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Our Take Over the next two weeks Congress and the President need to reach an agreement on the remaining spending bills in order to avoid a partial shutdown.   As that debate is keeping Congress open (when frankly, everyone in town would prefer that they were done for the year) and therefore providing an opening for […]

Congressional lawmakers are expected to clear the two-week funding bill by unanimous consent today, putting the bill on President Trump’s desk prior to Friday’s government funding deadline. Funding for parts of the federal government is currently set to expire tomorrow at midnight, but Congress is deadlocked over Trump’s demand for $5 billion in funding for a […]

Congressional appropriators have released a two-week funding bill that would delay a partial government shutdown until Friday, December 21. The bill includes a clean extension for outstanding government funding, as well as an additional extension for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which was also set to expire this Friday. Leaders from both parties — […]

Our Take Earlier this week, while defending Leader Pelosi’s effort to put down a rebellion of members who believe that she has been Leader long enough, the folks at Pod Save America painted a broad brush against all moderates – and in the process conflating the problem solvers caucus with the New Dems – by […]

Congressional negotiators and White House officials are discussing a short-term funding bill budget bill that would delay a partial government shutdown while Washington prepares for the state funeral of former President George H.W. Bush. Among the details still being ironed out is whether the short-term extension would push the funding deadline by one or two […]

The Week in Review Congressional lawmakers returned to Washington after a brief Thanksgiving recess. During the week, Congress made progress toward reauthorization of a series of key programs including the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and Farm Bill. Regarding the NFIP, President Trump signed a short-term funding bill that extends the program until December 7, giving Congress more time to […]

President Trump joined Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and outgoing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in Buenos Aires to sign the highly anticipated United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA) this morning. The wide-ranging agreement — which includes provisions for biologic drugs, intellectual property, agriculture, automotive, and labor — now must be ratified by the legislatures of each country. […]

Congressional lawmakers are poised to address reauthorization for a series of key programs, including the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the Farm Bill. Regarding NFIP, lawmakers have introduced a short-term funding bill that would extend the program until December 7, giving Congress more time to figure out a solution. Both chambers will need to […]

House Democrats will meet behind closed doors today to elect their leadership for the 116th Congress. Despite some intraparty opposition from a host of incumbent and incoming Democrats, a clear challenger to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has yet to emerge — a sign that she is expected to win the closed-door vote for the speaker’s […]

House Democrats are set to continue a contentious debate over the speaker’s gavel for the 116th Congress. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) — the presumed favorite for the speakership in the 116th Congress — is facing pushback from a host of incumbent and incoming Democrats who claim they have the votes to block her path […]

The Week in Review Both chambers of Congress were out of town for a brief Thanksgiving recess.

Our Take The first week immediately after the election of a lame duck Congress is a unique experience, a diptych, framing the juxtaposition between those arriving and those leaving.   Newly-elected members, sometimes with their spouses, sometimes with their staff can be found wandering around the Capitol complex, their faces full of expressions of awe and […]