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 With fiscal 2020 appropriations finally complete, CQ Roll Call’s budget and tax editor Peter Cohn explains what got funded, what it means, and what lies in store for next year. Show Notes: Lawmakers appear eager to reach year-end spending deal Tax deal in hand, spending package grows in size Craft distillers, retailers wait anxiously […]
 China has sent shockwaves through the global financial system announcing that its central bank would soon introduce a digital version of its domestic currency, the yuan. Fintech Beat sits down with key IMF officials to learn about what a state-backed ‘cryptocurrency’ means for the yuan as a potential rival to the dollar. Â
roll call Hot topics? The Supreme Court’s got ’em this term. LGBTQ rights. Guns. Immigration. Abortion. The first Monday in October marks the start of the high court’s term each year, providing the titles of a 1981 Walter Matthau-Jill Clayburgh feature film — "First Monday in October" — and a short-lived CBS television drama with James […]
 One year out from Election Day 2020 and Senate Republicans and House Democrats find themselves in parallel universes. The GOP is on defense in Senate races, where more Republicans are on the ballot, and it’s the opposite in the House, where many Democrats who won in hostile territory last year find themselves in tough races. CQ […]
 CQ on Congress looks ahead at the fall congressional session with CQ Roll Call reporters Katherine Tully-McManus and Niels Lesniewski. Spoiler alert: The prospects for major legislation aren’t bright. Then, Scot Schraufnagel, the chair of the political science department at Northern Illinois University and an expert on congressional productivity, explains why this Congress isn’t […]
roll call Lobbying firms on K Street and trade associations used to be a sure bet for retiring members of Congress. Not anymore. Julian Ha, a recruiter on K Street and an adviser to FiscalNote, the company that owns CQ Roll Call, joins the podcast along with CQ Roll Call senior writer Kate Ackley to talk […]
 Around 400 people are suffering from respiratory illnesses and six have died after using electronic cigarettes, sparking a rare bipartisan response in Washington. After President Donald Trump announced that the FDA would ban the sale of flavorings for the devices, the spotlight is now on lawmakers of both parties who are considering legislation. Three […]
 After months of delay, Senate appropriators finally got to work on their spending bills for the new fiscal year, which begins in just two weeks. But it was a slower start than lawmakers had hoped for, and unlike last year’s effort, it was deeply partisan. The Appropriations Committee approved its overall spending limits for […]
  Cryptocurrencies are increasingly the tool of choice for drug dealers and corrupt actors. Prosecutors say they have seized nearly $1 billion worth of digital coins in busts around the world. But how is crypto treated as a matter of U.S. law — and what does the IRS do with its seizures? To find out, Fintech Beat sits […]
roll call The conventional wisdom is that impeaching President Donald Trump could imperil Democrats in 2020. But beware the conventional wisdom, and relying on dated data and small sample sets, like the 1998 impeachment of President Bill Clinton. "Make no mistake about it: Backing impeachment will cost the Democrats their majority in 2020," Rep. Tom […]
   With President Trump now facing an impeachment inquiry over his request that the president of Ukraine investigate his political foe, Joe Biden, White House staff now face a decision: Cooperate with Democrats or risk legal jeopardy themselves, says Justin Rood, director of the Congressional Oversight Initiative at the Project on Government Oversight. […]
 No issue has generated more concern about Facebook’s Libra than the potential for it to be abused as a tool to finance terrorism or launder money. In this episode, Fintech Beat talks with data and analytics firm Chainalysis about international regulatory efforts, so-called clustering and blockchain forensics. Host Chris Brummer also talks about his […]
rollcall Have we hit peak Mueller? That would seem to be the former special counsel’s preference, which was certainly reflected in a blah reaction from those tuning in. Although the scene at the Capitol for former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s testimony was circus-like, the former G-man was adamant he was not going to […]
RollCall The House passed a bill this month that would order the Pentagon’s inspector general to investigate whether the Defense Department weaponized ticks. Stanford University science writer Kris Newby, in a new book called "Bitten," hints that such experiments may have led to the rapid spread of Lyme disease. Newby says that congressional inquiry into the matter "is exactly what I […]
DES MOINES, Iowa — It is difficult for some people to accept that Iowa, a relatively small state in the middle of the country, has such an outsize role in determining the next president. But the Hawkeye State is more of a microcosm of U.S. politics and the country than it might first appear. Iowa’s population of […]
 With China’s announcement that its central bank is close to launching a digital version of its currency, Fintech Beat sits down with IMF officials for a behind-the-scenes peek at what goes into a country’s strategy. We will also reveal which country was first. It may not be who you think.
RollCall House Democrats’ effort to rescind Trump administration anti-abortion policies threatens to hold up government spending bills. CQ Roll Call reporter Sandhya Raman details the debate and surveys how lawmakers are using abortion politics, both in Washington and the states, to rile their voters ahead of next year’s election.  Show Notes: ‘Sex-starved males’ comment […]
 Bitcoin had a wild week with its value hitting over $11,000. This begs the question: Is the crypto winter finally thawing out? Host Chris Brummer sits down to explore with Sunayna Tuteja, head of strategic partnerships and emerging technologies at TD Ameritrade and Matthew Trudeau, chief strategy officer at ErisX, to discuss what a crypto spring means. Also, stay tuned at the […]
 With only 25 days left with both the House and Senate in session before the new fiscal year begins, the Senate has yet to draft any of its 12 spending bills and has no plan in place to pass them. The result is likely another short-term stopgap funding measure as congressional leaders struggle to […]
RollCall Five Democratic freshmen, all women with military or intelligence backgrounds, are banding together to help each other fundraise for their 2020 races. They all flipped Republican districts in 2018, and they know winning districts like theirs is the key to holding and expanding the House majority in 2020. After a few months in Congress, […]