CQ Roll Call Policy and Politics

A partisan divide over extending health insurance subsidies that expire at year's end threatens to trigger a partial government shutdown next week. CQ Roll Call's Sandhya Raman and David Lerman explain what the fight is about, why it's been so intractable, whether a compromise is in sight and what it might look like.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There had been progress on the issue of environmental justice, with the contributions of citizen-activists, who spurred the government to protect historically marginalized communities. But in the past few months, the Trump administration has made staff, program, and budget cuts that leave rural, coastal, and frontline communities vulnerable. That’s one observation of Cameron Oglesby, internationally awarded environmental justice organizer and solutions journalist. But, Oglesby says, organizations, communities and grass-roots efforts aren’t giving up on their vision for a cleaner, greener country. She joins Equal Time to explain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Poetry readings, brewing beer, helping out kids:  Jason Dick and Jessica Wehrman talk about Roll Call’s revived Life After Congress feature and what former members do with their time, then they round it out with a little wisdom from Henry Cabot Lodge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With barely three weeks to spare, Congress and the Trump administration are struggling to settle on a strategy for a funding extension that would avoid a partial government shutdown next month. CQ Roll Call's Aidan Quigley and David Lerman discuss the competing interests at play, the status of appropriations markups, and the ongoing court battle over a White House attempt to claw back previously appropriated foreign aid. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discharge petition: congressional procedure or great band name? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democrats are warning that Republicans risk a partial government shutdown next month if they don't resist President Donald Trump's plan to claw back $4.9 billion in foreign aid through a so-called pocket rescission. CQ Roll Call's Paul M. Krawzak and David Lerman explain how the White House push to cancel funding without congressional approval could derail work on a bipartisan stopgap funding extension needed by month's end. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s back to school time, with excitement mixed with uncertainty and anxiety. News from the Department of Education is primarily about cutting its budget or eliminating the department altogether. How will these and other proposed changes affect students? Will the traditionally underserved be short-changed, and fall further behind? James E. Ford, a former teacher of the year in North Carolina, is founder/director of CREED: the Center for Racial Equity in Education, a stand-alone nonprofit that deals explicitly with race and education issues in the state. He is also Principal at Filling the Gap Educational Consultants. Ford and his organizations have been working on solutions to education challenges the nation faces, and he is a guest on Equal Time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jessica Wehrman talks with David Jordan of CQ Roll Call about how energy affordability could become a sleeper issue in next year's midterm elections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The effort to avert a partial government shutdown next month could be uglier than usual after Congress left town for its August recess with partisan tensions at a fever pitch. As the Trump administration seeks to claw back funding, fights over Senate confirmations and the files of convicted sex offender Jefrrey Epstein all threaten to create a toxic brew that could derail the bipartisan appropriations process. CQ Roll Call's Aidan Quigley and David Lerman outline the challenges facing Congress this fall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mary Ellen McIntire and Daniela Altimari discuss how a potential new congressional map in Texas could set off a race among other states to redraw their own maps, and how that might affect the 2026 midterm elections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The appropriations process is under threat from a poisonous political climate as Republicans seek cooperation from Democrats while pursuing partisan reconciliation and rescissions measures. CQ Roll Call's Aidan Quigley and David Lerman discuss the state of the appropriations process at a recent webinar conducted for CQ subscribers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Talking Epstein, congressional chaos and the Senate races to watch with Nathan Gonzales of Inside Elections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jason Dick and Mary Ellen McIntire talk about what happens when Congress tries to do too much in too short a period of time, how Republicans and Democrats do agree on one big thing and what life is like in the basement of the Capitol. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Senate will take up a bill to claw back $9.4 billion in foreign aid and public broadcasting funds that Democrats warn would blow up the bipartisan appropriations process. CQ Roll Call's Aidan Quigley, Paul M. Krawzak and David Lerman assess the political importance of the Trump administration's rescissions package, the outlook in the Senate, and what it could mean for an already shaky appropriations process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In “Backroom Deals in Our Backyards: How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities and the Local Heroes Fighting Back,” Miranda Spivack tells the stories of ordinary citizens who discovered that local and state governments they thought were there to protect them weren’t doing their jobs. Instead, these “accidental activists” found not only a lack of transparency but also often resistance when searching for information about how to resolve community issues. Does their work provide a roadmap – and hope – for others? Spivack, author and former Washington Post editor and reporter, is this episode’s guest on Equal Time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices