The Barras Report Blog

Democrats Can’t Win In 2026 on Trump Resistance Alone

DEMOCRATS ended 2025 with important victories that steadied a rattled party still reeling from Donald Trump’s return to power. Yet even after those wins, Democratic approval ratings remain stubbornly low. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found only 18 percent of voters approve of the way congressional Democrats are handling their jobs. A record low of 73 percent disapprove. In stark contrast, congressional Republicans have a 35 percent approval rating while 58 percent dis

Kevin Harris and Richard McDaniel

Jan 34 min read

Donald Trump’s Irrefutable Agenda: Cleansing Culture, Erasing Memories, Destroying America

I kept thinking of the Bamiyan Buddhas as I watched Donald Trump engage in an aggressive campaign of cultural cleansing the last 12 months.

jonetta rose barras

Dec 29, 202520 min read

Cleanup still needed in DC government aisle three

It’s truly a cart-before-horse world in the District.

jonetta rose barras

Dec 29, 20256 min read

Political Change Everywhere And All At Once In DC

FORMER DC at-large Councilmember Bill Lightfoot declared during an interview with me that this moment in the city’s political life is “an opportunity.” Is that an understatement? After all, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Councilmembers Anita Bonds and Brianne Nadeau have all announced they won’t seek reelection. The ambitions of other officeholders, including Ward 4’s Janeese Lewis George, Ward 2’s Brooke Pinto, at-large member Robert White and Council Chair Pro Tempore Kenyan McDu

jonetta rose barras

Dec 18, 20258 min read

The Absence of Courage in the DC Council

“Honoring the will of the voters means protecting voter access, voter understanding, and voter confidence — especially for communities that have historically been disenfranchised in our election systems,” Ward 7 DC Councilmember Wendell Felder said last week during a roundtable convened by the Committee on Executive Administration and Labor. The intense three-hour discussion was convened to focus on the Board of Elections’ general preparations for the upcoming 2026 primary an

jonetta rose barras

Dec 18, 20257 min read

Is a managed care contracting fight looming in DC?

Could a wrong move or the perception of shenanigans regarding the MCO contracts bring attention from Republicans looking to use health care the way they have used crime to bludgeon the city’s ability to govern itself, replete with warnings of a full-on federal takeover?

jonetta rose barras

Oct 7, 20258 min read

Fearing a Second Blacklist? The March on Washington shows how artists helped bring the last one to an end

If we are, in fact, drifting toward a second Blacklist Era, the way out will look familiar--not only in the courtroom, but in the streets.

Ben Jealous

Sep 29, 20253 min read

President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans engage in political violence against DC’s 700,000 residents

Trump and his minions have severely and deliberately narrowed the definition of political violence. As is their practice, they have massaged and manipulated language, thrusting their version of Webster’s into the public sphere and bullying the media, elected officials and others into adopting it.

jonetta rose barras

Sep 27, 20258 min read