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.

IRS Scandal: Administration Official Knew a Year Ago

By Andy Sullivan and Kim Dixon, Reuters

The outgoing head of the IRS angered GOP lawmakers on Friday by resisting their demands that he identify who at the tax-collection agency had inappropriately targeted conservative groups for extra...
How Congress Could Have Prevented the IRS Scandal

By David Francis and Eric Pianin

Congressional Republicans are calling for the heads of those responsible for the IRS scandal. But the reason the loophole at the center of the scandal is their responsibility to fix.
White House Scandal Spin: 'Americans Don’t Care'

By Josh Boak and David Francis, The Fiscal Times

White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Wednesday that the IRS, Justice Department and Benghazi controversies don’t matter because the American public doesn’t care.
IRS Scandal Strikes a Severe Blow to Big Government

By Edward Morrissey

Right now, we have what’s usually called a “target-rich environment” in politics for pundits and scandal investigators. Want a White House scandal to probe? Take a look at the 12-revisions of the...
How the IRS Wasted Time Chasing the Tea Party

By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

The IRS’s scrutiny of conservative groups went well beyond those with “tea party” and “patriot” in their name and the outrage is deserved in the targeting. But this fiasco hints at a broader problem...

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