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Peter Cohn

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Sen. Ron Johnson blocked consideration of a three-bill spending package on the floor.

Appropriations on the skids

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn and Paul M. Krawzak
Posted September 15, 2023 at 2:43pm
Earmarks in Senate spending bills would send the most dollars to Maine, home of Republican Sen. Susan Collins, left, and the most money per capita to Alaska, home of Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Generational shift ushers in new era for Senate earmarks split

By Peter Cohn
Posted August 9, 2023 at 7:00am
Thanks to Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., his home state would take home the most per capita earmarked funds of any state in House spending bills.

Red states’ revenge evident in House earmarks distribution

By Peter Cohn
Posted August 4, 2023 at 10:30am
From left, Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, pose for a picture to mark National Seersucker Day in the Capitol on June 8.

Big shoes filled as Senate appropriators spread earmarks wealth

By Herb Jackson and Peter Cohn
Posted August 2, 2023 at 10:49am
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., topped the list of House members with earmarks in fiscal 2024 appropriations bills, sponsoring $273.3 million worth of projects.

Republicans hoover up earmarks in House spending bills

By Peter Cohn and Herb Jackson
Posted July 24, 2023 at 12:15pm
Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., left, and Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., talk during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee meeting on Jan. 31.

GOP holdouts on spending bills score dozens of earmarks

By Peter Cohn and David Lerman
Posted July 24, 2023 at 12:15pm
Automatic cuts are among the unexplored quirks of language in the debt ceiling law inspired by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.

Automatic spending cuts would threaten infrastructure funding

By Paul M. Krawzak and Peter Cohn
Posted July 7, 2023 at 5:00am
The chairman of the subcommittee that wrote it, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., is sponsoring $236.8 million worth of earmarks in the Energy-Water bill.

House, Senate majorities putting their stamps on earmarks

By Aidan Quigley and Peter Cohn
Posted July 3, 2023 at 11:21am
Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., and members of the House Freedom Caucus sought new concessions from GOP leadership after a rift over the debt limit deal.

Conservatives revolt

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn and Aidan Quigley
Posted June 9, 2023 at 4:49pm
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the top Senate GOP appropriator, won a commitment to take up a supplemental spending bill as part of her consent to a debt limit deal with defense spending caps.

Implications of the debt limit deal

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn and Lindsey McPherson
Posted June 2, 2023 at 2:51pm
President Joe Biden will meet with the top four congressional leaders in their first formal talks on raising the debt limit.

Presidential engagement

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn and Aidan Quigley
Posted May 5, 2023 at 12:05pm
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is trying to unite his party around a bill pairing a debt limit increase with spending constraints. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

The politics of raising the debt limit

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn and Lindsey McPherson
Posted April 14, 2023 at 4:11pm
President George W. Bush speaks at Airlite Plastics trying to drum up support for his tax cut proposal May 12, 2003 in Omaha, Neb.

Congress will miss its budget deadline. That’s not unusual.

By Peter Cohn
Posted April 14, 2023 at 9:38am
White House budget director Shalanda Young defended the president’s fiscal 2024 budget before the Senate Budget Committee on Wednesday.

GOP’s budget attack

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn and Paul M. Krawzak
Posted March 17, 2023 at 3:31pm
President Joe Biden has called for tax hikes on upper-income households to shore up Medicare and help reduce projected deficits.

Dissecting Biden’s budget

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn and Aidan Quigley
Posted March 10, 2023 at 2:26pm
President Joe Biden speaks at the International Association of Fire Fighters legislative conference on Monday. Biden will release his budget beginning Thursday.

Biden previews Medicare drug price, tax increase proposals

By Peter Cohn
Posted March 7, 2023 at 10:10am
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, center, said the government may run out of cash to pay all its bills by early June unless the debt limit is increased.

Gloomy fiscal forecast

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn
Posted February 17, 2023 at 2:26pm
President Joe Biden will meet with Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., at the White House on Wednesday.

White House budget set for early March delivery

By Paul M. Krawzak and Peter Cohn
Posted January 31, 2023 at 2:34pm
GOP Rep. Randy Weber of Texas, who secured $287.5 million in earmarks, was among the lawmakers who voted against the omnibus spending measure.

GOP omnibus opponents bring home billions of earmarked dollars

By Peter Cohn and Herb Jackson
Posted December 23, 2022 at 6:59pm
Sen. Richard Shelby procured $1.2 billion in earmarks during the 117th Congress, including $10 million for the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa to create “an institute on public service and leadership.”

Once again, Shelby stands alone when it comes to earmarks

By Herb Jackson and Peter Cohn
Posted December 22, 2022 at 6:00am
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., may play a key role in determining the timing of an omnibus spending package.

Lame-duck fiscal agenda

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn
Posted November 17, 2022 at 12:46pm
President Joe Biden points to a wind turbine size comparison chart during a meeting at the White House in June.

Offshore energy battle looms over ‘must pass’ defense bill

By Peter Cohn
Posted November 3, 2022 at 5:00am
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, right, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik arrive for a news conference on the House Republicans’ “Commitment to America,” on Sept. 29.

Stopgap funding finale

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn
Posted October 3, 2022 at 1:13pm
Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., talks with reporters in the Capitol on Sept. 14.

Spending talks morass

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn
Posted September 16, 2022 at 12:17pm
Cartons of eggs are seen for sale in a Sprouts Farmers Market on Aug. 15 in Houston. Egg prices steadily climbed this year as inflation worsened.

