Ask a Pol politics

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tells Ask a Pol Politics founder Matt Laslo that while she supports descheduling marijuana because it reduces harm, it still leaves untouched the deeper injustice of people whose lives were damaged by the war on drugs. Her argument is that legalization should not just enrich the same people who profited before while leaving criminalized communities behind.

About Ask a Pol: We give listeners a front row seat to Congress. Transparency matters, so come inside the Capitol with us! Politicians disappoint. Ask a Pol keeps em honest. 

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Podcast Show Notes:Visit Ask a Pol ~ asking your lawmakers your questions at your US Capitol ~ Let us know what to ask next!

In our latest episode — Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) fires back at the premise that Republicans need to retool ahead of the midterms, telling Ask a Pol Politics the only thing needing a retool is the “legacy media” that “intentionally reports falsehoods.” He then touts GOP tax bill wins: a $50B rural healthcare bond, 89% of seniors paying zero taxes on Social Security, and a $15M death tax exclusion to protect family farms.

Who?

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) — U.S. Army Special Forces veteran

Ask a Pol asks:

Republicans are at record low approval ratings — should GOP leaders retool the agenda ahead of the midterms?

Key Van Orden:

“The only thing that needs to be retooled is the legacy media that consistently and intentionally reports falsehoods about the Republican Party or ignores our wins,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden exclusively told Ask a Pol Politics. “That’s what needs to be retooled.”

TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Derrick Van Orden (4-22-2026)

Matt Laslo: “...with record low approval ratings — do you think you guys [should retool]?”

Rep. Derrick Van Orden: “Me?”

Laslo: “No, just for Congress.”

Van Orden: “Oh, I don’t know. But should you guys retool? Should Republican leaders — should we — what? Retool it all ahead of the midterms or—”

Laslo: “What’s that mean? Retool your focus. Retool the agenda.”

Van Orden: “The only thing that needs to be retooled is the legacy media that consistently and intentionally reports falsehoods about the Republican Party or ignores our wins. That’s what needs to be retooled.”

Laslo: “They’re terrible. Really. Yeah.”

Van Orden: “You get money back?”

Laslo: “No.”

Van Orden: “Guess what? On average, the American public individually and by family got back thousands and thousands of dollars they never got back. You know why? Because they wanted to get rid of the bill.”

Laslo: “Yeah. There’s a $50 billion rural healthcare infrastructure bond.”

Van Orden: “It’s the greatest expenditure on rural healthcare in the history of the country. 89% of all seniors are going to pay zero taxes on their social security.”

Laslo: “Yeah.”

Van Orden: “What about the farmers hurting? $15 million per person exclusion for federal taxes for the death tax to save family farms.”

Laslo: “Yeah, that’s all there.”

Van Orden: “Appreciate you. Stay dry.”

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.askapolpolitics.com/subscribe

Visit Ask a Pol ~ asking your lawmakers your questions at your US Capitol ~ Let us know what to ask next!

In this episode, House Judiciary Ranking Member Rep. Jamie Raskin decries Trump’s alleged violations of the emoluments clause from the Capitol steps, telling Ask a Pol Politics that Trump has never sought Congress’s consent for the millions he collected in his first term — and that the number has now grown into the hundreds of millions in his second.

About Ask a Pol: We give listeners a front row seat to Congress. Transparency matters, so come inside the Capitol with us! Politicians disappoint. Ask a Pol keeps em honest. 

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‘Knows he’s a joke’: Capitol Hill goes nuclear on Hegseth after mid-war ‘score-settling’

About Ask a Pol: We give listeners a front row seat to Congress. Transparency matters, so come inside the Capitol with us! Politicians disappoint. Ask a Pol keeps em honest. 

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Who?

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) — Ranking Member, House Oversight Committee

Ask a Pol asks:

Do you think there’s any chance Pam Bondi actually gets held in contempt? You’re trying to move those charges — but the DOJ is still run by her top deputy.

Key Garcia:

“We filed civil contempt charges because obviously her own DOJ is not going to probably go after her,” Rep. Robert Garcia exclusively told Ask a Pol Politics. “But we believe through the courts there would be some success.”

45 minutes after you announced the civil charges, Comer announces a date. Interesting timing.

