Politico Playbook

Politico Playbook is the morning briefing much of Washington reads before its first meeting: maneuvering inside Congress, the White House, and the agencies that actually run the government. Hard news sits next to the kind of insider chatter, who's meeting whom, what's being said off the record, that hints at where a story is headed next.

It's written for people who work in and around politics, so it assumes familiarity and moves fast, packing in scoops and short items instead of long explainers. If you need to know what official Washington is talking about that day, this is close to required reading.