THE SWAMP LOG

EDITOR’S NOTE: Introducing The Swamp Log: Washington is the seat of power for the most influential country on the globe, but reading about the city somehow always feels like homework. Shouldn’t palace intrigue be … intriguing?

Washington’s morning newsletters are the source and instrument of the city’s blinkered narratives. You know the ones. A “consummate insider” prates about the city’s bloodthirsty lobbies, sclerotic politicians and tyrannical bureaucrats in copy as stale as the air in a Senate cloakroom. But there are fascinating stories going on in Washington: courageous officials battling the managerial class/state and spineless ones succumbing to it, intraparty struggles for dominance, and face-melting corruption.

It’s just that our uniparty press is not capable of meeting the moment. Presenting The Swamp Log, a product that demystifies Washington. We’re not insiders trading elite knowledge for a price. We’re out to prove that with public resources and a mind uncluttered by Washington’s toxic conventional wisdom, anyone can understand this town. Sometimes it may even be intriguing.

In the future, expect this newsletter to hit your inboxes Monday morning. While the focus of Racket will be on investigative reporting, we hope this will be a fun feature that keeps you up to date on DC without having to tolerate NPR in your Uber or catch all the bewildering clips from Capitol Hill gaggles on X. - Emily Kopp, Editor-In-Chief

Monday, February 9 — The Spy Sheikh, Epstein Fever, Dirge of the Langley Bugle

By Caden Olson

ON CAPITOL HILL…

WHAT FOLLOWS THE MINI SHUTDOWN: Only Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding remains on the appropriations docket for 2026 after Congress passed a $1.2 trillion, five-department funding package last Tuesday, ending a roughly 72-hour shutdown.

DHS funding is now left floating in a continuing resolution until Feb. 13, a buffer period which Democrats hope to use for negotiating ICE reform.

Legislators reportedly did not make progress in negotiations last week, forcing Senate Majority Leader John Thune to prepare another continuing resolution for DHS in the event of an impasse.

Collateral damage in a prolonged ICE standoff and resulting DHS lapse of funding would include the TSA and FEMA, among fourteen other agencies.

ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service Director Joseph Edlow and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott testify tomorrow before the House Committee on Homeland Security at 10 a.m.

Later in the week, officials from TSA,