This is Claire and Steph from Bellyham, Washington. We are calling from Washington, DC, where we are watching the Forest Service versus Fish and Wildlife Softball Game with our family.

Hi!

And our new nibbling, SIG-free.

This podcast was recorded at 2.26pm on Thursday the 2nd of May.

I was gonna say it's gonna be May.

Joe, it's already May.

Things may have changed by the time you hear this.

Alright, here's the show.

Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Tamer Keith. I cover the White House.

I'm Scott DeTro, I cover Congress.

I'm Susan Davis, I also cover Congress. And I'm Mara Lias and National Political Correspondent.

Guess what? It's gonna be May.

We've got a lot to talk about today. The Attorney General was supposed to testify on Capitol Hill today.

Not so much. And the United States has a lot of opinions about what's happening in Venezuela.

But let's start with the Attorney General William Barr. Sue, was there an empty chair hearing today?

Well, the Attorney General made clear that yesterday that he was not gonna show up this morning.

But Democrats on the committee led by Jerry Nadler, Democrat from New York,

had sort of a mock opening hearing to bring attention to the fact that the Attorney General was not indeed going to show up.

Yeah, hey, what was that bucket of chicken, Susan?

So Steve Cohen is a Democrat from Tennessee. He is known to like a prop every now and again.

He brought a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken and a small ceramic chicken to make the point that Barr was,

wait for it, chicken.

...