the Up First podcast from
0:23.1	NPR. Hi, this is Crystal in Lincoln, Nebraska, where I'm checking on the health and growth of my
0:28.3	three-year-old 150 tree windbreak. This podcast was recorded at 1.25 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday,
0:34.8	September 2nd, 2025. Things may have changed by the time you've listened to it, but I will still be happily
0:39.5	watching my tree babies inch their way towards the sky. Enjoy the show.
0:46.8	Wow.
0:47.6	Lincoln, Nebraska. I love Lincoln, Nebraska. What a nice. I had my first baby in Lincoln,
0:51.7	Nebraska. Really? Yeah. I was almost up home.
0:54.8	I have the trees inched towards the sky.
1:14.6	I love it. Glorious. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Sarah McCammon. I cover politics. I'm Elena Moore. I also cover politics. And I'm Claudia Grisales. I cover Congress. Today on the podcast, young Democrats are jumping into races for congressional seats, but their conservative counterparts are not.
1:15.2	Why?
1:19.5	But first, Congress returns to Washington today after their August recess.
1:22.0	I don't know about you guys, but I need an August recess.
1:23.1	Can we have August recess?
1:23.7	Yeah, I know.
1:24.5	We didn't get that. Yeah.
1:25.0	Yeah.
1:25.6	So, Claudia, House Speaker Mike Johnson actually sent the House home a day early back in July, as you'll remember, in an effort to tamp down the controversy around the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But the issue isn't really going away, is it?
	...

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