Ruth Marcus

Washington, D.C.

Associate editor

Education: Yale College; Harvard Law School

Ruth Marcus is an associate editor and columnist for The Post. Marcus has been with The Post since 1984. She joined the national staff in 1986, covering campaign finance, the Justice Department, the Supreme Court and the White House. From 1999 through 2002, she served as deputy national editor, supervising reporters who covered money and politics, Congress, the Supreme Court and other national issues. She joined the editorial board in 2003 and began writing a regular column in 2006. A graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School, she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2
Latest from Ruth Marcus

The one thing JD Vance has been right about so far

A second Trump administration would turn the Justice Department into little more than a political arm of the White House.

October 14, 2024
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) at a campaign event on Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa.

Jack Smith just wants to prosecute his case against Donald Trump

Jack Smith has twice indicted Donald Trump for alleged crimes after the 2020 election. Will he ever get to prosecute his case?

October 11, 2024
Special counsel Jack Smith in Washington on June 9. (Tom Brenner for The Washington Post)

Tony Dokoupil’s tough questions on Israel were good journalism

The CBS anchor was doing his job in his interview with guest Ta-Nehisi Coates.

October 9, 2024
Tony Dokoupil on Sept. 12 in New York. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

The thin joy of the new year, the horror of the one just concluded

Jewish people are facing the new year without much promise of sweetness.

October 7, 2024
People stand in front of portraits of Israeli hostages outside a synagogue in Berlin on Sunday. (Clemens Bilan/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

‘I wanted more prosecutor, less schoolteacher’: Columnists on Walz’s performance

Walz did no harm to himself or the campaign. But he squandered several opportunities.

October 3, 2024

JD Vance is a dangerous, disciplined shape-shifter

The Republican vice-presidential candidate is Trump with a brain and a strategy.

October 2, 2024
JD Vance speaks during the vice-presidential debate on Tuesday. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

JD Vance had nowhere to go but up

In the vice-presidential showdown JD Vance tried to remake himself by being nice, while Tim Walz directed his attacks at Donald Trump. Columnists Karen Tumulty, Dana Milbank and Ruth Marcus discuss the Jan. 6 moment and what Vance’s soft talk on abortion says about Republicans’ fear of how the issue will hurt them at the ballot box.

October 2, 2024

Women are not ‘community property,’ a Georgia judge rules

This blunt and compelling ruling on abortion in Georgia is a reminder of what the election is really about.

October 1, 2024
Abortion rights protesters rally near the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta, on May 14. (Ben Gray/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP)

‘A true friend of Turkey’: Four writers on the Eric Adams indictment

Ronald L. Kuby, Ruth Marcus, Matt Bai and Elif Batuman contemplate the corruption charges against the New York City mayor.

September 27, 2024

Harris is wrong about eliminating the filibuster for abortion rights

Democrats might favor abolishing the filibuster now. But what happens when they lose power?

September 25, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Madison, Wis., on Friday. (Jim Vondruska/Reuters)