The Latest on the Government Shutdown

Our Take Questions continue to swirl around how Congress will be able to address the ever-advancing deadline to raise the debt ceiling.  Will they pass a clean extension as Secretary Mnuchin as indicated is his preference?  Or, will Freedom Caucus members and OMB Director Mulvaney be able to successfully extract concessions in the negotiations to […]

In an Inside Health Policy article published last week, Thorn Run Partners Senior Vice President Shea McCarthy noted that he has heard rumblings within the GOP that the Senate could get rid of the community rating waiver in the House's American Health Care Act. “Early reports indicate that the Senate plans to keep the House’s waivers allowing states […]

This morning's "Morning Money" piece from Politico featured comments from Thorn Run’s Jason Rosenstock, who offers his take on the current state of play between both parties on the debt limit. “Democrats whose history under the Gephardt Rule shows they never wanted to make this a public issue, and who are tired of having to […]

The Week in Review Washington was abuzz as Congress returned from the Memorial Day recess with big-ticket items on its schedule. Namely, this included a House floor vote on a bill to revamp the nation’s financial regulations and the highly-anticipated testimony of former FBI Director James Comey in the Senate Intelligence Committee.

A big day in Washington will be marked by the highly-anticipated Senate Intelligence Committee hearing this morning featuring remarks from former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) James Comey. Comey has been asked to testify on his interactions with the President, particularly those related to the Bureau’s investigation of ties between the Trump campaign and Russian […]

The Week in Review With Congress on recess, the Trump administration took the biggest action of the week in Washington by announcing their intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change. The Agreement, signed by nearly every nation on Earth, set out voluntary carbon emissions standards to be met in […]

Our Take Monday, May 29th, in addition to being Memorial Day would have been the 100th Birthday of President John F. Kennedy.   As I was putting this week’s update together I may have scrolled through twitter a few times to procrastinate.   I came across the following – which I am assuming is true, because you […]

The Week in Review Health care developments dominated most of the week, as the Trump Administration asked for a continued hold in the House v. Price case on cost-sharing payments, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its latest score of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), and the White House released its proposed 2018 fiscal […]

Both the House and Senate have completed their legislative business for the week and neither chamber is expected to convene again until after the Memorial Day recess. When the lower chamber returns, they will be joined by their newest member, Greg Gianforte, who won a special election for Montana’s at-large congressional seat last night. The […]

Jet fumes are in the air as lawmakers hope to finish their legislative business today and leave Washington tomorrow for a weeklong recess in honor of Memorial Day. The House will consider two measures pursuant to a rule today, both related to this week’s theme of protecting children from exploitation. One measure (H.R. 1973) would […]

Looking Ahead Near Term Despite strong rumors last week, the Financial CHOICE Act will not be on the House floor this week.   Leadership was reportedly whipping the bill last week and it now appears that the legislation will be on the floor sometime in June. There are no hearings this week in the House Financial […]

It’s budget day in Washington as the White House is expected to release its full spending proposal for the 2018 fiscal year. Many details of the budget have already leaked, outlining significant cuts to the Medicaid program, agriculture subsidies, and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), while continuing to increase the budget for defense and homeland […]