The Democratic Party does not need to choose to be one thing. It needs to choose to be more things.

The president seems to think “the shutdown gives him more power,” Jamelle Bouie says at the round table on “The Opinions” with Michelle Cottle and David French. But what Trump doesn’t seem to understand, he argues, are the practical implications of keeping this going.

In this episode of “The Opinions,” David French breaks down why parts of the original Constitution lend themselves to abuse — and which three amendments could stop another shutdown like this one. “But first,” he says, “we have to get through this moment.”

As he so often does, the president is pushing the wrong answer to the right question on trade policy with Beijing.

Bernie Sanders has been on a country-wide tour called Fighting Oligarchy. In this episode of “The Opinions” with David Leonhardt, he explains why that’s so important right now and reveals what question he wishes more reporters would ask him.

In this episode of “The Opinions,” Senator Bernie Sanders tells David Leonhardt that the party and its leadership need to make big changes to start winning election.

It’s the roaring 2020s!

Readers respond to a column by David Brooks, “The Rot Creeping Into Our Minds.” Also: Republican election stunts.

The fading of hummingbirds, butterflies and leaves brings both melancholy and exquisite beauty.

The Vermont senator on how to take the country back from elites — on both sides of the aisle.

And why it matters so much to try.

Perhaps gun control and carbon taxes aren’t as popular as they seem.

For decades, the United States has clashed over two stories of nationhood.

It’s not all baguettes and cheese.

The Vermont senator on how to take the country back from elites on both sides of the aisle.

Venezuela’s president has built a system in which the only people who can truly tear down his dictatorship are the ones with the most to lose from its demise.

Readers respond to an editorial about moving to the center. Also: No-phone time during the Sabbath; the energy crisis.

In the age of artificial intelligence, your own data is anything but personal.

In the New Jersey governor’s race, the Democratic candidate, Mikie Sherrill, is polling well. So why is there so much anxiety? The journalist Molly Jong-Fast visited her campaign and found a major disconnect between the public critique and the strong candidate she saw in person.

If there is no cover-up, then there must not have been a crime.

The sheer scale of everyday horror has shaken Mexico’s traditional relationship with death.

Climate change is not a giant meteor crashing into Earth. We will not all suffer equally.

Fra Angelico’s work is not merely artistically significant. It is a spiritual experience.

Democrats do not just need to win more people. They also need to win more places.

Democrats do not just need to win more people. They also need to win more places.

Discussion of women in the workplace often focuses on flexible hours, but what’s actually needed is shift work — pioneered by the medical profession.

The Constitution is not a word game.

Lessons from the Tea Party and recent elections.

Five Republicans just voted with Democrats to block Trump’s tariffs. This proves Congress can act. So why isn’t it using that same power to address hunger, health care costs or undeclared wars? The New York Times Opinion editor, Kathleen Kingsbury, explains.