CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics

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

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 powerful and inflexible commissioner. The battle mirrored America’s burgeoning women’s movement, and ultimately ended up in federal court, presided over by a judge with her own civil rights experience. Ludtke tells the story in “Locker Room Talk: A Woman’s Struggle to Get Inside,” and on this episode of Equal Time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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, politics and life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 the majority in the Senate and House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

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 any lingering fights over the current election season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 anyone get away with it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 of the upcoming lame-duck session. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Roll Call's Aidan Quigley and David Lerman assess the obstacles and political pressures at play in the fight over a continuing resolution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

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 Capitol Visitor Center. So let's start the shameless plugging with two of the guys who put the event together, Geoff Browning and Kevin Canafax. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 lot of drama surrounding it: Congressional primaries galore, ballot referenda that could affect turnout and the perennial question of who will show up, and who won’t, for presidential party time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 playing field. Valaida Fullwood is a founder of New Generation of African American Philanthropists, Charlotte, North Carolina’s only Black philanthropic collective, and a model for organizations across the country. Fullwood, a project consultant and “idea whisperer,” joins Equal Time to share her vision for the future of Black philanthropy, as NGAAP approaches its 20th anniversary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 political reporter about the political heart of it all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.fm/adchoices

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 as election-year pressures continue to build. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 conservative values while championing same-sex marriage and helping to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” When the issue of gay rights is as relevant as ever, historian, commentator and Equal Time guest Neil J. Young offers insights into why so many gay conservatives continue to align with a party whose election-year rhetoric sees them as an enemy of American values. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 decades. Factba.se founder Bill Frischling hangs out and talks about just the facts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 outline the flashpoints in the Commerce-Justice-Science bill and the game plan for Senate appropriators. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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, road. Up first: Interstate 5.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 care. There is her work supporting HBCUs, healthy nutrition programs, and more. So, what do we need to know? Adams joins Equal Time to talk about bipartisan progress, election year politics and the state of her battleground state. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 of The 19th News has chronicled these topics and more, particularly with her forthcoming book, “You Must Stand Up: The Fight for Abortion Rights in Post-Dobbs America,” and is here on Political Theater to discuss her work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 the budget caps deal, the appropriations process, and the fate of Trump-era tax cuts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

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 fallout from the 2020 election and the riot on January 6th, 2021 that sought to overturn the election results. We discuss that and more with Sky Sitney, co-founder of DC/DOX and a professor at Georgetown University’s Film and Media Studies Program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“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 editor, is the author of “Remember the Ladies: Celebrating Those Who Fought for Freedom at the Ballot Box” is the guest on this episode of Equal Time; she is joined by New Orleans-based journalist Lottie Joiner, one of the book’s contributors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 help get us into the summer state of mind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 spending allocations and what they may mean for the appropriations process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 line of fire that day: police officers, a journalist, a congressional staffer, and a member of Congress. The film is from their perspectives; it’s a sense of what it felt like to be there.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 raised how much for 2024's election; runoffs in Alabama and another trial that could affect New Jersey races. Roll Call campaigns editor Herb Jackson walks joins the podcast to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

