All DC Decoder
- 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 caucus
The $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 controversy
The 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 perspective
Sen. 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 finds
By 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 deal
The 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. voters
In 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 say
The 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 vanishing
If 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.
- Meet Ted Yoho, the man leading charge to nullify Obama's immigration action
The freshman lawmaker from Florida, who ran against 'career politicians' in Washington, is part of the rebellion against GOP leadership. On Thursday, the House passed his bill nullifying the president's executive action on immigration.
- House tax break bill shows 'modest' may be Washington's motto in 2015
On Wednesday, the House overwhelmingly passed a bill to extend more than 50 tax breaks for millions of individuals and businesses, approving it 378 to 46. But it’s a smaller, more temporary measure than originally hoped for.