Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories

Podcast: Is Congress as dysfunctional as it seems?

Podcast: Is Congress as dysfunctional as it seems?

From the outside, Congress appears broken. Bills get bogged down in partisan fights, leaders openly smear each other, and animosity between members is at an all-time high. But our guests on today’s show demonstrate that if you look a little closer, you’ll find a group of dedicated politicians working together across the aisle to craft workable legislation and get things done.

Republican Congressman Don Bacon represents Nebraska’s 2nd District. Democrat Kurt Schrader represents Oregon’s 5th District. Each man is a member of the congressional Problem Solvers Caucus, a group equally split between Democrats and Republicans who are committed to finding common ground on key issues facing the U.S.


In this surprisingly candid conversation listeners get a peek behind the curtain at what’s really going on in Congress, how the infrastructure bill was passed into law, and the harmful effect the media has on Americans’ view of politics.

Listen now


Read More

U.S. and Puerto Rico flags
Puerto Rico: America's oldest democratic crisis
TexPhoto/Getty Image

Puerto Rico’s New Transparency Law Attacks a Right Forged in Struggle

At a time when public debate in the United States is consumed by questions of secrecy, accountability and the selective release of government records, Puerto Rico has quietly taken a dangerous step in the opposite direction.

In December 2025, Gov. Jenniffer González signed Senate Bill 63 into law, introducing sweeping amendments to Puerto Rico’s transparency statute, known as the Transparency and Expedited Procedure for Access to Public Information Act. Framed as administrative reform, the new law (Act 156 of 2025) instead restricts access to public information and weakens one of the archipelago’s most important accountability and democratic tools.

Keep ReadingShow less
The SHAPE Act and the Fight to Protect State Department Workers

A woman shows palm demonstrating protest

Getty Images

The SHAPE Act and the Fight to Protect State Department Workers

When the #MeToo movement erupted in 2017, it exposed sexual harassment across industries that had long been protected by their power. While early attention focused on the entertainment sector and corporate workplaces, the reckoning quickly spread to the federal government.

Within weeks, more than 200 women working in national security signed an open letter under the hashtag #MeTooNatSec, stating they had experienced sexual harassment or assault or knew colleagues who had. Many of those accounts pointed directly to the U.S. State Department.

Keep ReadingShow less
How GOP Lawmakers’ Power Transfers Are Reshaping Everything From Utilities to Environmental Regulation in North Carolina

North Carolina’s Republican-led legislature has siphoned off some of the governor’s traditional powers. Democrats argue that the moves have affected the state’s democracy and the everyday lives of its residents.

Makiya Seminera/AP

How GOP Lawmakers’ Power Transfers Are Reshaping Everything From Utilities to Environmental Regulation in North Carolina

North Carolina voters have chosen Democrats in three straight elections for governor; the state’s Republican-led legislature has countered by siphoning off some of the powers that traditionally came with the job.

These power grabs have had a profound effect on both democracy in the state and on the everyday lives of North Carolina residents, Democrats argue.

Keep ReadingShow less
​New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announces a series of top appointments, including the city’s new schools chancellor, ahead of his swearing-in on December 31, 2025, in New York City

Getty Images, Spencer Platt

Congress Bill Spotlight: MAMDANI Act, Blocking Funds to NYC

After New York City’s new mayor was inaugurated on January 1, should federal funds still go to the Big Apple?

What the bill does

Keep ReadingShow less