CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics

Jonathan Miller talks about his new CQ Magazine cover story on the Republicans' decision, thus far, to ignore policy proposals in their 2020 planning. Miller found this worries some lawmakers, like Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher, who'd like to see the party offer new ideas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CQ legal affairs reporter Todd Ruger says House Democrats now have plenty of leads from Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III's report to investigate, especially as to whether Trump sought to obstruct justice.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taxes are due on April 15 and Americans are finding out how the 2017 law affected them. Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank, and Peter Cohn, CQ's tax editor, discuss how the law has played out for both individuals and corporations and find that it's given some a windfall, and rationalized the code for others, but hasn't done as much as Republicans ex...

Under pressure from a bipartisan group of senators, the Homeland Security Department last month increased the number of visas available for foreign guest workers seeking to toil in America's seasonal industries, from seafood processing to resort housekeeping. Two critics of the decision, Daniel Costa of the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank that supports pro-labor policies, and Preston Huenn...

The 2010 health care law has left tens of millions uninsured, leading to a groundswell of support from the left for a single-payer system, or "Medicare for All." CQ health care reporter Mary Ellen McIntire explains why progressives are ready to move on, what it would take to get there, politically, and how they would transform American health care. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone...

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, but especially Democrats, are saying that the government should intervene to rein in, or even break up, tech giants like Amazon, Google and Facebook. CQ technology reporter Dean DeChiaro says an antitrust action would require a novel legal approach focused less on pricing power and more on market dominance, while Patrick Pexton, CQ's tech editor, says the tech...

For the U.S. Navy, buying warships that are defective, unfinished or both has become the norm. The habit is expensive, dangerous and leaves overworked sailors to deal with faulty ships in need of repair from day one. Yet, the practice has escaped sufficient scrutiny in Washington even though taxpayers are on the hook for repeated repairs, reports CQ's senior writer John M. Donnelly. Most new ships...

Janeen Rashmawi of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and Logan Bayroff of the pro-Israel group J Street worry that Congress is losing sight of the bigger issues surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict amidst the debate over Rep. Ilhan Omar's comments on Israel. Both offer support for the March 7 House resolution condemning anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry.   Learn more a...

Democrats have ramped up oversight of President Donald Trump and his administration with hearings on Trump's finances, the Russia inquiry, the immigrant child separation policy and more. But holding hearings and asking questions is only the first step in successful oversight, says Justin Rood, director of the Congressional Oversight Initiative at the Project on Government Oversight and a former st...

The latest edition of CQ's study of congressional voting comes out in CQ Magazine on Feb. 25 and the authors, CQ reporters John Bennett and Jonathan Miller, explain that Congress voted as Trump wanted at record levels in 2017 and 2018, while representatives and senators who crossed party lines more than their peers paid at the ballot box. Laura Weiss, who profiled Larry Hogan for the magazine, dis...

Tax season has begun and upper middle income taxpayers with incomes between $120,000 and $200,000 who live in states with high local taxes are the most likely to be among the five percent of taxpayers who paid more last year because of the 2017 law, says Kyle Pomerleau, director of the Center for Quantitative Analysis at the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank. Doug Sword, CQ's tax reporter,...

Patricia Hamill calls herself a feminist and a liberal Democrat, but as a defense attorney for students accused of sexual assault and harassment on college and university campuses she backs the Education Department's controversial proposal to require schools to change the way they handle these cases. The department is now considering the more-than-100,000 comments it received about its proposal, m...

Congressional negotiators are working to reach bipartisan agreement on a Homeland Security spending bill that can fend off another shutdown and thwart President Donald Trump's threat of declaring a national emergency, CQ appropriations reporter Kellie Mejdrich tells co-host Jennifer Shutt.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CQ senior defense writer John M. Donnelly and Michael Rubin, a former Middle East adviser in George W. Bush's administration who's now a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, discuss the implications of President Donald Trump's moves to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan and Syria and the Republican-led backlash in Congress. Learn more about your ad c...

CQ Homeland Security Editor Patrick B. Pexton discusses the details of the deal between President Donald Trump and lawmakers to end the shutdown. Max Stier, president of the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, says it has done lasting damage to the civil service and that Congress must never allow it to happen again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tens of thousands of government contractors are out of work and their employers are losing millions in revenue because of the partial government shutdown. Alan Chvotkin of the Professional Services Council,  a contractor trade association, says his group is lobbying Congress to pay contractors for their missed work, as it has already agreed to do for furloughed civil servants. And Roll Call Senior...

European officials are expected to fire the first shot in the regulation of cryptocurrencies, with recommendations on what should be done to protect investors and preserve the integrity of financial markets.  Georgetown University Law Professor Chris Brummer, one of the world’s leading experts in global technology, finance and governance, explains the EU's moves and how they will affect the regula...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls climate change "an existential threat" and has established a committee to look for solutions. CQ reporter Elvina Nawaguna explains what's likely to come from the Democratic House, while Brad Johnson, a board member with the group End Climate Silence, says that activists will look for increased regulation while also pushing for an end to the use of fossil fuels. Lea...

Democrats plan to make so-called "good government" laws to tighten campaign finance and lobbying rules a priority in the new Congress. Democrat Jon Tester, who is featured in a documentary about outside campaign money in his state of Montana, tells host Shawn Zeller and lobbying reporter Kate Ackley why he is leading his party's efforts in the Senate, even if he faces a skeptical GOP majority.   ...

We take a deep dive into the criminal sentencing and prison programming overhaul Congress is expected to pass this year, which is shaping up to be a major bipartisan achievement. Credit goes to Republicans, like Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, sponsor of the bill, who says it's a matter of money and morals to try to help the incarcerated. And to activists, like Kevin Ring, a former federal prisoner, wh...

In seeking to solidify her bid for House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi promised members of the Problem Solvers Caucus she'd guarantee floor time for bills with broad, bipartisan support. Problem Solvers Co-Chairman Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, says it will change the balance of power between House leadership and the rank and file.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice...

Nancy Pelosi has won the House Democratic Caucus' nomination to return as speaker in January, proving herself a formidable opponent to those in the party who'd depose her. Molly Reynolds, a fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank, unpacks the incentives Pelosi is deploying to get to a majority, and secure the speakership, when the full House votes in January. Learn more about your ad choice...

The first woman to serve as Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, wants to return to the job now that Democrats control the chamber again. Dissenters in her caucus say they can block her ascent. Pelosi biographer Marc Sandalow says the renegades are in for a battle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Democrats who won a House majority on Election Day are a diverse group with compelling life stories. Two CQ reporters, Mary Ellen McIntire and Greg Tourial, profile three of the most interesting members of the class of 2018. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shannon Bream, host of Fox News @ Night, answers the tough questions about Fox's ideological approach to journalism amid growing public concern about heated political rhetoric. Her show is part of Fox News' prime-time lineup that in October reached more than 2.8 million cable viewers a day. In a 20-minute interview, Bream discusses a wide range of issues related to the politicization of the media...