CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics

Roll Call looked under every nook, cranny and poll to round off the Most Vulnerable Incumbents lists for the 2024 cycle. Find out how and why who got where! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sports and politics don’t mix. In truth, that has never been the case. Sports, in fact, reflect every issue, every conflict in society from civil rights to equal justice. Melissa Ludtke knows this from experience. In the 1970’s, when she was trying to cover Major League Baseball for Sports Illustrated, her path to doing the job – which required equal access to the players – was blocked by a powerf...

For many film buffs, October is Scary Movie Month, when we go to the vault to watch "Last House on the Left" or head to the theater to catch "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice." It is also election season. So does "The Apprentice" fit in here? It’s a biopic about the relationship between Roy Cohn and a young Donald Trump and how Cohn helped shape the future president’s no-holds-barred approach to business,...

The 2024 campaign is in the home stretch, and there are several races that are defined by a high degree of instability. How do we mean? It starts with the campaigns themselves not even agreeing on the basic contours of the race. From there things can get weird. Nathan Gonzales walks us through a few races that fit the bill — and that are incredibly significant in determining which party will be in...

What happens when a veterans organization conducting an unscripted role-playing simulation with real political figures about an attempted coup on Jan. 6, 2025 joins forces with filmmakers who have “Dr. Strangelove” and Nathan Fielder on the brain? The experimental but highly relevant documentary “War Game.” Co-director Jesse Moss and Vet Voice’s Janessa Goldbeck talk about their project. Learn mor...

The Supreme Court starts its new term this coming Monday, October 7th, and while the docket does not include such high-profile cases as the last two years, when the justices overturned Roe v. Wade and granted presidents wide immunity over official acts, the high court will still consider matters of constitutional rights that could reverberate for years — and also might be called upon to referee an...

In the middle of a contentious election season, it might be the perfect time to look back, to try to figure out how we got here. In “The Longest Con: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism,” best-selling author and Equal Time guest Joe Conason investigates how lofty rhetoric can sometimes hide money-making motives. Who benefits, who is left to pay the bill and how does...

Lawmakers will return to Washington after the elections with a heap of unfinished business and little time to get it done. Hurricane Helene may push disaster aid to the top of the agenda, while a year-end spending deal could be a heavy lift amid hopes for a farm bill and a defense policy bill. CQ Roll Call's Peter Cohn and David Lerman assess the political pressures and legislative possibilities o...

The 2024 presidential race feels a bit "incumbenty." A former president, Donald Trump is running against first the current president, Joe Biden, and now the current vice president, Kamala Harris. There aren't a lot of parallels. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After weeks of partisan posturing, congressional leaders settled on a bipartisan bill to stave off a partial government shutdown next month. CQ Roll Call's Paul M. Krawzak and David Lerman assess the bumpy path to a continuing resolution and the final obstacles to passage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All good things come to end, even the tenure of Roll Call Politics Editor Herb Jackson, who wraps up his time here talking congressional granularity, leadership PAC names, FEC data and various whangdoodles and fartleks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With two weeks left before a partial government shutdown, there's been no sign of progress on a stopgap funding measure although both parties recognize what is needed for a deal. CQ Roll Call's Aidan Quigley, Peter Cohn and David Lerman assess the political pressures and legislative obstacles that stand in the way of passing a continuing resolution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...

Back in March, Alabama, Arkansas, California, North Carolina and Texas held their congressional primaries, kicking off a mini-epoch of intra-party contests (mostly, with some exceptions), that has just now concluded with Tuesday’s primaries in New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Delaware (sort of; thanks Louisiana). So what’s it all about? What can we learn from this past six months? Learn more about...

Congress has three weeks to pass an election-season funding extension to head off a partial shutdown. House Republicans hope to win political talking points by including a measure designed to ensure that non-citizens can't vote by requiring proof of citizenship to register. They also want to punt final spending bills into March in hopes of increasing their leverage after the November elections. CQ...

Amanda Becker's new book, “You Must Stand Up” is a story about the political fallout of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision that overturned the federal right to an abortion. Becker, national correspondent for The 19th, figured this would be the biggest political event of her career; it might turn out to be the most significant political event in generations. She discusses her book and more on this...

Here at Roll Call, we like to step back every so often and just groove. And what better way to do that than by being part of the Sept. 17 Congressional Record musical program on Capitol Hill. We’ll be the media sponsors, along with The Kennedy Center, Library of Congress and the Recording Academy, when members of Congress from both sides of the aisle will showcase their musical talents at the Capi...

Hello from Chicago and the Democratic National Convention. Roll Call and the Political Theater team are on the ground here for all the fuss. We are at the point when folks here are in a groove, slightly fatigued and firmly ensconced in this pop-up political purgatory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kamala-palooza is almost here. The Democratic National Convention starts soon in Chicago, with the party looking to capitalize on the bounce it has gotten since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz quickly wrapped up the nomination. There might be a lack of drama about the outcome of this quadrennial confab, but...

There is a powerful tradition of giving back in African-American communities – a history highlighted in August, Black Philanthropy Month. And it’s about much more than writing a check. But just as giving circles celebrate efforts to invest in the culture, right-wing activists, with validation from some courts, have been pushing back, using policies originally enacted to even America’s unequal play...

Ohio is having a moment in the political spotlight, with the Republican vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance, hailing from the Buckeye State, while his home-state colleague, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, is in a tight re-election contest that will be key to determining the Senate majority. We talk with Jessica Wehrman, CQ Roll Call’s health policy editor, Ohio native and previous Ohio politic...

Senate appropriators scrapped plans to take up their Homeland Security bill this week, while the House punted on three spending bills before leaving town for an extended summer recess. CQ Roll Call's Aidan Quigley, Valerie Yurk and David Lerman discuss the latest setbacks to the appropriations process and the challenge awaiting Congress this fall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone....

If there is one thing elections in the United States brings out, it's chaos. Assassination attempts, resignations, primary challenges, third-party campaigns, economic meltdowns, pandemics and sudden deaths. Join Jason Dick and Nathan Gonzales for a ride down bad-memory lane! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

House leaders decided to punt on two of the four spending bills they had hoped to pass this week and plans for votes next week could be scrapped entirely. Senate appropriators, meanwhile, will try to mark up four more of their bills this week without a bipartisan agreement on discretionary spending limits. CQ Roll Call's Peter Cohn and David Lerman discuss the state of the appropriations process a...

When it comes to the politics of LGBTQ+ rights in America, the narrative that one party is pro and the other con has taken hold. But the truth is more nuanced – and interesting. “Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right” takes readers from the 1950s to the present day, offering comprehensive and enlightening information; it introduces characters and organizations that stayed true to conse...

The Republican National Convention in Milwaukee has put some steam in the strides of the GOP, who have taken their 2024 confidence meter up to 11. Republicans feel good about their nominee, Donald Trump, their opponent, Joe Biden, and their chances in November. Roll Callers John Bennett and Briana Reilly join the podcast to talk about what it's like on the ground in Brew City. Learn more about you...