The Tea Party

Seven Tests That Can Keep Republicans from Screwing Up

By Edward Morrissey

It didn’t take long for Republicans to make their first tin-eared mistake after winning a broad victory in November. In fact, they had barely opened the new session of Congress before performing a...
One Place the Trump Train Isn’t Stopping: Paul Ryan’s Backyard

By Martin Matishak

In a year in which an outsider candidate seized the reins of one of the country’s two major political parties, there’s one place where folks haven’t gotten the anti-establishment message: House...
Two-Thirds of the US Government Basically Won’t Work for the Next Year

By Rob Garver

With a deadlocked Supreme Court and a compromise-averse Congress, 2016 promises to be a year in which simply keeping the lights on will be a major accomplishment.
House Freedom Caucus Prepares to Challenge Ryan on 2016 Agenda

By Eric Pianin

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) has gotten off to a strong start with the far-right conservatives in his conference who drove former Speaker John Boehner from office and blocked Boehner’s heir...
Ted Cruz Gets a Boost from Powerful Conservative Insiders

By Rob Garver

An influential political action group in Washington, Heritage Action for America, all but endorsed the presidential candidacy of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Monday, with the release of an analysis of the...

Boehner Ready to Exit a Historically Feeble Congress

By Rob Garver

As he heads into what appears to be the final week his leadership of the House of Representatives, House Speaker John Boehner will be the subject of no end of retrospective profiles of his career...
Did Paul Ryan Outsmart the Freedom Caucus?

By Rob Garver

The news that Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan had persuaded a large majority of the House of Representatives’ most conservative element to support his bid for Speaker of the House left the...
Paul Ryan Has Probably Already Lost His Shot at the Presidency

By Rob Garver

Regardless of whether Rep. Paul Ryan decides to declare himself a candidate for Speaker of the House sometime this week, his political future will likely sustain some real damage – and there is...
Meet the Freedom Caucus, the Group Inflaming Washington

By Martin Matishak

If you don’t know much about a group of congressional lawmakers called the House Freedom Caucus, don’t worry; you’ll hear about them plenty in the weeks and month ahead.
Why You – Yes, You – Could Be the Next Speaker of the House

By Martin Matishak

Spoiler alert: The race to be the next Speaker of the House is pretty much over.

Did IRS Violate the Law on Lerner’s Email?

By Rob Garver

More than a few people thought that the Internal Revenue Service’s claim that a single computer crash destroyed all records of Lois Lerner’s email was fishy. A look at IRS’s compliance with the...
IRS Loses Lerner Emails, Capping Obama’s Awful Week

By Rob Garver

The IRS admitted Friday it has lost an unknown amount of email correspondence to and from a key figure in the long-simmering scandal over the agency’s alleged targeting of Tea Party groups seeking...
McCarthy Closes In on House Majority Leader Post

By ED O'KEEFE and Robert Costa, The Washington Post

The defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.) in a Republican primary was an astounding triumph for the tea party movement, but there was little evidence Thursday that the insurgency could...
It’s McCarthy v. Sessions in New House Leadership Match

By Rob Garver

House Majority leader Eric Cantor is vacating his job as House Majority Leader after losing a primary on Tuesday. Ironically, the battle to replace him looks a lot like the election he just lost,...
How Growing Partisanship Is Splitting the U.S. in Two

By Eric Pianin

President Obama vowed to “turn the page on the ugly partisanship in Washington” during the 2008 campaign, but found it impossible and is now trying to work around Congress. According to a new study...

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