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After one of the busiest periods in the 115th Congress last week, this week features less dramatic legislative work as the Senate works to confirm additional presidential nominees and consider the last congressional disapprovals of administrative rules advanced by the Obama Administration. The House is away from Washington for a weeklong in-district work period.

After weeks of wrangling, an initial failure before the Easter recess, and the addition of two amendments to placate both the conservative and moderate wings of the party, the House is scheduled to hold a floor vote today on the American Health Care Act (AHCA) (H.R. 1628). While the vote will likely be very close, […]

Our Take For the past two years, there has been a definitive “theme” to Congress.  For example, two years ago the congressional agenda was primarily driven by the plethora of legislative deadlines that needed to be met.   Last year, of course, was the election.   Now, 102 days into the current Administration, it is becoming […]

The Week in Review President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office was met with little fanfare as a possible House vote on the Republican health care package was delayed and lawmakers punted a government funding decision, ultimately approving a weeklong stopgap spending bill on Friday to avert a government shutdown. Lawmakers have been negotiating on […]

Last night, congressional negotiators reached an agreement on a spending bill that will provide government funding through the end of the 2017 fiscal year. The $1 trillion deal includes increased funds for border security and defense, two Republican priorities, as well as a permanent extension for a program that provides health benefits to coal miners. […]

The Week in Review Congress enjoyed the second week of its two-week recess for the Easter and Passover holidays. Spending negotiations remained in the headlines as lawmakers planned for a funding bill to govern federal spending for the remainder of the 2017 fiscal year, and both parties prepared to battle over the decision of whether […]

The Week in Review Lawmakers left Washington to start a two-week break in honor of the Easter and Passover holidays. As with a previous recess in February, numerous Republican lawmakers faced hostile receptions in town hall meetings over the American Health Care Act (AHCA) and other Trump Administration policies. The Republican plan to overhaul the […]

The Week in Review With Easter recess calling, policymakers in Washington had a noteworthy week on both the domestic and international fronts. Starting in the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “went nuclear” to confirm Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch as Democrats rallied the votes to maintain a futile filibuster. With 45 Democrats opposed to […]

The Senate is set to go nuclear today as the partisan confrontation over Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court reaches its seemingly inevitable conclusion. A cloture vote on the nomination – which would require 60 votes to be approved – is set for this morning and is expected to fail, with as many as […]

Our Take If you believe that America’s greatness was built on the concept of incremental policy movements built on compromises – then you are likely troubled that as of late it seems like both sides of the political spectrum consistently retreat to their respective wings and therefore seem to perpetually advocate binary choices (i.e., you’re […]

The Senate took one more step towards going nuclear yesterday after Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) became the 41st  Democrat to commit to filibustering the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court. With the minority’s votes secured, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will likely file cloture today to begin the formal […]

Jet fumes are in the air as lawmakers eye the end of a six-week stretch in Washington with the beginning of a two-week recess this Friday. The impending battle over Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court will be the week’s highlight, but ongoing negotiations on funding the government beyond the expiration of the current […]