After months of buildup, Congress voted to release the Epstein files on Tuesday. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law. But language in that legislation leaves wiggle room for the Justice Department to hold back some of the files, and questions remain about how much transparency the measure secures.

Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with Justice Department reporter Jeremy Roebuck and Dan Merica, co-anchor of The Washington Post’s flagship politics newsletter, The Early Brief. They talk about this latest step in the Epstein saga and also unpack some recent setbacks facing the second Trump administration. And they answer a question from an Early Brief reader about gerrymandering in Texas.

Today’s show was produced by Laura Benshoff and Josh Carroll. It was edited by Reena Flores and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks to Alec Dent and David Lauter.

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The last five pennies were minted in Philadelphia last week. Over the 232 years of its existence, the penny became culturally significant through music, fashion and movies. But recently, many have argued for it to be discontinued because of how much the coin costs to produce.

Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with White House economic policy correspondent Jacob Bogage about how prices could be affected by this change and what this could mean for other forms of U.S. currency.

Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and Peter Bresnan, and mixed by Sam Bair.

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This week, President Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. At a grand White House dinner, an investment summit at the Kennedy Center and a sit-down in the Oval Office, the leaders appeared to be in lockstep.

It was a stark contrast to 2018, when the U.S. intelligence community concluded that Mohammed had approved the killing and dismemberment of Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Lawmakers condemned the crown prince and withdrew support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.

Today, Elahe Izadi speaks to White House correspondent Michael Birnbaum about how the crown prince was welcomed back into the fold — and why the U.S. refuses to cut ties with Saudi Arabia.

Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy with help from Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks to Annah Aschbrenner.

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