Newsletter Archive

November 2023

Pentagon Fails Audit for Sixth Straight Year

Good evening! The government will not be shutting down on Saturday now that the Senate has passed a stopgap spending bill — and did so a full two days before the deadline at midnight on Friday! The vote pushes much of Congress’ to-do list…

Plus: Plus: Senate slams the door on shutdown threat

House Hardliners Revolt, Block GOP Spending Bill

A day after passing a stopgap spending bill, and with lawmakers evidently growing punchy — almost literally — after 10 straight weeks in session, the House on Wednesday adjourned early for its Thanksgiving break after conservatives angered…

Plus: Plus: US Postal Service reports $6.5 billion loss

GOP Speaker Gets a Win, With a Big Help From Democrats

Good evening. Amid a flurry of legislative activity in Washington, things got a little testy on Capitol Hill today, with Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin challenging a witness at a hearing to a fight and former House leader Kevin McCarthy…

Plus: Plus, good news on inflation

Republican Hardliners Push Back Against GOP Funding Plan

Good evening. We’ve got a busy week ahead of the November 17 deadline to avert a government shutdown. As lawmakers work to pass a stopgap spending bill, this week will also bring new data on inflation and a closely watched meeting between…

Plus: Plus: Moody’s sends a warning on US debt

House GOP Forced to Punt on Another Spending Bill

Good evening. We’re looking at the very real possibility of a government shutdown by next Saturday. Here’s an update, and we'll be back in your inbox on Monday with any developments.

Plus: Plus, Romney and Manchin call for a debt commission

Lawmakers Clash Over Plan to Aid Israel, Ukraine

Good evening. House Republicans elected a new vice chair today, with Rep. Blake Moore of Utah replacing Mike Johnson, the new speaker. A few hours later, the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas to Hunter and James Biden as part of…

Plus: Plus, fixes for Social Security

House Republicans Again at Odds as Shutdown Deadline Nears

Good evening. Have you voted yet? Yes, it’s an off year, but today’s elections will decide two major gubernatorial contests, in Kentucky and Mississippi, and could provide key signals for 2024 via races for control of the Virginia…

Plus: Plus: Why Biden’s focus on the economy is failing

Speaker Johnson’s Options to Avoid a Government Shutdown

The government will shut down on November 18 if lawmakers don’t reach a bipartisan spending deal. That’s less than two weeks away, with no sign yet of any action toward a solution.

Plus: Plus: Biden highlights $16.4 billion for northeast infrastructure

Job Market Finally Shows Signs of Slowing Down

Employers hired 150,000 new workers in October, the Labor Department announced Friday, marking a slowdown in the pace of hiring in the U.S. economy. Job gains in August and September were revised lower, as well, with the September reading…

Plus: Plus: House passes bill to cut EPA budget by 40%

October 2023

Schumer Slams House GOP Plan for Israel Aid

Happy Halloween from New York, where neither of your authors dressed up as Fed Chair Jay Powell this year. Powell and Fed policymakers kicked off a two-day meeting today but are expected to hold interest rates steady — and they just may be…

Plus: Plus: Healthcare costs making Americans poorer and sicker

New Speaker Mike Johnson’s First Big Test

Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson will soon face his first big budgetary tests: He has three weeks to work out a deal with Democrats to fund the government and avoid a shutdown of federal agencies. He will need to navigate a path to…

Plus: Plus: A broken tax system?

US Economy Posts Red-Hot Growth

Happy Thursday! The House is back in business under newly installed Speaker Mike Johnson, and Republicans today passed an energy-and-water spending bill that proposes steep spending cuts. Here’s what you should know while waiting for the…

Plus: Plus, the new speaker’s plan to avoid a shutdown

Republicans Finally Pick a Speaker, 22 Days Later

It took more than three weeks, but Republicans have finally elected a new speaker of the House. As a famous therapist once said: Now vee may perhaps to begin. Yes?

Plus: Plus, Biden requests $16B for child care, $23B for disaster relief

Yet Another Republican Flames Out as Speaker Nominee

Good Tuesday evening. Three was most certainly NOT the magic number in the Republican quest to find a new House speaker. Three weeks after ousting former speaker Kevin McCarthy, House Republicans today picked Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the…

Plus: Plus, Biden's $106 billion request runs into trouble

House GOP Speaker Chaos Enters Next Phase

Good evening. House Republicans are gathered tonight to heard from their nine — nine! — candidates for speaker. Here’s where things stand.

Plus: Nine candidates are vying for the gavel

Republicans Dump Jordan After Another Failed Speaker Vote

Jim Jordan will not be the next speaker of the House. That became abundantly clear, if it wasn’t already, when Jordan lost a third round of voting on the House floor Friday and Republicans then dumped him as their nominee in secret…

Plus: Plus: The deficit jumped to $1.7 trillion

Republicans Reject Jim Jordan’s Fallback Plan

Good evening. In our desire to properly convey the full depth of the dysfunction currently on display by House Republicans, we took a moment today to look up the formal definition of the term “clusterf---”: “a complex and utterly…

Plus: Plus: Powell indicates rate hikes will stay on hold