Ask a Pol politics

A people-powered press corps — asking your lawmakers your questions at your US Capitol. Ask a Pol asks: Are we in the midst of a Democratic civil war? Key Warren: “We are in the midst of a Constitutional crisis, provoked by co-presidents of the United States — Musk and Trump,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren exclusively tells Ask a Pol . Transcript:  Full transcripts of our exclusive interviews posted on As...

Who? Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) LISTEN: Laslo & Fetterman Ask a Pol asks: What do you make of AOC — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — saying Senate Democrats are rolling over on the Constitution? Key Fetterman “I am incredibly unburdened by her views or her opinions,” Sen. John Fetterman exclusively tells Ask a Pol . Ask a Pol’s FREE! Sign up to get our latest exclusives first. ICYMI — Read L...

Who? Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) LISTEN: Laslo & Bera Ask a Pol asks: When we spoke at the start of the Trump administration a few weeks ago, you were saying ‘our party needs to look for ways to work with Republicans’ — has that gotten harder just in that short span? Key Bera: “Yeah,” Rep. Ami Bera exclusively tells Ask a Pol . “I mean, obviously in the last four weeks we’ve seen Republicans go silent on...

Who? Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) — Senate Judiciary Committee LISTEN: Laslo & Whitehouse Ask a Pol asks: Do you think that Edward Snowden’s a traitor? Key Whitehouse: “I don’t think I have all the information to make that judgement, but it sure looks that way,” Sen. Whitehouse exclusively tells Ask a Pol . ICYMI — Tuberville Avoids Comment on Snowden in Exclusive Interview Caught our ear: “What...

Who? Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) — Armed Services Committee LISTEN: Laslo & Tuberville Ask a Pol asks: Do you think Edward Snowden’s a traitor? Key Tuberville: “I don’t know a lot about that, so I’m not gonna comment on that,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville exclusively tells Ask a Pol . Subscribe for FREE for our latest! ICYMI — Tulsi Gabbard was pressed on Edward Snowden Caught our ear: You haven’t reall...

Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) — Chair, House Freedom Caucus LISTEN: Laslo & Harris Ask a Pol asks: What are your thoughts — and the Freedom Caucus’ thoughts — on what Trump said about America taking over Gaza? Key Harris: “Oh, I don’t know,” Rep. Andy Harris tells Ask a Pol. ICYMI — Ask a Pol asked AOC the same questions Caught our ear: “We’re going to wait to see when that fleshes out,” Harris told us....

Who? Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) LISTEN: Laslo & AOC Press corps asks: Curious your thoughts on what Trump said on Gaza. Do you guys take it seriously? Key Ocasio-Cortez : “Of course, of course,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Ask a Pol. “ We’ve said for a very long time — and we’ve warned for a very very long time — about Trump’s designs on Gaza, on the Gaza strip.” Subscribe for FRE...

Who? Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) LISTEN: Laslo & Murphy Press corps asks: Did you catch Trump’s press conference on this week’s collision over the Potomac River, the FAA and DEI? Key Murphy:  “Yeah. I thought the president's press conference was disgusting. The idea that the crash happened because the FAA hires non white men is unconscionable, especially after he threw the FAA into chaos,” Sen. Chris...

Who? Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) LISTEN: Laslo & Ocasio-Cortez Ask a Pol asks: How does your party combat what Biden called an ‘oligarchy’ in America? Key Ocasio-Cortez : “We have to take our gloves off and fight for the working class and line ourselves with labor and really show people what's going on,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez exclusively tells Ask a Pol . Ask a Pol Subscriptions a...

Who? Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) LISTEN: Laslo & Greene Ask a Pol asks: With the Jan. 6, 2021 anniversary Monday — I know your party wants to change the conversation on that in this new Congress — curious if you have any thoughts? Key Greene: “Oh, you mean, make it a national holiday?” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene exclusively tells Ask a Pol through a big grin. ICYMI — This interview first a...

Who? Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) — President pro tempore of the United States Senate (3rd in line for presidency) LISTEN: Laslo & Grassley Ask a Pol asks: What do you make of House Republicans following President-elect Donald Trump’s lead and scuttling the bipartisan measure to fund the government because it doesn’t raise the nation’s debt ceiling? Key Grassley : “It costs money to shut the governm...

Who? Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — Vice-Ranking Member, Oversight Committee LISTEN: Laslo & Ocasio-Cortez Ask a Pol asks: What are your priorities for oversight in the new year? Key AOC : “I think we should be going after corporations,” Ocasio-Cortez tells Ask a Pol . “We need to be going after corruption. Also, of course, there’s an incoming Trump administration that’s been bought out th...

Who? Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) — Ranking Member (ie, top Democrat), House Oversight Committee LISTEN: Laslo & Raskin Ask a Pol asks: Why do you want to be the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee and not the Oversight Committee come the New Year? Is all the action gonna be in Judiciary? Key Raskin: “ Oh, I think it's going to be all over the place,” Rep. Jamie Raskin exclusively tells Ask a Pol...

