Senate Breaks for August After Nominations Stalemate

Congress has wrapped up legislative business for the week and will reconvene next week to continue work on pressing government funding deadlines. As the Sept. 30 deadline approaches, House Democrats are expected to queue up a continuing resolution (CR) for consideration as negotiators jostle to avoid another lapse in funding. The upper chamber is expected […]

The Senate’s push to fund the federal government through fiscal year (FY) 2020 got off to a rocky start yesterday, as the Senate Appropriations Committee postponed its scheduled markup of the Labor-HHS-Education bill amid partisan disagreements over policy riders. Democrats were prepared to offer an amendment to the Labor-HHS-Education bill that would bar the Trump […]

Voters in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District will head to the polls today for a highly-anticipated special election after the 2018 race was marred by credible allegations of election fraud. Democrat Dan McCready — who was also the 2018 nominee — will face off against NC State Rep Dan Bishop in a tossup race that […]

Congress is set to return to action today as lawmakers gear up for a high-profile legislative blitz to close out 2019. Government funding will be a top priority for legislators when both chambers gavel in as lawmakers have 13 just legislative days to avert another government funding lapse. While the Senate Appropriations Committee plans to […]

CMS Adds Star Ratings to All Exchanges The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released guidance last Thursday indicating that it would bring its Star Ratings — long the province of Medicare Advantage and programs like Nursing Home Compare — to all CMS-administered health care exchanges. Starting with the open enrollment for plan year […]

Senators may look to wrap up legislative business for the summer later this afternoon. In addition to a host of presidential nominations, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has queued up the bipartisan budget agreement for a vote at some point during today’s session. Final passage of the measure — which would boost spending by […]

Senators will reconvene this afternoon as they look to wrap up key legislative priorities ahead of the August recess. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is expected to swiftly call up the House-passed budget deal (text; summary), as the upper chamber will need to hit the ground running in September on the 2020 appropriations process. In addition […]

House lawmakers cleared (284-149) the sweeping budget package (text; summary) yesterday, addressing both the federal borrowing limit and budgetary spending caps prior to leaving for the six-week August recess. The Senate is scheduled to follow suit early next week, as the upper chamber will need to hit the ground running in September on the 2020 appropriations process. […]

Lawmakers are set to strap in for another busy day of legislative business both on and off the floor. In the lower chamber, House lawmakers are expected to pass the compromise budget deal (text; summary) later today, addressing key fiscal deadlines ahead of the six-week August recess. The deal provides for a $321 billion boost in federal spending […]

Congressional leaders and President Donald Trump have struck a compromise budget deal (text; summary) that would address pressing deadlines for the federal debt ceiling and budgetary spending caps. The deal provides for a $321 billion boost in federal spending over the next two years, with $738 billion for defense spending and $632 billion for non-defense in fiscal […]

White House and Congressional leaders are still working to finalize details of a sweeping budget deal that would address the debt ceiling and budgetary spending caps. Reports suggest that both sides are zeroing in on a deal that would include spending offsets that total less than the administration’s $150 billion demand, as well as a […]

Congress has adjourned for the week as negotiations on a sweeping budget deal continue behind the scenes. Despite reaching a general agreement on the framework for the deal, talks are still ongoing over specific numbers, offsets, and structural issues. Late yesterday, the White House gave House Democrats an extended list of $574 billion in offset […]