Skip to content
RollCall logo

Podcasts

Spending caps struggle

CQ Budget, Episode No. 280

Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., says negotiators must reach a deal this week to raise the debt limit.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., says negotiators must reach a deal this week to raise the debt limit. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
By David Lerman and Aidan Quigley
Posted May 22, 2023 at 3:16pm

A bipartisan deal on a debt limit increase hinges mostly on resolving a fight over how to scale back discretionary spending. CQ Roll Call’s David Lerman and Aidan Quigley explain what the fight is about and what it means for this year’s appropriations process.

Show Notes:

Recent Stories

President Donald Trump, flanked by Senate Republicans, speaks to reporters as he departs a lunch meeting in the Capitol on Wednesday.

No peace deal for Trump and GOP at Senate lunch

The logo of the prediction market online platform Polymarket is seen outside their new location called "The Situation Room" during its opening day in Washington on March 20, 2026. (Théo Marie-Courtois/AFP via Getty Images)

House panel advances partial prediction market ban

From left, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Architect of the Capitol Thomas E. Austin, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Alex Padilla, D-Calif., unveil the Semiquincentennial Congressional Time Capsule during a ceremony in Emancipation Hall on Wednesday. The capsule will be sealed for 250 years until July 4, 2276.

‘They’ll know something about who we were’

Members of PETA hold signs calling for animal testing to be shut down as cars pass by approximately 3,000 other protesters showing their displeasure for President Trump's policies outside of Macomb Community College in Warren, Mich., on April 29, 2025.

RFK Jr.’s moves on animal testing spur Capitol Hill action

Capitol Lens | Snap decision

Manny Rutinel and Shannon Bird are facing off for the Democratic nomination to take on GOP Rep. Gabe Evans in Colorado's 8th District. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Battleground House primary in Colorado poses test for Democratic voters