Anthony A. Wallis
| July 31, 2013, 12:44 p.m.
For months, the Defense Department has carried out affairs under the direction of the Budget Control Act of 2011, aka “the sequester.” This state of affairs has imposed limits on military procurement, deployment, training schedules and overall force readiness.
By
Frank Oliveri
| July 30, 2013, 3:01 p.m.
Democrats and Republicans agree that the nation’s missile defenses — designed to blunt missile threats from North Korea and Iran — need improvement.
By
Frank Oliveri
| July 30, 2013, 2:58 p.m.
The $40 billion Ground-based Midcourse Defense system was developed and deployed to intercept incoming ballistic missiles and consists of ground-based interceptor missiles, kill vehicles and radar located in Alaska and California.
By
Steven T. Dennis, Matt Fuller
| July 29, 2013, 5:48 p.m.
The effort by conservatives in the House and Senate to threaten a government shutdown over Obamacare could force Speaker John A. Boehner into the arms of House Democrats.
By
Nathan Hurst
| July 29, 2013, 2:20 p.m.
Postponing action on a rail authorization until Congress takes up broader surface transportation legislation next year may provide Amtrak supporters with a tantalizing opportunity to solve their long-term funding problem.
Sen. Tom Coburn
| July 29, 2013, 1:34 p.m.
A common mistake in politics is letting the perfect become the enemy of the good and the achievable. That has never been truer than with the deficit reduction debate in Washington.
Bob Ridder
| July 29, 2013, 5 a.m.
For most of last year, Democrats and Republicans in Congress agreed that the sequester was a defense calamity that would undermine military readiness and break faith with our troops and veterans. It’s hard to watch their prediction come true while the real waste at the Pentagon goes unchecked.
By
Hannah Hess
| July 24, 2013, 4:27 p.m.
Lawmakers on the House panel that oversees the D.C. government quickly and unanimously approved a bill Wednesday that lets the District set its own fiscal calendar and spend locally raised tax dollars without first getting congressional permission.
By
Steven T. Dennis
| July 24, 2013, 3:59 p.m.
President Barack Obama’s latest pivot-to-the-economy speech at Knox College in Illinois struck familiar themes pointing to a popular-if-thwarted middle-class agenda while challenging Republicans not to shut down the government or spark another default crisis.
By
Alan K. Ota
| July 24, 2013, 2:56 p.m.
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah seemed to be trying to spark interest in an issue that was thoroughly on the back burner when he introduced a bill, with no co-sponsors, early this month addressing troubled public pension funds.
By
Steven T. Dennis
| July 23, 2013, 6:39 p.m.
Budget brinkmanship is on tap again this fall, if this week’s renewed finger-pointing over a potential government shutdown is any guide.
By
Kerry Young
| July 23, 2013, 5 a.m.
Republican appropriators in the House are starting to discuss potential terms for a stopgap funding bill to keep the government operating after September, even as both chambers gear up for a flurry of action this week on competing spending measures.
By
Paul M. Krawzak
| July 19, 2013, 1:25 p.m.
Although he is relatively new to the Senate and to politics, Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson is making waves on budget issues. Over recent months, the tea-party-backed conservative has emerged as the numbers point man for a group of GOP senators who are holding private deficit reduction talks with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and other administration officials.
By
Paul M. Krawzak
| July 19, 2013, 1:23 p.m.
A tea party favorite whose election to the Senate in 2010 marked his entry into electoral politics, Ron Johnson has displayed a genial demeanor that’s won friends on Capitol Hill even as he’s remained committed to the tough deficit-cutting talk that helped bring him to Washington.
By
Megan Scully
| July 16, 2013, 1:17 p.m.
Senate Armed Services Committee members will likely use Thursday’s hearing with Gen. Martin E. Dempsey to flesh out more detail on the fiscal sacrifices the military will make if budget caps remain in place into fiscal 2014.
By
Ambreen Ali
| July 15, 2013, 5 a.m.
The House fanned an old debate this week by adopting a provision that would block the Energy Department from setting energy efficiency standards for ceiling fans.
By
John Gramlich
| July 12, 2013, 4:11 p.m.
Gun control supporters made progress in both chambers this week, as a Senate committee advanced a nominee to become the first permanent director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in seven years and a House panel approved a significant funding increase to improve background checks on gun sales.
By
Lauren Gardner
| July 9, 2013, 3 p.m.
Over the almost 50 years since its creation, most Land and Water Conservation Fund dollars have been doled out to federal agencies for land acquisition. But conservation advocates say funding is increasingly being steered toward alternatives that can protect outdoor spaces without expanding federal real estate ownership.
By
Lauren Gardner
| July 9, 2013, 2:43 p.m.
A push by a group of senators to divert more offshore oil and gas royalties to coastal states presents a new challenge — but potentially a fresh opportunity — for defenders of the beleaguered Land and Water Conservation Fund.
By
Emma Dumain
| July 8, 2013, 6:19 p.m.
Almost four months into life on Capitol Hill in the era of the sequester, House members have 20 percent fewer dollars to run their offices. The Office of the House Chief Administrative Officer, lawmakers’ de facto HR department, is offering buyouts. And Capitol Police officers are being pulled from posts around the Capitol complex to cut back on overtime pay, meaning longer lines to enter buildings are increasingly becoming business as usual.
