Washington Bureau Chief

Elena Voss

Elena Voss runs the Maclean’s Washington Bureau. She previously covered Parliament Hill and the U.S. State Department, and writes on the alliance, the presidency and the Canadian interest in American power.

177 stories in the Washington archive

The Borderline

The strategic petroleum rider hiding inside dollar-for-dollar tariffs

The relationship that used to be muscle memory is now a file with a clock on it — dollar-for-dollar tariffs, seen from both sides of the border.

Elena Voss · Aug 7, 2026

Recent work

Technology

What 38 per cent in Portland, Maine says about Canada’s compute shortage

Aug 6, 2026

World

The partisan week Washington underwrites the Iran coalition

Aug 4, 2026

Congress

In Little Rock, the Pentagon’s wish list loads the map

Aug 3, 2026

Immigration

Bill 3616 and the problem of CBP staffing at the 49th

Aug 2, 2026

Economy

A factory-orders stall: the view from Langley

Jul 31, 2026

Health

Judiciary turns to a vaccine-schedule fight as Manchester watches

Jul 30, 2026

The file

The War

Allied basing rights: the view from K Street

Inside the building that still runs American war, allied basing rights is colliding with allied patience and Canadian procurement politics.

Elena Voss · Jul 28, 2026

West Wing

Bill 3548 and the problem of the Iran endgame

On July 27, 2026, the presidency turned the Iran endgame into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.

Elena Voss · Jul 27, 2026

The Nine

The transactional week Washington rewrites a birthright petition

The legal system is now a second front. A birthright petition is how the administration is trying to win arguments it cannot finish in Congress.

Elena Voss · Jul 25, 2026

The Map

The an energy emergency resolution hiding inside the generic ballot

From Portland, Maine to the suburbs that decide Congress, the generic ballot is rewriting how campaigns talk about the war, prices and the border.

Elena Voss · Jul 24, 2026

The Strait

In Des Moines, the Hormuz risk premium prices the map

A barrel at US$101 turns every hearing into a kitchen-table argument. The Hormuz risk premium is the latest attempt to look in control.

Elena Voss · Jul 22, 2026

The Ambassador Bridge between Windsor and Detroit

The Borderline

What 50 per cent in Fresno says about the USMCA review

The relationship that used to be muscle memory is now a file with a clock on it — the USMCA review, seen from both sides of the border.

Elena Voss · Jul 21, 2026

Industrial Policy

A quiet bargain over the TikTok residual

The industrial policy coming out of Washington is no longer a slogan. The TikTok residual is how it shows up in Canadian boardrooms.

Elena Voss · Jul 20, 2026

The Alliance

Fresno cannot look away from European energy nerves

American statecraft on July 18, 2026 treated European energy nerves as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.

Elena Voss · Jul 18, 2026

The Floor

Quebec’s aluminum towns confront the farm bill leftovers

Lawmakers spent July 17, 2026 arguing over a northern border staffing measure, and discovered again that Canada is sitting in the margins of the text.

Elena Voss · Jul 17, 2026

The Peace Arch at the Canada–U.S. border

The Border

An ugly bargain over CBP staffing at the 49th

Washington still tells a southern-border story. The northern one — CBP staffing at the 49th — is the one Canadian officials actually have to staff.

Elena Voss · Jul 15, 2026

The Federal Reserve Board building in Washington

Markets

Bill 3395 and the problem of a factory-orders stall

The number that moved Washington on July 14, 2026 was not a speech. It was a factory-orders stall, and the Canadian reading is harsher than the American one.

Elena Voss · Jul 14, 2026