Meet the TIME 100, the list that explains this political moment

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By Philip Elliott Washington Correspondent, TIME Why the TIME 100 Is a Perfect Time Capsule For Today’s Politics When future nostalgics look back on this moment in politics, they’d do well to use this year’s TIME 100 as a starting point, because if you want to understand the country’s mood, this collection of influencers pretty well covers the landscape. Representing the traditional columns of power, there are President Joe Biden and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, both of whom know what Washington can do when it works together—and how to stop an agenda through division. Representing the poles of the discussion over abortion rights in this country, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch stand in as efficient proxies for what most of Washington—and those in state capitals—expect to be a history-making final day of the current Supreme Court term next month. And figures whose potential is only starting to be understood find representation on this list via people like Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Sen. Kysten Sinema, and Gov. Ron DeSantis—all of whom could shape this country for a generation if their posture toward policy prevails in their own spheres. Inclusion on the list, we note every year, isn’t an honor. As our Editor-in-Chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal puts it: “Influence, of course, may be for good or for ill—a dichotomy never more visible than in this year’s TIME100, which includes both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. They are the poles of this list, and of this moment.” Helping us narrate the political universe are some truly compelling contributors, starting with Biden writing the tribute to Zelensky and Alexei Navalny penning the piece on Zelensky’s existential threat, Putin. Other concise essays come courtesy of former President Bill Clinton, who explains Biden’s power, and Sen. Cory Booker, who describes Judge Jackson’s confirmation in carefully considered prose: “It was a 21st century Jackie Robinson moment, a moment in which barriers were at long last broken, but it was also something even deeper. Her confirmation is the embodiment of our ancestors’ wildest dreams.” And former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, about as opposite of DeSantis as one can be when it comes to temperament, explains one of his successor’s successes: “While the Beltway crowd may not like his style, it’s his record that will become his legacy.” That’s not to say the roster is exhaustive. No such list is possible. But various camps of official power—and activists’ unofficial power elsewhere in the cohort—find an avatar in this project, even if they don’t really want to own the individual occupying the space. After all, for every Oprah Winfrey there is a Joe Rogan , both included on the list but pushing very different versions of media responsibility, and each a figure that can make—or destroy—candidacies with a particularly pointed comment. In the political environment as TIME has charted on this list of power, any one of the people in this project can be considered the most influential person depending on how a reader measures power. And no one can disprove the negative.   Share this newsletter

Here's what else we're watching in Washington A Playbook for Abortion Criticism Groups aligned with Democrats are using Pennsylvania as an instruction manual for how to go after Republican nominees who oppose abortion rights. As Politico reports, a $6 million push against Doug Mastriano, the GOP nominee for governor, is aimed at casting his total opposition to abortion rights as outside the mainstream. Read More » Biden: U.S. Would Defend Taiwan Speaking in Seoul, the U.S. President says any attack from mainland China on Taiwan will be met with a swift defense from the United States. As TIME's Charlie Campbell reports, Biden's declaration was bold, and incredibly risky. Read More » Russian Diplomat Resigns Over Ukraine In an episode evocative of Cold War drama, a Russian diplomat in Geneva resigns, citing shame for his country’s invasion of Ukraine. As the Washington Post notes, such public criticism of Putin from inside his government has been warned against, and is unlikely to be met with any measure of tolerance Read More » A Rare, Bipartisan Agreement in the Senate While war rages in Ukraine, a bipartisan front in the Senate is urging Biden to move quickly to bring Sweden and Finland into NATO. As NBC News reports, expanding the Cold War-era defensive alliance and countering Russia’s aggression is one of the few places where a divided Senate finds agreement. Read More » Trump World Goes Back to the Gulf In the Trump administration’s final months, Jared Kushner and Steven Mnuchin were hyping a U.S. government-sponsored investment fund to help Gulf states’ funds. As the New York Times reports, the duo and their aides are continuing to court the same governments, but now for purely commercial endeavors. Read More »

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