BCRA unlikely to survive the Parliamentarian? Hold your horses.

Hello from Capitol Hill. Welcome back from the Easter break. This week, marking the 100th day of Trump 2.0, kicks off what Punchbowl speculates could be “the most important (three month stretch) of Trump’s second term.” Lawmakers are back in Washington and marking up the draft components of the budget reconciliation bill to enact major Trump […]

Hello from Capitol Hill. Welcome back to another week out-of-session in Washington. Progress continues to be made on President Trump’s agenda amidst a backdrop of domestic and international developments. Members of Congress remain in-district (or El Salvador, for some) for this last week of recess while committees continue to draft the reconciliation bill to enact […]

Hello from Capitol Hill. While Congress has entered a slow two week recess for Easter, work continues at Capitol Hill and 1600 Pennsylvania to advance President Trump’s agenda. Last week, Congress managed to approve the framework for the legislative vehicle enacting Trump’s budget. The chambers began last week pretty far apart – about $1 trillion […]

Hello from Capitol Hill. As expected, President Trump’s imposition of reciprocal, across the board tariffs is dominating the news cycle this week. After decades of imbalanced, abusive trade deals withering America’s middle class and prosperity, President Trump’s “Liberation Day” came. A plethora of arguments on tariffs and globalized trade abound – the Senate even passed […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill. Democrats caved on shutting down the government last week, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is taking all the blame from the left wing of his party. Activists wanted a public battle as the deadline to fund the government came closer; they’ve been staging protests at town halls, fighting for […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill. Last week President Donald Trump reminded Americans in a 100-minute speech that he will keep the promises he has made to cut government spending and waste, and restore law and order. His expansive speech covered a myriad of issues, including taxes, tariffs, DOGE, inflation and foreign policy. It was positive […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill. The House passed their budget resolution, H. Con. Res. 14, that includes the policy priorities of the Trump administration in one bill. Some House members, including Reps. Warren Davidson, Thomas Massie, Tim Burchett, and Victoria Spartz, were skeptical of the bill. As it was brought to the floor, it was […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill. Last week, President Donald Trump, alongside Elon Musk, signed an executive order implementing a new DOGE initiative within federal agencies to eliminate bloated hiring and spending practices.  The House and Senate were focused on the federal budget as well, as they debated how to cut spending and the deficit, extend […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill. The House and Senate are back in session this week and President Trump is heading back to D.C. after watching the Super Bowl in New Orleans. He is the first sitting president to watch it in person. He was welcomed with fanfare—juxtaposed by Taylor Swift, who was booed by the […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill. Washington was rocked by the news Wednesday night that an American Airlines regional jet collided midair with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter while landing at Reagan National airport. There were no survivors; the remains of 55 have been recovered from the Potomac River so far. The Washington Post published […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill. Donald Trump is once again the President of the United States. This weekend, an estimated 250,000 supporters traveled to Washington to witness this historic event. Due to weather predictions of subfreezing temperatures and snow the evening before, portions of the inauguration festivities, including the swearing-in ceremony and the parade, were […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill,  This week the Senate turns its attention to confirmation hearings for nominees for Trump’s cabinet. All eyes will be on Pete Hegseth, whose nomination hearing to be Secretary of Defense starts Tuesday morning. While the media has spent airtime on allegations of sexual misconduct, Republican senators have increasingly recognized the […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill. Mike Johnson won reelection as Speaker of the House on Friday, January 3rd, the opening day of the 119th Congress. Johnson was confident he would reach the 218 votes needed, despite the promised no vote from Rep. Thomas Massie, who was emphatic during the Christmas holiday that he did not […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill. After passing a spending bill and heading home for Christmas, Congress was directed by President Trump to turn its attention to the debt limit. Trump is asking Congress to raise or eliminate the debt limit altogether in the time between new members being sworn in on January 3rd and his […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill, Tensions were high last week as Members worked to avoid a government shutdown and fund the government.  Members expected Speaker Johnson to introduce a CR that was supposed to be “clean,” meaning that it would simply be a continuation of current spending levels, along with an extension of the Farm […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill, The House and Senate are both in a race against the clock this week to pass a government spending bill before funding expires on Friday. The Senate, which normally works at the sleepy pace of 2.5 days a week, has an ambitious schedule: on Monday and Tuesday, they will vote […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill, There is a renewed sense of purpose and focus in Washington, D.C., as the Trump transition kicks into gear and Donald Trump’s cabinet picks prepare for confirmation.  Pete Hegseth, the nominee for the Secretary of Defense, and Elise Stefanik, the nominee for Ambassador to the United Nations, sat for in-depth, […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill,  Late Sunday night, President Joe Biden issued a sweeping pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, who was shortly to be sentenced for firearm and tax offenses. However, Biden’s pardon covers far more than those charges alone, immunizing Hunter Biden from any “offenses against the United States which he has committed […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill,  There’s a lot to cover this week. President-elect Trump’s cabinet is now complete with the nominations of new appointees to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Scott Turner; Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins; Secretary of Treasury, Scott Bessent; Head of the Office of Management and Budget; and Secretary of […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill. We are so back. After months of the action occurring everywhere but Washington, the city is once again the center of the storyline as Congress returns and President-elect Donald Trump staffs up his administration. Last week, the House and Senate GOP conferences selected their leaders. For the first time in […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill.  Let’s talk about the upcoming election. No, not that one. Plenty of ink will be spilled about November 5th. Let’s talk about the forthcoming Republican congressional leadership elections, which both the House and Senate have now set for November 13. Regardless of how the federal elections shake out, these positions […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill. The dawn of the information age was supposed to change the world. When individuals could access and control the world’s collective information via the computer, the thinking went, the gatekeepers would lose all control and our collective genius would leap humanity forward. That has, of course, happened in a thousand […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill. After the attempted assassination of President Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, various agencies and congressional committees immediately began investigations. The reports are trickling in, and all of them agree on a singular fact: the Secret Service failure was titanic and avoidable. Last week, a bipartisan Department of Homeland […]

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill. With so much else taking up the political oxygen, it’s easy to forget about the other election happening this year: the election for leader of the Senate Republican Conference. In February, Mitch McConnell announced he would be stepping down as GOP leader at the end of the year (though remaining […]