The Latest on the Government Shutdown

Our Take After a week of contemplation, and speculation, Representative Paul Ryan is set to become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives and the first person from Wisconsin to hold that position.  The House Republican Conference is set to vote Wednesday, with a vote in the full House on Thursday.  Unless another bombshell […]

The Week in Review  Legislative action last week was highlighted by ongoing deliberation on how to raise the nation’s debt limit by a November 3 deadline – the date the Treasury Department has determined the country’s borrowing capacity will be exceeded. House Republicans have been deliberating on a solution and considered a proposal last week […]

This post, penned by Thorn Run's Billy Wynne, originally appeared in Health Affairs Blog. In a previous post—now almost one and a half years ago—I described “the coming storm” I anticipated would develop around the 340B drug discount program. After a brief tornado hit the House Energy and Commerce Committee when they considered including 340B reforms in […]

The Week in Review   The House and Senate were in a week-long recess for the Columbus Day holiday last week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has scheduled the Senate to return this afternoon at 4:00 PM and the House is set to return tomorrow morning.

The Week in Review  Legislative action in Congress last week was overshadowed by the surprising announcement from Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) that he would no longer seek to be Speaker of the House John Boehner’s (R-OH) successor. While McCarthy’s decision caught most observers by surprise, it can be, at least partially, explained by to […]

Our Take Last week’s turbulence in the expected ascension of Kevin McCarthy to Speaker, not only threw the House into disarray, but was also was one of those moments when you realize we are living through history.  Outside of the drama surrounding McCarthy’s decision and what it means for the Republicans in the House, the […]

The Week in Review The showdown over government funding fizzled last week as Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) decision to step down cleared the way for a continuing resolution (CR) to pass through Congress and extend government funding through December 11, 2015. A “clean” CR—one devoid of a provision defunding Planned Parenthood—passed the Senate last Tuesday […]

Our Take   Looking Ahead Near Term Republican Conference elections on Thursday (though maybe just for Speaker) House will take up a series of Financial Services related bills on the suspension calendar on Tuesday including: H.R. 2091 – Child Support Assistance Act of 2015 H.R. 1553 – Small Bank Exam Cycle Reform Act of 2015 […]

The Week in Review   Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) shocking announcement on Friday that he will step down at the end of October capped off an incredible week in Washington that also witnessed the excitement of a papal visit and a state visit from the Chinese President, Xi Jinping. Pope Francis’ visit to Washington was […]

Our Take Speaker Boehner’s announcement on Friday that he would resign from Congress on October 30th may have been one of the ultimate profiles in political courage.  Whether or not he could have ultimately prevailed in the vote to vacate the chair we will never know.  But by stepping down at the end of the […]

The Week in Review   In a week shortened by the Jewish New Year holiday, Congress attacked the Iran deal and inched closer to a possible continuing resolution to fund the government beyond September 30, the end of the current fiscal year. On the Iran deal, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) lost two cloture […]

Looking Ahead Near Term This is a short, but critically important week if the Government is not going to shut down when the current funding bill expires on September 30th.  Both Houses will postpone votes until Thursday and Friday because of the Yom Kippur holiday and the visit from the Pope, but we may see […]