GOP campaign chief: We won’t lose the House

GOP campaign chief: We won’t lose the House-thehill: Rep. Greg Walden, the House Republican campaign chief, is ruling out the possibility that a wave election this fall could wipe out the GOP’s historic majority and hand Democrats control of the chamber.

Presidential Race Not as Rigged as Congress

Presidential Race Not as Rigged as Congress-rollcall: For shame! The system is crooked!” cries Donald Trump. “The presidential primary process is rigged!” “Foul! A pox on superdelegates!” cry Bernie Sanders supporters. “Let the people decide!”

Medicare battle brewing on Capitol Hill

Medicare battle brewing on Capitol Hill-thehill: An Obama administration proposal aimed at fighting high drug prices is facing a backlash on Capitol Hill. Republicans say the pilot program that would change how Medicare pays for certain drugs should be scrapped, while congressional Democrats are expressing serious concerns and seeking changes, but generally do not want to terminate it completely.

Senate GOP’s Push for ‘Regular Order’ Hits Major Roadblock

Senate GOP’s Push for ‘Regular Order’ Hits Major Roadblock-morningconsult: The Senate’s first spending bill of the year – and perhaps even the entire appropriations process – is in jeopardy as the two parties haggle over a GOP amendment regarding Iran.

Raging bulls

Raging bulls-politico: In Harry Reid’s view, Chuck Grassley is rapidly becoming the “most political and partisan chairman in history,” who has denigrated the stature of the once-proud Senate Judiciary Committee. Some of Grassley’s recent claims regarding the Supreme Court vacancy, Reid says, are “ridiculous,” and his commitment to transparency is “as shallow as the shallowest puddle you can find.”

House Sends Trade Secrets Bill to Obama

House Sends Trade Secrets Bill to Obama-morningconsult: The House on Wednesday evening sent President Obama a bill that would allow companies to sue entities for trade secret theft in federal court. Currently, only the Justice Department can sue on allegations of trade secrets theft.

Lawmakers blast Valeant for price-gouging tactics

Lawmakers blast Valeant for price-gouging tactics-AP: Lawmakers accused Valeant Pharmaceuticals of gouging patients to reward Wall Street investors during a hearing Wednesday scrutinizing the embattled drugmaker's pricing tactics.

Health Industry Joins Democrats in Push for FDA Funding

Health Industry Joins Democrats in Push for FDA Funding-morningconsult: Major sectors of the health care industry agree with the Democrats on Capitol Hill that the Food and Drug Administration needs more funding.

Paul Ryan Has an Agenda for Republicans. Do They Want It?

Paul Ryan Has an Agenda for Republicans. Do They Want It?-nationaljournal: House Speak­er Paul Ry­an spent the bet­ter part of this week try­ing, through tele­vi­sion ap­pear­ances and a Geor­getown Uni­versity town hall, to sell his good-gov­ern­ment agenda to a wider audi­ence. What may prove more dif­fi­cult is selling his agenda to a shift­ing Re­pub­lic­an base.

House conservatives push for strong majority of majority rule

House conservatives push for strong majority of majority rule-thehill: Conservatives extracted a promise from Paul Ryan last fall before he agreed to serve as Speaker of the House: The Wisconsin Republican would only bring immigration bills to the floor if they had backing from the majority of the GOP conference.

McCarthy ‘Hopeful’ House Will Pass Puerto Rico Bill by July 1

McCarthy ‘Hopeful’ House Will Pass Puerto Rico Bill by July 1-bloomberg: The No. 2 Republican in the U.S. House conceded Tuesday that Congress will miss one deadline for action on a bill to address Puerto Rico’s debt woes, and he didn’t commit to acting before an even more critical July 1 payment the island must make.

Senate Democrats Expand Scope of #DoYourJob Barbs

Senate Democrats Expand Scope of #DoYourJob Barbs-morningconsult: It started as the mantra Senate Democrats used to urge their GOP colleagues to grant Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland a hearing and floor vote: “Do your job.”

Acela primaries: Winners, losers

Acela primaries: Winners, losers-thehill: Call it what you want — the Acela primaries, the Atlantic primaries or one more Super Tuesday — but it was another big night on the electoral calendar as voters in five states went to the polls.  This time, the action wasn’t all on the presidential level. There were a number of closely watched down-ballot races as well.  Now that the returns are almost all in from Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, who are celebrating and who are left licking their wounds?

