by jpitney | Jan 15, 2025 | Taxes, Trade
At the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Ryan Young notes that a 25 percent steel tariff caused steel prices to rise by 25 percent. It wasn’t just imported steel prices that went up. Domestic steel prices went up, too, even though the US government collects no tariff...
by jpitney | Jan 12, 2025 | Congress, Elections, House of Representatives, Transparency, Volunteering
Don Wolfensberger at The Hill: The rule change that attracted most attention was to require that a motion to vacate the speakership be offered by a member of the majority party and be seconded by eight other majority party members. Previously, a single member of...
by jpitney | Jan 11, 2025 | Bipartisanship, Disabilities, Photojournalism, Senate
A release from Senator Eric Schmitt (D-MO): This weekend, Senator Eric Schmitt and Senator Jon Ossoff’s Think Differently Database Act was signed into law by the President: “The Think Differently Database Act creates a comprehensive website that provides...
by jpitney | Jan 8, 2025 | civic virtue, Congress, Deliberation, Elections, House of Representatives, Transparency, Volunteering
Philip Wallach at AEI: As it scrambled to pass a continuing resolution and avoid a government shutdown at the end of 2024, the 118th Congress ended much as it began—with serious doubts as to whether America’s legislature can rise to the level of bare competence. The...
by jpitney | Jan 6, 2025 | Congress, Senate
Andrew Desiderio at Punchbowl News: Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated to us that he’d oppose efforts to overrule the Senate’s parliamentarian if certain GOP border security and tax provisions are ruled inconsistent with budget reconciliation rules. In a...
by jpitney | Jan 5, 2025 | Congress, House of Representatives
Daniella Diaz, Meredith Lee Hill and Jordain Carney at Politico: Speaker Mike Johnson told Republicans on Saturday that President-elect Donald Trump wants one reconciliation package, instead of the planned two that Republican leadership has been pushing, three people...
by jpitney | Jan 4, 2025 | Congress, House of Representatives
Aidan Quigley at Roll Call: A last-minute insertion into House Republicans’ rules package for the 119th Congress substantially raises the bar for voting on legislation under suspension of the rules late in the week or over the weekend, in a concession to conservatives...
by jpitney | Jan 3, 2025 | Bureaucracy, California Politics, Ethics
Yue Stella Yu and Jeremia Kimelman at CalMatters: Historically plagued by what some staff called an “enormous” backlog, California’s campaign watchdog [the Fair Political Practices Commission] has sometimes taken years to resolve cases — exposing violations or...
by jpitney | Jan 2, 2025 | Congress, House of Representatives
Jordain Carney and Meredith Lee Hill at Politico: Republicans will make it harder to remove the speaker in the 119th Congress under a rules package unveiled Wednesday. The proposed rules package would require nine GOP members to back making a motion to vacate to...
