As Capitol Hill enters a critical 48-hour stretch, the sense on the Hill is that momentum is gaining, however incrementally, for a supercommittee deal on deficit reduction. Negotiations kicked up a level as House Speaker John …
harry reid
With Deadline Looming, (Tiny) Signs of Progress for Supercommittee
Just when everyone had written off Congress as too dysfunctional to produce a bipartisan agreement on deficit reduction, the supercommittee is actually showing a pulse. Up until this week there was nary a wonk, flack or politico …
With Obama Jobs Bill Vote, Democrats Seek to Prove Congressional Dysfunction
The Senate Tuesday night is expected to vote down President Obama’s jobs bill. Democrats aren’t even sure they can get 51 votes, let alone the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a Republican filibuster. And even if it …
Senate Strikes Deal to Avert Looming Government Shutdown — for Now
Updated: 8:40 p.m. E.T.
Stepping back from the brink, Senate leaders on Monday night struck a deal to avert a government shutdown, passing a measure that will fund the government through mid-November and keep money flowing to …
All Eyes on the Senate: Can Two Veterans Deliver a Debt Deal?
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are not chatty men by nature. Notoriously monosyllabic, either man could probably compete for a world record in shortest average phone conversation. But
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The Weak Speaker: How a Failed Debt Vote Disarmed the Nation’s Top Republican
House Speaker John Boehner failed to muster enough GOP votes to pass his plan to raise the debt limit on Thursday night, throwing into question the fate of Boehner’s proposal as well as that of his speakership. Republican leaders …
Harry Reid’s Canny Waiting Game
The House on Thursday is expected to vote on its latest iteration of a debt ceiling increase matched with spending cuts. With less than a week left before the government starts suspending services to avoid default, the Senate has …
Eight Days Till Debt Armageddon: Democrats and Republicans Forge Ahead on Divergent Paths
With the prospect of a drastic suspension of government services to avoid default looming eight days away, Congressional leaders were unable to reach a deal to raise the federal debt limit despite a weekend of fevered …
Reid Yanks Senate Contingency Plan as House Takes Lead in Debt Talks
Moments after the Senate voted to kill House Republicans’ Cut, Cap & Balance plan by a vote of 51-46, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took the floor and made a surprise announcement: He will not move to pass legislation to …
Debt-Ceiling Kabuki
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and No. 2 Senate Republican Jon Kyl want you to know they are taking a principled stand. They are against raising taxes. They will not recommend to their conferences that taxes be raised. They …
Congressional Silliness Over the Memorial Day Recess
Republicans, it seems, really didn’t want the Senate to break for Memorial Day recess. Really, really, really didn’t want them to. Twenty House Republicans sent their leaders a letter asking them not to approve any adjournment measure sent over by the Senate – the Senate’s adjournment is usually OKed by the House as a matter of …
Armageddon Blues
Convinced that the world was coming to an end on May 21, my wife and I decided to spend our last days–before being engulfed in the eternal fire–in Italy last week. Imagine my disappointment that the Lord’s smite schedule was …