The Senate will take up a bill to claw back $9.4 billion in foreign aid and public broadcasting funds that Democrats warn would blow up the bipartisan appropriations process. CQ Roll Call's Aidan Quigley, Paul M. Krawzak and David Lerman assess the political importance of the Trump administration's rescissions package, the outlook in the Senate, and what it could mean for an already shaky appropriations process.

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In “Backroom Deals in Our Backyards: How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities and the Local Heroes Fighting Back,” Miranda Spivack tells the stories of ordinary citizens who discovered that local and state governments they thought were there to protect them weren’t doing their jobs. Instead, these “accidental activists” found not only a lack of transparency but also often resistance when searching for information about how to resolve community issues. Does their work provide a roadmap – and hope – for others? Spivack, author and former Washington Post editor and reporter, is this episode’s guest on Equal Time.

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Jason Dick and Chris Cillizza talk about the time needed to produce quality sourcing, good work and journalism, how the news business continues to change, for better and worse, and Damon Chappie's sighs.

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President Donald Trump's new budget reconciliation law is already starting to define next year's midterm elections. CQ Roll Call's Daniela Altimari and David Lerman assess the political repercussions for both parties of the mammoth legislation and what it took to get the package across the finish line.

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Jason Dick talks with Joe Iconis about what led him to write "The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical," how much the world changed during that time, playing Thompson's piano at Owl Farm and taking some comfort in how things get better and worse, better and worse. 

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Jason Dick and Jessica Wehrman talk about how unpopular the “One Big Beautiful Bill” in Congress is, why Republicans will likely pass it anyway and the short history of how, regardless of how hard politicians try, sometimes the public won’t go along with their public relations efforts.

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The Senate parliamentarian has been busy throwing out key provisions in the GOP's reconciliation bill, ruling against measures affecting food stamps, immigration policy, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and more. CQ Roll Call's David Lerman and Aidan Quigley assess the latest condition of the reconciliation package and the fiscal 2026 appropriations process.

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The release of the biggest portion of the Senate GOP's reconciliation bill triggered internal party clashes over the scope of Medicaid cuts and the size of the state and local tax deduction known as SALT, among other disputes. CQ Roll Call's Caitlin Reilly, Sandhya Raman and David Lerman outline the sticking points in the Senate Finance Commitee's draft text and what they mean for the effort to pass a reconciliation bill by the July Fourth recess.

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It’s been 10 years since a 21-year-old gunman murdered nine church members who welcomed him to Bible study. The attack on Charleston, S.C.’s historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17, 2015, killed nine good people. They were targeted for that reason and for their race. The brother of one of the nine, Malcolm Graham, reflects on the life and legacy of his sister Cynthia Graham Hurd, on the world that nurtured such hatred in someone so young, and perhaps the hardest part — on how to do the work needed to change that world. His book is “The Way Forward: Keeping the Faith and Doing the Work Amid Hatred and Violence.” Graham, a Charlotte, N.C., city councilman, entrepreneur and civic activist, offers a path that won’t be easy, but may be necessary. And he joins Equal Time.

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Jason Dick and Jim Saksa discuss how easy it was to be angry in 2010, tea-party infused town halls, astroturf versus paid protesters, the Koch Brothers and George Soros and the wisdom of politicians reminding constituents that we're all going to die anyway.

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