Obama, who once stood as party outsider, now works to strengthen Democrats

Obama, who once stood as party outsider, now works to strengthen Democrats-washingtonpost: Barack Obama rose to prominence as a different kind of Democrat, an outsider who was not part of the establishment and who would chart a separate course. Eight years later, the president finds himself working hard to restore a party from which he was once eager to stand apart.

Puerto Rico Debate Splits GOP Over ‘Bailout’ Definition

Puerto Rico Debate Splits GOP Over ‘Bailout’ Definition-morningconsult: For years, congressional Republicans have wrestled with divisions relating to economic issues. The debt crisis in Puerto Rico is proving to be case in point. Like the heartburn that engulfed GOP leaders during the debate about to raising the national debt ceiling, the efforts to avert a Puerto Rico default are raising questions about what constitutes a “bailout.”

Paul Ryan Continues to Push Agenda Alternative to Donald Trump

Paul Ryan Continues to Push Agenda Alternative to Donald Trump-newyorktimes: The House may be a tad light on the legislative front these days, largely focusing on bills like those that target the Internal Revenue Service and that have no chance of being signed by President Obama. But on the message front, Speaker Paul D. Ryan is keeping busy.

Paul Ryan's Biggest Test Yet: Saving Puerto Rico From Congress

Paul Ryan's Biggest Test Yet: Saving Puerto Rico From Congress-bloombergpolitics: Puerto Rico’s complex debt crisis is shaping up as the first true test of Paul Ryan’s six-month old speakership.

It’s a Stretch, but Mitch McConnell Is Reaching Across the Aisle

It’s a Stretch, but Mitch McConnell Is Reaching Across the Aisle-newyorktimes: Senator Mitch McConnell has a ready comeback for Democrats who keep chanting “do your job” in hopes of pressuring Republicans to consider President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. It is simply, “We are.”

This week: Congress on track to miss Puerto Rico deadline

This week: Congress on track to miss Puerto Rico deadline-thehill: Congress appears likely to leave town at the end of this week for a recess without taking action to help Puerto Rico with its debt crisis.

House Dem: FDA guidelines will help shield medical devices from hackers

House Dem: FDA guidelines will help shield medical devices from hackers-thehill: A top cybersecurity lawmaker on Thursday praised the Obama administration for moving on rules to better secure medical devices from hackers.

Inside Paul Ryan’s quest to set the Republican agenda

Inside Paul Ryan’s quest to set the Republican agenda-washingtonpost: House Speaker Paul D. Ryan plans to roll out a wide-ranging conservative agenda in the weeks before Republicans gather in Cleveland to select their presidential nominee.

Ryan says he doesn't have the votes to pass a budget Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/paul-ryan-no-budget-votes-222270#ixzz46Ykepv77 Follow us: @politico on Twitter | Politico on Facebook

Ryan says he doesn't have the votes to pass a budget-politico: Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday said he does not have enough GOP support to pass a budget, something he once called the basic function of governing when he was House Budget chairman.

Congress braces for fallout from Puerto Rico default

Congress braces for fallout from Puerto Rico default-thehill: Lawmakers are wondering what sort of turmoil they can expect in financial markets on May 1, when Puerto Rico says it will default on nearly $500 million in debt payments.

Puerto Rico Aid Talks Continue With No End in Sight

Puerto Rico Aid Talks Continue With No End in Sight-morningconsult: Work continued in the House Wednesday to come up with new language to address the debt crisis in Puerto Rico. But it isn’t clear that members are any closer to an agreement.

As Trade Plays in Campaigns, Most Americans Don’t Know What TPP Is

As Trade Plays in Campaigns, Most Americans Don’t Know What TPP Is-morningconsult: Free trade has gotten lots of attention on the presidential campaign trail this year, but a near-majority of American voters say they don’t know or don’t have an opinion about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, President Obama’s sweeping 12-nation trade agreement currently under consideration, according to a Morning Consult poll.

House to Vote on Senate-Passed Trade Secrets Bill Next Week

House to Vote on Senate-Passed Trade Secrets Bill Next Week-morningconsult: Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Wednesday said the House will “expeditiously consider” the Senate-passed Defend Trade Secrets Act next week.

