Congress

One More Try? Why Obamacare Repeal Is on the Horizon Again

By Rob Garver

The effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, which many assumed was dead or at least in a state of suspended animation for the foreseeable future, may be showing some stirring of life...
Trump Takes on a Powerful Leader, but This Time It’s on Capitol Hill

By Rob Garver

President Trump was obviously angry. The target of his ire was a man who has been aggravating him for a long time by ignoring his demands, refusing to work through the president’s chosen...
Heads Up: Health Care Is Still in Trouble

By Rob Garver

The issue of the US health insurance system was taken off the front burner with the evident failure of the Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. But while it may not be in...
Here’s How Trump Could Get Democrats’ Help on Tax Reform

By Rob Garver

The Trump administration has been reaching out to ‘Blue Dog’ Democrats to talk about possible areas of agreement on tax reform.
Congress Is Constructing a Wall, All Right. But It’s Built Around Trump

By Rob Garver

Like a body’s immune system trying to wall off an abscess, the institutions of the federal government seem to be coming together to block, or at least limit, the influence of the president on the...

The US Spends Billions on Cybersecurity — but No One Is Sure Exactly How Much

By Eric Pianin

There is no universally accepted definition of what cybersecurity actually means. Moreover, the public and even lawmakers don’t have a clue as to how much the government is actually spending overall...
How Could the VA Make $5.5 Billion in Improper Payments Last Year?

By Eric Pianin

Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri has been on a tear recently in going after government fraud and waste. The ranking Democrat on the Senate’s chief oversight committee and a former state auditor in...
Congress Just Handed Trump Bragging Rights on Expanded GI Education Benefits

By Eric Pianin

For a chief executive preparing to leave town on a 17-day summer vacation after suffering a humiliating setback on health care reform, President Trump will be able to claim some bragging rights when...
Top GOP Conservative: We Won’t Play Around With the Debt Ceiling

By Rob Garver

When it comes to the perennial fight to raise the federal debt ceiling, it’s usually best to assume that the struggle to give the Treasury Department clearance to actually pay the debts that the...
Why Republicans Are Going It Alone on Tax Cuts

By Eric Pianin

Republicans made it clear on Tuesday that despite their debacle in pressing for health care reform without any Democratic assistance, they would again go their own way in drafting and passing major...

The Midterms: Congress Prepares for One Last Sprint

By Adam Graham Silverman and Eric Pianin, The Fiscal Times

With Republicans poised to reclaim the House and possibly the Senate, Congress returned to Washington Tuesday for a frenetic four-week session before members depart again for the final weeks of...
Boehner Budget Rollback would Cut Scores of Agencies

By Edmund Andrews, The Fiscal Times

It sounds easy, but House GOP leader John Boehner’s proposal to roll back non-security federal spending to 2008 levels would require wrenching 20 percent reductions in many agencies, possibly...
Balanced Budget Amendment a ‘Phony’ Deficit Solution

By Bruce Bartlett, The Fiscal Times

Having proven conclusively that they could not care less about balancing the budget when they are in power -- reserving their deficit concerns solely for times when Democrats are in power --...
Social Security: Small Fixes, Big Impact...If We Deal with Problems Now

By Bruce Bartlett, The Fiscal Times

The trustees of the Social Security system delivered their annual report for 2010 on August 5. Since the story it tells doesn’t change much from year to year, the report doesn’t tend to get a lot of...
Without Further Stimulus, Can the Federal Reserve Jumpstart Growth?

By Bruce Bartlett, The Fiscal Times

Although economists still debate whether further fiscal stimulus is necessary or desirable, as a political matter the debate is essentially over. There is simply too little support in Congress for...

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