CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics

In 2025, you don’t have to reach very far to reach those dark corners of the internet where fringe conspiracy theories and racist memes once hid. In award-winning journalist Elle Reeve’s book, “Black Pill: How I Witnessed the Darkest Corners of the Internet Come to Life, Poison Society, and Capture American Politics,” the CNN correspondent takes readers on a journey that leads to the violence of C...

Is it possible to find beauty amid the horror of the Ukraine-Russia war? The Academy Award-nominated documentary "Porcelain War" argues that it is not only possible, it is essential. Co-director Slava Leontyev discusses how ordinary people keep their culture, art and themselves alive, and how even in a time of fear "it's hard to forbid people to live." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...

House leaders had to punt on plans for a Budget Committee markup early this week as Republicans continue to squabble over the size of a budget reconciliation package and how to pay for it. CQ Roll Call's Caitlin Reilly and David Lerman assess the status of budget negotiations, the timing for action, and how far Senate Republicans may get in their own alternative, slimmer reconciliation package tha...

The early days of the 119th Congress and the second Trump administration have been a whirlwind, but here is one observation for those looking to make sense of things: Having a plan beats not having a plan.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Republicans are struggling to come together on a budget resolution that would pave the way for a mammoth reconciliation bill encompassing much of President Donald Trump's agenda, but there's no sign of a deal that would unite the conference. CQ Roll Call's Aidan Quigley and David Lerman discuss the latest on a budget resolution, the fight over spending cuts, and whether leadership's timeline for a...

The early days of the second Trump administration have brought us an intense debate over constitutional authority and the role of government, which has been folded into the unstable and chaotic political era we are in. Is this destabilization something that will endure, or is it one of many similar, rough times in our history, say the 1960s, when politics and the government were tested and evolved...

A Trump administration directive to freeze spending on federal grants and loans pending a policy review outraged Democrats and reignited a debate over who controls the power of the purse. CQ Roll Call's Paul M. Krawzak and David Lerman outline the battle over presidential "impoundment" authority and what it may mean for appropriations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Presidential pardons are all over the place, thanks to outgoing President Joe Biden and newly sworn in President Donald Trump. Presidents’ power to pardon is pretty comprehensive, and has been used to pardon the likes of Confederates, Jimmy Hoffa, Richard Nixon, Defense secretaries, family members and dirty tricksters, and most recently the Jan. 6 crowd and even the founder of the black market dru...

Torn over strategy for passing Donald Trump's agenda, the House and Senate are on a collision course over how to use the budget reconciliation process to pass tax cuts, border security, defense funding and more. CQ Roll Call's Aidan Quigley and David Lerman outline the dispute, the political dynamics involved, and whether a leadership timeline for action is realistic. Learn more about your ad choi...

Appointed senators: They're a thing. Of the 206 individuals appointed to the Senate since 1913, when the Seventeenth Amendment codified direct election of senators and how to fill vacant seats, 11 of them are currently serving. Jason Dick and Nathan Gonzales go through the highlights, lowlights and weirdlights of this category of senators. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...

It's the most wonderful time of the year: When Washington says it will cut the federal deficit. Easier said than done! Just ask the 2011 super committee, which had a mandate and bipartisan support, and failed spectacularly. For this podcast, we combine the powers of the Political Theater podcast with sister podcast CQ Budget and its illustrious host, the Budget Tracker, as well as his long-sufferi...

The election of Speaker Mike Johnson for another term underscored how difficult it will be for Republicans to govern with a razor-thin majority. CQ Roll Call's Jim Saksa and David Lerman recount what it took for Johnson to win the gavel and explain what it may mean for the legislative battles to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A funding package that averted a partial government shutdown left Republicans bitterly divided and chastened. CQ Roll Call's Aidan Quigley and David Lerman examine the political fallout from a week of GOP infighting and what it means for President-elect Donald Trump's ambitious agenda next year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's an "off year" in politics? There is no such thing, according to Nathan Gonzales, Roll Call's campaigns analyst and the publisher of Inside Elections. We run through the top developing political stories of 2025.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the United States Senate The World’s Greatest Deliberative Body, or is it the world's most inefficient waiting room, where senators kill time before a flurry of inefficient activity? Part 2 of our discussion with Brookings' Molly Reynolds about ways Congress could function better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Republicans are preparing to use the budget reconciliation process to push border security, tax cuts and more on party-line votes next year. CQ Roll Call's Caitlin Reilly, Aidan Quigley and David Lerman outline what GOP leaders have in mind and the challenges they face. They also have the latest on plans for a stopgap funding and disaster relief measure needed by next week. Learn more about your a...

With a recently concluded global climate summit with challenging takeaways, an incoming president who vows to again remove the U.S. from international climate agreements, and increasing weather disasters that defy what went before, a look at what is being called an existential crisis could be grim. But that’s not the kind of book Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson has written. “What If We Get It Right: V...

It happens every December: We ask ourselves, is this the best Congress can do? And the answer is no. They can do better. And there are a number of ways the legislative branch can function better by implementing some very simple, common-sense proposals. Molly Reynolds of the Brookings Institution joins the podcast for the first part of a two-part series on Congress and how it works. Learn more abou...

President-elect Donald Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency isn't really a federal department, but it promises to take a meat ax to federal spending and regulations. CQ Roll Call's Peter Cohn and David Lerman assess what the outside agency can and can't do and what to expect from the new DOGE effort. We also look at President Joe Biden's push for new Ukraine aid and disaster relief as C...

Lawmakers are torn over the size and shape of a disaster relief package headed for a vote next month. CQ Roll Call's Aidan Quigley and David Lerman discuss the latest on disaster aid, overdue appropriations, a new Senate defense budget writer, and a House firebrand's new role in curbing government spending. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you're paying attention to the Senate, you know they're voting on a lot of judges, as happens during lame duck congresses. There are also a lot of partisan broadsides being fired about it all. How did we get to this point and why? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President-elect Donald Trump has picked several current and former members of Congress for his Cabinet and senior staff. Here’s a quick and dirty on the roster, which includes former Democrats, former critics and one avowed dog killer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress returns for a lame-duck session with a major decision to make on fiscal 2025 spending: whether to pass an omnibus package by Christmas or punt spending bills into the new year. CQ Roll Call's Aidan Quigley, Caitlin Reilly and David Lerman assess the political ramifications of the choice, the crowded lame-duck agenda, and the challenge for Republicans in their quest for tax cuts next year....

So, we have questions in the aftermath of this election. Who is the leader of the Democratic Party? What lessons do Republicans take from their victories? Do we have to keep calling it a "Blue Wall." And more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices