Updates
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
Congressman Boyle on the Debt Ceiling
GAI | April 25, 2023
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D, PA) sits down with Laura and Josh to talk about the debt ceiling. We discuss the history of the debt ceiling, different potential reforms, and the state of play in Congress as we approach Treasury’s X date. Congressman Boyle has sponsored legislation on the debt ceiling every Congress since 2017 and
A Conversation with Congressman David Price
GAI | March 24, 2023
Laura is joined by special guest Congressman David Price to reflect on his long career in Congress: what got him into politics, his perspective as a scholar of political science, his focus on his district, time on the appropriations committee, and thoughts on party leadership over time.
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
Director’s Desk
Kristin Nicholson | March 17, 2023
Dear Friends, As the cherry blossoms open around the Tidal Basin, another spring ritual is getting underway in Washington: the annual budget and appropriations cycle. President Biden submitted his Proposed Budget for FY24 on March 9, kicking off another round of budget hearings on the Hill, which will be followed by months of
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.
How are the parties changing?
Josh Huder | February 6, 2023
Senior Fellow Josh Huder sits down with political parties scholar Dave Hopkins to discuss what has changed and not changed in the Republican and Democratic parties. Dave is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Boston College and author of multiple books, including Asymmetric Politics (coauthored with Matt Grossman) and Red Fighting Blue. He is also a weekly
Director’s Desk
Kristin Nicholson | February 3, 2023
Dear Friends, February may be the dreariest month in Washington, but it will certainly not lack for action this year. It didn’t happen quickly (and surprisingly took even longer in the Senate than the House), but both chambers have finalized their committee rosters, allowing the work of oversight and legislating to kick into higher
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
Congressional Oversight and the 118th Congress with Josh Chafetz
GAI | January 25, 2023
Laura and Matt are joined by Georgetown Law Professor Josh Chafetz to discuss congressional oversight, the importance of the type of oversight some people decry as mere “theater,” and upcoming high-profile oversight issues in the118th Congress.