Tax reform talks to get serious after break

The White House and Republicans expect to begin the serious work of tax reform when Congress returns from a two-week break at the end of April. Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee plan hearings on the tax reform plan that committee Chairman Kevin Brady and House Speaker Paul Ryan have been advocating since June.

A Decline in Texas Power Looms in Washington

Bill Archer and Martin Frost; Secretary of State James Baker III; Commerce Secretary Don Evans; Education Secretary Margaret Spellings; and Bush White House advisers campaign and a weak bench on the Democratic side, it's unlikely Texas talent will flood the executive branch in 2017 - no matter It matters, Sarver says, because of how directly the spending of the federal government affects the state - and the problems that could emerge with a lack of high-level federal advocates. "It could have a direct correlation on things like appropriations, on base closures, and getting facilities like NASA, and other things that are directly related to job and opportunities for Texas."