Off to Washington
Also—big changes are coming to Wolves and Sheep
Longtime Wolves and Sheep readers know that every May I take fifteen Villanova students to Washington for an intensive program that gives them access to high-level elected officials, operatives, and influencers in the administration, Congress, and the courts, and at news organizations, lobbying and law firms, polling outfits, think tanks, and the party committees.
The program also gives me the opportunity to listen to and decipher what’s motivating official Washington and compare it with the outside-the-Beltway perspective I hone eleven months of the year in Philadelphia.
Every year, Washington feels different, depending on whether or not there is an election, who is in cycle, and who DC elites believe will be in power eight months later.
Two years ago, that meant spending three weeks in a city where everyone believed Republican ascendency was inevitable. Last year, it meant seeing legislative dysfunction up close as everyone braced for a debt ceiling catastrophe.
Being in DC is like living inside conventional wisdom. It reminds me why I like living in Philly.
It will be interesting to see where things stand this year—whether administration officials really are quietly confident they can hold off a Trump revival and how Republicans really feel about being tethered to Donald Trump.
I will report back on all of it.
But while I am in DC, I will be reporting on a slightly different schedule.
The program I run can demand 18-hour days, which squeezes out time to write. I promise a post at our usual time every Monday, which I will write over the weekend, and the Wolves and Sheep podcast schedule will continue as usual, with the second podcast of the month posting this Wednesday. I’ll also keep up with quick takes when there is breaking news. But Friday posts will go on hiatus for the next three weeks.
Then, when I get back in June, this newsletter will undergo some big changes. I will be expanding content as I partner with a former co-author and political advocate to enhance your ability to take political action. There will be additional posts for free subscribers and new features for paid subscribers.
We’re working out the details now, and I’ll share them with everyone in a few weeks.