Government Operations
Main Street Lending Program Leaves 30% of Borrowers at Risk
As the Federal Reserve wound down its emergency lending programs in early 2021, a troubling pattern emerged in one of its signature pandemic relief efforts:...
Senate Clashes Over SBA Cuts at Small Business Hearing
Why it matters: The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship convened on June 17, 2026, to examine small business entrepreneurship across...
New Trump Accounts Plan May Favor Higher-Income Families More
I notice the writing guidelines ask me to incorporate terms like "Trump social media accounts," "presidential account ownership," "Trump Twitter accounts,"...
NAPEO Hires ArentFox Schiff for Tax Lobbying
The National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO) has added outside lobbying muscle, registering ArentFox Schiff LLP as a new lobbying...
U.S. Debt Hits WWII-Era Milestone
The United States is staring down a federal debt crisis that has been decades in the making, and the government's own nonpartisan watchdog is now saying, in...
Asimat Al-Hadharat Hires Ballard Partners for Economics Lobbying
Asimat Al-Hadharat is a first-time entrant into federal lobbying, having filed a new client registration with Ballard Partners LLC signed June 10, 2026. The...
China's Power Grows in Western-Led Financial Institutions
A new Congressional Research Service report lands at a moment when Washington's relationship with Beijing is under strain across nearly every front, and it...
Multiple Economic Forecasts Offer Conflicting Fiscal Predictions
With Congress in the middle of a high-stakes debate over a sweeping reconciliation package, the question of which economic numbers to trust has never been...
Iran Conflict Shields U.S. Gas Prices While Allies Surge
A new Congressional Research Service report published June 11 finds that the Iran conflict's impact on natural gas prices has split sharply along geographic...
Senate Examines Main Street Retail Crises
Small business retail is under pressure from tariffs, shifting consumer behavior, and generational spending changes — and Congress is paying attention....
"AI and The American Dream" Hearing Led By Warren, Scott
How Congress shapes — or fails to shape — artificial intelligence policy will determine whether the technology's economic gains are broadly shared or...
Bessent Defends Tax Law as Democrats Grill IRS Deal
Why it matters: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee on June 4, touting the administration's tax record while...
Michelin North America Lobbies on Trade, Tax Policy
Michelin North America reported $227,803 in in-house lobbying spending for the first quarter of 2026, according to a lobbying disclosure filed June 1. The...
Social Security COLA Formula Mismatches Retiree Needs
Every year, a formula buried in federal statute quietly determines whether tens of millions of Americans can keep up with rising prices. The Social Security...
A Pandemic Debt Reckoning Forces Congress to Act
A new Congressional Research Service report lays out the full dimensions of a slow-moving financial crisis: hundreds of thousands of small businesses that...
Regulators Face Capital Scrutiny As Banking Rules Shift
The House Financial Services Committee's prudential regulators oversight hearing on June 4 lands at a pivotal moment for American banking policy — with...
Senate Advances Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill"
The Senate voted 53–0 along party lines to proceed to the S. 2 reconciliation bill, clearing the procedural hurdle to begin floor debate on the centerpiece...
Opportunity Zones Relaunched With Stricter Eligibility Rules and Tighter Timeline
A new Congressional Research Service report is giving lawmakers a detailed roadmap for navigating the second round of Opportunity Zone designations, a...