If it’s an election year, expect crime to be an issue. Candidates and parties draw conclusions with every headline, and exchange rhetoric that sheds more heat than light. But the history and reality of America’s criminal justice system is more complicated than a “tough on crime” slogan would indicate. The just published “Excessive Punishment: How the Justice System Creates Mass Incarceration” offers essays by scholars, advocates, those who have experienced incarceration and former law enforcement who make the case that public safety, justice, and fairness are not only compatible as goals, but they can and must be achieved together. Lauren-Brooke Eisen, the book’s editor, is the senior director of the Brennan Center’s Justice Program, where she leads the organization’s work to reduce America’s reliance on incarceration, is the author of Inside Private Prisons (Columbia, 2017) and a former prosecutor. She joins Equal Time to talk about why the book is especially timely in the present political climate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People feel so passionately about food that perhaps it is not a surprise it has yielded that rarest of things: A sequel to a documentary. The makers of 2008’s “Food, Inc.,” are, as the new movie’s tagline goes, back for seconds with “Food, Inc. 2,” a multi-layered look at the food industry, its farmers, workers, scientists, journalists and more. Co-directors Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo are here to talk about it, from soup to nuts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Final fiscal 2024 appropriations came nearly six months late, left Republicans divided and bitter, triggered the ouster of a House speaker, and put a new speaker on notice that his own ouster could come next. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman and Aidan Quigley recap the drama of the just-completed appropriations cycle and assess what it means politically for a Ukraine aid package and fiscal 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Joe Biden's fiscal 2025 budget request offers up election-year domestic initiatives from child care to affordable housing while promising to reduce deficits from projected levels over the coming decade. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Aidan Quigley, Caitlin Reilly and Paul M. Krawzak dissect the budget request and its prospects in Congress in a webinar presentation for CQ subscribers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it mean when both Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and former President Donald Trump agree on the same candidate? Because that happened in Ohio’s Republican Senate primary. That was not the only win for the establishment, such as it is, during Tuesday’s elections. Roll Call campaign staff writer Daniela Altimari spent some quality time in Ohio recently, and she and Campaigns Editor Herb Jackson join the podcast to discuss the results in Ohio, Illinois and California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Covering the White House is one of the most high-profile beats in politics. Covering the Trump, then the Biden White House, and starting during a pandemic and an election year makes it even more high profile. Roll Call Chief Correspondent Niels Lesniewski has been at the helm for a little over four years and shares his experiences as he prepares for a new assignment in the newsroom: The highlights, the lowlights and the weirdlights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lost in this year’s highly competitive presidential nominating contest (sarcasm detector!) is the coming-at-you primaries for House and Senate that kicked off with a bang on Super Tuesday. We got some clarity about fall matchups in some high-profile races on that most special of Tuesdays, and some of that clarity came from folks who were not even facing the voters. With us to discuss is Jacob Rubashkin, deputy editor of Inside Elections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Both parties claimed victories in the six-bill appropriations package unveiled Sunday for the current fiscal year. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Aidan Quigley and Peter Cohn outline some of the winners and losers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tuesdays can get a bad rap. Sometimes the best that can be said about them are that they're the day that's the furthest from next Monday. But not Super Tuesday! More than a quarter of the House of Representatives faces a primary race on March 5, and there are two high-profile Senate races as well. And while not all of Super Tuesday's races are competitive, there are major implications for November’s general election, especially in California, Texas, North Carolina and Alabama. We’ll discuss the major races and stories shaping up for Super Tuesday with Roll Call campaign reporters Mary Ellen McIntire and Daniela Altimari. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress is barreling toward a March 1 funding deadline with all signs pointing to gridlock on appropriations bills. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Aidan Quigley and Paul M. Krawzak dissect the latest setback and potential next steps on both appropriations and a stalled war funding package. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite record-low Black unemployment and a higher labor force participation rate than Whites, major barriers impede homeownership among African Americans, a fact that contributes to a yawning racial wealth gap. The gap is so expansive that the 400 wealthiest Americans control the same amount of wealth as the 48 million Blacks living in the United States. Importantly, however, there are solutions. Dr. Courtney Johnson Rose serves as President of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), the premier network of Black real estate professionals and one of the oldest minority trade associations in the country with more than 100 chapters nationwide. The organization is sponsoring a Black Wealth Tour in cities around the country, with Dr. Rose and NAREB representatives leading classes, workshops, and one-on-one counseling to advise families on home buying, investing, and careers in real estate.  With her background – both personal and professional – in the field, Dr. Rose is prepared to tackle this challenge. And she is my guest on this episode of Equal Time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S. Leo Chiang’s documentary films explore lives across continents and culture, from the first Vietnamese-American congressman to the first LGBT political party in the Philippines to a legendary Hawaiian ukulele player. His latest film, the documentary short “Island in Between,” has been nominated for an Academy Award. Its subject, Taiwan’s Kinmen Island and Chiang’s own relationship to his native Taiwan, couldn’t be more timely, in the wake of Taiwan’s recent presidential election and as Congress considers a foreign aid package with billions of dollars at stake for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s not to like about political stories that encompass not only New York City, Queens specifically, but reach into Long Island’s northern shore in Nassau County. The special election in New York’s 3rd Congressional District to replace expelled GOP Rep. George Santos is over, with Democrat Tom Suozzi defeating Republican Mazi Melesa Pilip for the honor of representing the birthplace of Walt Whitman and the one-time home of F. Scott Fitzgerald when he was gathering string for “The Great Gatsby.” Roll Call Campaigns Staff Writer Mary Ellen McIntire and Inside Elections Deputy Editor Jacob Rubashkin take us on a tour. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Senate appeared on a glide path toward passing a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after months of stalemate over efforts to better secure the U.S. southern border. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman and Peter Cohn assess the prospects for the long-stalled aid package and the obstacles that still lie ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The current congress started off last year with an historic show of dysfunction, taking 15 rounds of voting to elect a speaker. Things did not get better. And then this week we saw the House and the Senate devolve into what some observers dubbed “failure theater.” One senator, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, asked simply, “What the Hell just happened?” Helping us answer that question is Molly Reynolds, senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A $118 billion package for Ukraine, Israel and border security now faces tough sledding in the Senate and even longer odds in the House. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Mark Satter and Caitlin Reilly assess the prospects for the long-stalled emergency spending measure and two tax bills waiting in the wings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are not a lot of resumes that read like Bill Bradley’s. Gold medal Olympian. Rhodes Scholar. Pro basketball player. Author. Senator. Presidential candidate. Radio host. And now a documentary film storyteller. His latest project, "Rolling Along," premiered last June at the Tribeca Film Festival, appropriate for the iconic New York Knick, and started streaming on Max on Feb. 1. He joins the podcast to discuss the story of his life.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation" might have been published in 2007, but its message is as relevant as ever, especially as campaign 2024 ramps up. Author Drew Westen, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Emory University, has for 20 years explored the role of emotions in how the brain processes information. That’s true in life – and in politics. And that explains why Westen has advised or worked as a political consultant for Democratic candidates, progressive and labor organizations and Fortune 500 companies for 20 years. Equal Time speaks to Westen on how a better understanding of the mind and brain translates into more compelling political messaging. Who is doing it right – and who could most use his help right now Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Top appropriators reached a deal on fiscal 2024 spending allocations, while a bipartisan tax package faces a backlash. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Aidan Quigley and Caitlin Reilly assess the state of play on appropriations, taxes, and the Senate's war funding and border security package. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re off and running in a pivotal election year, but beyond the horse race coverage and hot takes, there are always big stories that will help define what is going on. Herb Jackson, Roll Call’s politics editor, and Political Theater host Jason Dick trade big ideas about what the big stories are for 2024.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

