The Latest on the Government Shutdown

All legislative activity will stem out of the upper chamber this week as the House is in recess until next Monday. Specifically, Senate lawmakers will attempt to conclude debate on legislation to expand treatment for opioid addiction, finalize a deal to pass both energy legislation and a measure designed to help Flint, Michigan recover from […]

The Week in Review   Politics arguably outweighed policy last week, as the “Super Tuesday” primary elections delivered commanding leads for real estate mogul Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in their respective presidential nomination races. After winning seven of the eleven contests on Tuesday, Trump went on to win two more […]

Looking Ahead Near Term Senate is scheduled to take up legislation to tackle the growing opioid abuse issue.  In addition, it may return the complete consideration of the Energy bill now that a deal to resolve the Flint water crisis has been reached. The House will debate a pair of bills related to Medicaid providers […]

The Week in Review   A relatively quiet week in Washington featured the confirmation of a new commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the Senate and the passage of a slew of homeland security and federal land use bills in the House.

Senate lawmakers could vote as soon as today to confirm Dr. Robert Califf to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after Califf’s nomination passed a cloture vote yesterday evening by the substantial margin of 80-6. A few in the Democratic caucus, including presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), have opposed Califf’s nomination over the […]

The Week in Review   The House and Senate were both in recess for the Presidents’ Day Holiday last week. The Senate aims to reconvene today, with the House set to follow suit tomorrow.   Over the weekend, voters in South Carolina and Nevada went to the polls for the Republican primary and Democratic caucus, […]

Our Take The world lost a legal giant on Saturday and the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia threw another monkey wrench into the already frazzled gears of the 2016 Presidential campaign.  Although it would mean leaving the seat vacant for more than 11 months, Republicans, led by Senate Leader McConnell, immediately indicated their […]

The Week in Review   ­­­­The White House set the tone in Washington last week by releasing its proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2017 on Tuesday. While the $4 trillion proposal adheres to the topline spending deal struck by President Obama and Republican leadership last year, current Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and other Republicans […]

Several key Obama Administration officials will head to Capitol Hill today to defend the President’s $4.1 trillion budget request.  The President’s budget projects revenue to increase by $308 billion next year and spending to rise by $196 billion. Congressional Republicans have already rejected a number of the Obama’s  proposals, including a $10.25 per barrel fee […]

Looking Ahead Near Term The President will release his budget to Congress on Tuesday and multiple hearings have already been scheduled to allow heads of Agencies and Departments to justify and defend their requests.  Fed Chair Yellen will come back to the Hill for her Semi-annual testimony on monetary policy.  With Friday’s lower than expected […]

All eyes in Washington will be on the White House tomorrow when President Obama releases the final budget of his presidency. Committees in both chambers of Congress have scheduled hearings to dissect the budget later in the week, even though most observers expect that the spending plan will fail to gain any serious traction in […]

The Week in Review   Both chambers took on full schedules last week as lawmakers considered measures ranging from a comprehensive energy bill in the Senate to an override of the President’s veto on budget reconciliation legislation in the House. In the upper chamber, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) attempted to shepherd energy legislation (S.2012) through […]