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November is a beautiful month of transition. The air is cooler. The leaves are turning. And because it’s an even-numbered year, the change is particularly jarring on Capitol Hill. Appropriators are wrapping up their business while Americans are electing a new Congress. The confluence of elections and appropriations in November
Dear Friends, With less than a week to go before the midterm elections, Congress is on an extended recess and attention has shifted to a slew of consequential match-ups that will determine the political landscape not only in Congress, but in state houses across the country. We are, of course,
To no one’s surprise, the 176th nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court will likely soon become its 114th justice. Judge Brett Kavanaugh owes his nomination to President Donald Trump, but if confirmed, it will be thanks to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and current Senate Majority Leader Mitch
The federal budget process, laid out in the 1974 Budget Act, is a complex, multi-stage process with many opportunities for partisanship and intra-party divisions to derail it. And derailed it has been, with workarounds like omnibus appropriations and Continuing Resolutions (CRs) becoming the new normal. The myriad challenges in the
The federal budget process is broken. There are few things that political actors across the spectrum agree on; the deep dysfunctionality of congressional budgeting is one. This topic has received considerable attention in recent years, most recently via a joint select committee created to seek reforms. The need for such
Now that erstwhile Secretary of Veterans Affairs nominee Dr. Ronny Jackson has lost his job as the President’s personal physician, he should blame former Sen. Harry Reid for his troubles. On November 21, 2013, in the face of sustained Republican opposition to confirming President Obama’s nominees and judges, the Senate
March 2018 marked a curious milestone for national security that may portend some unexpected clashes ahead for President Trump and congressional overseers. New personnel selections have dredged up divisive political memories; while the choice of Mr. Bolton (for National Security Advisor) may draw more commentary, Gina Haspel (for CIA Director)
Last month Congress struck a two-year deal that greases the budget wheels to the tune of an extra $320 billion. While political posturing and two brief government shutdowns hampered bipartisan negotiations, congressional leaders in the House and Senate ultimately settled on a budget that outlines discretionary spending, lifts the Budget
Three months into the 2018 fiscal year, Congress and the President have yet to finalize a budget deal. Delayed funding of government is not new to this Congress or its predecessors. Similar debates about how much to raise the Budget Control Act (BCA) caps (commonly referred to as sequester) occurred
The FY2018 appropriations process in Congress—which will provide funding for the federal government from October 1, 2017, until September 30, 2018—is once again approaching a deadline. After its failure to enact full year appropriations bills by October 1, Congress has passed a series of continuing resolutions (the first through December
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