All DC Decoder
- Buffett, Gates, and Adelson: Billionaires prod Congress on immigration reform
Billionaires Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Sheldon Adelson have taken Congress to task for failure to enact immigration reform. If we can set aside our political differences and compromise, they say, so can you.
- Border crisis: Should Obama send in the National Guard?
Republicans say the National Guard could free up border patrol agents to do their job. The White House says the problem is not apprehensions because child migrants actually want to be caught.
- Trouble for Democrats if 2014 economy grows at wan 1.6 percent?
Economists downgrade their forecast for US growth in 2014 from 2.5 percent to 1.6 percent. A tepid economy usually hurts the president's party in an election year. Can competing data help Democrats dodge the blow?
- GOP touts newly found Lerner e-mails in IRS scandal: Any smoke in this 'gun'?
In a 2013 e-mail exchange that Rep. Issa is calling a 'smoking gun,' former IRS official Lois Lerner indicates she cautioned colleagues about congressional interest in their internal communications.
- Bipartisan alternative to Obama's border crisis plan takes shape
Republicans have said that President Obama's $3.7 billion border crisis plan doesn't address a key 2008 law that slows deportations. A bill to change the law is in the works, but Democrats are wary.
- Obama's no-win situation on border crisis
President Obama avoided a photo op with Texas Gov. Rick Perry at the border, scene of a surge of child migrants. But the optics of Obama's trip to Colorado and Texas were still awkward.
- Hobby Lobby 101: explaining the Supreme Court's birth control ruling
The Hobby Lobby case decided by the Supreme Court last month sent ripples through the national conversation on women's rights and religion in public life. Here, we explain the basics of what the Supreme Court did.
- Border crisis 101: eight things to know about unaccompanied children Here’s a look at today’s immigration crisis and how it compares to the recent past.
- Candidate pool for Congress is missing moderates, study finds
In state legislatures, long a pipeline for congressional candidates, moderate lawmakers are less likely to run for higher office than are those with hardcore views, a study finds. It's both cause and effect of a more polarized Congress.
- Child immigrant crisis: Is it 'emergency' enough for Congress to act?
Critics see the child immigrant crisis on the border as President Obama's Katrina moment – a time when it's crucial to act decisively. But the crisis might not galvanize Congress behind his plan.
- Child migrants: Why some in GOP say Obama plan ignores roots of crisis
Obama's plan to deal with a flood of child immigrants, for which he is seeking $3.7 billion from Congress, does not include reforms to the 2008 child trafficking law seen as a key cause of the current crisis.
- $3.7 billion for border crisis: Should GOP insist on spending 'offsets'?
Extra funds to deal with the flood of migrant women and children at the US border, which Obama requested Tuesday, must be offset by spending cuts elsewhere, some Republicans argue. Several factors, though, weigh against that approach.