Outside the Beltway

After making a big deal about voting against the budget bill passed yesterday by Congress during the last debate, Marco Rubio ended up missing the vote altogether.

The final spending bill for the 2016 Fiscal Year sailed through Congress today, marking the end of a very successful first two months in office for Speaker Paul Ryan

As expected, the Senate easily passed the two-year budget deal early this morning.

Yesterday, Paul Ryan spoke out against the procedure under which the new budget deal was negotiated. Today, he announced that he’ll vote for it anyway.

Paul Ryan is blasting the process that led to the new budget deal between the GOP and the White House, but one suspects he’s secretly quite pleased with the fact that it makes his job-to-be a lot easier.

Congress and the White House have reached a tentative deal on the budget and debt ceiling that promises to make Paul Ryan’s initial months as Speaker a lot easier.

With the top conservative caucus in Congress acquiescing to his candidacy, Paul Ryan is largely certain to become the next Speaker of the House.

Yes, Ben Carson’s comments about the debt ceiling are silly, but it’s the fact that a lot of Republicans agree with him that’s dangerous.

Congress will get a temporary funding bill passed in time to avoid a shutdown on Thursday, but it may just be delaying the inevitable.

Congress has just over a week to pass a funding bill, and it’s not looking very good.

Mitch McConnell spoke a truth that many conservatives are likely not going to want to accept.

Some Republicans are threatening a government shutdown over funding of Planned Parenthood, but a new poll shows that it would be a big political risk for Republicans.

One Missouri legislator is going on a crusade against a “problem” that may not actually exist.

As expected, Republicans have caved in the showdown over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

The costs of more than a decade of war are far higher than many ever thought, and we’re still paying the price for the fiscal irresponsibility of the Bush Administration while they were being fought.

The U.S. Government continues to lose money on production of two coins that people barely use anymore.

As expected, the Senate passed the so-called “Cromnibus,” but not before a self-aggrandizing maneuver by Ted Cruz ended up being exploited by Democrats to pass outstanding nominations.

Despite opposition from both Republicans and Democrats, the compromise budget resolution passed narrowly last night, but not without some last minute drama

It looks like Congress has averted a budget fight for the second straight year.

The House approved a bill to protest the President’s executive action on immigration that will go nowhere. The question is whether it will placate the right.

Sen. Charles Schumer says Democrats made a mistake by concentrating on getting health care reform passed instead of on fixing the economy.

As we head into a new conflict, perhaps we ought to give more thought to fiscal issues than the President is to overall strategy.

Republicans are winning with voters on the issues they say they care the most about.

As Sarah Palin and the Tea Party turn on Paul Ryan, they are making apparent their own lack of relevance in the political process.

Refusing to raise the debt ceiling does nothing at all to control spending.

Big news out of the House of Representatives

Ted Cruz continues to act as if he hasn’t learned his lessons from the shutdown debacle

The PPACA has had a rough 2013, and 2014 could be even worse.

A budget deal has been reached, now it has to get through both Chambers of Congress.

Are we headed for another Federal Government shutdown, or will Congress actually do its job this time?

The Junior Senator from Kentucky does some re-writing of history.

Will the GOP learn the right lessons from the just-concluded showdown? That remains to be seen.

Ted Cruz isn’t ruling out a reprise of his foolish, quixotic, crusade.

The GOP’s shutdown was about as pointless as a show about waiting for a table in a Chinese restaurant.

Would you trust the men and women in this building?

A plan finally starting to come together?

If Congress isn’t able to reach a deal, the big problem going forward would be uncertainty.

The House wasted a day yesterday, now it’s crunch time.

Well, so much for that plan.

It looks like the House will be making its move before the Senate acts, but that may actually help resolve this faster.

The deal emerging out of the talks between Senator Reid and Senator McConnell is about what you’d expect, but it’s probably the best we can expect right now.

Are these four men our last, best hope for a deal that will end the shutdown and avoid breaching the debt ceiling?

Conservatives gathered on the National Mall today to protest the closure of memorials, but their message seems really intended for Republicans in Congress to not back down.

Talks between the two Senate leaders haven’t exactly gone so well.

A little noticed rule change in the House is arguably one of the main reasons we’re in a government shutdown crisis.