Is bipartisanship over in the last season of the Chuck and Mitch show?

The surprising bipartisanship between Senate and House leaders on the foreign aid bill, spending deals and FISA reauthorization is now in the rearview mirror, and a lot of rank-and-file members say that era of legislating is done for. Chuck Schumer isn’t letting it go quietly, though. By now, you’re familiar with his list: The Senate […]

Cole tweaks earmark guidelines to curb GOP political headaches

House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole has some revamped guidance on earmarks that Democrats won’t like. The new chair is barring nonprofits from receiving money through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Economic Development Initiative grant program, hoping to minimize some political headaches that popped up in the last months-long fight over funding the government. […]

Sherrod Brown touts fentanyl bill win in Ohio Senate slugfest

The FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown worked on for more than a year with GOP Sen. Tim Scott to pass, hasn’t garnered headlines like this week’s foreign aid package did. It’s still hugely important for Brown — and his political future. The bill empowers the president to sanction drug traffickers and […]

White House doesn’t want to touch House speaker drama

President Joe Biden and Speaker Mike Johnson built an unlikely working relationship in recent months — a partnership that handed Biden a pivotal foreign policy victory and surprised much of Washington, which assumed nothing at all would get done. But that relationship remains one of convenience. And as congressional Democrats debate whether to prop up […]

New Jersey Rep. Donald Payne Jr. dies

Donald Payne Jr., a member of a prominent Newark political family who represented the city and nearby communities in Congress for over 11 years, died Wednesday following a heart attack brought on by complications from diabetes, his office said. Payne, 65, entered Congress somewhat reluctantly in 2012 following the death of his father, Rep. Donald […]

Johnson won’t remove conservative hard-liners from critical committee

Despite private pressure from centrists, Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that he would not remove three conservative hard-liners from the powerful Rules Committee, where they’ve heavily impeded getting GOP bills to the floor. The panel is typically comprised of lawmakers who are closely allied with leadership, as most bills that get floor votes have to […]

Johnson calls on the president of Columbia University to resign

Speaker Mike Johnson called for Columbia University President Minouche Shafik to resign amid a wave of antisemitic protests that have roiled the Upper Manhattan Ivy League campus. Johnson’s comments to The Hugh Hewitt Show on Wednesday morning make him the most senior elected official to demand the president’s resignation, and he’s slated to visit the […]

Senate overwhelmingly passes long-delayed Ukraine and Israel aid

The Senate sent a $95 billion foreign aid package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan to the president’s desk Tuesday — a long-awaited result after months of congressional haggling over whether to provide funding for the allies. The bill also included a provision that would require TikTok’s parent company to either sell the social media app […]

George Santos drops independent House bid

NEW YORK — Scandal-plagued former Rep. George Santos dropped his independent bid on Tuesday for an eastern Long Island House seat. Santos, who faces multiple felony charges, wrote on X that he did not want to potentially divide the Republican vote for first-term GOP Rep. Nick LaLota and help the eventual Democratic nominee in the […]