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Washington (CNN) - The White House launched a new front in the battle for control of the U.S. Congress on Monday, dispatching Vice President Joe Biden to outline his party’s line of attack on the Republican economic agenda.
In a speech at The George Washington University, Biden condemned the Republicans’ approach to everything from health care spending to education, saying that recently his opponents have abandoned the central bargain of an American Democracy, “opportunity for all.”
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Washington (CNN) - A day after the White House claimed victory in its Obamacare enrollment numbers, the group tasked with electing Democrats to the House acknowledged it's still a "tough climate" for Democrats in this year's midterms, but also insisted they still plan to campaign on the health care law.
But Rep. Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said an even bigger focus this year will be renewed attempts by Democrats to clobber Republican Rep. Paul Ryan's budget plan on the campaign trail. FULL POST
Washington (CNN) - Republican House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan unveiled a budget plan Wednesday that would achieve some key conservative goals – balancing the federal budget in a decade while starting to contain the national debt – while also rekindling some old controversies by changing Medicare, repealing Obamacare and significantly cutting social programs like food stamps.
Washington (CNN) - It's got a bookish sounding name - "chained CPI." The President's decision to drop the financial measure from his upcoming budget, after including it in his proposal last year, sparked sharp political reaction here Thursday.
Why is that such a big deal?
For those scratching their heads, three reasons: the fight over workers and retirement, the fight over the deficit and the fight over who is Barack Obama.
Washington (CNN) - While warning there is much more to be done to get to a healthy economy, National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling said, "I would still be cautiously optimistic that the general notion is that there are positive trends in the economy."
Sperling said that he believes data that has been coming out about the economy weakening, including slow housing starts, will probably turn out to be weather related. But he did concede that while the economy is on the right track it is, "not good enough," adding that the country "needs stronger growth."
Washington (CNNMoney) - The House on Tuesday passed a bill to restore pension increases for some 750,000 military retirees.
The House voted 326 to 90 to undo cuts to cost-of-living hikes for military pensions for all current retirees and anyone who enlisted before Jan. 1. The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday.
(CNN) - President Barack Obama signed into law on Friday a $1.1 trillion spending bill that will fund the government through the end of September.
The massive bipartisan legislation broke years of forced budget cuts and constant fights over funding in Congress.
Updated 7:46 p.m. ET, 1/16/2014
(CNN) – The Senate on Thursday easily passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September and sent it to President Barack Obama, a notable departure from chronic, partisan-fueled budget battles in recent years that included the government shutdown last October.
The decisive vote, 72-to-26, concluded congressional action that for the first time since 2012 determined federal spending agency by agency instead of through temporary stopgap measures that spotlighted the divisiveness in Washington.
Washington (CNN) – Congressional negotiators are closing in on one of the most important policy decisions of the year – how to divvy up roughly $1 trillion in government funds, but they may be running out of time to get a bill through Congress by the January 15 funding deadline, according to Republican and Democratic sources.
Instead, those sources confirm that Congress may need to pass a temporary one or two-day funding bill to keep the government running next week.
Washington (CNN) - 2013 ended with Congress reaching a deal on funding the government without all the end-of-the-year drama that we've come to expect. Democrats and Republicans defied the recent all-or-nothing gamesmanship and brokered a budget deal before its deadline, prompting speculation that maybe, just maybe, dogs and cats can live together.
Here are five things on both President Barack Obama's and Congress' agendas that will show pretty quickly whether breaking the partisan logjam in the capital is possible or just a fantasy.