Eye on Congress

Our reporters and editors weigh in on President Obama's latest fight with Congress over dedicating money to fight Zika virus, the presidential primaries and why did little-known donor Donald Sussman spend $2.1 million on behalf of Maryland Senate hopeful Donna Edwards. And then there are the landmines that await Congress in pushing through spending bills before the government runs out of money Sept. 30th.      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Republicans in Congress could immunize many electronic cigarette products from impending regulations by using a spending bill to shield not only e-cigs but vaporizers and hookahs from tougher federal oversight. It’s the second year in a row that the GOP is weighing such a move as a preemptory strike against the Food and Drug Administration, and it’s stoking a debate over public health, small businesses and the lack of clinical data on the products’ health effects.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tensions are rising between the Federal Communications Commission and Republicans in Congress who want to curtail its regulatory power. On one front, Republicans want to keep the FCC from regulating the prices broadband providers charge customers. Separately, they are trying to set a financial cap on the FCC’s Lifeline program, which provides phone and broadband subsidies. It’s all playing out against the backdrop of a continued legal battle over the FCC’s net neutrality rules, which seek to treat all Internet traffic the same. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A quarter of U.S. military facilities are falling apart, according to a new Senate report that comes on the heels of an unusually candid Pentagon document acknowledging that about a third of Army and Air Force infrastructure is unneeded.  The military could save an estimated $2 billion a year closing and consolidating facilities. But a base closing commission, or BRAC as it’s called, could trigger a huge, parochial fight in Congress over which facilities are targeted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte faces a tough re-election race and defending the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard could help.Ayotte is facing Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan in what’s very likely to be a close race. Along with races in Illinois, Pennsylvania and a few other states, it could determine whether the Republicans keep control of the Senate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The terror attacks in Brussels and Paris have given U.S. intelligence officials new insight into the tactics of the Islamic State – and underscored how its approach has veered away from al Qaida, its nominal parent organization. ISIS, it turns out, has become a more formidable adversary for the West because it has learned from what worked and didn’t work for al Qaida. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the next three weeks Congress will be engulfed in the controlled chaos of drafting spending bills to keep the government running in the next fiscal year. And while election year politics will surely factor in the outcome, so too will ongoing rifts among Republicans over spending levels that so far have sidelined Speaker Paul Ryan’s hopes for drafting a budget plan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Barack Obama is urging Congress to pass legislation that would prevent U.S.-based firms from moving their headquarters overseas to avoid paying federal taxes. The president’s calls came after the Treasury Department introduced new rules against inversions, transactions in which U.S. companies take a foreign address, by merging with a smaller overseas firm. The new rules were narrowly crafted to take away the incentive for pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to merge with Ireland’s Botox-maker Allergan and prevent other U.S. companies from similar deals.  The rule change worked because Pfizer announced it cancelled the $160 billion merger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Obama hosts the fourth and final nuclear summit of his presidency, a gathering of 52 world leaders including China aimed at getting voluntary pledges to secure nuclear materials and guard nuclear plants. Past gatherings have resulted in the withdrawal or destruction of enough nuclear material to build hundreds of warheads. But world events, such as the terrorist attacks in Brussels, may shift the focus to other global security matters.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The high-profile debate over whether law enforcement should be able to force Apple to unlock iPhones when investigating criminal cases is over. But unsettling questions remain over how the government turned to a third party to get the job done, and what that could mean for ongoing discussions inside and outside of Congress about balancing national security with privacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The terror attacks in Brussels have spurred much discussion about whether such an incident could happen in the United States. Experts and national security minded members of Congress note that while border security is more fragmented in Europe than the United States, enough soft targets exist to make an ISIS-inspired attack a major concern. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Barack Obama’s historic trip to Cuba is over, but how his diplomacy affects the United States' ties with its Caribbean neighbor is very much an open question. While the administration and its Cuban counterparts are identifying business opportunities, Congress still holds the cards in deciding whether to lift a Cold War-era trade embargo on the island nation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The handful of red state governors and lawmakers who have been willing to expand Medicaid under the 2010 health care law have tried to put their own spin on the program – and one of their favorites has been pushing recipients to find jobs.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker Paul Ryan’s goal of passing a budget plan for fiscal 2017 is being sidelined by hardline conservatives in the House of Representatives. Though the budget is largely symbolic and can’t become law, it illustrates the lingering tensions within the GOP that are putting a check on Ryan’s ambitions.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Obama put Senate Republicans on the spot by nominating Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. A former prosecutor who’s served 19 years on the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals for the District Circuit, Garland is widely seen as a safe, moderate addition to a court that’s been divided 4-4 since the death of Antonin Scalia.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Obama will soon select a nominee to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. What happens after that is unclear. Senate Republicans who control the confirmation process have vowed not to consider the nomination in an election year, and many insiders expect the position to remain vacant until early next year.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A top secret military exercise last summer showed the United States can’t adequately respond to a terrorist attack on nuclear missiles deployed in the northern plains states. Congress and the Pentagon agree they need to replace the Vietnam-era helicopters that are supposed to play a pivotal role in protecting the missiles. But lawmakers are divided on whether to move fast to deal with the problem or to seek bids for new helicopters and potentially get a piece of contracting action for their states. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin and Nebraska Democrat Rep. Brad Ashford are two freshman House members worth watching in this year’s campaign. Zeldin is a Republican in a district which President Barack Obama carried by about 1,600 votes in 2012. Ashford is a Democrat in a district which Mitt Romney carried with 54 percent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congressional Republicans have just weeks left to meet an April 15 deadline for producing a tax and spending plan that is supposed to green light the writing of annual spending bills that fund the government. But with the GOP deeply divided over federal spending, the entire process is in limbo, raising doubts whether party leaders can fulfill their pledges of fiscal honesty and stable governing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress is weighing what to do about prescription painkiller and heroin abuse – a problem statistics show is killing more Americans than car accidents. But the administration and Republicans are far apart on how to pay for a response, especially whether to have a dedicated stream of mandatory spending to address the problem. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices