Last week was defined by a single structural question that no ceasefire extension, summit announcement, or earnings record could resolve: does the IRGC have a veto over Iranian diplomacy, and if so, can the U.S. blockade break it? This weekend’s scheduled talks in Islamabad ended before they started as President Trump called off U.S. participation […]

Senate Passes FY26 Budget Resolution. After a shorter-than-usual “vote-a-rama,” early this morning the Senate passed its FY26 Budget Resolution by a vote of 50–48, largely on party lines, with Senators Paul and Murkowski voting against it. One Democrat and one Republican—Senators Warner and Grassley—were not present for the vote. The Senate has thus taken a […]

Senate Floor. This evening at 5:30pm, the Senate will vote on confirmation of Executive Calendar #671, Andrew B. Davis to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas. Reconciliation 2.0. This week, the Senate will consider a Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Resolution, the text of which will be released tomorrow. Republican Senators […]

The headline read of last week: a fragile Pakistan-brokered U.S.-Iran ceasefire held and meaningfully expanded. Thursday’s ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon renewed market optimism of a durable long-term peace agreement between the U.S. and Iran. As this week begins, markets have been reminded that decision-making on both sides of the war does not portend a […]

Congress returns following the two-week Easter recess with a focus on the Department of Homeland Security which remains  unfunded; continued military action in Iran; looming expiration of Section 702 of FISA; and a host of other issues and nominations. Much has transpired on several of these fronts over the recess, informing what we should expect both during the upcoming work period […]

Operation Epic Fury experienced its first official pause via an announced two-week ceasefire entered into by the U.S., Israel, and Iran less than 90 minutes before President Trump’s 8:00 p.m. Tuesday deadline. Markets reacted favorably, with oil falling more than 16% on Wednesday. For the week, the S&P 500 finished up 3.68%—its best week since […]

Operation Epic Fury enters its sixth week, bumping up against two self-imposed public deadlines repeated by the Trump Administration: an approximate 4-to-6-week military operation and the President’s revised deadline to Iran of 8:00 p.m. tomorrow evening. In addition to the President’s Easter Sunday Truth Social post updating the deadline to Iran, the weekend was dominated […]

Trump Demands “Skinny” Reconciliation 2.0.  President Trump began his day as the first sitting president to sit in the audience as the Supreme Court conducted oral arguments over the Administration’s attempts to end automatic birthright citizenship. This evening, President Trump is slated to address the nation for the first time since military action began February […]

Operation Epic Fury is now in its 30th day. The week’s dominant variable has been the simultaneous pursuit of a diplomatic off-ramp and an escalating U.S. ground force posture. Signs are trending towards the latter as Iran rejected the Trump Administration’s 15-point peace plan and launched its most serious attack yet on a U.S. base […]

At approximately 2:30 AM this morning, the Senate passed via voice vote a bill to fund all of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), sans funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and certain components of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). While there was some thought earlier today that the House would accept this package, […]