Ruth Marcus - The Washington Post

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

Trump wants retribution. That’s dangerous, unlawful and un-American.

This eye-for-an-eye justice is real and dangerous.

June 5, 2024
Trump advisers Kellyanne Conway, Stephen K. Bannon and Stephen Miller at the White House in 2017. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

So you married a Supreme Court justice

The Alitos are the latest couple to face the question: When you are married to someone in public life — a Supreme Court justice, a member of Congress, a Post Opinions columnist — what compromises do you need to make? Should you be held to the same ethical standards as your spouse? Charles Lane, Ruth Marcus and James Hohmann discuss the politics of marriage, whether the Supreme Court is more partisan now than in the past and why they don’t think Justice Alito needs to recuse himself in the Jan. 6 case.

June 5, 2024

Will Trump do time in jail? Here’s how Justice Merchan should rule.

Justice Juan Merchan will sentence Donald Trump in July. Here’s how it could go.

June 3, 2024
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan in his chambers on March 14. (Seth Wenig/AP)

Why the Trump verdict matters

“We may be understating the potential, and even the Biden campaign may be understating the potential, impact.”

June 1, 2024
Former president Donald Trump walks out to speak at a news conference in New York on May 31. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

An impromptu ‘Impromptu’: Processing Trump’s conviction

Ruth Marcus, Dana Milbank and Karen Tumulty got together to talk about their immediate reactions to Donald Trump’s guilty verdict, the quality of his defense, and why the most knowledgeable people in Washington were expecting something different.

May 30, 2024

No matter what he says, Trump is a felon

The jury has spoken: Trump is guilty.

May 30, 2024
Former president Donald Trump at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on Thursday. (Seth Wenig/Reuters)

The strange case of Alito v. Alito

Alito-gate: The justice, his wife, her flags and their ethics.

May 29, 2024
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, at the Capitol in February 2018. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

Why Biden and Republicans can’t find common ground on executive privilege

Neither Biden nor Congress will benefit from their inability to reach a compromise on executive privilege

May 23, 2024
President Biden, Robert K. Hur and Attorney General Merrick Garland. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post; Steve Ruark/AP; Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

Sam Alito’s flag flew upside down. Are his ethics?

Justice Alito’s wife hoisted a “Stop the Steal” flag after Jan 6. Should her husband recuse himself now?

May 19, 2024
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Martha-Ann Alito at his swearing-in ceremony at the White House in 2006. (Charles Dharapak/AP)

This Alabama AG won’t stop at the state line to prosecute abortion

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is Exhibit A in why leaving abortion to the states is a nightmare.

May 16, 2024
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall with Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) on Monday in New York. (Stefan Jeremiah/AP)