Eye on Congress

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created after the 2008 financial crisis just fined Wells Fargo millions of dollars for creating unauthorized accounts for 1.5 million customers, but Republicans in Congress want to strip it of its powers. Listen to CQ Roll Call’s Financial Services reporter Doug Sword and Managing Editor Adriel Bettelheim explain why.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three weeks before the government runs out of money, Congress has two options: a three-month extension of current spending favored by most lawmakers or a six-month fix pushed by a group of House conservatives, says CQ Roll Call’s Budget and Economics editor Jane Norman. Each option has political advantages and pitfalls, which CQ Roll Call’s senior editor David Hawkings spells out. On another front, soon after lawmakers passed a bill to deal with the epidemic of opioid abuse, CQ Roll Call's health reporter Andrew Siddons says they’re now confronted with the dangerous presence of lab-made synthetic drugs like fentanyl, blamed for hundreds of overdoses, including that of music icon Prince.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With little possibility of any of the 12 spending bills getting done to prevent a government shutdown, lawmakers return to consider stopgap tricks to fund the government beyond September 30. The question is for how long, says CQ Roll Call’s Ryan McCrimmon. Simone Path reports that despite the rise of anti-establishment candidates like Bernie Sanders and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, voters in primary races picked the most established of candidates, Marco Rubio and John McCain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress is grappling with a plethora of technology-related legislation that appears to be headed nowhere fast, in part because of concerns over security and privacy. The Internet of Things Caucus hopes to provide a bridge for understanding the issues at stake when it comes to technology policy – and find areas where lawmakers can work together, says CQ Roll Call’s technology reporter Alisha Green. #DarrellIssa #SuzanDelBene   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many have asked what it would take to remove Donald Trump from the GOP ticket and nominate a new presidential candidate. CQ Roll Call’s senior Senate reporter Niels Lesniewski and managing editor Adriel Bettelheim lay out how it could be done. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The alleged hacking of Democratic party computer systems by Russian interests pose a dilemma for U.S. officials tasked with looking for the source of the infiltration and coming up with a response. CQ Roll Call’s national security reporter Ryan Lucas, political editor David Hawkings and managing editor Adriel Bettelheim unravel the web of intrigue.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  The 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement has become a thorny issue for presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her Democratic Party, says CQ Roll Call’s trade reporter Ellyn Ferguson, who explains in detail what’s at stake.  Donald Trump’s and Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign rhetoric has emboldened anti-TPP activists, who have turned a usually wonky debate to a national conversation that transcends party politics.     Photo: By Bill Clark/CQcRollcCall    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The third night of the Democratic National Convention was devoted to A-list speakers –from President Barack Obama to former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg - whose rousing speeches were filled with praise for Hillary Clinton and with sharp attacks against the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. CQ Roll Call’s Chief Content officer David Ellis sums up what the water-cooler talk will be about today and what he expects of Clinton, poised to accept the Democratic nomination. Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call:Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton joins President Barack Obama on stage after his speech to the Democratic National Convention July 27, 2016.  See more at: http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/amid-tight-race-obama-passes-torch-clinton#sthash.sAaINUEk.dpuf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Philadelphia, CQ Roll Call’s Managing Editor Adriel Bettelheim and Senior Editor David Hawkings recap and reflect on the historic events on the second day of the Democratic National Convention and look ahead to Wednesday when President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are scheduled to speak.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Catch up on the tumultuous first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia with CQ Roll Call's Managing Editor Adriel Bettelheim and Elections Editor Nathan Gonzales, who tells us what to look for Tuesday.