Revise & Extend
Rest In Peace Congressional Budget Process
Josh Huder | June 6, 2022
Sometime in the last ten years the congressional budget process died. The precise moment is hard to pinpoint because it is not totally – just mostly — dead. But today, only a hollow version of the process still exists. Partisan majorities pass shell budgets to trigger reconciliation in the hopes
The Defense Budget: Current Status and Core Issues
Katina Slavkova | May 3, 2022
Defense officials are already busy making the obligatory annual rounds on Capitol Hill in support of the President’s preferred spending priorities. The current steady pace of congressional hearings might suggest that Congress is methodically working its way towards a timely passage of the defense budget. But this burst of activity on the
The Legacy Question
Laura Blessing | April 5, 2022
It’s time. Time to talk about the L word. As the cherry trees blossom in Washington and legislators’ minds turn towards reelection, the administration is taking stock of its legacy. In our hyper-polarized era, an administration’s first two years, especially if under unified governance, play an outsized role in the mark they leave on politics,
Appropriations Update and Continuing Resolutions
Matt Glassman | March 2, 2022
Where are we with government funding? It’s déjà vu all over again, as Congress passes another Continuing Resolution (CR). The FY2022 congressional appropriations process—which will provide funding for the federal government from October 1, 2021 until September 30, 2022—is once again delaying final action. After its failure to enact full year appropriations bills by October
Filibuster Fight Goes Another Round
Josh Huder | February 2, 2022
According to the headlines, last week Majority Leader Chuck Schumer forced the Senate to vote on a potential change to the Senate filibuster. In actuality, Schumer did something very different. What was nominally aimed at reforming the filibuster was actually an attempt to limit all senators’ rights under the rules to consider a single piece
Notes on Editing (Or: Why We Need a Different Thesis Statement)
Laura Blessing | January 7, 2022
In marking the one-year anniversary of the January 6th insurrection, many are taking stock of the state of the response as well as our democracy. The latter has not made for easy reading—the US has been categorized as a “backsliding democracy” for the first time or otherwise downgraded by think tanks studying
The End-of-Year Appropriations Crunch
Katina Slavkova | December 2, 2021
Congress is back from its Thanksgiving recess only to face another round of demanding deadlines, the most pressing of which is averting a government shutdown once the current short-term continuing resolution (CR) expires on December 3. All this within the whirlwind of other activities: the just-passed infrastructure bill, the ongoing Build Back Better
Off-year elections and legislation aren’t inherently linked
Josh Huder | November 3, 2021
Last night, Republicans swept the statewide races in Virginia and made a serious push in New Jersey. Among the various pundit hot-takes and autopsies interpreting what Republicans’ impressive performance means going forward, many pointed to the cooling effect it would have on Democrats’ infrastructure and reconciliation bills. As Republicans shrink the gap in blue states,
Does Evil Lurk within the “Shadow Docket”?
Susan Sullivan Lagon | November 2, 2021
Congress provides plenty of examples of procedures that were once rarely deployed but have since become routine: Filibusters instead of debate in the Senate, Continuing Resolutions (CRs) in place of regular annual appropriations, and playing chicken with the debt ceiling are among the most obvious. Fail-safes designed for exigent circumstances have become standard operating procedure.
Democrats and the Debt Ceiling
Josh Huder | October 7, 2021
Debt ceiling politics is front and center in Congress as the US is scheduled to default on its accrued debt October 18. (For a good explainer on the debt ceiling I recommend my colleague Laura Blessing’s piece.) So far, Senate Republicans have filibustered Democrats’ attempts to raise the debt ceiling. Instead, Minority