Yesterday, Senate Democrats unveiled a new, $1 trillion plan to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure plan, one they believe is a bolder and more productive approach to infrastructure than what Donald Trump has so far sketched out. Presented by Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and six other Senate Democrats, the plan aims to create more …
Infra. Policy • Senate Democratic Bill (Jan. 26) Read More »
Fiscal Policy • Mulvaney in the Money In about an hour, Cong. Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, the new administration’s nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), will face Senate Budget and the Senate Homeland Security and Government Operations Committee this afternoon in a doubleheader of confirmation hearings. The hearings today could expose the tension …
In the twilight moment between administrations, the poetry of the campaign inevitably gives way to the prose of governing. On the eve of the inauguration, testimony of the Treasury Secretary designate is more of a policy position commitment than when he was nominated in November. Now it counts. Treasury nominee Mnuchin’s confirmation hearing yesterday before …
The Trump cabinet nominee confirmation hearings are bringing into greater clarity the policy goals of the incoming administration. Although the policy focus to this point has been mostly non-economic, that began to change yesterday with the hearing of Commerce Secretary-designate Wilbur Ross. Today should provide a still-clearer policy picture when the Senate Finance Committee considers …
The House passed a budget resolution for the remainder of FY17 this afternoon on a near party-line vote, 227-198. Adoption of the resolution follows Senate passage of the measure yesterday 51-48 with only Sen. Rand Paul crossing party lines — it projects a $9.1 trillion debt increase FY17-FY26 — and reaffirms the GOP’s intent to repeal Obamacare …
At the heart of the GOP economic legislative agenda for 2017 is tax reform. Both the incoming Trump administration and leaders on the Hill have signaled its centrality. Treasury Secretary-designate Steve Mnuchin has said that tax reform will be introduced within 90 days of inauguration. Speaker Paul Ryan, former chair of House Ways and Means, …
The year is winding down slowly and it effectively came to an end today for monetary policy. For years, the Fed pursued an unprecedented policy of accommodation almost out of necessity while a gridlocked Congress declined to fight the recession with fiscal policy tools. Now that a full-scale economic recovery (measured by jobs, not wages …
Late Friday night, the Senate adopted the FY17 Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government through April 28 that passed the House the day before. The Senate vote came only 62 minutes before the government would otherwise have gone into partial shutdown. The 114th Congress is now in the books. Below we review the route to passage of its last …
Fiscal Policy — FY17 Funded through April (Dec. 12) Read More »
Today the House passed the FY17 CR to extend the budget through until April 28. The 114th Congress is almost in the books, pending only the Senate vote on final passage of the CR, itself pending only the outcome of legislative negotiations regarding a mine worker protection provision sought by Sens. Manchin, Brown, et al. We’ll cover the …
A couple of hours ago, House GOP leaders released a draft FY17 Continuing Resolution — must-pass legislation if the federal government is to avoid a shut-down midnight on Friday. The House will take up the bill as early as Thursday, aiming to get it to the Senate by the Friday deadline. Below is an outline of …
