Where Things Stand on Government Funding

Lawmakers are poised to unveil details of a comprehensive border security deal that they hope will prevent a partial government shutdown ahead of Friday’s deadline. The deal — headlined by a Homeland Security appropriations bill including $1.375 billion in border security funding — is expected to be signed by President Trump once it passes both chambers […]

Our Take A legend of Congress and of American history, John Dingell passed away at the age of 92 last Thursday.   He served in Congress for nearly 60 years, and was involved in, and saw a lot of legislative sausage being made.   He served as Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee from 1981 […]

Congress will return to Washington today as lawmakers scramble to fund the government ahead of Friday’s deadline. Despite optimism heading into the weekend about reaching a border security deal and funding the government past the Feb. 15 deadline, negotiators of the bipartisan border security Conference Committee indicated Sunday that the talks have hit an impasse […]

The Week in Review Members of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Conference Committee resumed talks last week in hopes reaching a deal to avoid a second partial government shutdown. Despite optimism heading into the weekend about reaching a border security deal and funding the government past the Feb. 15 deadline, negotiators of the bipartisan […]

Members of the bipartisan border security conference committee are reportedly close to clinching a deal that would not provide President Trump with his $5.7 border wall request but would avert a second shutdown. The proposal — which could be unveiled later today or Monday — would keep the government funded and provide additional border security […]

Senators are set to begin consideration of a bipartisan federal lands package championed by conservation advocacy groups. The Natural Resources Management Act (S.47) would permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) — a program that uses federal oil and gas royalties from offshore drilling to fund acquisitions and easements of land and water […]

Congress returns this week as lawmakers resume border security Conference Committee negotiations. The odds of another funding lapse were raised after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) emphasized that the Democratic border security proposal will not include funding for President Trump’s border wall priority. If the Conference Committee is unable to produce a deal that appeases President Trump, the President has reiterated he […]

The Week in Review House and Senate lawmakers began border security negotiations last week in hopes of striking a border security compromise, yet a bipartisan agreement remains elusive. In addition to the debate over President Trump’s $5.7 billion border wall priority, lawmakers have been hamstrung over the possibility of adding deals on immigration policy and the debt limit to the underlying negotiations. If the negotiators fail to […]

Our Take For those working off their Big Game spiderwebs this morning, please appreciate that this is a relatively slow week.   The apex will likely come on Tuesday when the President delivers the State of the Union.   Beyond that there are a few hearings of note, including two on retirement security.   While infrastructure often is […]

The odds of another partial government shutdown were raised yesterday after Democrats unveiled their initial border security proposal. The plan — which does not include funding for President Trump’s border wall priority — would allocate new funding for: (1) modernizing Border Patrol technology and infrastructure; (2) hiring 1,000 customs officers; and (3) “humanitarian” needs such as […]

House and Senate lawmakers began negotiations yesterday in hopes of striking a border security compromise, yet a bipartisan agreement remains elusive. In addition to the debate over President Trump’s $5.7 billion border wall priority, lawmakers have been hamstrung over the possibility of adding deals on immigration policy and the debt limit to the underlying negotiations. […]

Both chambers of Congress are set to resume legislative business today following the contentious 35-day government shutdown. In the House, lawmakers will take up three suspension bills out of the Financial Services Committee: (1) a bill (H.R. 624) that would require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to carry out a study of Rule 10b5–1 […]