CQ MAGAZINE – COVER STORY; May 18, 2026 As RFK lifestyle seeps into policy, some fret over long-term effect Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrives to testify at a Senate Finance Committee hearing in September 2025. (Source: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call.) When Health and Huma...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 18, 2026 Nuclear Regulatory Commission pushes 'enabling' strategy NRC Chairman Ho Nieh delivers remarks at the annual Regulatory Information Conference in Bethesda, Md., in March. (Source: Photo courtesy of NRC.) Federal efforts to accelerate nuclear energy development are starting...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 18, 2026 Federal gas tax holiday sees growing support amid pain at the pump Federal gas tax holiday proposals were making the rounds on Capitol Hill after President Donald Trump expressed his support for such an effort, with one new bill already introduced in the Senate and intentio...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 18, 2026 CBO: Golden Dome could cost more than $1 trillion Trump wants a Golden Dome missile defense shield operational before the end of his term. (Source: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo.) President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome antimissile shield for America could cost $1.19 tr...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 18, 2026 GOP data privacy bill tries again to set national standard Privacy advocates of all political stripes say a federal data privacy standard is becoming more necessary as states pass their own laws and as artificial intelligence complicates the technology landscape. To that en...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 18, 2026 Top admiral: Without war funds by July, recruiting 'thwarted' Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, center, is flanked by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle, on left, and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith during Thursday's budget hearing. (Source: Tom Williams/CQ R...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 18, 2026 Senate Banking approves crypto market structure bill The Senate Banking Committee approved Thursday mostly along party lines legislation that would set the rules for the operation and oversight of digital asset markets, advancing a landmark bill the panel has been working o...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 18, 2026 Chatbot bills look to address safety fears as midterms loom Hearings filled with heart-wrenching stories of children who died by suicide after their interactions with artificial intelligence chatbots have made it easy for those on both sides of the aisle to agree that somet...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 18, 2026 Take Five: Emily Randall Look around Democratic Rep. Emily Randall ’s office on Capitol Hill, and a few things stand out. Elk horns remind her of her grandfather, who brought them home from a hunt on the Olympic Peninsula around the time she was born. “Alaska Airlines has a...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 18, 2026 Congress has an approval problem. Does it matter? The last time Americans overwhelmingly approved of Congress, the U.S. had recently gone to war and was still reeling from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Gas prices were $1.31 a gallon and “Fallin’” by Alicia Keys was the to...

CQ MAGAZINE; April 27, 2026 Agriculture spending bill advances with USDA, CFTC cuts The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on Thursday voted 10-7 to advance a draft fiscal 2027 Agriculture spending bill that would cut funding by more than $1 billion from current levels. The draft bill wou...

CQ MAGAZINE; April 20, 2026 Rollins defends cuts to research grants, farm service personnel Democrats criticized President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts in agricultural funding while Republicans highlighted concerns about specific farm-support programs during a House Appropriations subcommittee heari...

CQ MAGAZINE; April 28, 2025 In the Spotlight: Rick Larsen House Transportation and Infrastructure ranking member Rick Larsen , D-Calif., is seeking answers from the Trump administration on reports that Secret Service drones triggered false alarms in automated collision warning systems outside Ronald...

CQ MAGAZINE – COVER STORY; April 28, 2025 First-quarter tax lobbying bonanza as reconciliation beckons Photos by Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call. Composite by Chris Hale/CQ Roll Call Lobbying on tax issues exploded during the first quarter of this year, as Congress prepared to extend the 2017 tax cuts throu...

CQ MAGAZINE; April 28, 2025 Take Five: Rep. Josh Harder There’s a difference between being moderate and being complacent, at least according to Rep. Josh Harder . “We have to be the party that is the angriest at the status quo,” said Harder, who serves as a vice chair of the centrist New Democrat Co...

CQ MAGAZINE; April 28, 2025 Durbin's run at Judiciary Committee focused on immigration, judges Durbin at a Judiciary hearing in 2022 on protecting election workers. ((Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)) The retiring Sen. Richard J. Durbin has been a mainstay on the Judiciary Committee, where the Illinois Demo...

CQ MAGAZINE; April 28, 2025 Rubio releases sweeping State Department reorganization plan Secretary of State Marco Rubio on April 22 unveiled an expansive proposal to reorganize the State Department, downgrading the role of human rights and democracy promotion in the agency and downsizing or shutteri...

CQ MAGAZINE; April 28, 2025 Ruling could give Kennedy more power over health care coverage A looming Supreme Court decision could result in Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wielding more control over the body that recommends preventive health services insurers must fully cov...

CQ MAGAZINE; April 28, 2025 Life as a federal worker is a roller coaster ride, park ranger says Marinell Chandler is back at work with the National Park Service in Alaska after being laid off in February, offered a university job in March, given a chance to return as a seasonal employee, and then ge...

CQ MAGAZINE; April 28, 2025 Fiscal hawks show a shift in attitude on spending bills Harris made a rare joint appearance with House leaders to show support for a full-year continuing resolution. (Source: Tom Williams/ CQ Roll Call file photo.) When House Republicans united last month to back a full-y...

CQ MAGAZINE; April 28, 2025 Hawley's change of heart reflects evolving politics of Medicaid Hawley talks with reporters in the Russell Senate Office Building before a Senate vote on Feb. 19. (Source: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call.) In 2018, then-Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley signed on to multist...

CQ MAGAZINE; April 28, 2025 In Sweden, a focus on smokeless tobacco STOCKHOLM — Last year, only 11 percent of U.S. adults reported smoking cigarettes in the past week, half the number of a decade prior. But in Sweden, the shift away from smoking — albeit to use other tobacco products — is nearly com...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 4, 2026 GOP emerges from 'hell week' with deep divisions between chambers During the final vote to close out the House’s “hell week,” a handful of Republicans had a message for the Senate: You’re responsible for the “suffering” agenda. Standing on the steps outside the Capitol on Th...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 4, 2026 Family accounts would be mandated for kids in chatbots bill A bipartisan Senate bill unveiled Tuesday would govern kids and teens’ use of artificial intelligence chatbots by leaning on parental controls and would prohibit chatbots from using minors’ data for targeted adverti...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 4, 2026 Food labeling, safety bills draw bipartisan backing ​DeGette at the Capitol in 2024. (Source: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call ​.) Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee found some common ground during a legislative hearing on Wednesday on the need to improve...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 4, 2026 Funding bill to end Homeland Security shutdown signed into law Johnson defended waiting weeks before voting on a bill to end the DHS shutdown. (Source: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call.) President Donald Trump signed a bill funding most of the Department of Homeland Security within...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 4, 2026 Ban on kids' companion chatbots advanced by Senate Judiciary Providers of artificial intelligence companion chatbots would need to verify users’ ages and ban minors from the companions under a bill that advanced unanimously in a Senate committee Thursday. The Judiciary Commi...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 4, 2026 Five-year farm bill passes House, though more work remains The House passed a five-year farm bill that would reauthorize and amend several expiring agricultural support programs and prevent a potential major spike in dairy and other commodity prices through 2031. The 224-200...

CQ MAGAZINE; May 4, 2026 Senators grill Pentagon leaders on spending delays Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Source: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call.) Senators from both parties pointedly questioned Pentagon leaders at a hearing Thursday about months of delays in spending appropriations as Congress intended....

CQ MAGAZINE; May 4, 2026 Congress clears another short-term FISA extension The House on Thursday passed a short-term extension of a key surveillance power, sending it to the White House just hours before it is set to expire at midnight. The bill, which would extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelli...