Year In Review: Congress' Successes & Failures
The NPR Politics Podcast
NPR
4.5 • 24.9K Ratings
🗓️ 22 December 2025
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As we approach 2026, the NPR Politics Podcast is taking a look back at the year that was in different political areas. Today, we look at what lawmakers were able to get done -- or not -- in 2025, and how that may influence their 2026 agenda.
This episode: political correspondent Sarah McCammon, congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh, and senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith.
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 | Hey there, it's Miles Parks. We're almost to the end of 2025, and it has been a tough year for NPR and for local stations. |
| 0:07.6 | But despite the loss of federal funding for public media, despite the attacks on the free press, we're still here for you. |
| 0:13.5 | With your support, NPR will keep reporting the news. And here at the politics podcast, we'll keep reporting the news and tell you how it affects you in your community and get you ready for the midterms. |
| 0:23.5 | If you're already an NPR Plus supporter, thank you so much. |
| 0:27.2 | We see you and we appreciate you. |
| 0:29.4 | If not, please join the community of public radio supporters right now, before the end of the year, at plus.npr.org. |
| 0:37.0 | Signing up unlocks a bunch of different perks like bonus |
| 0:39.5 | episodes from across NPR's podcasts. Plus, you get to feel good about supporting public media while you |
| 0:44.9 | listen. Visit plus.mpr.org today. Thank you. |
| 0:53.4 | Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Sarah McCammon. I cover politics. I'm Deirdre Walsh. I cover Congress. |
| 1:01.5 | And I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. And today on the show, we want to take a look back at the year that was for Congress. |
| 1:08.4 | Deirdre, let's just start with the numbers. Republicans, of course, hold majorities in both |
| 1:12.3 | chambers of Congress, but those are very narrow majorities. How has that affected the ability of |
| 1:17.5 | Congress to get things done this year? It's made it incredibly tough. I mean, right now, House Speaker |
| 1:22.5 | Mike Johnson has a three-seat majority. It's sort of hovered around those numbers throughout the year when |
| 1:28.4 | people have retired, left early, et cetera. It has been really tough for Mike Johnson to hold |
| 1:35.1 | the House Republican Conference together. I think the one thing he relies on throughout this process |
| 1:40.7 | is President Trump holding the House Republican Conference together. In the Senate, |
| 1:45.6 | Republicans have a majority. They have a three-seat majority. You need 60 votes to get most |
| 1:50.5 | legislation through. That has made it tough to get a lot of things through in the Senate. But I will |
| 1:55.1 | say the one exception, obviously, is the massive tax bill that Republicans passed on the Hill |
| 2:00.4 | through a process known as reconciliation |
... |
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