#Congress

House and Senate negotiators reached an agreement yesterday on the first conference report of the appropriations process for Fiscal Year 2012. Referred to as a “mini-bus,” the agreement combines three of the twelve appropriations bills: Agriculture, Commerce/ Justice/ Science, and…

Time is running short for members of the congressional “super committee,” which has until a week from tomorrow to recommend a plan to reduce projected federal deficits by at least $1.2 trillion over the next decade.In recent days Democratic and…

The special congressional committee on deficit reduction recently heard testimony from the leaders of two prominent bipartisan panels that developed sweeping proposals that could cut federal borrowing by $4 trillion or more in the next decade -- well above the…

On Capitol Hill last week, attention turned to Fiscal Year 2012 appropriations as the House and Senate convened a formal conference on a “minibus” bill which combines three appropriations bills: Agriculture; Commerce, Justice, Science; and Transportation, HUD. The meeting was…

Douglas Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office, last week outlined some of the difficulties facing lawmakers as they weigh further cuts in the “discretionary” spending that Congress approves on an annual basis. Though defense and non-defense discretionary spending account…

In addition to the political challenges facing the “super committee” on deficit reduction, it is running short of time. It has a historic opportunity to move beyond partisanship to forge a comprehensive plan for fiscal reform, but under the debt…

Last January, members of Congress paired up with colleagues of the opposite party for the State of the Union Address. It was a welcome, if symbolic, display of political civility. In the ensuing months, Congress and the Obama administration have…

President Obama said Monday he would seek congressional approval of “bite-sized pieces” of his $447 billion plan to bolster the economy after a Senate vote last week blocked the package as a whole, along with a provision Democrats had added…