Eye on Congress

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have denounced President Donald Trump's accommodation of Russia's Vladimir Putin, but as CQ foreign policy reporter Rachel Oswald explains, Congress is still wrangling with how to stop Russia from tampering in another U.S. election. And Cesar Vargas of the Dream Action Coalition makes the case for abolishing ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 "I'm all for principles, but I'm not an ideologue," says Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts of Kansas in explaining why he wrote a farm bill that doesn't add new work requirements to the food stamps program. He and the Agriculture panel's ranking Democrat, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, explain their bipartisan approach as they prepare for a fight with the House conservatives pushing the food stamp changes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine is in charge of realizing President Trump's plan to put an astronaut on Mars by 2033. He says it's doable, albeit visionary. He talks to CQ's Shawn Zeller about why the mission is important, how it can lead to technological advances and why private investments are necessary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two political strategists, Democrat Ryan Clancy and Republican Rory Cooper, question whether progressives' anger will help Democrats at the polls, while also predicting it bodes ill for lawmaking in Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, says tough border policies are crucial to helping low-skilled workers in America. And CQ immigration reporter Dean DeChiaro breaks down the immigration enforcement bill that failed in the House on June 21, and Speaker Paul Ryan's compromise measure, still pending in the House, which would give so-called Dreamers a path to citizenship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Voters in some GOP-leaning states will get a chance to adopt the 2010 health care law's Medicaid expansion by ballot initiative this November while others may elect governors who support it, says CQ health care reporter Misty Williams. It's an indication that even some conservative states are coming to accept the Affordable Care Act as the law of the land. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CQ Supreme Court Reporter Todd Ruger and University of Colorado Law Professor Craig Konnoth say that the Supreme Court victory of a Colorado baker, who refused to bake a cake for a gay couple, could be short-lived, given the court's narrow decision in his favor.   "Indeed, if the couple...go back to that same baker tomorrow and suffered discrimination...they could file another suit and that might lead to a completely different outcome,'' says Konnoth.   The court's view of gay rights still hinges on Justice Anthony Kennedy and could shift rightward if President Donald Trump gets a chance to replace him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump's move to criminally prosecute migrants crossing the border illegally, and to separate them from their children, aims to end the longstanding practice of releasing immigrants into the country, pending deportation, says CQ immigration reporter Dean DeChiaro. Trump's also boosting enforcement inside the country, but sanctuary city policies are impeding his efforts, explains Ariel Ruiz Soto of the Migration Policy Institute. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump's decision to cancel his planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un marks a failure of communications and messaging by both sides says Jenny Town, managing editor of the think tank 38 North, a website that tracks developments in North Korea for the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank. Town explains what needs to be done for the two sides to negotiate in good faith while CQ cybersecurity editor Patrick Pexton explains how it's playing on Capitol Hill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump's trade agenda is in disarray after his negotiators failed to reach a deal to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico by May 17, when congressional Republicans said they would need it in order to ratify it by year's end. CQ trade reporter Ellyn Ferguson explains what is holding Trump's team up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As tensions mount over several Trump administration trade initiatives, CQ's Shawn Zeller talks with Bryan Riley of the National Taxpayers Union, which is part of a coalition of conservative groups that oppose President Donald Trump's policies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Legislation aimed at helping communities deal with the opioid addiction crisis is moving through the Senate and House, despite Democrats' disgruntlement about the process. CQ health reporter Sandhya Raman provides details on the proposed legislation and the timetable on when it might become law. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump has set a May 12 deadline for deciding whether to pull out of the 2015 deal with Iran to rollback its nuclear program. He has harshly criticized it, but is under pressure from foreign allies and even some in his administration to keep it, says CQ foreign policy reporter Rachel Oswald. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A CQ Magazine special report this week examines alarming new consequences of climate change, such as beetles killing trees, coral reef die-offs and food losing nutritional value. Brenda Ekwurzel of the Union of Concerned Scientists and CQ reporter Elvina Nawaguna explain the threats.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Defense Secretary James Mattis fears wider U.S. involvement in Syria could "spiral out of control," even as President Donald Trump is threatening a strike. And with the Iran nuclear deal still up in the air, U.S. diplomacy is crippled by the vacancy at the top of the State Department. CQ foreign policy editor Megan Scully and defense reporter John M. Donnelly explain.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three congressional committees are set to grill Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on its neglect of its customers' data privacy. CQ cybersecurity reporter Gopal Ratnam previews the questioning, while Allie Bohm of the consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge lays out the steps lawmakers could take to beef up consumer protections.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a shakeup in administration staffing, President Donald Trump has purged aides who tried to manage him, replacing them with aides whose hardline instincts he may have to manage, says Roll Call's White House reporter John T. Bennett. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CQ banking reporter Doug Sword explains the state of play as Republicans (and some Democrats) try to relax banking regulations enacted during the Obama administration to safeguard against a repeat of the 2008 financial meltdown.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CQ trade reporter Ellyn Ferguson and defense reporter John M. Donnelly spell out the risks posed by President Donald Trump's decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and his agreement to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adm. Michael Rogers, the head of U.S. Cyber Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week that the Defense Department believes Russia will target state election systems, which tally the votes, during the 2018 election. But CQ cybersecurity reporter Gopal Ratnam says that neither Congress, nor the Trump administration, has done anything to help states shore up their defenses.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices