“While President Donald Trump’s love of tariffs is often attributed to his desire for leverage in negotiations, the ones he seeks to use to reshore manufacturing are inherently intended to be non-negotiable."...more
4/23/2025
/ Energy Policy ,
Federal Budget ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
International Trade ,
Medicaid ,
Oil & Gas ,
Renewable Energy ,
Section 232 ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
“Despite the myriad factions among congressional Republicans, President Donald Trump has for the most part imposed his will on GOP lawmakers. He is now shifting his focus to the independent judiciary.” — Howard Schweitzer,...more
4/1/2025
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Debt Ceiling ,
Federal Budget ,
Fraud Abuse and Waste ,
Government Agencies ,
Government Efficiency ,
Judicial Authority ,
Legislative Agendas ,
OMB ,
Proposed Legislation ,
SCOTUS ,
Social Security ,
Trump Administration
"Democrats are struggling with how and when to resist President Donald Trump’s agenda. And it doesn’t help their cause that Trump is unifying the House GOP’s own notoriously fractious caucus.” — Howard Schweitzer, CEO, Cozen...more
3/26/2025
/ Debt ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Reserve ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Political Candidates ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
“While the Trump administration continues to implement its executive agenda at a breakneck pace, congressional Republicans are literally forced to deal with consensus by committee to realize their legislative agenda.” —...more
2/19/2025
/ Congressional Committees ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Federal Budget ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medicaid ,
Reconciliation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
“President Trump has given Elon Musk unprecedented power and room to run to remake the executive branch. But to the extent that Musk deviates from remaking it in Trump’s image, the former runs the risk of becoming more of a...more
2/12/2025
/ Budget Cuts ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Education ,
Elon Musk ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Budget ,
Government Efficiency ,
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) ,
OMB ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury ,
USAID
“Besides disrupting policy in Washington, the Trump administration is looking to disrupt fundamentally how Washington operates. Thus, even as Trump’s team loses some prominent policy fights, it still sees value in the impact...more
2/4/2025
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Donald Trump ,
Executive Authority ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Employees ,
Federal Funding ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Government Efficiency ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
USAID
“Despite all the discussion of spending cuts under the new unified GOP control in Washington, two words that President Trump did not utter even once during his inaugural address: deficit reduction.” — Howard Schweitzer, CEO,...more
1/29/2025
/ China ,
Debt Ceiling ,
Deficit Reduction ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Export Controls ,
Federal Budget ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Medicaid ,
Tariffs ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Reform ,
Trade Policy ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration
“Republicans generally agree on their substantial legislative priorities as they prepare to take the governing reins in the new year. The challenge of governing in Washington though is that process often trumps substance.” —...more
12/18/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Big Tech ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Donald Trump ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Political Parties ,
Populism ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Trump Administration ,
Ways and Means Committee
The Cozen Lens-
•Even if this year’s Republican Party platform is shorter than usual, former President Trump’s influence is evident in not only the policies it proposes, but perhaps more so in the ones it avoids.
•In a...more
7/17/2024
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Chevron Deference ,
Corner Post Inc v Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ,
Donald Trump ,
Economic Downturn ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Agencies ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Lobbying ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Migrants ,
Political Campaigns ,
Political Candidates ,
Presidential Elections ,
Price Inflation ,
SCOTUS ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
The Cozen Lens-
•As bipartisanship wanes, forced compromise remains an essential component of governance in Washington, DC. -
•Dealmaking activity is up, but antitrust enforcement is also expected to increase as growing...more
3/20/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Banks ,
Biden Administration ,
Credit Card Act ,
Credit Ratings ,
Debit and Credit Card Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Legislative Process ,
Speaker of the House
The Cozen Lens-
•With Super Tuesday, the State of the Union, and the release of President Biden’s FY25 budget, this past week has been a politically consequential one. This series of events mark the pivot to the general...more
3/13/2024
/ Commercial Real Estate Market ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Donald Trump ,
FDIC ,
Federal Budget ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Interest Rates ,
Joe Biden ,
OCC ,
Political Candidates ,
Political Parties ,
Presidential Elections ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Cozen Lens-
• As James Carville quipped in 1992, “It’s the economy, stupid.” This likely still holds true for 2024.
• Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s (R-SC) campaign for the GOP presidential nomination...more
12/13/2023
/ Big Tech ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Cards ,
Data Protection ,
Digital Wallets ,
Donald Trump ,
Federal Budget ,
FinTech ,
Government Shutdown ,
Joe Biden ,
Late Fees ,
Payment Processors ,
Political Campaigns ,
Political Candidates ,
Presidential Elections ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Recessions
The Cozen Lens-
•Republicans have been talking a big game about repealing the Inflation Reduction Act in its entirety but actually going through with it will be more difficult.
•Non-defense spending is poised to be hit...more
12/6/2023
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Appropriations Bill ,
Border Security ,
Budget Cuts ,
Congressional Budget Office ,
Federal Budget ,
Governor DeSantis ,
Governor Newsom ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Pentagon ,
Political Candidates ,
Political Parties
The Cozen Lens-
• House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) made it through the shutdown showdown but has perpetually been at risk of losing his gavel. The best thing he has going for him though is that any successor might have...more
The Cozen Lens-
•While the two sides remain far apart ideologically on a debt ceiling compromise, there is plenty of creativity that can be used to close the gap so both sides can claim a political victory.
•Despite...more
The Cozen Lens-
•With the standoff over raising the debt ceiling, Washington, DC is asserting its prerogative to be the center of the universe. All eyes are on whether policymakers can once again raise the debt ceiling or...more
The Cozen Lens-
•This past weekend’s fast-moving banking crisis was an abrupt reminder that the era of easy money is over. While regulators were able to avoid broader contagion (at least for now), this crisis has...more
The Cozen Lens-
•After reaching the $31.4 trillion debt limit last week, the clock is ticking to find a path forward and avoid a default. But raising the debt limit today has become a broader partisan fight, which may...more
The balance of power in Washington remains intact: control of The White House and Congress remains as it was prior to the election. Notwithstanding that balance of power, we are NOT in a status quo political environment....more