CQ Staff

The oldest of CQ’s annual studies, Key Votes is a selection of the major votes for both House and Senate for the past year. Editors choose the single vote on each issue that best presents a member’s stance or that determined the year’s legislative outcome. Charts of how each member voted on this list can be found at CQ.com.

Passage of a bill that would reauthorize for six years, through 2023, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs electronic surveillance of foreign terrorism suspects. Passed 256-164 (R 191-45; D 65-119) on Jan. 11, 2018.

The oldest of CQ’s annual studies, Key Votes is a selection of the major votes for both House and Senate for the past year. Editors choose the single vote on each issue that best presents a member’s stance or that determined the year’s legislative outcome. Charts of how each member voted on this list can be found at CQ.com.

Motion to invoke cloture to concur in the House amendment to the bill that would reauthorize for six years, through 2023, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs electronic surveillance of foreign terrorism suspects. Agreed to 60-38 (R 41-8; D 18-29; I 1-1) on Jan. 16, 2018.

Air Force leaders on Wednesday pushed back on a House Armed Services panel’s plan to build a new fighting force dedicated to space.

“The Pentagon is complicated enough,” Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told reporters following her testimony in front of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. “This will make it more complex, add more boxes to the organization chart and cost more money. If I had more money, I would put it into lethality, not bureaucracy.”

The House Armed Services subcommittees will all meet this week to approve their slices of the annual Pentagon policy bill, the first formal step in the months-long negotiations to move the massive measure through Congress and to the president’s desk. The Senate Armed Services panels will follow suit soon. 

Subcommittees of the House Armed Services Committee plan to mark up their portions of the fiscal 2018 defense authorization measure June 21 and 22. Then, on June 28, the full committee will hold its daylong markup. Senate Armed Services plans to hold its mostly closed markups of the bill the last week of June.

More than 1.2 million comments on net neutrality have flooded into the Federal Communications Commission in the two weeks since the agency proposed a rollback of the Obama-era open internet regulations, which requires that all internet traffic be treated the same.

The outpouring of public sentiment, both pro and con, promises to match or exceed the roughly 4 million comments filed over several months prior to the FCC’s 2015 net neutrality rulemaking, which required internet providers to treat customers equally in terms of price and connection speeds.

House Republicans’ late night, closed-door effort to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics gave Democrats a winning messaging tool, says CQ Roll Call’s Money and Politics reporter Kate Ackley. The public relations debacle also could result in keeping the spotlight on President-elect Donald Trump’s perceived conflicts of interest, adds Editor Catalina Camia. Also, did you know that the ‘drain the swamp’ phrase popularized by Trump was first used by a leading Democrat?

Show Notes:

With Donald Trump in the White House, Republicans in Congress may finally have the momentum to change immigration policy that could spell trouble for more than 700,000 "Dreamers," children of undocumented immigrants who grew up in the U.S., say CQ Roll Call reporters Jonathan Miller and Dean DeChiaro.

Show Notes:

Even before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in, the Senate will move forward with a hearing on Trump’s nomination of Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions to head the Justice Department, which has already inspired fierce opposition and support, say CQ Roll Call’s Legal Affairs writer Todd Ruger and Senior Political reporter Alex Roarty. Sessions’ hearing could also set the tone for Trump’s upcoming Supreme Court nomination.

Show Notes:

CQ Roll Call's National Security reporter Ryan Lucas explains how Republicans and Democrats reach sometimes conflicting conclusions about whether the Kremlin tried to throw the election to Donald Trump.

Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone of New Jersey discusses his fear that a $6.3 billion health package that would also overhaul the mental health system could be undercut by GOP efforts to repeal the health care law. He tells CQ Roll Call’s Health reporter Andrew Siddons and Managing Editor Adriel Bettelheim that Medicaid cuts are of particular concern. Congress passed the bipartisan “21st Century Cures” bill, which would, among other things, provide extra money for brain research at the National Institutes of Health, help fight the opioid epidemic, fund Vice President Joe Biden’s ‘Moonshot’ cancer project and better integrate mental health care into standard medical practice.

If President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his pledge to hand over his empire to his children, they could end up, unlike their dad, paying taxes, says CQ Roll Call’s Money and Politics reporter Kate Ackley. Meanwhile, Trump’s entangled interests have spurred Democrats and watchdog groups into action, says Senate Leadership reporter Bridget Bowman.

Show Notes:

Republican lawmakers could use a decades-old procedural maneuver, known as reconciliation, to bypass Democratic opposition and accelerate Donald Trump’s legislative initiatives. That could include cutting taxes, repealing parts of President Barrack Obama’s health care law, privatizing Medicare or turning Medicaid into a block grant to the states. All they would need is a simple majority vote in the Senate. CQ Magazine deputy editor Shawn Zeller, CQ Roll Call’s Senate leadership reporter Bridget Bowman and Managing Editor Adriel Bettelheim explain how it could take shape.

Show Notes:

President-elect Donald Trump will have to rely on some key congressional players to ease his transition into the White House, say CQ Roll Call’s Chief Content Officer David Ellis and Managing Editor Adriel Bettelheim. Also, what went wrong for Democrats.

Roll Call columnists Patricia Murphy and Matt Lewis reflect on the nasty presidential campaign, how it changed some of the norms of politics and the role Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York could play as Democratic leader if Hillary Clinton wins.

Show Notes:

The Federal Trade Commission secured another court victory in its attempt to keep the hospital industry competitive, this time in its efforts to prevent the merger of Chicago hospitals Advocate Health Care Network and NorthShore University HealthSystem.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the agency by overturning a decision a lower court. The case will again be heard by that lower court, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and may end up in the FTC’s administrative court.

Long before the polls close, 29 nominees for open seats are all but certain to win and they could end up as half or more of the House’s Class of 2016. CQ Roll Call’s senior editor David Hawkings and Managing Editor Adriel Bettelheim examine the newcomers and explain how demographics assure more diversity on Capitol Hill next year.