All DC Decoder
Retiring lawmakers offer glimpse into hidden and more hopeful CongressAmid a Congress rife with gridlock and partisanship, senior lawmakers have learned some important lessons about how Congress can work. Here, they share their thoughts with the Monitor.
ABLE Act: How one bill offers hope on Congress's biggest problemsThe ABLE Act, which would help families of people with disabilities save money for health-care costs and other needs, has passed Congress with broad bipartisan support. The reasons why could hold lessons for some of Congress's thorniest issues.
Fall of Russian ruble injects uncertainty into global economyRussia’s turmoil involving the ruble serves as a reminder of the way falling petroleum prices can roil the outlook for oil-exporting nations.
'Onward': What Jeb Bush's campaign message says about 2016Jeb Bush wrote on Facebook that he is actively exploring a possible presidential run, and signed off with 'Onward, Jeb Bush.' He is pitching himself as a man of the future – despite having a last name that conjures the past.
Why three Obama nominees are so controversialA procedural maneuver by two tea party senators gives 23 Obama nominees, some highly controversial, an unexpected chance for confirmation in the last hours of the 113th Congress.
Torture: Dick Cheney all in on 'enhanced interrogation'On “Meet the Press” Sunday, former Vice President Dick Cheney wouldn’t budge on the Bush administration’s program of what a Senate report says was torture of terrorist suspects. “I would do it again in a minute,” he said.
Republicans divided over Senate torture report. Dick Cheney in the spotlightSupport for the Senate Intelligence Committee report on harsh interrogation of terrorist suspects has divided mostly along party lines. But within both parties there are dissenting voices as well.
Obama bucks fellow Democrats: A sign of things to come?President Obama's compromise with Republicans on the budget infuriated liberal Democrats. But this could be the new reality as Republicans take over Capitol Hill.
Federal budget deal for 2015: What's in it for you?Here are 12 ways that the spending provisions and 'riders' in the budget bill, passed Thursday by the House, affect many Americans.
What messy budget vote says about Boehner's ability to control his caucusThe $1.1 trillion spending bill narrowly passed 219 to 206 Thursday night, after rebellious hard-liners on the right and angry liberals on the left fought all the way to a nail-biting, if successful, conclusion.
Budget bill: Why one Wall Street provision stirs the deepest controversyThe House and Senate are scheduled to vote on a proposed $1.1 trillion budget bill Thursday, just hours before the deadline.
Torture: John McCain’s unique, brutal perspectiveSen. John McCain, who spent more than five years as a POW in North Vietnam, where he was tortured, continues to oppose 'enhanced interrogation' as detailed this week in the report by the Senate Intelligence Committee. Not many fellow Republicans agree with him.
In a first, more Americans support gun rights than gun control, poll findsBy a margin of 52 percent to 46 percent, Americans say protecting gun rights is more important than gun control, according to the Pew Research Center. Opinion has shifted markedly since the Sandy Hook massacre two years ago.
From marijuana to Islamic State: five things addressed in new budget dealThe House and Senate reached an agreement on a $1.1 trillion budget on Tuesday. Members of both parties are bound to have strong objections to portions of the deal, but much negotiation and compromise went into the agreement.
Congress poised to nix marijuana legalization, overruling D.C. votersIn November, the District of Columbia voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana, but a new congressional budget deal has a provision barring implementation.
Issa and Cummings praise each other: Return of comity or moment of calm?In a moment of bipartisan cordiality during Obamacare hearings, the GOP chairman and ranking Democrat of the House Oversight Committee – who have been at odds – offered kind words. No one expects choruses of 'Kumbaya' in 2015, but with Washington mired in gridlock even small signs matter.
Senate torture report: six top findings The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday released an executive summary of its investigation into the Central Intelligence Agency’s detention and interrogation program – an investigation launched in 2009 after lawmakers learned that the CIA had destroyed videotapes of detainee interrogations. Here are six top findings in the report.
One year later, Senate's 'nuclear option' has worked. Is that good?A year ago, Senate Democrats changed confirmation rules: All presidential nominees except those for the Supreme Court needed only a majority to pass. Now, Republicans need to decide whether to embrace those changes.
Justice Department's new racial profiling policy should go further, some sayThe Justice Department released new federal guidelines Monday on racial profiling. The ban now goes beyond race and ethnicity, but does not cover local law enforcement in most cases.
Landrieu’s last stand: why Deep South white Democrats are vanishingIf Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) of Louisiana loses her runoff election on Saturday, there will be no more white Democrats from the Deep South in the Senate. Racial polarization of the two main parties has never been more stark.