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the Democratic National Convention ahead, CQ Roll Call’s Adriel Bettelheim and Shawn Zeller look at how much feminism will propel Hillary Clinton to victory this November. At the same time, sexism is unlikely to deny her the job. Find out why. @HillaryClinton, @realDonaldTrump @cqnow, @rollcall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Texas Sen Ted. Cruz has cast a shadow over the last day of the Republican National Convention after he was booed off stage Wednesday night for refusing to endorse Donald Trump for president. This memorable moment also overshadowed the acceptance speech of Trump’s vice presidential nominee Mike Pence. CQ Roll Call’s Elections Editor Nathan Gonzales says Trump’s onetime campaign foe “overplayed his hand, he looks like a sore loser.’’ It’s a sentiment echoed by others as Trump is set to accept the GOP’s nomination for president.  Gonzales is also Editor & Publisher of The Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report. @nathanlgonzales @cqnow @rollcall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amid the bluster Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention, there was also another message, says senior CQ Roll Call Editor David Hawkings. Republican Congressional leaders stressed the need to maintain control of the House and Senate so they could work with the GOP nominee Donald Trump to enact conservative policies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Controversy hung over the opening night of the Republican National Convention as parts of Melania Trump's speech were nearly identical to one Michelle Obama delivered in 2008. Anti-Trump delegates also unsuccessfully challenged convention rules. CQ News Director, Steve Komarow, gives us a preview of what's ahead on day two of the RNC with House Speaker Paul Ryan due up. "There is no place for him to hide,'' Komarow says. http://admin.rollcall.com/video/rnc_day_one_highlights_and_a_look_ahead#sthash.iR27Yu4v.dpuf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To kick off our Republican National Convention coverage, CQ Roll Call's Adriel Bettelheim and CQ Magazine Senior Editor Shawn Zeller consider where Donald Trump could pick up white-voter support to clinch the presidency. If Trump is able to increase the GOP share of the white vote by five percentage points more than Mitt Romney won in 2012, even while holding the strong minority vote for Obama that year steady, the mogul will win. Plus, some of the reasons why Trump picked Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress has been unable thus far to send the president any of the 12 spending bills to stave off a government shutdown Sept. 30 and lawmakers are preparing to punt yet again, says CQ Roll Call’s appropriations reporter Ryan McCrimmon. Andrew Siddons zeros in on the obstacles lawmakers face coming up with a plan to fight the prescription painkiller epidemic across the country. Jacob Fischler explains how a plan to make air traffic control a quasi-governmental outfit did not make it into legislation to extend FAA operations. He also lists the air carriers poised to fly to Cuba. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A slew of tough issues await lawmakers upon their return from Fourth of July recess. CQ Roll Call's editors and reporters break it down. Barring another Democratic sit-in, the House is expected to tackle a sweeping spending bill that GOP lawmakers hope will rein in financial regulators created in the aftermath of the 2008 economic crash, reports Doug Sword. Jonathan Miller explains what's ahead for Puerto Rico now that Congress has enacted a financial rescue package, and Rebecca Adams talks about a House-led overhaul of the mental health system that could intersect with gun-control votes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Supreme Court decides high-profile cases on abortion and political corruption, reports CQ's Todd Ruger, while Kellie Mejdrich explains how partisan fights over gun control have nearly derailed the spending process for 2017. And The Economist's Washington Bureau Chief David Rennie joins CQ Roll Call's Chief Content Officer David Ellis and Managing Editor Adriel Bettelheim in a conversation on Brexit's impact on the U.S. @cqnow, @rollcall @DSORennie   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Efforts by Democrats to push through gun-control legislation will dominate the Senate next week and could throw yet another wrench into passage of spending bills, says CQ Roll Call’s Budget and Economy Editor Jane Norman. Managing Editor Adriel Bettelheim and Magazine Deputy Editor Jason Dick discuss why voters could lose interest in Donald Trump’s rhetoric. And National Defense Reporter Megan Scully unpacks the Defense spending bill that includes debates over war funding, measures to keep the Guantanamo Bay prison open and why attempts to curtail unwarranted surveillance failed.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The United States spends close to $11 million a day bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria. But as CQ Roll Call’s Domestic Threats reporter Gopal Ratnam explains efforts to stop the ideology from spreading at home are embryonic, with a $10 million Homeland Security Office of Community Partnership task force aimed at countering violent extremism. President Barack Obama called the Orlando attack “an example of the kind of homegrown extremism that all of us have been concerned about for a very long time.” Meanwhile, Managing Editor Adriel Bettelheim and Appropriations reporter Jennifer Shutt look at how Democrats in Congress plan to revive legislation to curtail gun purchases.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices