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

Amy Coney Barrett is no handmaid to the Supreme Court’s conservative majority

Benchmarked against her conservative colleagues, Justice Barrett has been a pleasant surprise.

May 1, 2024
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett speaks at a dinner honoring the late Justice Antonin Scalia at the Washington Hilton on Nov. 9. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

The wartime outrage in Israel that no one is talking about

The rapes in Gaza are the Middle Eastern outrage no one is talking about.

April 29, 2024
Photos of hostages at the site of the Nova festival, where people were killed and kidnapped during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas gunmen, in Reim, southern Israel. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)

Oral argument on immunity hints at another Trump trial — but not soon

Justices seem split on immunity for Trump and a speedy January 6 trial.

April 25, 2024
Demonstrators rally outside the Supreme Court on Thursday. (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post)

Is it legal when Trump does it? 3 columnists debate presidential immunity.

On the “Impromptu” podcast, Post Opinions columnists discuss to what extent Trump is immune from prosecution for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

April 25, 2024

Guess what’s not a priority in antiabortion Idaho. Women’s health.

The state wants to prioritize fetuses over women. Will the Supreme Court allow it?

April 24, 2024
Abortion rights supporters rally in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday. (Joy Asico-Smith for National Women's Law Center/AP)

Is Trump above the law? The Supreme Court weighs in.

The Supreme Court is set to decide to what extent former President Trump could be immune from prosecution for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021, as his lawyers have claimed. Post Opinions columnists Charles Lane, Ruth Marcus and Jason Willick discuss the strategy and timing of these arguments and what we might expect the justices to decide in this showdown about the future boundaries of presidential authority.

April 24, 2024

Can Jews come together this Passover?

American Jews have to grapple with two simultaneous truths.

April 21, 2024
Protesters stand outside of the Israeli prime minister's office in Jerusalem on April 9. (Maya Alleruzzo/AP)

Why did this seamy Trump trial have to be the first?

The first Trump trial makes me nervous. Why did it have to be the first?

April 14, 2024
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg at a 2023 news conference. (Mary Altaffer/AP Photo)

Arizona’s conservatives brought this political nightmare on themselves

Republicans packed state supreme courts. Now they are reaping the consequences.

April 11, 2024
Arizona state Rep. Matt Gress (R) speaks to reporters at the state Capitol on Wednesday. (Matt York/AP Photo)

2 questions that would expose Trump’s lies about abortion

Trump told us straight out that his new commitment to states’ rights is driven by politics; we should believe him.

April 9, 2024
Former president Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Conway, S.C., on Feb. 10. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)