Paul Ryan's House of woes

Paul Ryan's House of woes-politico: Paul Ryan has had a tough couple of months. The House GOP’s response to Puerto Rico’s debt crisis is stuck, with a big May 1 deadline looming. The leadership’s 2017 budget plan is stalled. And legislation to overhaul the Federal Aviation Administration hasn’t left the runway.  With all the attention showered on Ryan’s non-interest in running for president, it’s easy to overlook the new speaker’s troubles running the House these days.

Senator Hatch raps House's Puerto Rico debt bill

Senator Hatch raps House's Puerto Rico debt bill-reuters: A high-ranking Republican senator on Tuesday dismissed as "not satisfactory" draft legislation aimed at addressing Puerto Rico's fiscal crisis before a looming debt default on May 1, deepening intraparty divisions on the complex rescue effort.

Senate GOP Formally Adopts Partial-Term Policy for Leadership

Senate GOP Formally Adopts Partial-Term Policy for Leadership-morningconsult: Senate Republicans on Tuesday formally adopted a rule for their caucus saying that terms of less than one year do not count against a three-term limit for leadership posts.  The rule follows the same policy for Republican committee chairmen, said Sen. Lamar Alexander, who offered the motion at the regular Tuesday lunch for the caucus.

Five things Congress could get done before the elections

Five things Congress could get done before the elections-thehill: The presidential election year is bringing legislative work on Capitol Hill to a crawl, making it difficult for the House and Senate to get anything done.  The schedule has become so empty that some members of Congress are openly griping about the dearth of activity.

Senate Will Check Lots of Legislative Boxes Tuesday

Senate Will Check Lots of Legislative Boxes Tuesday-morningconsult: The Senate is poised to conclude a lot of unfinished business on Tuesday. Its work will cover aviation, energy efficiency, and eventually land on annual appropriations. On that last step, whether the chamber manages to get past the first bill to fund the government’s environmental agencies will forecast the relative ease that lawmakers will face on other appropriations bills.

Mike Lee ends bid for party leadership post

Mike Lee ends bid for party leadership post-politico: Sen. Mike Lee is dropping his bid for a spot in party leadership, his office told Politico on Monday, ending a brief but heated intraparty feud over when the next generation of Republicans can join the GOP’s upper ranks.

Senate GOP to Hash Out Rules Dispute

Senate GOP to Hash Out Rules Dispute-morningconsult: Senate Republicans will use part of their weekly policy lunch on Tuesday to hold a formal conference meeting to clarify rules over term limits for leadership posts, amid confusion over whether three current members of Senate Republican leadership could seek another term later this year.

Puerto Rico default bill on life support

Puerto Rico default bill on life support-politico: A Republican compromise with the Obama administration to ease Puerto Rico’s debt crisis unraveled on Friday as a divided GOP conference forced leaders back to the drawing board.

GOP group promises ObamaCare replacement plan — soon

GOP group promises ObamaCare replacement plan — soon-thehill: A group of senior House Republicans is promising to deliver proof that the party is making headway in its six-year struggle to replace ObamaCare.

What We Learned From Thursday's Democratic Debate

What We Learned From Thursday's Democratic Debate-rollcall: The two Democratic candidates sparred more contentiously in Thursday's CNN debate in Brooklyn ahead of the New York primary, though some Democratic political operatives said the content of the debate was nothing new.

Ryan calls House GOP meeting on Puerto Rico debt

Ryan calls House GOP meeting on Puerto Rico debt-thehill: Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will try to sell fellow Republicans on a bill to help Puerto Rico deal with its debt crisis at a special meeting Friday.

Cruz leading charge to kill congressional lame duck

Cruz leading charge to kill congressional lame duck-thehill: Ted Cruz is leading a conservative effort to end any chance of a lame-duck congressional session at the end of the year.   Cruz, a freshman senator from Texas running for president, and right-leaning groups see huge dangers in having a session after the November elections, which they think could be used to move legislation backed by President Obama or even to confirm his Supreme Court nominee.

