Eye on Congress

Patrick Njoroge, the Governor of the Central Bank at Kenya, speaks with Chris Brummer at DC Fintech Week 2020 to discuss how Mpesa, one of the world's most successful mobile money transfer services, impacted Kenya’s economic development, and what central bank digital currencies and the rise of crypto mean for Mpesa, and vice versa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congressional leaders and the White House must reach agreement on a coronavirus aid deal Tuesday if they want it to become law before Election Day. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin still have several unresolved items to work out and internal disagreements amongst Republicans threaten success. CQ Roll Call’s David Lerman and Jennifer Shutt discuss the latest in the negotiations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump Administration has scheduled a court case in front of the Supreme Court for November 30th to rule on whether the government can exclude undocumented immigrants from apportionment. Michael Macagnone unpacks this case and what is at stake. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The FDIC released survey results on the number of unbanked Americans -- a measure that determines poverty levels. While the numbers in it are improving, the survey does not include data since the pandemic, which in all likelihood pushed the number higher. CQ Roll Call's Jim Saksa breaks it down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nursing homes have been hit particularly hard by COVID-19. This may be a moment for government to recalibrate and make much needed improvements. Lauren Clason reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marijuana is on the ballot on Nov. 3 in several red and blue states alike. CQ Roll Call's Emily Kopp discusses why these initiatives are important to watch and why many eyes are on South Dakota and New Jersey in particular. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There has been lots of talk about packing the Supreme Court if the Democrats win the presidency. But CQ Roll Call's Shawn Zeller lays out the case on why eliminating the filibuster would rebalance the scales of power between the Supreme Court and Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the last half century the GOP party platform has been to destroy labor, not save it. Now comes conservative Oren Cass who advised Sen. Mitt Romney's presidential campaigns. He has caught the attention of many conservatives as he raises the question of whether a new vision for unions could be embraced by both the left and right. CQ Roll Call's Jim Saksa talks with Cass, now executive director of American Compass, and explores how unions could be reinvented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If former Vice President Joe Biden wins the presidency, taxes will likely increase for the top 1 percent of American taxpayers. Doug Sword takes a look at what the candidate is proposing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Newly unsealed documents reveal that a private immigration detention firm placed detainees in solitary confinement for failing to volunteer for clean-up duty, contradicting what the company told Congress recently. Tanvi Misra reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Department of Homeland Security agents in Guatemala misused State Department funds to rent unmarked vans and round up hundreds of U.S.-bound migrants and send them to Honduras. Camila DeChalus reports on this finding by Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump and GOP leaders are at odds over how much COVID-19 aid the government should spend with Trump saying he wants negotiators to “go big” while Senate Republicans pursue a smaller bill. CQ Roll Call’s David Lerman and Jennifer Shutt discuss why Republicans and the Trump administration are moving in opposite directions as well as the signs of fracturing within the Democratic Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris White, the CEO of Bondcliq, explains why the Fed's attempts to save the economy through corporate debt purchases needs an upgrade, starting with the bond market itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump administration is leaving it up to states to locate medical grade deep freezers capable of storing Pfizer's vaccine, Emily Kopp reports. Medical supply chain experts describe them as "unicorns." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CQ Roll Call's Gopal Ratnam has more on what's keeping election security experts up at night. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The vice presidency is a strange office, a hybrid of both the executive branch and the legislative branch, someone who breaks ties on Senate votes and can preside over the counting of his own electoral votes in a joint session of Congress. So Wednesday night’s vice presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris carried with it more significance as we brace for a possibly disputed election, a Supreme Court nomination fight and, oh yeah, health and age questions surrounding their running mates. Niels Lesniewski and Nathan Gonzales are on the show to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We compare the similarities and differences in the Trump administration's plan to fight COVID versus Joe Biden's plan. CQ Roll Call reporter Andrew Siddons takes a look after Vice President Mike Pence called Biden's plan "plagiarism" during Wednesday's vice presidential debate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is not everyday that one person has a relationship to so many of the day's main news stories but Angela Wright has touched history as the woman not called to support Anita Hill when she testified before the Senate Judiciary committee during Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearings almost 30 years ago. Wright confides in Mary C. Curtis about former Vice President Joseph Biden, #Me Too and the inner workings of a contentious Supreme Court battle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this CQ Roll Call Policy Brief, Gopal Ratnam who covers tech policy discusses key findings of the first-ever annual threat assessment put out by the Department of Homeland Security. Top threats include Russia trying to seed chaos in the U.S., cyber threats and domestic terrorism which has become more lethal in light of Black Lives Matter protests. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In tonight's episode, CQ Roll Call delves into the President's latest move to declare an end to all talks about a stimulus package until after the election. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration released stricter guidelines for COVID-19 vaccine developers, thwarting President Trump's efforts to release one by election day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices