Senate Breaks for August After Nominations Stalemate

Government funding negotiations continue to stall, as congressional Republicans and While House officials are growing increasingly skeptical that a long term budget agreement will be reached in the next 11 days.  Party leaders from both sides of the aisle have been working to raise stiff spending caps before the Jan. 19 deadline, yet Democrats and […]

Both chambers will convene this week to start their 2018 legislative work in earnest. Most policy attention will focus on funding negotiations to keep the government open past Jan. 19, with disaster aid emerging as a new divisive issue between the two parties. The House passed an $81 billion relief package before the holidays, but […]

The conference report for the GOP-backed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is expected to reach the floor of both chambers today, as Republicans in Congress are poised to deliver on their promise to overhaul the nation’s tax regime for both individuals and businesses. In the Senate — where the bill will likely be passed […]

The twin battles over government funding and tax reform both took steps forward yesterday as House Republicans released the text of their preferred version of a continuing resolution (CR) and tax conferees reached an “agreement in principle” on the final form of a legislative package. On the former issue, the House Republican CR (text) would […]

Political observers will be waiting eagerly for the returns from today’s special election in Alabama to select Jeff Sessions’ replacement in the U.S. Senate. The unusually competitive race between Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones has attracted national attention and resources, making today’s result another indicator for both parties as they plot their strategies […]

While government funding and tax reform remain at the forefront of lawmakers’ concerns, this week’s work is likely to focus on behind-the-scenes negotiations. On tax reform, the first public conference meeting is set for Wednesday and reports suggest that Republicans are making progress in working out the differences between the House and Senate tax bills. […]

Even after the Senate’s approval of tax reform legislation last week, the issue will remain in the headlines. The House returns ahead of schedule today to consider a motion to go to conference on the tax reform bill, allowing for lawmakers to reconcile the differences between the two versions of the legislation. Republicans hope that […]

Last week’s much-needed break comes ahead of an anticipated legislative frenzy for the remainder of the calendar year. Republicans are racing to finish their tax reform push and the legislative calendar will be complicated by the expiration of government funding on Dec. 8. Given that Democratic votes will be needed for any funding package, expect […]

The Republican race to finish tax reform legislation before the end of the calendar year enters another critical week as the House takes up its legislation (H.R. 1) on the chamber floor and the Senate Finance Committee begins a markup of the upper chamber’s version of the package. While some defections are likely inevitable, House […]

Democrats are celebrating victories this morning in yesterday’s elections in New Jersey and Virginia, as well as other local races across the country. In the most high-profile race, Ralph Northam defeated Ed Gillespie for the Virginia governorship by a nine-point margin, four points more than Hillary Clinton’s victory in the state last year. That fact […]

Political attention will shift away from Washington and towards Virginia and New Jersey today as those states’ voters head to the polls for a gubernatorial election. The Virginia race in particular is anticipated to be a close contest between current Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam and former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ed Gillespie. Political observers […]

Tax reform is still the talk of the town in Washington as Republicans kick their legislative effort into overdrive this week. The tax reform frenzy kicks off with a highly anticipated markup in the House Ways and Means Committee beginning at noon today. The markup is expected to go into the late evening hours today […]