The debt limit caps how much the Treasury may borrow to pay for spending Congress already approved, and hitting it without an increase would force choices among payments no law currently defines.
Henrik Larsen · August 28, 2026The Court ruled the law's requirement that ByteDance divest TikTok's US operations does not violate the First Amendment, clearing the law to take effect.
Aleksandr Komarov · August 23, 2026
A look at how continuing resolutions work, why lawmakers rely on them almost every year, and what happens when one is not passed by the fiscal deadline.
Valentina Sokolov · August 20, 2026
The Court ruled 6–3 on June 30 that children born on U.S. soil to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Alexandria Lucas · July 5, 2026
The House passed a Senate bill funding every DHS component except ICE and Border Patrol by voice vote on April 30, and the president signed it the same day.
Alexandria Lucas · May 2, 2026Committee gavels, subpoenas, the Senate's confirmation calendar, and the fate of every bill run through the majority — which is why both parties treat midterms as existential.
Alexandria Lucas · April 9, 2026The Homeland Security funding lapse that began February 14 reached its second month with Democrats demanding enforcement reforms and Republicans refusing riders.
Alexandria Lucas · March 17, 2026
The case for and against ending the Senate's 60-vote legislative filibuster, drawn from named advocates on each side.
Lena Fischer · January 22, 2026
Congress has finished its full appropriations process on time only three times in 47 years, making stopgap spending bills the routine way agencies stay funded.
Henrik Larsen · August 18, 2026
The budget year runs a 20-month production cycle — president's request, spring resolutions, summer marks, October 1 funding deadline — and every stage slips.
Henrik Larsen · August 1, 2026
The food-stamp program's work rules layer federal statutes, age thresholds, and state waivers — and the 2025 law expanded them to new groups.
Henrik Larsen · July 14, 2026
Every June the Fed publishes scenarios and results that set the capital cushions the largest U.S. banks must hold — and the program is under legal challenge.
Henrik Larsen · June 21, 2026
Congress routinely relies on short-term spending bills to avoid shutdowns, but the stopgap funding comes with restrictions that agencies say slow hiring, contracting and new programs.
Aleksandr Komarov · August 15, 2026The end of Chevron deference shifted interpretive power from agencies to courts — and the emerging case law shows both continuity and real change.
Aleksandr Komarov · July 27, 2026
Eighteen states and Washington, D.C. have pledged their electoral votes to the national popular-vote winner, reviving a state-by-state fight over how presidents are chosen.
Lena Fischer · August 13, 2026
The $7.25 floor has not moved since 2009 while nearly 20 states raised theirs in January 2026 — the argument is about who is helped and who is priced out.
Valentina Sokolov · August 10, 2026Full retirement age is 67 for those born in 1960 or later; the trust fund's shortfall puts the number back on the table every Congress.
Lena Fischer · July 23, 2026Pilot programs from Stockton to Kenya informed the UBI debate; the argument turns on what cash without conditions does to work, poverty, and the budget.
Lena Fischer · July 9, 2026
Importers write the check to Customs and Border Protection, but government and Federal Reserve research shows the cost mostly lands on consumers within months.
Valentina Sokolov · August 10, 2026
The Federal Open Market Committee left its target range unchanged on July 29, 2026 — holding all year while inflation cools slower than expected.
Alexandria Lucas · August 5, 2026Four times a year public companies open their books: a press release, a call, and the annual 10-K whose footnotes carry the real story.
Alexandria Lucas · June 30, 2026An inverted Treasury yield curve has preceded every modern recession, with one false alarm — which is why the Fed watches it and why forecasters argue about it.
Alexandria Lucas · June 12, 2026