118th Congress
The Worst Job in Washington: Kevin McCarthy and the Challenge of the Speakership
GAI | August 1, 2023
By Matthew Green, Professor, Department of Politics (The Catholic University of America) The past seven months have made it abundantly clear that the House speakership is one of the most difficult jobs in Washington. In January, for the first time in a century, the majority party’s nominee for speaker – Kevin McCarthy of California –
Debt Limit Déjà Vu? What Can We Learn from the Close Calls of 2011 and 2023?
Laura Blessing | June 7, 2023
Normally, we remember what we were doing when great triumphs or tragedies take place on the world stage. Fiscal policy is not typically on that list of events. And yet, I remember clearly what I was doing in the lead up to Treasury’s “X date” in 2011. I was in grad school, and I had
The Debt Ceiling and the Appropriations Process
Katina Slavkova | May 3, 2023
The partisan and intra-branch posturing on the debt ceiling, on display since January, has finally yielded actual legislative text. Last week Speaker Kevin McCarthy successfully shepherded his conference to pass a debt ceiling bill, accurately characterized as a “bare-minimum victory on a doomed bill.” This description of the House GOP’s initial bargaining offer perfectly
Back to the Future for Appropriations Procedures in the 118th Congress?
Matt Glassman | March 17, 2023
President Biden released the President’s Budget last week and with it, the federal appropriations process has lurched to a start. In the modern era, we have come to expect to see late introduction of the President’s budget, forgoing passing a budget resolution by the budget committees (“deeming” them instead), and the failure to pass individual
Congress, Two Beers In | Rules, Budgets, Funding, and Stuff
Josh Huder | March 9, 2023
Mark, Matt, and Josh discuss special rules, leaders’ power, budgets, funding, McCarthy, the debt ceiling, and whatever else popped into Mark’s head.
Hollow Promises: Speaker McCarthy and Appropriations
Josh Huder | February 3, 2023
As Kevin McCarthy brokered with conservatives to win the speakership, he made a series of promises to significantly revamp the budget and appropriations processes. Among them were commitments to pass a budget that balances in 10 years, consider and pass each appropriations bill individually (rather than in “minibus” or “omnibus” form), and provide members an
New Podcast Episode: 117th Congress Review and 118th Predictions
GAI | December 19, 2022
The Congress: Two Beers In crew ditch beer for bourbon as they discuss what happened in the 117th Congress. They also opine on the new Republican majority in the House, whether a Speaker will be elected on January 3, and the effects of an expanded Democratic majority in the Senate.