Capitol Lens | The Patriarch and the Speaker

Heard on the Hill

Capitol Lens | The Patriarch and the Speaker

By Bill Clark

Posted September 17, 2025 at 4:00pm

Speaker Mike Johnson poses with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians, in the Capitol on Wednesday.

Recent Stories

Rep. Julia Letlow is the Republican Senate nominee in Louisiana. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Trump-backed Julia Letlow wins GOP Senate runoff in Louisiana

At the Races: Runoff, Set, Geaux!

The Presidential seal is packed away in National Statuary Hall in the Capitol on Wednesday after President Donald Trump canceled the signing ceremony for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.

Unceremoniously yours — Congressional Hits and Misses

National Guard troops patrol the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 22, 2026. The Trump administration has accused vandals of damaging the reflecting pool.

Trump’s unsupported claims about Reflecting Pool vandalism

Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., talk before the start of a June 18 markup of a college sports bill the duo primarily wrote.

Senate college sports bill authors plan talks with House

Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., is seen at a House Science panel hearing in February. The panel on Thursday advanced his bill that would put the federal AI standards office into law. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)