House tax writers approved a package of tax breaks for businesses and low-income families, while Senate leaders appeared increasingly optimistic about reaching a border security compromise that would clear the way for aid to Ukraine and Israel. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Caitlin Reilly and John M. Donnelly assess the prospects for both measures and outline the challenges they face for passage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democrats are voicing concerns that the Biden re-election campaign needs to start getting on the road, but the question is, which direction? And who's driving? Dispatches from a fretting Capitol Hill, courtesy of Roll Call editor-at-large John Bennett, who joins the podcast to discuss his reporting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress is scrambling to pass another stopgap funding bill this week to avoid a partial government shutdown. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Aidan Quigley and Paul M. Krawzak outline the political and logistical obstacles lawmakers face while they also try to make headway on final appropriations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s January 2024. It’s cold, especially in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first stops on the presidential campaign voting calendar. We kick off this year by discussing the early contests, as well as setting the stage for the rest of this election year, particularly House and Senate races, with Roll Call’s elections analyst, Nathan Gonzales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congressional leaders reached a new accord on topline discretionary spending levels that looks a lot like the agreement struck in last year's debt limit law. But there's little time left to complete final appropriations bills before current stopgap funding runs dry. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Aidan Quigley and Paul M. Krawzak assess the politics surrounding the new deal and what it may mean for the long-delayed appropriations process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Senate is staying in town in hopes of passing a war funding and border security package by Christmas, but the politics of immigration pose a major stumbling block. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Aidan Quigley and John M. Donnelly assess the chances of a bipartisan deal and the obstacles that lie ahead for passage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How big a deal is the pandas leaving the National Zoo? Or the sale of the Commanders? Or the Wizards and Capitals possibly leaving downtown DC? Or all the retail vacancies piling up? Recommend If You Like Editor Brandon Wetherbee gets local with the Political Theater podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a hectic time of preparation for the holidays, it’s important to remember those who may be struggling, a message elevated by United Way. Alice Archabal brings more than 20 years of experience driving results for mission- driven organizations to her work as executive vice president and chief development officer for United Way Worldwide. There, she provides leadership to drive the organization’s revenue strategy, including its collaborative outreach to local voices across the globe. She joins Equal Time to talk about the role of nonprofits in identifying solutions to today’s most pressing problems, such as food and housing insecurity, climate change, and economic mobility. And she shares her thoughts about how we all benefit when folks give back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

House Republicans are digging in for a fight over fiscal 2024 spending levels that Democrats in both chambers and many GOP senators thought were settled months ago, while an emergency war funding package remains in limbo. CQ Roll Call's Peter Cohn and Aidan Quigley discuss the stakes for lawmakers as they prepare to head for the exits as the holiday season approaches. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As political journalists, it is easy to get wrapped up in the story of the day. Elections and court decisions. Wars and strikes. Retirements and deaths. But what news events will endure and mark this year as unique? Fifty years ago, in 1973, we had the Watergate, Roe v. Wade and more. Nathan Gonzales joins the podcast to consider what political stories will stand out in half a century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Negotiations over both emergency war funds and fiscal 2024 appropriations are proceeding at a snail's pace with little time left before the scheduled Christmas recess. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Aidan Quigley and John M. Donnelly discuss the state of play, as well as how much defense money is appropriated without any request from the Pentagon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The recent elevation of Rep. Mike Johnson to be Speaker of the House has brought up questions about the Louisiana Republican’s record and positions in several areas, particularly his opposition to equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community. Filmmakers Melinda Maerker and David Miller have a new documentary for Hulu, “We Live Here: The Midwest,” which gives voice to the LGBTQ+ community in places that are not hospitable to them, and they join the podcast to discuss their project and its message. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Beverly Wright has been a leading voice on the impact of the global climate crisis for decades, spreading awareness, working on solutions and educating the next generations. As executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, an organization she founded 30 years ago, and a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, she is the heart of the environmental justice movement. With the Biden administration’s rollout of billions to help communities combat the effects of climate change, and the United Nations Climate Change Conference convening in the United Arab Emirates through Dec. 12, the spotlight is on the issue and efforts to help vulnerable countries cope with the crisis. At COP28, Dr. Wright is sharing her organization’s work, and amplifying the voices of those most impacted — communities of color and indigenous people, particularly those in the Global South. She joins Equal Time to discuss her mission and her message. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lawmakers averted a shutdown as they left town for Thanksgiving but left a mountain of unfinished business. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Aidan Quigley and Peter Cohn outline what is needed to salvage fiscal 2024 appropriations and an emergency spending package for Israel, Ukraine and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congressional leaders have until Friday to shepherd a short-term funding extension through both chambers to avoid a partial government shutdown. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman and Paul M. Krawzak outline the challenges ahead and what to watch for as the final votes near. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you know anyone who clings to antiquated notions that documentary films are dry affairs, kindly refer them to “Beyond Utopia,” Madeleine Gavin’s movie about the perilous paths North Korean defectors and their allies take to get them safely out of one of the world’s most repressive and cloistered countries. In addition to addressing the important issues about a geopolitical hot-spot, the filmmaking here makes for a compelling adventure. Director Madeleine Gavin and Producer Sue Mi Terry join the Political Theater podcast to discuss their project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress has yet to agree on a stopgap bill to head off a Nov. 17 government shutdown while lawmakers fight over emergency spending for Israel, Ukraine and more. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Caitlin Reilly and John M. Donnelly outline the fiscal challenges for the next two weeks as the House also tries to pass full-year appropriations bills.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’re feeling cranky about politics, you’re not alone. Public polling shows a remarkably wide swath of Americans with historically poor views of politics and politicians. Nathan Gonzales, Roll Call’s campaign analyst and publisher of Inside Elections, joins the podcast to discuss why and the campaign ramifications.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., takes office with a hefty fiscal agenda only three weeks before the government runs out of money. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Aidan Quigley and Peter Cohn outline the challenges Johnson faces to keep the government open, handle emergency spending requests and get the appropriations process back on track. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Washington is a city rooted in politics and history. It is also the home of one of the most iconic horror stories of all time, “The Exorcist.” The novel and movie, set in Georgetown, have been freaking people out for more than a half-century. Louis Bayard, author of "The Pale Blue Eye" and other novels, has written about growing up with "The Exorcist." He comes on the podcast to talk about that and why horror resonates, especially in places like D.C.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

