Roll Call

A key player in crafting and pushing bipartisan legislation aimed at building guardrails around college sports through the Senate said last week outreach to House members had begun. But it is unclear whether President Donald Trump will help reconcile differences as he focuses on the midterms and other priorities. The Senate on Sept. 28 passed the measure 77-22, running up the score with a bipartisan final tally for the “Protect College Sports Act.” The legislation would establish the nation’s

With members largely in their districts to campaign in the final stretch before midterms, the House and Senate have transitioned to “pro forma” mode. But the rhythm of chambers gaveling in briefly every few days can mask the political undercurrents in the constant push and pull of power between Congress and the executive branch. That dynamic was on display in July, when a blockbuster housing overhaul and a lesser-known measure expanding disaster relief payments to farmers quietly became law w

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed confidence Sunday that Democrats would gain the majority by winning key swing districts in places such as Iowa, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, New York and Arizona. But with just 30 days until the election, he also predicted the party would pad its margins by picking up seats in Republican terrain.  “These districts are going to give us the majority, and then on top of it, the fact that we’ve been able to go deeper and deeper into the map

The Trump administration is now facing a bevy of federal lawsuits over its effort to claw back about $810 million in federal funding without Congress’ approval. The administration announced the cancellation last week, through a maneuver known as a “pocket rescission,” days before the funding expired at the end of the fiscal year Wednesday. Now it faces federal lawsuits over the move from housing groups, education grant recipients and several states, arguing that the rescissions violate federa

The Senate was only in town for a few days before recessing for the midterms, but what a week! Especially for fans of the Atlanta Hawks! Or was it the University of Iowa Hawkeyes? One or the other. Come for the basketball team confusion, stay for the rug, dead vacuum cleaner and big heavy truck talk.

The Senate closed up shop Wednesday night to head home until after the midterm elections in November. Before leaving town, clouds appeared in the Hart Senate Office Building, and former special counsel Jack Smith appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Here are photographs of the action captured by CQ Roll Call photojournalists this week. A worker sweeps a portion of the Mountains and Clouds Sculpture prior to its final reinstallation in the Hart Senate Office Building on Sept. 25. (T

Jason Dick talks with Alex Gibney about his new film “Musk,” a documentary about Elon Musk, the world’s richest man. It’s an exploration of how one person accumulated so much power — in the White House, over AI, space exploration, transportation, robotics and more — and asks the question: What will he do with it. Show Notes: ‘Time becomes elastic’: the long legacy of Guantanamo Bay – Roll Call ‘The Forever Prisoner’ — condemned for what was done to him Alex Gibney, Filmmaker t

Democrats are adding eight more House districts in deep-red terrain to their offensive target list, another sign of the party’s growing confidence that it will reclaim the House majority. Among the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s new targets are seats in Kansas, Michigan and Virginia that Donald Trump carried by around 20 points or more in 2024. Also on the list: Texas’ 9th District, a Houston-area seat redrawn to give Republicans a boost.  “Almost one month out from the

The Supreme Court begins its new term Monday facing cases on Americans’ civil rights, federalist struggles between states and the federal government, and the looming specter of more last-second litigation over the coming midterm elections. The court, currently controlled by six conservative appointees, has stocked its docket with fights over climate change, voting rights, gun rights and the power of the government over immigrants. It follows a term where the court addressed even more explosiv

President Donald Trump on Thursday once again had Texas on his mind, stumping for state Attorney General Ken Paxton a day after leaked audio added to the awkwardness between the president and a Senate candidate he called a “pain in the ass.” He used an official White House event to tour a Peterbilt heavy truck plant in Denton to urge North Texas voters to send their embattled state AG to the Senate to replace longtime Sen. John Cornyn — even if Trump once again showed his annoyance with Paxto

President Donald Trump spent the weekend using Air Force One to buzz the tower at major sporting events after last week’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping and as the Senate takes a final vote on a college athletics bill the chamber has spent weeks on. He is slated to emphasize domestic issues as the midterm elections and prognosticators continue to downgrade GOP candidates. Meanwhile, Trump and administration officials used descriptors like “historic” to describe last week’s Xi summit

The Trump administration announced plans to cancel $810 million, mostly for health and education programs, that Congress has appropriated, in a so-called pocket rescission. CQ Roll Call’s Paul M. Krawzak and Aris Folley join host David Lerman to discuss the funding at stake, the programs affected and the likely court battle to come over whether the move is legal. Show Notes: White House cancels health, education funds approved by Congress White House drops executive order for tig

South Carolina Republican Sen. Darline Graham stops to pet a golden retriever as she walks in the the Lexington Health Irmo Okra Strut parade in Irmo, S.C., on Saturday.

The special counsel who supervised the dismissed federal criminal cases against President Donald Trump is set for a confrontation with the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. Even the title of the hearing — “Oversight of Jack Smith’s Abuse of Authority and the Targeting of Republicans and Related Matters” — gives a hint of the tone former special counsel John L. “Jack” Smith will likely face from majority Republicans when he sits as the sole witness Tuesday. Republicans have argued for m

The Transportation Department released a final rule Monday that aims to “reset” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s fuel economy standards, rolling back substantial required mileage increases for automakers’ fleets implemented under the Biden administration. Dubbed “Freedom Means Affordable Cars” by the department, the 892-page rule will impact Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for cars and light trucks from model years 2022 through 20

The Trump administration announced plans Friday night to cancel $810 million in funding for health, education and other programs just days before the end of the current fiscal year, triggering another fight with Congress over the power of the purse. The so-called pocket rescission claws back money already appropriated by Congress, with little time for lawmakers to respond before the new fiscal year begins next week. The House is already out of town and not scheduled to return until after the

Senators are plotting their exit for the fall midterm campaign season, but their work on Capitol Hill isn’t quite finished yet. The first vote of what’s expected to be the Senate’s final workweek before the elections will be Monday on passage of a bipartisan bill to set rules of the road for name, image and likeness concerns in college sports. It appears likely to be the last major piece of legislation to advance before Election Day.  “The NIL era is here,” Senate Commerce, Sci

The Supreme Court on Friday effectively shelved Missouri’s effort to enact a congressional map that would have helped Republicans pick up a House seat, issuing an order that reinstated boundaries first enacted in 2022. Friday’s unsigned ruling set aside a Monday ruling from a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, which would have made the state use a map drawn in 2025 that the state used for the primary. The high court’s ruling ruling noted that it wa

With the House gone until after the midterms, the Senate had the Hill all to themselves. This week sees talk of Flock, cursing like sailors and possible furries in the skies.

Outside, the weather was sunny with a slight breeze, a perfect early fall afternoon.  But inside the Hart atrium, it was starting to look overcast — Alexander Calder’s Mountains and Clouds sculpture was one step closer to being restored to its original design. Workers prepped the dark metal “clouds” of the mobile to be hoisted into the air. The process isn’t done quite yet, according to Sen. Chris Murphy, who has advocated for the restoration for years. “I think the clouds are be