The Latest on the Government Shutdown

The Week in Review At the start of last week, House Republicans were planning a floor vote on their health care package, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), and expecting to take a monumental step towards fulfilling their long-held goal of rolling back the Obama healthcare legacy. But by the end of the week, that […]

Looking Ahead Near Term It will be a busy week in the House and Senate – and that isn’t even including the House Floor vote on the health care bill, currently scheduled for Thursday. Look for a slew of nomination hearings in the Senate.  On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will start the nomination hearing […]

The Week in Review The debate over healthcare reform intensified last week as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score on the effects of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) and Trump’s “skinny” budget for 2018 were released. Both supporters and detractors of the AHCA found favorable information in the CBO score; the CBO projects federal […]

Looking Ahead Near Term All eyes will be on the CBO this week as the non-partisan agency is expected to release its analysis of the House Republican’s health care proposal.   The White House is expected to release its FY18 Budget, possibly as soon as Wednesday.  Based on what has been shared to date, the budget […]

In a relatively quiet day on the chamber floors of Congress, the Senate moves back to confirming nominations from the White House by considering President Trump’s choice for Director of National Intelligence (DNI), former U.S. senator from Indiana, Dan Coats. The DNI position was created after the Sept. 11 attacks to coordinate the work of […]

The Congressional Budget Office released its highly-anticipated score of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) – the Republican plan to repeal and replace parts of the Obama-era Affordable Care Act (ACA). Both supporters and detractors of the AHCA will find favorable information in the score; the CBO projects federal deficit savings of $337 billion over […]

The release of two separate documents – a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score for the Republican health care plan and President Trump’s budget proposal for fiscal 2018 – will drive conversation in Congress this week far more than any of the measures on the chamber floors. The first document is sure to add a wrinkle […]

The Week in Review It was a monumental week in health policy as Republicans went to work advocating for their plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), dubbed the American Health Care Act (AHCA). The House Ways & Means and Energy & Commerce Committees held marathon markups for their respective portions of […]

Our Take During the campaign, it was said by some that Donald Trump is the wrong answer to the right question.   Regardless, it was clear – both from the primaries and then in the general – that a big section of the American public was incredibly frustrated with the institutions of governments and were prepared […]

The House only has a pro forma session scheduled today, but returns tomorrow to a defense appropriations bill (H.R. 1301) that would fund the Pentagon for the remainder of the fiscal 2017 year at $583.7 billion in annualized defense spending. The bill – which will likely be considered without amendments – is the result of […]

The Week in Review The highlight of the week came on Tuesday when President Trump outlined his legislative agenda in his first remarks to a joint session of Congress. In a generally well-received speech, the President called for a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan, paid family leave, and providing tax credits to help Americans purchase health insurance. […]

More of the same is scheduled for the chamber floors in Congress today as the Senate moves to consider Ben Carson to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the House lines up the final regulation-related bill in a series considered this week. Carson, a former neurosurgeon and presidential candidate, was approved on a […]