Insights
What’s happening on the Hill now
Short reads on something that just changed in Congress or an agency, and what it means for the issues you track.
Aftershocks: the Lame Duck Agenda
Democrats take both chambers in January. Until then, a Republican Congress has five weeks, a December 11 funding deadline and a long list of expiring programs.
Twelve Days Out: The Map Moved. Follow the Money.
Forecasters and markets now favor Democrats in both chambers, and the Senate fight has moved deep into Republican territory. What the parties' money and travel say, and what it means for the lame duck.
The push for federal surveillance pricing standards
The FTC closed its comment period on a personalized-pricing enforcement policy Sept. 25 without setting a date to finalize it.
Permitting Reform’s Path Forward
A long-awaited permitting reform bill has been unveiled in the Senate—what happens next?
Senate has DC to itself this week
The Senate failed to invoke cloture on the Ratepayer Protection Act on Sept. 30, 57-43, two weeks after Democrats blocked the bill by unanimous consent.
AI Safety, Recess Edition
SNAP out of it: the traditional Farm Bill coalition isn’t coming back together
September Outlook
Northern Exposure: the looming Canada Tariff Standoff
How the process actually works
Standing pieces on the machinery clients meet first — an oversight letter, a hearing invitation, a comment deadline, an earmark request. Written to stay true, and revised when the rules change.
Responding to a congressional oversight letter: the first 72 hours
A committee letter is a request, not a court order — and the first three days are about reading the letterhead, preserving everything, and getting on the record before a deadline you cannot meet runs out.
You have been invited to testify: what happens between the letter and the gavel
An invitation is a letter, not an order — but declining invites a subpoena and an empty chair, and nearly all of the outcome is decided in the written statement and the disclosure form filed days before you sit down.
Commenting on a federal rule: what actually gets read
Rulemaking is not a vote. What gives a comment force is the agency’s duty to respond to significant comments, the logical-outgrowth rule, and the fact that an argument not raised is generally lost on judicial review.
When CMS changes what Medicare pays: the calendar, and where the decisions get made
The comment window on a Medicare payment rule closes roughly 60 days after the proposed rule publishes — and that calendar is fixed, published years ahead, and almost entirely knowable.
Community project funding for FY2028: the calendar and what a request needs
The request window opens in late winter and closes inside a few weeks — and member offices stop taking requests weeks before the Appropriations Committees do. No FY2028 guidance exists yet; the FY2027 rules are the only responsible template.
LDA registration and the 20 percent test, in plain English
The 20 percent test does not measure time spent talking to Congress. It measures lobbying activities — which the statute defines to include the preparation, research and coordination behind a contact.
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