How Should Lawmakers Balance Privacy and Transparency About Their Health?

Senator Mitch McConnell was absent from Capitol Hill for weeks. Rumors and conspiracies swirled until he recently reappeared and said he was in medical care recovering from a fall.

He’s not the only politician who’s hid their health from the public eye – Joe Biden, for instance, tried to keep concerns about his health quiet before the 2024 election – until it was too hard to ignore.

We talk about what aging and ailing lawmakers owe to the public especially if it impairs their ability to serve.

Plus, immigration enforcement is surging. ICE doubled the number of arrests compared to earlier this year, and has been doing it without the massive protests that rocked the country. But now, with two headline-grabbing shootings of motorists by ICE agents, what is the future of that strategy?

We also talk about how congress came together on a massive affordable housing bill.

Producer: Leo Duran

Host: Mike Madrid 

Guests: 

• Liz Bruenig, staff writer at The Atlantic - @EBruenig
• Sarah Isgur, senior editor at The Dispatch - @whignewtons