Natalie Fertig

👋 Personal news: I was one of the people to take the POLITICO buyout — my last day was Friday. It’s bittersweet to end my seven years here this way, but I’m grateful for all the great stories I got to report, the impact my work had and the great reporters and editors I got to work alongside.

I’m not sure what’s next, but if anyone has leads for a policy or politics reporter, I come with a pretty versatile set of skills from the seven years I spent covering Congress, state governments, policy and campaigns for POLITICO & POLITICO Magazine. I’m also open to freelancing in the meantime!

What is it — “you got ghosted”?

Kansas Gov @LauraKellyKS talking this morning at @ppi’s post-election debrief about the impact of Trump’s beef imports and ICE raids in SW Kansas ag country that fired up voters to turn out and vote.

I asked one national Republican Party insider if he thought Stephen Miller would give VP Vance any space to separate himself from Trump on some things ahead of a 2028 presidential run.

“He will dress the vice president up as an ICE agent and put him in charge of a raid squad before he allows the VP to get away with that,” the source texted me.

“Democrats flipped state offices in Texas, Wisconsin and Georgia, partly on promises to opt in to the Medicaid coverage expansion that Republicans in their states rejected. It won’t be that simple.”

Via @paigekhuffman @washingtonsun