On April 11, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced that he will retire from Congress at the end of this term. Ryan said the possibility of Democrats taking the House in the midterm elections did not factor into his decision. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) said that he would not run against House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to succeed Ryan as the next GOP leader in the chamber. Ryan later endorsed McCarthy as his successor. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who co-founded the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said he is exploring a run for speaker "if and when there is" a race. Read more...

On April 12, the House voted to reject a measure (H.J. Res. 2) to send a constitutional amendment to require the federal government to maintain a balanced budget to the states for ratification. The vote was 233-184; however, a two-thirds vote by the House (i.e., 286 votes) was required to advance the measure. The mostly party-line vote for the GOP-backed measure could provide campaign fodder for Republicans looking to paint Democrats as lax on fiscal discipline. The Trump Administration stated its support for the measure. Read more...

On April 9, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued new projections predicting that the federal government's annual budget deficit will top $1 trillion in 2020, despite healthy economic growth. The CBO forecast was the first since last year's tax overhaul and this year's boost to military and domestic spending. The national debt, which has exceeded $21 trillion, will soar to more than $33 trillion in 2028, according to the CBO. By then, debt held by the public will almost match the size of the nation's economy, reaching 96 percent of gross domestic product, a higher level than any point since just after World War II and well past the level that economists say could court a crisis. Read more... 

On April 9, the Trump Administration released its One Federal Decision (OFD) Memorandum of Understanding ( MOU) to implement Executive Order (E.O.) 13807 , signed by President Trump on August 15, 2017, which directs that "processing of environmental reviews and authorization decisions for new major infrastructure projects should be reduced to not more than an average of approximately 2 years." The MOU is effective beginning April 10, 2018 and applies to the permitting of public and private projects, including roadways, bridges, railroads, transit, aviation, ports, navigational channels, water resources projects, energy production and generation (including from fossil, renewable, nuclear, and hydro sources), electricity transmission, broadband Internet, pipelines, stormwater and sewer infrastructure, and drinking water infrastructure. The MOU was signed by the heads of the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, and Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council. Read more... 

On April 13, President Trump ordered U.S. military forces, acting in concert with French and British military forces, to strike three Syrian military chemical weapons-related facilities, in response to the Syrian government's continued and unlawful use of chemical weapons, including the attack in Duma, Syria, on April 7 that injured or killed numerous innocent civilians. The purpose of this military action was to "degrade the Syrian military's ability to conduct further chemical weapons attacks and to dissuade the Syrian government from using or proliferating chemical weapons." Read more... 

On April 10, President Trump signed Executive Order (E.O.) 13828, entitled "Reducing Poverty in America by Promoting Opportunity and Economic Mobility," which aims to add and strengthen work requirements for public assistance and other welfare programs. The E.O., which focuses on looking for ways to strengthen existing requirements and exploring new ones, gives various Cabinet secretaries 90 days to review the programs their agencies offer and recommend possible changes. Read more...