Economic Policy News

Democrats are claiming they scored significant policy victories in the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill. Hours after the mammoth spending bill dropped, Democrats are counting their triumphs, outlining conservative policy riders and priorities that were not included in the final spending bill. A top Democratic Senate aide summed it up in a single tweet. Adam…

Congressional leaders announced the details of a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government on Tuesday night. But with spending levels already predetermined, lawmakers were more concerned with what policy provisions were attached to the legislation. The spending legislation will be introduced with a package renewing billions of dollars in tax breaks for businesses and…

House Speaker Paul Ryan became the unwilling engineer of the spending locomotive that John Boehner built. But he says the appropriations process established by his predecessor “is no way to run a railroad” and promises sweeping reforms. Before a packed crowd gathered Tuesday for a breakfast event hosted by Politico, Ryan promised that the “number-one”…

More than a trillion taxpayer dollars are on the table as House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi negotiate a massive spending deal. But while those talks drag on between Pelosi, D-Calif., and Ryan, R-Wis., many House Republicans say they’re growing frustrated by the secrecy surrounding the process and the lack of…

Despite no one believing them, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus have insisted that their votes could be had on a forthcoming government spending bill even though they believe it spends too much money. The way to their votes, some members claim, is for negotiators to tack on always-contentious policy provisions to the spending…

In order for House GOP leadership to earn conservatives’ support on the omnibus spending bill, conservative lawmakers are pushing for several policy riders to be included in the package, with their first priority centered on strengthening the system that allows Syrian refugees to resettle in the United States. At the monthly Capitol Hill event Conversations with…

The majority of Americans dislike the budget deal Congress passed in October, according to a poll from the Economist Group and YouGov. Sixty-one percent of those polled—Democrats, Republicans, and independents—said they are dissatisfied with the bipartisan budget deal and believe that “lawmakers should have stuck to lower spending levels.” The remaining 39 percent agreed that the deal “is…

After experiencing the first week of Speaker Paul Ryan’s House, conservatives say they feel right at home. A week into Ryan’s tenure, members of the House Freedom Caucus are crediting the speaker for delivering on his promise to open up the legislative process, and delegate authority to rank-and-file members. And though the outcomes of the…

Looking to protest a budget agreement that increases spending by $80 billion over two years, conservatives may be inclined to advance appropriations bills that include controversial riders, such as a provision to defund Planned Parenthood. “Absolutely conservatives should push hard and not back down,” said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., in an interview with The Daily…

The United States is scaling back its military while nations hostile to American interests continue to grow in strength and aggression, according to The Heritage Foundation’s annual Index of U.S. Military Strength, released Wednesday. The index, rolled out nearly a week after President Barack Obama vetoed the nation’s annual defense bill, found that the military…

Speaker John Boehner stepped to the podium this morning to proclaim that he listened to the American people when crafting his budget deal with President Barack Obama. 56% of Americans would shut down the government to achieve spending cuts. “Having listened to our members and listened to the American people, we have a budget agreement,” Boehner…