114th Congress
The Road Ahead
By Laura Blessing and Josh Huder, Senior Fellows Speaker John Boehner finally succumbed to the four-year pressure campaign waged by House conservatives. As politically weak as Boehner was in his conference, the institutional powers of the Speaker meant that he was never going to be forced out of his position. He’s powerful enough that he could
How John Boehner would Lose his Job: He Chooses to.
Josh Huder | September 24, 2015
This is the week Speaker John Boehner will supposedly face a vote to remove him from the speakership on the House floor. Don’t buy the hype. Amid multiple headlines claiming Speaker Boehner is facing his most strident rebellion yet, it’s important to keep the procedural context in mind. The only way John Boehner will vacate
Conservatives’ Playcalling: Hail Mary… Repeat.
(Hail Mary, noun, 2. (FOOTBALL) a very long, typically unsuccessful pass made in a desperate attempt to score late in the game.) It appears Speaker Boehner may have another rebellion on his hands. Will this be the toughest challenge to his speakership? Maybe. That is if you don’t include the last two speakership elections,
Will the Senate Go Nuclear Again?
Josh Huder | July 27, 2015
Put this in the “it’s not really nuclear” category. Despite several accounts reporting that Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) plans to go nuclear, don’t believe the headlines. That said this is likely the most interesting thing that will happen in the Senate this year, at least from a procedural standpoint. After cloture is invoked Senator Lee
The boy who cried shutdown
Kenneth Gold | July 27, 2015
Having failed to pass a single FY16 appropriations bill, and with 14 legislative days scheduled* before the end of the fiscal year, a consensus has emerged on the inevitability of yet another continuing resolution (CR) to avoid a government shutdown on October 1. I think the odds do favor a CR over a shutdown, but
Tedious Filibuster Talk: Was Rand Paul’s talk-a-thon a Filibuster?
Josh Huder | May 21, 2015
Short answer: Yes. There are a couple reasons cited as to why it was not a filibuster. However, neither disqualifies Paul’s 10-hour talk-a-thon. Paul’s filibuster came at a somewhat odd time. NSA spying was not on the Senate floor last night. The upper chamber was still considering the trade promotion authority (TPA) bill. Since TPA
Will Congress finally have a normal(ish) appropriations cycle?
Mark Harkins | May 6, 2015
Last week, there was a story (pay wall) in Congressional Quarterly on the Military Construction-VA Appropriations bill. I was intrigued when Rep. David Price (NC-4), the longtime appropriator on the Democratic side and the current Ranking Member on the Transportation-HUD Subcommittee (T-HUD) was predicting that “there would be a point during the appropriations process
Why is Congress working again?
Josh Huder | April 21, 2015
Many in the media are beginning to notice that Congress is, in fact, working again. It’s negotiating deals, passing significant compromises, voting on amendments, and taking on serious issues. As the 114th Congress was being sworn in I outlined a few reasons for optimism and potential areas of compromise. That said, the 114th Congress is even
Weely Round up: Congress’s rash of bipartisanship has symptoms of partisanship
Josh Huder | April 20, 2015
Bipartisan deals were the big theme this week on the Hill. This was a welcomed contrast to the last two Congresses where even routine bipartisan measures were hard to come by. In part, this was expected. Now that Republicans control both the House and Senate, they have an interest in demonstrating an ability to
An Early Look at Prospects for the FY16 Budget
Kenneth Gold | March 31, 2015
On Wednesday last week the House passed its version of the FY16 budget resolution; and on early Friday morning the Senate passed its version. Modern budget resolutions are highly partisan vehicles, so one would assume that they’d pass easily in each chamber. And with one party in control of both the House and the Senate,
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