Bid to Ease Puerto Rico Debt Crisis Draws Flack in House

Bid to Ease Puerto Rico Debt Crisis Draws Flack in House-rollcall: After months of working on legislation to help Puerto Rico dig out of its ongoing financial crisis, a House panel produced a bill that is drawing criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike.

Valeant CEO reaches deal with Senate committee, contempt charges on hold

Valeant CEO reaches deal with Senate committee, contempt charges on hold-stat: A Senate committee called off a planned meeting Wednesday to discuss contempt charges against Valeant Pharmaceuticals chief executive Michael Pearson after he agreed to give a deposition for the panel’s investigation of rising drug prices.

Ryan on 2016 bid: 'Count me out'

Ryan on 2016 bid: 'Count me out'-thehill: Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Tuesday sought to slam the door on a presidential run in 2016, declaring that he will not accept the Republican nomination under any circumstances.

Rep. Tom Price pitches alternative to Obamacare called Empowering Patients First Act

Rep. Tom Price pitches alternative to Obamacare called Empowering Patients First Act-northwestgeorgianews: Six-term Georgia Congressman Tom Price, R-Roswell, is an orthopedic surgeon who never dreamed of entering into politics. Until. “I got into my practice and realized there were a whole lot of folks in Atlanta and Washington who had never taken care of a patient that wanted to tell me how to practice,” he said.

Don't Be Fooled: Budgetary Meltdown Inevitable

Don't Be Fooled: Budgetary Meltdown Inevitable-rollcall: Members of Congress are regularly coming up with special bits of snappy lingo for short-handing the big issues of the moment – from the “fiscal cliff,” for all the tax and spending deadlines that coincided after the last presidential election, to the “doc fix,” the Medicare formula for paying physicians rewritten last year.

Puerto Rico Aims to Appease Congress With New Debt Proposal

Puerto Rico Aims to Appease Congress With New Debt Proposal-newyorktimes: Puerto Rico proposed a new plan on Monday to restructure its debt, offering some creditors better terms than an earlier plan but falling well short of winning broad support.

Mike Lee to run for a top Senate leadership post

Mike Lee to run for a top Senate leadership post-washingtonexaminer: Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, one of the most conservative members of the U.S. Senate, is planning to run for a top leadership post.

Washington wonders: What is Paul Ryan up to?

Washington wonders: What is Paul Ryan up to?-thehill: What is Paul Ryan up to?  It’s a question many political insiders are asking amid a concerted public relations push by the new Speaker that has the markings of an unofficial presidential campaign.

Budget crunch time for GOP

Budget crunch time for GOP-thehill: Senate Republican leaders are facing budget crunch time.  They need to decide in the next ten days whether to move a budget, something they promised prior to winning the majority, or skip it and face charges of hypocrisy from Democrats.

Inside Obama's Supreme Court charm offensive

Inside Obama's Supreme Court charm offensive-politico: President Barack Obama promised Jeff Flake he would “play it straight” with his Supreme Court pick. Obama rang up Lindsey Graham because of the senator’s reputation for being deferential to presidential nominees. He even courted Orrin Hatch at the White House during a private meeting, telling the senior Republican that he’d choose a “moderate” for the high court vacancy.

House and Senate Charge Ahead on 2017 Spending Bills

House and Senate Charge Ahead on 2017 Spending Bills-rollcall: Meanwhile, Senate appropriators plan to bolt through two subcommittee markups on Wednesday and send the bills to the full committee on Thursday, as work speeds up in Congress with both houses back in session. The full Senate panel also will disclose its subcommittee allocations, known as 302(b)s, on Thursday.

Senators advance medical cures bill, push for more funding

Senators advance medical cures bill, push for more funding-thehill: The Senate Health Committee on Wednesday advanced a final round of medical innovation bills as lawmakers intensify their push for a deal on funding medical research.  The panel advanced five bills aimed at speeding up Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of new drugs and devices. The measures will be combined with several other bills to become the Senate’s version of the House-passed 21st Century Cures Act.

Judiciary chairman to breakfast with Supreme Court nominee Tuesday

Judiciary chairman to breakfast with Supreme Court nominee Tuesday-thehill: Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, will sit down with President Obama's Supreme Court pick on Tuesday.  The Iowa Republican and nominee Merrick Garland will have breakfast next week, the committee announced on its Twitter account.

