Lawmakers are torn over the size and shape of a disaster relief package headed for a vote next month. CQ Roll Call's Aidan Quigley and David Lerman discuss the latest on disaster aid, overdue appropriations, a new Senate defense budget writer, and a House firebrand's new role in curbing government spending.

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If you're paying attention to the Senate, you know they're voting on a lot of judges, as happens during lame duck congresses. There are also a lot of partisan broadsides being fired about it all. How did we get to this point and why?

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President-elect Donald Trump has picked several current and former members of Congress for his Cabinet and senior staff. Here’s a quick and dirty on the roster, which includes former Democrats, former critics and one avowed dog killer.

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Congress returns for a lame-duck session with a major decision to make on fiscal 2025 spending: whether to pass an omnibus package by Christmas or punt spending bills into the new year. CQ Roll Call's Aidan Quigley, Caitlin Reilly and David Lerman assess the political ramifications of the choice, the crowded lame-duck agenda, and the challenge for Republicans in their quest for tax cuts next year.

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So, we have questions in the aftermath of this election. Who is the leader of the Democratic Party? What lessons do Republicans take from their victories? Do we have to keep calling it a "Blue Wall." And more!

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Roll Call looked under every nook, cranny and poll to round off the Most Vulnerable Incumbents lists for the 2024 cycle. Find out how and why who got where!

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Sports and politics don’t mix. In truth, that has never been the case. Sports, in fact, reflect every issue, every conflict in society from civil rights to equal justice. Melissa Ludtke knows this from experience. In the 1970’s, when she was trying to cover Major League Baseball for Sports Illustrated, her path to doing the job – which required equal access to the players – was blocked by a powerful and inflexible commissioner. The battle mirrored America’s burgeoning women’s movement, and ultimately ended up in federal court, presided over by a judge with her own civil rights experience. Ludtke tells the story in “Locker Room Talk: A Woman’s Struggle to Get Inside,” and on this episode of Equal Time.

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For many film buffs, October is Scary Movie Month, when we go to the vault to watch "Last House on the Left" or head to the theater to catch "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice." It is also election season. So does "The Apprentice" fit in here? It’s a biopic about the relationship between Roy Cohn and a young Donald Trump and how Cohn helped shape the future president’s no-holds-barred approach to business, politics and life.

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The 2024 campaign is in the home stretch, and there are several races that are defined by a high degree of instability. How do we mean? It starts with the campaigns themselves not even agreeing on the basic contours of the race. From there things can get weird. Nathan Gonzales walks us through a few races that fit the bill — and that are incredibly significant in determining which party will be in the majority in the Senate and House.

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What happens when a veterans organization conducting an unscripted role-playing simulation with real political figures about an attempted coup on Jan. 6, 2025 joins forces with filmmakers who have “Dr. Strangelove” and Nathan Fielder on the brain? The experimental but highly relevant documentary “War Game.” Co-director Jesse Moss and Vet Voice’s Janessa Goldbeck talk about their project.

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The Supreme Court starts its new term this coming Monday, October 7th, and while the docket does not include such high-profile cases as the last two years, when the justices overturned Roe v. Wade and granted presidents wide immunity over official acts, the high court will still consider matters of constitutional rights that could reverberate for years — and also might be called upon to referee any lingering fights over the current election season.

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