Shows / CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
This is CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics, formerly CQ on Congress, which has all of the audio content from the CQ Roll Call newsroom.
Episodes
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Prospects for tax and border deals
House tax writers approved a package of tax breaks for businesses and low-income families, while Senate leaders appeared increasingly optimistic about reaching…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: Signs of life? Democrats start to sound off about Biden campaign
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?…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Under the gun
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: Whyiowa? Because we start at the beginning
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Familiar spending deal
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Showdown on the border
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: Don't hassle me I'm local: The DC episode
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Equal Time with Mary C. Curtis: A time for reflection – and giving
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Crunch time for topline funding deal, supplemental
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: The view from 2073: What political stories this year will be relevant in 50 years?
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Hard slog on war funds and appropriations
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Equal Time with Mary C. Curtis: What’s at stake for communities of color in the global climate crisis
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater - Facing backlash: LGBTQ+ families in 'We Live Here: The Midwest'
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Stormy talks ahead
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Showdown week for stopgap funding
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: The harrowing journey out of North Korea in ‘Beyond Utopia’
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ budget: Funding mess ahead
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: The cranky American: A tale of public polls
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: New speaker's agenda
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: Home-grown horror: The long reach of "The Exorcist"
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Scramble for speakership
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: The times, they are confusing: Why is Congress like this?
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Race for the gavel
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: The fall of the House of ... Representatives
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Equal Time with Mary C. Curtis: Transforming Alabama – and young voters. Nothing is off the table
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Bipartisan truce
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 Policy and Politics
Political Theater: Bob Menendez: Born to run under indictment?
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Stopgap funding troubles
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…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: In “Deadlocked,” it’s increasingly the Supreme Court’s world, and we just live in it
Filmmaker Dawn Porter’s documentaries run the spectrum of the political world and process, including Bobby Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign, the legacy of…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Appropriations on the skids
The Senate's first fiscal 2024 spending package stalled on the floor as hard-line conservatives rebelled, while House leaders had to abandon plans to take up…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: If it’s September, it’s government meltdown time
September is always stressful around Washington. Congress rarely even tries to pass its spending bills in time for the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Equal Time: An icon's example inspires conversations and action on reparations
Known for his work in the courtroom and the classroom, Harvard Law School's Charles J. Ogletree Jr. is being memorialized by the many he mentored, including…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Emergency spending clash
The House and Senate may be on a collision course over an emergency spending package for Ukraine aid, disaster relief and border resources. CQ Roll Call's…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: The contemporary reach of ‘Golda’ during the ‘Yom Kippur of democracy’
With “Golda,” director Guy Nattiv depicts the story of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir’s leadership during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, bringing his affection…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Spending battle preview
Congress set the stage for a chaotic September session, with the House and Senate on a collision course over appropriations and the risk of a partial…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: The 'Oppenheimer' expanded universe: Steve James' tale of atomic espionage in 'A Compassionate Spy'
Steve James is a documentary filmmaker whose body of work has taken him from "Hoop Dreams" to the 2008 financial crisis and more. His latest film, "A…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Divergent spending paths
The House and Senate are moving in opposite directions on fiscal 2024 spending, as House Republicans seek deeper cuts than senators of both parties favor. CQ…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Equal Time with Mary C. Curtis: Can the U.S. military still lead the way on civil rights?
Executive Order 9981. President Harry Truman signed it on July 26, 1948, creating the President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Appropriations collision course
The House and Senate appear to be on a collision course over fiscal 2024 spending, while pressure builds in the Senate for an emergency supplemental bill for…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: I know what you did this summer
What's the difference between launching a political campaign on June 30 and July 10? Does it really matter? Here to explain why it does is Nathan Gonzales…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Defense budget uncertainty
Even with a bipartisan defense spending cap in place, the size and shape of a fiscal 2024 defense budget is still a wild card. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman and…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Spending allocations clash
Senate appropriators approved spending allocations for their 12 annual bills in a party-line vote, setting up a clash with their House counterparts. CQ Roll…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: Chronicling one year of the post-Dobbs world
June 24 marks the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade and the federal right to…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Partisan clash on spending and taxes
House Republicans approved lower fiscal 2024 spending levels than provided in a bipartisan debt limit deal, while Senate appropriators pledged to stick to the…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: DC/DOX adds another diverse layer to Washington's film community
Washington is a film capital, home to a diverse slate of festivals to match a diverse slate of interests and people. This week, the DC/DOX festival gets under…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Conservatives revolt
A group of hardcore conservatives staged a protest that brought House business to a halt, partly over spending levels approved in a bipartisan debt limit…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: Taking flight: Ondi Timoner’s ‘Last Flight Home’
Good documentaries tell stories that work on multiple levels. Filmmaker Ondi Timoner’s “Last Flight Home” does this by portraying a family as it prepares for…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Debt limit deal examined
The bipartisan deal to suspend the debt limit into 2025 ended months of partisan wrangling, heated rhetoric and some contentious rounds of negotiating. CQ Roll…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Debt limit deal explained
The bipartisan deal to suspend the debt limit until 2025 is more complicated than advertised, with side deals constructed to let both parties describe the…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: When 'Yellowstone' came to Capitol Hill
"Yellowstone" and its related series are a cultural phenomenon, and have provided Native Americans a voice and platform that breaks boundaries. Two of the…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Equal Time with Mary C. Curtis: Why mental health policy is personal and political
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has described mental health as “the defining public health crisis of our time.” He has used his position and megaphone to…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Spending caps struggle
A bipartisan deal on a debt limit increase hinges mostly on resolving a fight over how to scale back discretionary spending. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman and…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: The Capital Challenge race, explained
The annual Capital Challenge foot race is a unique gathering of the three branches of government and the journalists who cover them: a three-mile, mid-week…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Debt limit drama
Pressure for a deal to raise the debt limit is building as President Joe Biden meets with congressional leaders for a second time this week. CQ Roll Call's…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: The most vulnerable 2024 incumbents, so far
It is a Roll Call tradition: identifying the most vulnerable House and Senate incumbents each election cycle. And for our first look at the franchise for 2024…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Presidential engagement
After months of stalemate, President Joe Biden will sit down with the top four congressional leaders Tuesday to talk about how to raise the debt limit to avoid…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: The White House Correspondents Dinner, explained
The White House Correspondents Dinner, the crown jewel of Washington’s spring prom season, roared back this past week, freed from many of the physical and…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Search for debt limit compromise
The House narrowly passed a Republican-backed bill to raise the debt limit into next year and force spending cuts. But Congress appeared no closer to a…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
Political Theater: You sunk my battleground! The 2024 campaign gets under way
President Joe Biden made it official this week: He is running for re-election. The 2024 presidential race will be determined largely in the same battlegrounds…
- CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics
CQ Budget: Test of unity
The Republican-controlled House plans to vote next week on GOP legislation to raise the debt limit and force spending cuts, in a major test of unity for the…