WASHINGTON — In 2008, an imminent collapse of the banking system consumed Congress before lawmakers delivered a bailout. Three years later, a debt limit crisis enveloped Washington and led to a series of spending cuts after a dangerous brush with default and a first-ever downgrade in the nation’s credit rating. Now unease about the banking […]
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ORLANDO, Fla. — Speaker Kevin McCarthy arrived at an upscale resort here this week eager to use a Republican retreat to promote the party’s policy agenda and achievements so far, working to paper over the divisions that nearly sank his bid for his job and talk about anything but former President Donald J. Trump. “I’m […]
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WASHINGTON — Anyone wondering how a Democratic president and the newly installed Republican speaker of the House would work together got their first real preview this month, when President Biden released a budget that Republicans vowed to torpedo and Speaker Kevin McCarthy signed his first bill — one the president has promised to veto. In […]
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The director of the budget office, Phillip L. Swagel, briefed lawmakers about deficit projections on Wednesday at the Capitol, warning they would eventually need to raise taxes, cut spending or both in order to mitigate rising debt. The office’s projections “suggest that, over the long term, changes in fiscal policy would need to be made […]
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“We’re in a total strategic cul-de-sac on the right, and our fiscal warriors and strategists have totally failed in the sense that, point to any cuts we’ve had success-wise since 1997,” Mr. Vought said in an interview. “I actually think that that’s the worst part of the federal spending, because it’s the bureaucracy. Understand the […]
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Frances Lee, a political scientist at Princeton, argued that the Republican Party has, over time, encompassed an extremist fringe that has not so much grown in recent years, but has gained a loudspeaker in the form of social media. In an email she wrote: I do not see any change in the broader Republican Party. […]
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In a letter to fellow Democrats on Wednesday, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said the speaker was “needlessly exposing the Capitol complex to one of the worst security risks since 9/11.” “By handpicking Tucker Carlson, Speaker McCarthy laid bare that this sham is simply about pandering to MAGA election […]
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WASHINGTON — Democrats on Capitol Hill expressed outrage on Tuesday after Speaker Kevin McCarthy granted the Fox News host Tucker Carlson and his staff access to thousands of hours of security footage from Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Mr. McCarthy, the newly elected Republican speaker, has been under […]
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WASHINGTON — A bill targeting progressive prosecutors whom Republicans have long considered too lenient is facing a wall of opposition from libertarian-leaning members of Congress. Hard-right lawmakers have effectively blocked legislation that would require law enforcement officials running background checks on firearm purchasers to report if a prospective buyer is in the United States illegally. […]
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Such a scene would not have flown in the British Parliament, where rowdy debate is a tradition and members often jeer loudly but are barred from using expletives or hurling accusations of misconduct, including lying. How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times staff members may vote, […]
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WASHINGTON — President Biden was about midway through a speech of about 7,218-words on Tuesday when a Republican lawmaker tried to shut him down with a single one: “Liar!” It was Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, whom the president had baited by accusing Republicans of wanting to threaten entitlement programs like Social Security. Later […]
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As presidents have done for four decades, Mr. Biden has invited carefully chosen guests to join the first lady, Jill Biden, in the House gallery to make political points. Among them will be Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States; Bono, the singer who has championed AIDS treatment; and Paul Pelosi, the husband […]
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One question that always carries with it a frisson of unease during big presidential addresses: On a scale of 1 to Lauren Boebert, how disrespectfully will members of the opposing party behave? Normally, the out party is content to express its disagreement by withholding applause — or vaguely grumbling. But you never know when someone […]
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To respond to Mr. Biden’s address, G.O.P. officials have selected Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, the former White House press secretary under President Donald J. Trump, who made clear she planned to use her platform to highlight “the failures of President Biden,” as she put it in a statement. “We are ready to begin […]
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Mr. Miller declined to be interviewed. But he said in a statement that he “worked hard with Speaker McCarthy’s team during the speaker’s race because he’s my friend” and because Mr. McCarthy “knows how to build consensus around an agenda and then how to implement it.” Mr. Miller added, “I just want to be known […]
Read MoreWASHINGTON — A bitterly divided House on Thursday ousted Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, from the Foreign Affairs Committee over past comments about Israel that were widely condemned as antisemitic, as Republicans moved to cater to the demands of right-wing members and mete out reprisals to their political adversaries. The 218 to 211 vote, […]
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