Who? Rep. John Larson (D-CT) LISTEN: Laslo & Larson Ask a Pol asks: How would you rate this Republican-led 118th Congress? Key Larson:  “I don't think they've accomplished an awful lot,” Rep. John Larson exclusively tells Ask a Pol . “A lot of hearings and not much — not much by way of getting things done.” ICYMI — Interview first included in Matt Laslo’s Raw Story feature, “ Dysfunction on displa...

Who? Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) LISTEN: Laslo & LaMalfa Ask a Pol asks: What is your pitch to voters for this election, given that the 118th Congress has been historically unproductive? Key LaMalfa:  “After these two years? I'm having a hard time,” Rep. Doug LaMalfa exclusively tells Ask a Pol . “I've been really cynical lately.” ICYMI — Interview first included in Matt Laslo’s Raw Story feature, “...

Who? Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) LISTEN: Laslo & Smith Ask a Pol asks: What do you make of the recent New York Times reporting that Chief Justice John Roberts deftly worked in the background to steer pro-Trump Jan. 6, 2021 Supreme Court rulings on presidential immunity and appearing on the ballot? Key Smith:  “It’s interesting how there's sort of this story out there that Roberts was like the moderator...

Who? Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) — former Senate Republican Whip LISTEN: Laslo & Cornyn Ask a Pol asks: Have you seen the recent New York Times article about Chief Justice John Roberts and his influence on the Jan. 6 cases? The left is now saying he’s not the centrist they thought he was. Key Cornyn:  [Supreme Court Justice from 1990 to 2009] “David Souter wasn't the guy that Republicans thought he wo...

Who? US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland — Member, Pueblo of Laguna LISTEN: Laslo & Haaland Ask a Pol asks: How important is President Biden’s apology for Indian boarding school policy ? Key Haaland:  “I didn't realize how much [this policy] affected my life — right — until I got a little bit older. And so, this is important,” Sec. Deb Haaland exclusively tells Ask a Pol . “It's, you know, he...

Who? Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) — former select Jan. 6 committee member LISTEN: Laslo & Raskin Ask a Pol asks: Are you worried about the redux of Bush v. Gore-like constitutional crisis after the 2024 election? Key Raskin:  “The Democrats have two main objectives, and one is to go out and win the election and the second is to defend the election,” Rep. Jamie Raskin exclusively tells Ask a Pol .  ICY...

Who? Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) LISTEN: Laslo & Lawler Ask a Pol asks: Are you worried about secure voting in the 2024 election? Key Lawler:  “But the reality over the long haul is that our elections are secure,” Rep. Mike Lawler tells the congressional press corps. “I think, obviously, in 2020, you had issues in certain states where governors by executive fiat or the courts were overriding the legis...

Who? Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) — former select Jan. 6 committee member LISTEN: Laslo & Lofgren Ask a Pol asks: If they’re able to maintain their majority in the House of Representatives, are you nervous that House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans won’t certify the election if Kamala Harris wins? Key Lofgren:  “I don't want to say ‘nervous.’ I am mindful that a majority of the Republicans voted t...

Who? Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) LISTEN: Laslo & Collins Ask a Pol asks: Any thoughts on the recent New York Times article on Chief Justice John Roberts’s involvement in the Jan. 6 criminal case? Key Collins:  “Even without having read it, I think extremely highly of him,” Sen. Susan Collins exclusively told Ask a Pol . “[I] believe him to be a person of the utmost integrity and dedicated to the ind...

Who? Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) LISTEN: Laslo & Welch Ask a Pol asks: What do you make of the recent New York Times article on Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’s involvement in the Jan. 6 criminal cases? Key Welch:  “He's been the major force in the erosion of the credibility of the Court,” Sen. Peter Welch exclusively tells Ask a Pol . “You know, he's a skillful backroom operator, but he has...

Who? Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) — Chair, House Freedom Caucus LISTEN: Laslo & Harris Ask a Pol asks: Are you gonna be reading former First Lady Melania Trump's new book? Key Harris:  “I have kind of a lot of stuff on my plate right now to read that,” Rep. Andy Harris exclusively told Ask a Pol .  ICYMI — Matt Laslo’s full article This interview was first included in Matt Laslo’s Raw Story feature, Me...

Who? Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) LISTEN: Laslo & Romney Ask a Pol asks: Are you gonna read former First Lady Melania Trump's new book? Key Romney:  “Oh no, probably won't be able to fit that one in, I'm afraid,” Sen. Mitt Romney exclusively tells Ask a Pol through a hearty laugh.  Screengrab: former First Lady Melania Trump’s Instagram Sept. 18, 2024.  Caught her Instagram post ? “I heard about that,...