2026 Congressional Outlook: A Narrowing Window Before the Midterms

The House and Senate are officially on Easter break, as the House adjourned yesterday after passing a resolution condemning the terrorist attacks in Brussels, Belgium, along with a bill that would curb the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) merger authority.  The Senate is expected to return from their two-week break on Monday, April 4, while the […]

The Week in Review   The House and Senate were both in session last week, as each chamber passed respective versions of funding extensions for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  Early in the week, the House advanced their own version of legislation that would extend aviation taxes — including fuel and ticket charges — through […]

The Easter recess has begun for the Senate, and House lawmakers are planning for a short week before beginning their own spring break. In the lower chamber, the first round of the appropriations fight is expected to take place as House leaders scramble to generate support for a budget resolution at the spending levels agreed […]

Our Take This week, during his Committee’s semi-annual hearing of the CFPB, House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling shared his belief that Congress had abdicated too much of its Article I authority in delegating powers to the Administration.  While he specifically was referencing CFPB Director Cordray, who he referred to as “a dictator, and not […]

A procedural dispute in the Senate is holding up widely-bipartisan legislation aimed at curbing a growing opioid-addiction epidemic that lawmakers still hope to complete this week.  The Senate is scheduled to spend the day in post-cloture debate on a substitute amendment (#3378) to the legislation (S.524), which would expand treatment for opioid addiction.  Leaders in […]

Looking Ahead Near Term On Monday, President Obama will meet with the heads of the various financial regulatory bodies.  While this is the fourth meeting of these principles in the White House during the President’s two terms, and no new policy announcements are anticipated, the timing, so close to the roll out of the fiduciary […]

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, […]