House Republicans headed back to the drawing boards this week in search of a speaker nominee who could win a majority vote. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Laura Weiss and Paul M. Krawzak dissect the new crop of candidates and how the race might unfold. They also assess the White House request for $106 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine, Israel and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A speaker is deposed. Members of Congress gets indicted. A former president stands trial. Things feel unsteady, even dangerous. Has it ever been like this before? And will it change? Molly Reynolds, senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, discusses what’s going on in Congress.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Divisions among the Republican conference have left the House without a speaker for two weeks. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Laura Weiss and Aidan Quigley dissect the battle for the speaker's gavel and what it means for the appropriations process and tax policy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The instability of the House of Representatives is on full display, with this week seeing the first-ever ouster of a speaker, which led to the first-ever use of continuity of government rules to install a speaker pro tempore to preside over the institution until the chamber can elect its next speaker. And, if you remember how that went in January, it is uncertain how long that will take. Political Theater podcast host pro tempore Herb Jackson and Roll Call editor at large John Bennett walk us through what has happened and what we'll be watching as the leadership race for a person in the presidential line of succession unfolds in an uncertain time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the Voting Rights Act of 1965 opened the franchise to all Americans, Alabama has often been at the center of voting debates. This year is no exception. New maps ordered by and approved by the courts after a contentious yearslong battle, could give the state’s Black voters a greater voice, and affect the balance of power in Congress after the 2024 elections. But it all depends on turnout. Formerly a candidate, Dr. Adia Winfrey is now focused on voter mobilization and education through her organization, Transform Alabama, and sometimes uses some of the “hip-hop” strategies that energized her campaign. Student ambassador Maurice Gray is a believer, and has joined the cause to urge young people to care – and to vote. Both join this episode of Equal Time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress avoided a partial government shutdown after an abrupt change of course by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., that triggered a threat to his leadership. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman and Peter Cohn outline the surprising turn of events, the coming fight over Ukraine aid, and the challenge of reaching a deal for full-year appropriations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sen. Bob Menendez is a New Jersey institution, and in a familiar place, running for election while fighting federal corruption charges. He has always come out on top before, but times have changed, and his Democratic colleagues are pressuring him to resign. How did Menendez get to where he is, and what are his options? Roll Call Politics Editor Herb Jackson, a man of New Jersey, walks us through it all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a week to go before federal funding runs dry, a fight over Ukraine aid could stymie efforts to pass a short-term spending extension to head off a partial government shutdown. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Aidan Quigley and John M. Donnelly outline the battle and explain why efforts to pass full-year spending bills have faltered in both the House and Senate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices