Congressional Policy Issues
Continuing Resolutions: Continuing to Damage Defense
GAI | January 9, 2023
Guest Post by Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Cabana For the national security community, the calendar year has dawned with an $858 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and an omnibus funding bill passed in late December. But what may have felt like a Christmas miracle to congressional staffers scurrying home belies a larger problem. The fiscal
A Very Busy Lame Duck?
Katina Slavkova | December 1, 2022
Why walk when you can fly? As the 117th Congress pushes into its lame duck session, party leaders consider an ambitious array of bills, and historically, it’s not unusual for such sessions to feature major legislative items. While lame ducks of the past decade or two have typically been marked by
Student Loan Debt Relief is a Big Deal – for Congress
Matt Glassman | September 7, 2022
On August 24th, President Biden announced a plan to provide student loan debt relief. The policy will include debt cancellation of up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for non- Pell Grant debt, for anyone with an income less than $125,000 ($250,000 for married couples). In addition, future monthly payments
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,
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,
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
Democrats in disarray? The surprisingly normal politics of infrastructure negotiations
Matt Glassman | September 8, 2021
On August 24th, the House adopted S.Con.Res.14, the congressional budget resolution for Fiscal Year 2022 previously adopted by the Senate on August 11th, setting up consideration of a $3.5T package of spending under the reconciliation process. The budget resolution was adopted 220-212 in the House and 50-49 in the Senate, with every Democrat
The Importance of the Congressional Calendar
Katina Slavkova | July 7, 2021
Halfway through its first session, the 117th Congress finds itself in familiar territory, one that past Congresses know all too well. The crush of ambitious and unfinished legislative business is threatening to overwhelm Capitol Hill’s notoriously tricky and fickle schedule. Call it the tyranny of the congressional calendar. Here we’ll consider
A Familiar Landmine: The Looming Debt Ceiling
Laura Blessing | June 4, 2021
With all the other tumult going on in our politics, one might be forgiven for not focusing on a familiar landmine: the debt ceiling. After all, since its regularized inclusion in the appropriations process a decade ago, Congress has shifted from extending the debt limit to a specific amount