CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics

Want a look at George W. Bush’s comments at the 2007 White House Correspondents Dinner? Or what coffee shop President Joe Biden visited last weekend in Harrisburg? Or the White House briefing room seating chart from 2015? There are ways to find all of this on your own. Or there is Factba.se, the longtime go-to for all White House transcripts, calendars, releases, etc., whose database goes back dec...

The presidential debate put Democrats on the defensive, led to calls for President Joe Biden to step aside, and left Republicans feeling emboldened. CQ Roll Call's Caitlin Reilly and David Lerman discuss what those political dynamics may mean for tax policy and the appropriations process, which ramps up in the Senate this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill drafted by House Republicans has triggered partisan disputes over federal law enforcement funding and policies as the GOP majority tries to rein in the Biden administration Justice Department. Senate appropriators, meanwhile, are preparing to begin their own markups as early as next week. CQ Roll Call's Ryan Tarinelli, Paul M. Krawzak and David Lerman outli...

Roads are such a great metaphor for writers. There are roads to nowhere, to recovery. They can be less travelled. It can be enough for some books to just have the main characters be on the road. Now Roll Call Elections Analyst Nathan Gonzales is hitting the road too, kicking off an occasional series on House races that will determine the majority that run along an actual, not just metaphorical, ro...

Congresswoman Alma Adams, a Democrat who represents the 12th District of North Carolina, wants to tell you and her constituents that, despite the dysfunction that makes the headlines, she and her colleagues have been attending to the people’s business. There are the issues close to her heart, such as affordable health care, closing the maternal health gap for minority moms and providing family car...

The House plans to take up its spending bills this week for the Homeland Security Department and the State Department and related agencies. CQ Roll Call's Rachel Oswald, Michael Macagnone and David Lerman preview the likely floor fights on those bills and what they mean for the appropriations process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It has been nearly two years since the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion, overturning Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Since then, several states have instituted their own abortion policies, including total bans on the procedure. We have also had several elections show to what extent reproductive rights affects political outcomes. Amanda Becker...

A budget caps agreement for the coming fiscal year could be falling apart after the Senate Armed Services Committee approved a defense authorization bill that would bust the cap on defense spending by $28 billion. And Republicans are starting to plan for an extension of tax cuts that are set to expire next year. CQ Roll Call's Paul M. Krawzak, Caitlin Reilly and David Lerman discuss the state of t...

Looking for guidance on how to get ahead in politics? Be a grunge rocker in college or a NASCAR driver. Don't be ambassador to Iceland, an actor or a video game music composer. A Trump endorsement helps. Less clear: how voting for or against dumping Kevin McCarthy affects things. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The House is set to pass a defense policy bill authorizing a 1 percent spending increase, but Senate Republicans are pushing for a bigger defense increase that would bust a budget cap set last year. CQ Roll Call's Caroline Coudriet and David Lerman preview the coming battle over defense spending and the legislative action in both chambers on their competing versions of the annual defense authoriza...

The DC/DOX Documentary Film Festival kicks off its second full festival this month, showcasing a diverse slate of non-fiction stories for a hungry audience in the nation’s capital. From politics, of course, to fashion, health, movie stars, the space program, there is a little bit of everything to choose from. There is also a very interesting constellation of films that concern aspects of the fallo...

House leaders begin a two-month sprint this week to move all 12 of their GOP-backed fiscal 2025 spending bills across the floor before the August recess. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman and Aidan Quigley assess the obstacles to that goal, the potential impact of Donald Trump's felony convictions, and the primary election threat facing the new House Appropriations Committee chairman. Learn more about y...

“We Refuse to Be Silent: Women’s Voices on Justice for Black Men” is a just released collection of essays. Unfortunately, the need for such voices has been consistent and essential throughout America’s history. Thirty-five journalists, authors,, scholars, ministers, psychologists, counselors and others raise their voices – now, and until solutions are in place. Angela P. Dodson, the collection’s e...

An ideological fight over food stamp benefits threatens to derail the five-year farm bill reauthorization. CQ Roll Call agriculture reporter Olivia Bridges and host David Lerman discuss the partisan divide over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other major sticking points in farm bill negotiations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forget Hollywood blockbusters: This summer will be all about the politics. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, we'll be witness to a criminal trial for a U.S. senator (oh, and a former president too), make-or-break Senate primaries, the political conventions, Supreme Court opinions on abortion and presidential immunity and much, much more. Inside Elections Deputy Editor Jacob Rubashkin drops by to hel...

House appropriators kick off their annual markups this week while the House Armed Services Committee marks up its defense authorization bill. But a tight cap on defense spending has left defense hawks frustrated, and proposed cuts to nondefense spending have Democrats gearing up for a protracted battle. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Aidan Quigley and John M. Donnelly assess the fiscal 2025 House sp...

The races that will shape November's election continue to take shape now that we have primary results in Maryland, West Virginia and Nebraska, with consequences at the House, Senate and even presidential level. Roll Call elections analyst Nathan Gonzales discusses those races and his latest Inside Elections ratings changes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration decision to hold up a shipment of weapons to Israel has triggered an outcry from Republicans, as the House pushes a new bill to lift the freeze and hold some spending hostage. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman and Peter Cohn assess the latest on the Gaza war, House appropriations, the FAA bill and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At Roll Call, we periodically update our list of most vulnerable senators and members of the House as we get closer to the election. It's a shifting list, and reflects a snapshot in political dynamics. So how does one land on the list? Roll Call campaign staff writers Daniela Altimari and Mary Ellen McIntire join the Political Theater podcast to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...

Congress is scrambling to complete work this week on the Federal Aviation Administration bill before key authorities expire on May 10. But a push for amendments, including some with hefty price tags, is threatening to gum up the works. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman and Valerie Yurk outline the major obstacles to the five-year FAA bill and assess its prospects for passage. Learn more about your ad ch...

There is no way to spin being beaten and bloodied and scared. The history of the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 is still being written, which is an important and massive undertaking. Not everyone wants to talk about the bear spray and broken windows. But the new documentary “The Sixth” by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine gives a fresh voice to some of the people on the ground and in the l...

House Republicans are imposing new restrictions on earmarks as a partisan divide over cultural issues widens. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman and Aidan Quigley explain the latest battle over congressionally directed funding and what the changes mean for the appropriations process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The House finally broke a logjam that held up Ukraine aid for months, but a majority of Republicans voted against the aid and Speaker Mike Johnson's job is on the line as a result. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman and John M. Donnelly assess the shifting politics over Ukraine and foreign policy in the Republican Party of Donald Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This has been a momentous week for politics. Jury selection started in the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump. The Senate dispensed with impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. And the House considers a foreign aid package that has made Speaker Mike Johnson a target of his unhappy colleagues. But beyond those headlines: FEC filings show us who rais...

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., faces pressure from all sides after promising to take up an aid bill for Israel this week that may or may not include money for Ukraine. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman and Peter Cohn assess the embattled speaker's options on a national security supplemental spending package. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices