TIME’s photo editors bring you the best pictures of the past week from the Beltway and beyond.
House
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 …
Gabby Giffords Offers Momentary Reprieve from Washington Shrillness
The tone of the past month of debt negotiations has hardly been Washington’s finest hour. In fact, the most popular words to describe the situation, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, were “ridiculous,” …
With Debt Deal Reached, Can Congress Swallow Its Own Bitter Medicine?
If the definition of a compromise is something that most folks don’t like, then the $2.4 trillion debt-ceiling deal worked out over the weekend by President Barack Obama and GOP leaders in Congress is a resounding …
House Leaders Tweak Doomed Bill to Stem Conservative Insurrection
House Republican leaders have sweetened Speaker John Boehner’s debt-ceiling plan to make it more palatable to conservative holdouts, and rank-and-file members said the tweaks would likely be enough to give Boehner enough votes to pass his bill later on Friday.
A night after a dramatic rebuke to Boehner’s stewardship of the House, …
Keeping a Safe Distance, Obama Lays Out a Path Forward in Debt Talks
“Tweet,” said the President of the United States, Friday, speaking from the Diplomatic Reception Room. He was renewing his call, first issued in Monday’s primetime address, for Americans to contact their Senators and Congressman …
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 …
House Delays Vote on GOP Debt Bill
Updated, 10:00 PM
House Republican leaders have delayed a pivotal vote on Speaker John Boehner’s proposal to cut the deficit and raise the federal debt ceiling, suggesting they may still be scrambling for votes after three days of whipping wavering members. Laena Fallon, a spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, said the …
Republican Establishment Tries to Leash the Tea Party
As John Boehner hunts for enough votes to pass his debt-limit proposal, the Washington-New York Republican establishment is coming out in vehement support for his plan. on Tuesday, the Chamber of Commerce announced its backing of the Boehner plan, calling the legislation “critical” and saying that “default is not an option.” (The …
The GOP’s Debt Test: Can the ‘Hell No’ Caucus Get to Yes?
The first thing to know about the group of House Republicans who will determine the fate of Speaker John Boehner’s bill to cut the deficit and raise the debt ceiling is that many of them came to Congress to say no. This Tea …
Unable to Deal With Each Other, Obama and Boehner Invade Prime Time
“I won’t bore you,” President Obama said, as he broke into America’s prime time TV lineup on Monday night. This was ironic, because he went on to talk about Triple A credit ratings, Dwight Eisenhower and the debt limit. …
Mixed Response from GOP as Boehner Pushes Unilateral Debt Plan
Clarification appended, 11:15 AM Tuesday:
House Speaker John Boehner hawked his new proposal to raise the federal debt limit on Monday afternoon, imploring House Republicans in a closed-door meeting to back a plan that meets …
Debt Talks’ Dire Hour: Why the Failsafe Plan Could Still Fail
Less than two weeks before Congress hits its deadline to raise the debt ceiling, the path toward an agreement on deficit reduction remains murky. White House negotiations have slowed. House Republicans have coalesced behind a …