OMB: Deficits, growth lower in the near term, inflation up

By Paul M. Krawzak and Peter Cohn
Posted August 23, 2022 at 2:57pm
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., checks her watch as she leaves her hideaway office to go vote in the Capitol on Tuesday, August 2.

Democrats unite

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn
Posted August 5, 2022 at 12:56pm
Hawaii Democratic Sens. Mazie K. Hirono and Brian Schatz are carrying on the late Hawaii Sen. Daniel K. Inouye’s legacy of earmarking prowess.

Earmarks in Senate bills favor small states, retiring senators

By Peter Cohn
Posted August 3, 2022 at 5:29am
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, left, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell attend a ceremony on June 8 to announce the renaming of Senate rooms in the Capitol after former Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Margaret Chase Smith.

Crunch time for the Democratic agenda

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn
Posted July 8, 2022 at 1:10pm
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, right, listens as and Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer speaks at a room-naming ceremony in the Capitol on June 8.

For chips and budget packages, Democrats face choices

By Peter Cohn
Posted July 6, 2022 at 10:52am
Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas, has a lot to smile about so far in this year's appropriations process.

House spending bills spread around $8 billion worth of earmarks

By Peter Cohn and Herb Jackson
Posted June 28, 2022 at 11:30am
House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith conducts a hearing in May 2021.

Military budget set to swell

By Peter Cohn and John M. Donnelly
Posted June 24, 2022 at 1:34pm
Chairman Jack Reed, left, and ranking member Sen. James M. Inhofe are seen at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in 2021. Disputes in the panel over defense spending could stall appropriations.

Defense spending battle lines

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn
Posted June 17, 2022 at 1:48pm
The Capitol Dome in a recent reflection. Individual income tax collections as a share of the economy will be at their highest since 1913, the CBO says.

Unexplained tax revenue growth vexes budget scorekeepers 

By Peter Cohn
Posted June 1, 2022 at 6:30am
The Capitol dome reflects in the Lower Senate Park reflecting pool on May 15.

UFOs in budget projections

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn
Posted May 27, 2022 at 12:48pm
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the lone Senate holdout on aid for Ukraine, pushing the measure to next week.

Senate fumbles on Ukraine aid

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn
Posted May 13, 2022 at 2:06pm
The Treasury Department, shown here in 2014, saw record-setting tax receipts in April, based on preliminary estimates.

Tax revenue boom fuels steep budget deficit decline

By Peter Cohn
Posted May 9, 2022 at 5:50pm
The Ukrainian flag is raised by demonstrators outside the Russian Embassy in Washington on Feb. 27. Additional aid to Ukraine is mired in a congressional funding fight.

Aid quandary for Congress

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn
Posted April 29, 2022 at 1:35pm
Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, discusses President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2023 budget at a House Budget Committee hearing on March 29, 2022.

Partisan fiscal clash resumes

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn
Posted April 1, 2022 at 12:49pm
President Joe Biden's budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 would raise spending by about 10 percent over the omnibus package he recently signed.

Top takeaways from Biden’s fiscal 2023 budget request

By Peter Cohn
Posted March 28, 2022 at 12:17pm
Sen. Richard C. Shelby, R-Ala., was responsible for $548 million in earmarks in the omnibus spending bill signed by the president on Tuesday.

In the game of earmarks, Shelby has no peers

By Peter Cohn and Ryan Kelly and Herb Jackson
Posted March 16, 2022 at 5:00am
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi have some key decisions to make on fiscal 2022 spending.

Countdown to a spending deal

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn
Posted March 4, 2022 at 1:28pm
Comedian Jon Stewart, left, and 9/11 responder John Feal advocated for expanding benefits for troops who were exposed to toxic burn pits on duty.

Sweeping new veterans benefits bill readied for House vote

By Peter Cohn
Posted March 3, 2022 at 9:15am
Mitt Romney is among senators looking to address expected Social Security shortfalls.

Social Security fixes could animate post-midterms agenda

By Peter Cohn
Posted February 22, 2022 at 6:30am
A worker uses an asphalt roller to pave Maryland Avenue Northeast in Capitol Hill on Oct. 4, 2021.

What’s happening with infrastructure spending?

By David Lerman and Jessica Wehrman and Peter Cohn and Evan Campbell
Posted February 11, 2022 at 11:41am
House Budget Committee ranking Republican Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, left, is seeking to become the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee next year.

Rep. Jason Smith opts out of Senate bid, will run for Ways and Means slot

By Peter Cohn
Posted February 9, 2022 at 1:54pm, Updated at 4:12pm
President Biden and his allies are figuring out if there is way to salvage pieces of "Build Back Better".

Getting something done

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn and Evan Campbell
Posted January 21, 2022 at 11:36am
Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., wants to know more about child tax credits' impact on consumer prices.

Inflation report triggers partisan jockeying

By Peter Cohn
Posted January 12, 2022 at 5:33pm
The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington. The Fed is expected to act to unwind borrowing used during the pandemic to keep interest rates low.

Higher interest rates likely to factor into fiscal policymaking

By Peter Cohn
Posted January 6, 2022 at 9:49pm
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., and Rep. David E. Price, D-N.C., right, conduct a bill enrollment ceremony for the stopgap spending bill in the Capitol.

So much to do, so little time

By David Lerman and Peter Cohn and Evan Campbell
Posted December 3, 2021 at 12:22pm
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on Feb. 27, 2018. The gross federal debt has grown to more than $28 trillion since then.

Economy, Fed paper over debt problem

By Peter Cohn
Posted October 18, 2021 at 10:30am