“We had heard nothing from the DOJ, nothing from Pam Bondi’s counsel,” Garcia said. “It’s been two weeks since she missed her first actual deposition. So we’re glad there’s finally a date. That’s all we wanted.”

Caught our ear:

“If she appears, we’re obviously not moving forward with contempt,” Garcia tells us.

Do you think she’ll show up?

“She didn’t show up for her first one, so we’ll wait and see,” Garcia said. “She needs to show up.”

What’s Congress missing?

Let us know and we’ll let them know!

TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Robert Garcia (4-29-2026)

SCENE: Ahead of a vote, House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia makes time for the TV cameras lined up at the base of the Capitol steps.

Do you think there’s any chance that former Attorney General Pam Bondi actually gets held in contempt? I mean, you’re trying to move those charges at this point, but the DOJ is still run by her top deputy.

Rep. Robert Garcia: “Well, I mean, look — first, I think that we filed civil contempt charges, because obviously her own DOJ is not going to probably go after her. But we believe through the courts there would be some success.

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Garcia: “And look, they’ve actually set the date — 45 minutes after we announced the civil charges, [House Oversight Committee Chair James] Comer announces a date, and so I think that the timing is interesting.

“We had heard nothing from the DOJ, nothing from Pam Bondi’s counsel, it’s been two weeks since she missed her first actual deposition and so we’re glad there’s finally a date. That’s all we wanted. And so if she appears, we’re obviously not moving forward with contempt.”

Do you think she’ll show up?

Garcia: “She didn’t show up for her first one, so we’ll wait and see. She needs to show up.”

Ask a Pol AI Disclosure:Ask a Pol’s playing around with as many new AI tools as we can, so this small, unfunded startup can compete in today’s new media landscape. (generative) AI isn’t tomorrow’s tech — it’s yesterday’s…

About Ask a Pol: We give listeners a front row seat to Congress. Transparency matters, so come inside the Capitol with us! Politicians disappoint. Ask a Pol keeps em honest. 

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.askapolpolitics.com/subscribe

Who?

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL)

Ask a Pol asks:

What do you make of the first lady’s call to have public hearings with the Epstein survivors — and how do you broach that with GOP leaders?

Key Luna:

“I actually had been encouraging that,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna tells Ask a Pol Politics.

But there are obstacles?

“The Department of Justice gave plea deals to people that they knew were trafficking people, and so there is no justice for the victims,” Luna says. “Ghislaine Maxwell should not be the only one sitting in prison.”

Full video of interview & transcript at Ask a Pol Politics on Substack

About Ask a Pol: We give listeners a front row seat to Congress. Transparency matters, so come inside the Capitol with us! Politicians disappoint. Ask a Pol keeps em honest. 

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.askapolpolitics.com/subscribe

Who?

Joe Rogan — Oval Office, White House

Key Rogan:

“We have a gigantic opiate problem in this country, obviously. In 2024, more than 80,000 people died of overdoses. It’s a horrible number. And there’s more than 5 million people that are addicted to opiates right now in this country,” Rogan said at the White House. “With one dose of ibogaine, more than 80% of people are free of that addiction. With two doses, it’s more than 90%.”

Caught our ear:

“These drugs are illegal not because they’re harmful — they’re illegal because of the 1970 Controlled Substances Act that was passed by the Richard Nixon administration,” Rogan tells us. “They did it to target the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. It’s not because these drugs harm people.”

Below find a rough transcript of Joe Rogan’s statement at the Oval Office, slightly edited for clarity.

What should we ask federal policymakers next?

TRANSCRIPT: Joe Rogan at the White House (4-18-2026)

SCENE: On Saturday, Joe Rogan joined President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. in the Oval Office to unveil the new, Accelerating Medical Treatments for Serious Mental Illness Executive Order, which encourages research into federally-illegal psychedelics.

Joe Rogan: “I’ll tell everybody how this happened. I sent President Trump some information. We have a gigantic opiate problem in this country, obviously. In 2024, more than 80,000 people died of overdoses. It’s a horrible number. And there’s more than 5 million people that are addicted to opiates right now in this country.

Rogan cont’d: “With one dose of ibogaine, more than 80% of people are free of that addiction. With two doses, it’s more than 90%. I sent him that information. The text message that came back: ‘Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it.’ Literally that quick.

