Skip to content
RollCall logo

Podcasts

Democrats at (in?) retreat

Political Theater, Episode 362

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., conducts a news conference with caucus leadership during the House Democrats' 2025 Issues Conference at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Va., on Wednesday.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., conducts a news conference with caucus leadership during the House Democrats' 2025 Issues Conference at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Va., on Wednesday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
By Jason Dick and Mary Ellen McIntire
Posted March 12, 2025 at 9:14pm

House Democrats are gathering for their annual policy retreat this week and face a series of questions as they navigate the 119th Congress, including why they are more unpopular than Republicans, what they can do as a minority party in a closely divided country, how do they recruit quality candidates to run for office and what level of coordination to pursue among themselves and their allies.

Show Notes:

Recent Stories

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)

Federal AI security center measure advanced by House Science

A U.S. Marshals officer searches the bag of a woman who was detained for dipping her hand into the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Monday. Officers from the Park Police, U.S. Marshals, National Guard and police from the Town of Mooresville, N.C., police responded to the incident after a National Park Service worker filmed the woman dipping her hand into the water. The woman was given a citation and released. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Photos of the week | June 19-25, 2026