Eye on Congress:The Big Story

Midterm elections typically have lower voter turnout than presidential ones. If that turns out to be the case in 2018, it won't be because of a lack of cash or candidates. In short, the midterm cycle is awash in campaign money. Breaking down some of the gobsmacking amounts and what it means for the control of Congress are Roll Call political correspondents Simone Pathé and Bridget Bowman on the latest Political Theater podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Filmmaker Kimberly Reed grew up in Montana with little anticipation her home state would be ground zero for a massive fight over money in politics. But her new documentary, “Dark Money,” tells a tale worthy of any Western, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle fight for their own prerogatives in the face of out-of-state interests gunning for them.  With the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the high court’s role as the ultimate referee over money’s role in politics is back in focus. Reed and Campaign Legal Center founder Trevor Potter and CQ Roll Call campaign finance reporter Kate Ackley discuss the film, money in politics and the campaign landscape on this week’s Political Theater Podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roll Call photographers Tom Williams @pennstatetom and Bill Clark @billclarkphotos describe their time covering Congress and how they came to take some of the most iconic Hill photos, featured in the new book Under the Dome by Political Theater host Jason Dick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York's Democratic primary has delivered the latest shock to the political system: the loss of House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joseph Crowley. Roll Call Elections Analyst Nathan Gonzales discusses how the results show the Democratic establishment just isn't what it used to be.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalists and lawmakers face off at the annual Congressional Women’s Softball Game, an event that Roll Call political Reporter Bridget Bowman and Texas Tribune Bureau Chief Abby Livingston say provides a respite from Capitol Hill partisanship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The annual Congressional Baseball Game has for years allowed lawmakers and staff a light-hearted outlet for their competitive drive. That changed a bit last year with a tragic shooting that ultimately helped cement the Capitol community, even though politics are never far removed. Roll Call Elections Analyst Nathan Gonzales discusses the game, politics and how it all fits on the latest Political Theater podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senate Republicans cancelled the August recess, citing historic obstruction by Democrats. But when you crunch the numbers, the delay tactics are far from historic, according to CQ Senate Managing Editor Ed Pesce. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Netflix documentary series “Bobby Kennedy for President” marks the upcoming 50th anniversary of the late senator and presidential candidate’s assassination in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968. The four-part series by documentarian Dawn Porter shows the evolution of Kennedy from campaign manager, attorney general, senator and presidential candidate, and outlines the evolution of his political beliefs from rough-and-tumble family fixer and anti-communist to civil rights icon.  Porter discussed the series recently with the Political Theater podcast, including her own motivations for treading into a story many Americans may feel they know, and the result is a cinematic journey that feels fresh while also very much reflecting its own heady times.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump is a television fan and a polarizing figure in American culture. Two critically acclaimed television shows that just wrapped up their seasons reflect the political, cultural and economic anxieties of the era of Trump, CQ Staff Writer and cultural observer Clyde McGrady tells Jason Dick in this week’s Political Theater podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women were big winners in Tuesday's primaries as they are poised to change the midterm dynamics in states like Nebraska and Pennsylvania, explains Roll Call senior political reporter Bridget Bowman.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

West Virginia Republicans lined up for the right to take on incumbent Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III, and after a knock-down, drag-out fight, state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey emerged as the victor. Roll Call Senior Political Reporter Simone Pathe talks about her recent trip to the Mountain State and what it told her about the midterm fight ahead.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a bona fide pop icon, perhaps strange territory for an 85-year-old, diminutive, reserved constitutional scholar. In the latest Political Theater podcast, filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen speak about their documentary, “RBG,” including what it was like to be in the same theater when Ginsburg saw their movie at the Sundance Film Festival. The documentary opens in theaters on May 4. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Republican Debbie Lesko won a close House race in an Arizona district that is usually very friendly to her party. As the midterm election season continues to heat up, Political Theater looks at the takeaways from this duel in the desert with Roll Call Elections Analyst Nathan Gonzales and Senior Political Reporter Bridget Bowman.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Members of Congress are the players we see on stage, but the production that is politics would go nowhere without the backstage people making up the staff — the chaplains, sergeants-at-arms, chiefs of staff and more who make sure the show goes on. Ed Pesce, the editor of CQ Senate and a former congressional staffer himself, talks about those dynamics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker Paul D. Ryan's announcement that he will not seek re-election once he finishes out his term has set off a scramble on several fronts including who will bring in the boatloads of cash that he raised for the GOP. CQ lobbying reporter Kate Ackley and Inside Elections' Nathan Gonzales explain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump's desire to have the National Guard help patrol the Southern border is not all that different from actions taken by former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, but that does not mean there are not areas of concern about the action, says CQ's national security editor Megan Scully.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wondering what former members of Congress do after leaving Capitol Hill? Perhaps that's why the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress was formed, to keep tabs.  Roll Call's Niels Lesniewski attended the Association's recent Statesmanship Awards Dinner, where current and former members exchanged some fairly interesting ideas about Congress, and even gossiped a bit about the people who sleep in their offices. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The opioid epidemic is a massive public health crisis that Washington is only now starting to grasp. Reid Wilson, national correspondent for the Hill, has a new book about the last time the U.S. government got things right in facing a deadly challenge, and it was only a few years ago.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The special election result in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District has rocked the political world on its heels, with Democrat Conor Lamb’s success in the heavily Republican region setting off a fresh round of speculation about the 2018 midterms.  Roll Call Senior Political Reporter Bridget Bowman, who reported from the area recently, was at the Capitol gauging reaction from members of Congress after the latest round of political jousting.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In light of Tuesday's 74th Annual Congressional Dinner, Political Theater talks to Washington Post humor columnist Alexandra Petri about when satire works and when it doesn't. Warning: we have politicians telling jokes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices