Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter
Institutional power is more of an academic topic. Nonetheless, it has enormous ramifications. The current immigration debate is a great example of that. Despite the rhetoric around the DHS debate, America has never had a dictator president – the current president included. However, the DHS/immigration debate is an interesting look
Republicans’ flirtation with a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security intensified over the weekend. Boehner appears entrenched and suggested Sunday that a shutdown is possible. On President’s Day the dynamic changed… possibly. A federal judge in Texas recently halted the President’s executive action on immigration. Several reports suggest that
For federal departments and agencies, the most important issue in the First Session of the 114th Congress will be the shape of the FY16 congressional budget resolution, which will set the discretionary spending levels for the Appropriations Committees. New House Budget Committee Chair Tom Price of Georgia recently told a
Congress returns from its August recess next week, and is well positioned to conclude one of the least productive Congresses in modern history. With less than a month before the next fiscal year begins, it would be reasonable to expect a flurry of activity surrounding last ditch efforts to pass
Congress returns from recess next week after an unexpectedly successful final week in July. Congress passed a significant Veterans health bill and temporarily extended the Highway Trust Fund. While there were breakthroughs, Congress failed to find common ground on several issues. With only 12 legislative days left before the election,
There’s no single reason for the failure to fulfill early expectations, and many observers were skeptical from the start, despite the more favorable conditions for passing the spending bills this year. The House has in fact passed five relatively non-controversial bills – Milcon/VA, Legislative Branch, Commerce/Justice/Science, Transportation/HUD, and Defense. This
On Thursday, Chris Cillizza examined an Obama statement in Texas: “This has become the least productive Congress in modern history, recent memory. And that’s by objective measures, just basic activity.” Cillizza agrees and extrapolates this a little too far, saying this Congress is the least productive in history. By the
This post originally appeared as an op-ed in Roll Call. In December, Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma issued his annual “Wastebook” that purports to highlight unnecessary and wasteful government spending both by Congress and by federal agencies. In this year’s edition, he’s especially critical of the 16-day federal government shutdown.
Dr. Charles Cushman spoke with Lauren Murphy from The Voice of Russia yesterday. He fielded questions about the nearly $80 billion Pentagon budget proposed for FY2015, and how Congress is likely to respond. Dr. Cushman called the $80 billion a place holder, since negotiations are still happening between Afghanistan and
In yesterday’s Washington Post, Lori Montgomery did an excellent job laying out why Obama’s budget matters less this year than most. But don’t let that fool you; it still matters, and matters a ton. First, Congress has fewer than 150 staff in the House and Senate combined who review the
Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter
Get in touch
