Eye on Congress

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

Filmmaker Dawn Porter’s documentaries run the spectrum of the political world and process, including Bobby Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign, the legacy of Congressman John Lewis, the Tulsa massacre, Civil War spies, abortion and more. Her latest project, the mini-series “Deadlocked,” is a history of the modern Supreme Court, from the Warren Court to the present, and how politics have changed the court, and how the court has changed politics.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 their Defense spending bill. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman, Peter Cohn and Paul M. Krawzak discuss the challenge to get appropriations back on track and House GOP efforts to reach an intraparty deal on a stopgap funding measure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Throw in the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden, and you have even more stress. Both topics, along with another developing wild card, redistricting, are likely to help define the 2024 campaign. We discuss with Nathan Gonzales, Roll Call’s campaign analyst and the publisher of Inside Elections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 former President Barack and first lady Michelle Obama. One of his students, civil rights attorney Areva Martin, was particularly inspired by his work to restore the justice historically denied to so many, including the victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. Martin represents more than 700 survivors and descendants of Palm Springs Section 14 in their quest for reparations after their community was racially targeted, burned out and bulldozed by the city of Palm Springs in the 1950s and 60s. In this episode of "Equal Time," author, activist, attorney and media personality Areva Martin joins Mary C. Curtis in a conversation some Americans would rather avoid. Is resolving America's unpaid debt to many of its citizens necessary before the country can move forward? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 David Lerman, Peter Cohn and Paul M. Krawzak outline the fight and the politics behind it, as the first fiscal 2024 appropriations bills head to the House and Senate floors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 for the paranoid thrillers of the 1970s to the screen during a time of heightened political tensions in Israel and the rest of the democratic world.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 government shutdown already being assessed. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman and Aidan Quigley sum up the state of the appropriations process to date and the challenges awaiting lawmakers this fall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Compassionate Spy," is about Ted Hall, a physicist who worked at Los Alamos during World War II and helped develop the atomic bomb. You may have heard something or other about the bomb lately, with Christopher Nolan’s "Oppenheimer" in theaters now and creating buzz by the gallons. Hall’s story is just as important. He took what he learned at Los Alamos and shared it with the Soviet Union, an action that continues to reverberate.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices