Congress

In the six months he’s been in charge, Speaker Paul Ryan has struggled with deep divisions among his Members, preventing the House from being able to accomplish much of anything. The GOP conference is as divided and dysfunctional as ever and has failed to address any of the critical issues facing America, such as passing a budget, addressing public health emergencies like Zika, Flint, and opioid addiction, and providing Puerto Rico with relief.

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) joined House Democrats on the House Floor this afternoon to call on Senate Republicans to do their job and hold a hearing and a vote on the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. 

Puerto Rico, home to 3.5 million Americans, will default on $422 million worth of debt on May 1 unless Congress acts to allow the territory to restructure its debt. 

Today, House Republicans missed the statutory deadline to pass a budget, notwithstanding the fact that they made passing a budget a top priority this year. It’s unfortunate that division and dysfunction within their Party prevented them from passing a budget, and I am deeply disappointed that many of their Members are urging Republican leadership to abandon the spending levels Congress passed last year. 

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today on the upcoming departure of long-time Democratic staff director Janice Mays from the House Committee on Ways and Means. 

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement on the legislation introduced yesterday by House Republicans to address the financial crisis in Puerto Rico.

Despite years of talking about how critical it is to pass a budget – and ceaseless criticism of the Senate when they failed to pass one – Speaker Ryan and House Republicans have all but given up on passing a budget for Fiscal Year 2017.  Politico highlights the hypocrisy this morning: 

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today.