Where Things Stand on Government Funding

Last Thursday, the House voted to bar the executive branch from deferring the deportation of undocumented workers, taking its first direct action against President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. The 219-197 vote was largely symbolic, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has said he won't take up the bill (H.R. 5759) and the White […]

Once again Friday’s jobs number came in significantly higher than expectations.  While the Bloomberg survey of economists predicted an increase of 230,000 the BLS reported that the American economy added 321,000 plus added upward revisions from the previous two months totaling another 44,000 jobs.  While the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.8 percent, this marked […]

Today, at a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing, bipartisan support emerged for an extension of Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding beyond Sept. 30, 2015, while members examined policy issues that could be addressed in any funding measure.  While Democrats were especially eager to express their support for a funding extension, pointing […]

The House and Senate were in recess last week for the Thanksgiving holiday. During an otherwise quiet week, last Friday saw Senate Democrats increase their leadership ranks to include Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), who will serve as a policy development adviser to the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. Warner said he will use his new […]

Last week saw the Keystone XL oil pipeline and President Obama’s executive action on immigration take center stage in Washington. The Senate on Tuesday narrowly defeated legislation (S. 2280) that would have approved the Keystone XL pipeline, delivering a political setback to Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) in her Dec. 6 runoff race against challenger Rep. […]

President Obama’s Executive Order on Immigration certainly stirred the rhetorical pot.  Its impact on the political environment is still to be determined.  Certainly it may impact the end of the year spending bills – though then again, it may not.  We continue to hear that the Chairs of the Appropriations Committee, and House and Senate […]

After nearly two months on the campaign trail, Congress returned last week for new member orientation, leadership elections and a smattering of legislative business. The leadership elections offered few surprises, as Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Harry Reid (D-NV), and Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) all received their caucus’s endorsement to lead their party in the 114th Congress. McConnell […]

The first quarter of the lame duck is in the books and it didn’t take long for commentators to begin chipping away at the spirit of bipartisanship that was being forged following the election.  Notwithstanding the game of political chicken looming over the Immigration issue and the end of year spending bills –shaping up either […]

After nearly two months on the campaign trail, Congress returned last week for new member orientation, leadership elections and the start of the lame-duck legislative session. The leadership elections offered few surprises, as Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Harry Reid (D-NV), and Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) all received their caucus’s endorsement to lead their respective parties […]

While Republicans rejoiced and Democrats lamented the results of Tuesday’s election, both sides appeared to concur that once again, the electorate was sending a message that they want Washington to work.   Not surprisingly, immediately both sides were talking about ways to work together, which almost immediately followed by commentators explaining why this couldn’t happen.  (See, […]

Riding a surge of voter discontent, Republicans seized control of Congress in last Tuesday’s midterm elections, a result that transforms the political dynamic in Washington and gives the GOP new power over President Obama’s final two years in the White House. Republicans gained at least seven Senate seats to assemble a majority of at least […]

Yesterday’s election provided a Republican wave that out-paced most prognosticators and polling experts.  At press time, Alaska (likely Republican) and Virginia (likely Democrat) remain undecided and the Louisiana Senate race (likely Republican) is headed to a runoff on Dec. 6.  As of this morning, Republican’s picked up 7 seats, giving them a 52-43 advantage and […]