Senate Health Committee Faces Deadline for Medical Innovation

Senate Health Committee Faces Deadline for Medical Innovation-morningconsult: The Senate faces a tight deadline if it’s going to pass a medical bill this year designed to speed drug and precision medicine developments. The legislation needs to be smoothed of kinks and on the floor within two weeks unless GOP leaders alter their overall schedule for the year.

House Panel Prepping Changes to Puerto Rico Aid Package

House Panel Prepping Changes to Puerto Rico Aid Package-morningconsult: Lawmakers on the House Natural Resources Committee are preparing to publicly release their first round of changes to draft legislation on Puerto Rico’s debt crisis this week, Morning Consult has learned.

In wake of Panama Papers, Obama calls on Congress to fix tax 'inversions'

In wake of Panama Papers, Obama calls on Congress to fix tax 'inversions'-usatoday: President Obama hailed new Treasury Department rules cracking down on corporate tax inversions Tuesday, calling the practice of merging with a foreign company to escape U.S. taxes "one of the most insidious tax loopholes out there."

Reid plots strategy to force vote on Obama nominee

Reid plots strategy to force vote on Obama nominee-thehill: Senate Democrats say they may try to force a vote on President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court with an unusual procedural tactic.  “There are many procedural things we can do,” Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) said Tuesday when asked about the possibility of using a discharge resolution to bypass Republicans.  “That’s one thing we can do. Certainly we’ve got that in our arrow quiver, to do that and other things,” Reid said.

Alexander: Cures bill deal could be reached by end of the week

Alexander: Cures bill deal could be reached by end of the week-thehill: Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said Monday that a medical innovation bill could be ready for the Senate floor as early as next week.  The bill is the Senate’s companion to the House-passed 21st Century Cures Act, which seeks to speed up the Food and Drug Administration’s approvals of new drugs and devices and boost funding for medical research.

GOP appeal to conservatives with health care, immigrant cuts

GOP appeal to conservatives with health care, immigrant cuts-ap: Trying to win over conservatives, House Republicans are sweetening their budget proposal by putting several programs on the chopping block, including President Barack Obama's health care law and tax credits for children of immigrants living in the country illegally.

Supreme Court Rejects Challenge on ‘One Person One Vote’

Supreme Court Rejects Challenge on ‘One Person One Vote’-newyorktimes:  The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Monday that states may count all residents, whether or not they are eligible to vote, in drawing election districts. The decision was a major statement on the meaning of a fundamental principle of the American political system, that of “one person one vote.”

Freedom Caucus Looks to Grow Its Ranks

Freedom Caucus Looks to Grow Its Ranks-nationaljournal: The House Free­dom Caucus “is draw­ing up a list of GOP-lean­ing open seats it could tar­get this year and is quietly meet­ing with pro­spect­ive can­did­ates for the seats of Free­dom Caucus mem­bers who are either re­tir­ing or run­ning for Sen­ate.

How House Democrats Shot Themselves in the Foot

How House Democrats Shot Themselves in the Foot-nationaljournal: If you’ve listened at all to House Demo­crats in re­cent years, you couldn’t help feel­ing pess­im­ist­ic about their pro­spects. The party down­played its chances to win back a House ma­jor­ity—un­til 2022. They blamed ger­ry­man­der­ing for their prob­lems, con­veni­ently ig­nor­ing the fact that dis­trict lines in Illinois, Mary­land, and Ari­zona were all drawn in the Demo­crats’ fa­vor.

Largely Forgotten and Hugely Influential: The Race for Marco Rubio’s Senate Seat

Largely Forgotten and Hugely Influential: The Race for Marco Rubio’s Senate Seat-newyorktimes: Representative Patrick Murphy, a two-term Democrat now running for United States Senate, looked exultant, maybe even a bit star-struck, as he greeted patrons and posed for selfies with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. at Jackson Soul Food Restaurant in the city’s Overtown neighborhood.

This week: Senate returns to Supreme Court fight

This week: Senate returns to Supreme Court fight-thehill: President Obama's Supreme Court pick will meet with almost a dozen senators this week—including two Republican lawmakers—as Democrats keep up pressure on the nomination.  Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and John Boozman (Ark.) will sit down with nominee Merrick Garland on Tuesday as senators return from a two-week recess.