The Latest on the Government Shutdown

Looking Ahead Near Term The Republican National Convention starts today and runs through Thursday. The Democratic National Convention starts one week from today and runs through Thursday, July 28th Further Out Congress returns from its recess on September 6th. Funding for the Federal Government expires on September 30th. Presidential election will be on November 8th. 

Week in Review Congress worked through a packed agenda in their final week before the national party conventions and the traditional summer break. While lawmakers were able to reach important agreements on opioid funding and a reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), they left other important issues – including funding for combatting the Zika […]

The Week in Review In a busy week for the House, lawmakers approved a number of bills under suspension of the rules, including a measure altering regulations related to crowdfunding (H.R. 4855) and a long-awaited bill reforming mental health services (H.R. 2646). The mental health bill, which among other provisions would create an Assistant Secretary […]

Our Take The 2015 Congressional calendar was one defined by a series of statutorily imposed deadlines that gave us a modicum of certainty – in as much as that is ever possible with the United States Congress – of when, and in most cases “what” was coming down the pike.   This year, and perhaps in […]

With just five days separating Congress from a seven-week recess, lawmakers will be working through a packed agenda, including measures addressing environmental regulations, Iran sanctions, aviation security, abortion, and the Zika virus. The most pressing item for both chambers will be clearing legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) operational authority, which is currently […]

Congress returns from its brief Independence Day recess with a full slate of legislative work to tackle before breaking for the national conventions and the body’s traditional August break later this month. The House reconvenes today and is set for a busy week after its last floor session ended abruptly due to Democrats’ dramatic sit-in […]

Our Take When the House returns today, and the Senate a day later, from their 4th of July breaks it is unlikely that the time spent extolling the virtues of our country, wrapping themselves in patriotism or recalling the words of the Declaration of Independence will have any effect on the partisan gridlock that has […]

The Week in Review With the House out for the week ahead of the Independence Day holiday, the Senate’s work was divided between the hugely successful and the continually frustrating. On the latter, senators began the week by continuing consideration of the House-passed Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bill (H.R. 2577) that includes a funding package […]

Our Take Starting last Wednesday afternoon and stretching all the way through the next 25 hours, the House of Representatives ground to a halt, as House Democrats staged a sit-in to express their frustrations with the lack of a vote on their proposal to prevent individuals on the “no fly list” from being able to […]

With the House already on recess for the July 4 holiday, the Senate will begin the week with a noncontroversial judicial confirmation before moving on to more contentious debates on spending bills and Puerto Rico debt relief legislation. A vote is expected this afternoon on the nomination of Robert Rossiter, Jr. to be U.S. District […]

The Week in Review In Washington and abroad, last week brought unprecedented action that caught most political analysts by surprise. On Thursday, the United Kingdom (UK) shocked the world by voting to leave the European Union (EU) in a highly anticipated public referendum. The move brought turmoil to global financial markets, forced British Prime Minister […]

With House Democrats staging a sit-in on the well of the House floor to attempt to force votes on gun control proposals, Republican leaders elected to formally adjourn the chamber for the week. The House is not scheduled to be in session next week, meaning that the next action legislative action for House lawmakers may […]