Category Archives: U.S. Congress

Arkansas projects get funded as debt elephant gets ignored

tax, taxes, debt, deficits, spending, trillion, State of the Union, deficit hawks, balanced budget amendment, Jonathan Bydlak, immigration, $98.8 trillion, $970 billion, debt elephantCongress has funded most but not all of the government. Four members of Arkansas’ congressional delegation secured hundreds of millions of dollars for highways and other state projects. Meanwhile, a nonpartisan group is warning of the consequences of ever-increasing government debt.

That paragraph pretty much sums up the federal budget news from the past couple of weeks, with more to come. 

As you may not have noticed, there was another government shutdown last week, though only a partial, brief one. It ended when President Trump on Feb. 3 passed the second of two bills that funded government operations through September – all except for the Department of Homeland Security, which got funding for only two weeks until Feb. 13.

Democrats balked at funding that agency because they want major reforms to its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. As of Sunday evening, the question had not been resolved. 

So we’re in another partial government shutdown. Continue reading →

Womack speaks in House while heart is at home

Steve WomackBy Steve Brawner, © 2026 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack spoke in the House of Representatives on Jan. 22 in support of a $1.2 trillion spending package he had helped create. His voice cracked twice, but only briefly and for a very good reason. Four days earlier, he had lost his wife.

Terri Womack, his wife of 41 years, had died on Jan. 18 at age 68.

The spending package passed the House with bipartisan support, 341-88. It would provide funding for the Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.

Continue reading →

Dr. Bass’s prescriptions for Congress

By Steve Brawner, © 2025 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Congress is a mess. I asked Dr. Hal Bass what might could be done to fix it.

Bass has taught political science at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia for 49 years. He was my professor when I attended school there from 1987-91. Retired since 2016, he still teaches one class a semester. This semester, it’s “The American Congress.”

In a phone interview, he said James Madison and the rest of the Constitution’s framers believed Congress would be the “first” of the government’s three branches, the others being the executive and the judiciary. 

That’s not the case now. The presidency has become more and more powerful in recent decades when his party controls Congress. That’s especially the case now under President Trump.

“I just don’t think there’s been a president who could count on the unflinching support of congressional majorities like Trump can,” he said. Continue reading →

Westerman, Womack both right about McCarthy vote

By Steve Brawner, © 2023 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

There are two ways of looking at last week’s speaker of the House election in Washington – Rep. Bruce Westerman’s way, and Rep. Steve Womack’s way. Both are valid.

Westerman and Womack along with Arkansas’ other representatives, Reps. French Hill and Rick Crawford, were strong supporters of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s bid. They all stuck with him through 15 votes over four days until he finally was elected over the strong opposition of about 20 conservatives. 

Westerman, a close ally of McCarthy, gave the nominating speech on the 15th vote that finally settled the matter. Afterwards, his office released one of those statements that generally belongs at the end of a news story, but it’s worth repeating in part here. Continue reading →

Cotton’s absence gave Harrington center stage

By Steve Brawner, © 2020 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Ricky Harrington had a good week.

The Libertarian challenger to Republican Sen. Tom Cotton released a poll Oct. 10 showing he trailed Cotton only 49% to 38%, with 13% undecided. Again, that’s Harrington’s poll, and we’ll need to see other polls from independent sources, but it did get him some attention.

Cotton is a polarizing figure. His approval-disapproval rating was 44%-47% in a June poll by Talk Business & Politics and Hendrix College. Independents disapproved, 39-51.

Also, Harrington is the only challenger after the Democrat dropped out hours after the filing period ended. Libertarians haven’t really cracked the 3% threshold of statewide support in Arkansas, but Democrats generally run close to 40%. It’s likely Harrington is winning their anti-Cotton vote by default.

The poll numbers gained Harrington some attention, and he’s been raising a little money lately – around $40,000 total, his campaign said. It’s certainly nowhere near Cotton’s millions, but he could afford to run a poll.

Then on Wednesday, Harrington had the stage to himself during the debates organized by Arkansas PBS. Cotton declined to participate. It wasn’t worth his time, and he saw more harm than good in sharing the stage with his opponent.

All the state’s other Republican congressmen participated in their debates. That includes the two who are safely headed toward re-election in races contested by both Democrats and Libertarians. Continue reading →