Today's episode is sponsored by Better Medicare Alliance.

More than 35 million seniors and people with disabilities rely on Medicare Advantage for affordable, comprehensive health care.

But when payment rates fail to keep pace with rising medical costs, seniors can face higher out-of-pocket costs, fewer benefits, and fewer planned choices.

Learn more about what's at stake

for seniors at support medicare advantage.com. People right now are really hurting, and we're

going to be throwing more money at a war that we should never have got involved in the first place,

wasn't properly planned out. Hello, hello, and welcome to the conversation. I'm Dasha Burns, Politico's White House

Bureau Chief, and every week on this show, I invite one of the most compelling and sometimes

unexpected power players in Washington and beyond in for a chat to find out how they're navigating

and shaping this incredible era of American politics.

And this week, I spoke with Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego.

Gallego represents Arizona, which is a very purple state.

In fact, when he won the election in 2024,

Gallego flipped his Senate seat from independent to Democratic, and on the same ballot, Arizona also

elected President Trump. Now that he's in Washington, Gallego's background is particularly relevant

in this moment. With the Iran war intensifying, Gallego brings his perspective as an Iraq war veteran

to this new conflict.

And as a Hispanic Democrat senator of a border state,

Gallego has a unique perspective on immigration with criticism for his own party as well as for the GOP.

There was so much for us to talk about, including voter ID, the 28 election,

and if he thinks that Democrats

can become the fun party again. Senator Ruben Gallego joins the conversation.

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