Because appropriations require 60 votes to clear the Senate, they’ve always required at least some bipartisan agreement.

As the second Trump administration begins, people have kept up their spending — but not all for the same reasons.

Both programs are major sources of government spending and could find themselves in the sights of those who want to slash federal budgets.

There’s a persistent partisan gap in consumer sentiment polling.

Earmarks promise to spend money on specific projects requested by individual members of Congress.

Democrats aren’t used to spending in districts that were once a lock for them.

Some residents feel Democrats have taken their votes for granted.

Consumer sentiment increasingly splits along party lines, with partisans of whoever holds the White House far more optimistic.

Democrats need to make the Inflation Reduction Act live up to its promise, Felicia Wong of the Roosevelt Institute says.

Talk of a Supreme Court nomination is on everyone’s lips these days, but Congress has an economic laundry list to address.