Rogan cont’d: “These drugs are illegal not because they’re harmful — they’re illegal because of the 1970 Controlled Substances Act that was passed by the Richard Nixon administration. They did it to target the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. It’s not because these drugs harm people.”

About Ask a Pol: We give listeners a front row seat to Congress. Transparency matters, so come inside the Capitol with us! Politicians disappoint. Ask a Pol keeps em honest. 

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.askapolpolitics.com/subscribe

Who?

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)

Ask a Pol asks:

Is there momentum behind this latest push to close Rikers Island?

Key AOC:

“I mean, we’ve been pushing to close Rikers for quite some time now,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez exclusively tells Ask a Pol Politics.

About Ask a Pol: We give listeners a front row seat to Congress. Transparency matters, so come inside the Capitol with us! Politicians disappoint. Ask a Pol keeps em honest. 

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.askapolpolitics.com/subscribe

Who?

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) — Obstetrician & gynecologist by trade*

*one of four doctors in the US Senate

Ask a Pol asks:

Is TrumpRX working — and could a future Democrat expand it into socialized medicine?

Key Marshall:

“Indeed it is working and it’s not perfect. It doesn’t cover every drug, but people are seeing some significant savings, maybe 50, 70, 80 in some instances,” Sen. Roger Marshall exclusively tells Ask a Pol Politics. “I think there’s a downside to everything that the government does to get involved.”

Caught our ear:

“The real problem is the pharmacy benefit managers. Three of them are controlling 80% of the industry. They’re taking at least 58 cents on every dollar,” Marshall tells us. “That’s the real riddle that we need to solve up here.”

Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), slightly edited for clarity.

TRANSCRIPT Sen. Roger Marshall (3-26-2026)

SCENE: During a vote in the US Senate, Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo sees Sen. Roger Marshall hurrying through the basement of the Capitol, so he quickens his pace and proceeds to hop the Senator’s elevator up to the Senate floor.

Matt Laslo: Have you been able to look at TrumpRX? Or do you get any feedback from constituents? Do you think it’s working?

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Sen. Roger Marshall: I do. I’ve actually visited multiple community pharmacists across the state of Kansas.

Laslo: Nice.

Marshall: And indeed it is working, and — it’s not perfect…

Laslo: Yeah?

Marshall: It doesn’t cover every drug, but people are seeing some significant savings, maybe, 50%, 70%, 80% in some instances.

Laslo: Do you think…?

They approach a Senators Only elevator.

Senate attendant: I’ll get out. I’m in your way here.

Laslo: Are you worried…?

Laslo sees a closer elevator.

Laslo to the Senator: Want this one?

The Senator keeps walking to the further elevator.

Laslo: Are you worried at all that if a Dem takes over the White House that they could expand that and this becomes socialized medicine or…?

Marshall: Yeah. I think there’s a downside to everything that the government does to get involved. But certainly, the cost of prescription drugs is a huge concern for folks back home. The real problem is the pharmacy benefit managers. Three of them are controlling 80% of the industry. They’re taking at least 58 cents on every dollar. That’s the real riddle that we need to solve up here.

Laslo: Yep. Thank you, sir.

The Senator walks towards the Senate floor to vote.

About Ask a Pol: We give listeners a front row seat to Congress. Transparency matters, so come inside the Capitol with us! Politicians disappoint. Ask a Pol keeps em honest. 

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.askapolpolitics.com/subscribe

Who?

Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) — Vice Ranking Member, House Judiciary Committee

Ask a Pol asks:

Are Republicans hypocrites for hammering Democrats on socialism while the Trump administration takes equity stakes in private companies like Intel?

Key Balint:

“He’s using the words, you know, “socialism,” “communism,” “leftist” as rhetoric against us — and yet there are so many things happening in this administration that to any, like, sober outside observer would be like, that actually smacks of socialism,” Rep. Becca Balint exclusively tells Ask a Pol Politics. “It’s an interesting paradox.”

About Ask a Pol: We give listeners a front row seat to Congress. Transparency matters, so come inside the Capitol with us! Politicians disappoint. Ask a Pol keeps em honest. 

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.askapolpolitics.com/subscribe