As Congress considers welfare reform many are quick to point out the political roadblocks facing actual progress. Although the crumbling welfare apparatus has become a focal point in recent congressional discourse due to the efforts of House conservatives within the Freedom Caucus it will still be an uphill fight to get lasting reforms pushed through at the federal level.

The passage of the American Health Care Act, H.R. 1628, out of the House of Representatives gives an opportunity for the Republican majority to begin work on a generational opportunity: fundamental tax reform. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will head to Ohio on Wednesday to begin making the case for tax reform, previewing the next big item on the House Republican agenda.

Christopher Jacobs has a great piece up over at The Federalist highlighting how the advanceable, refundable tax credits proposed in House Republican leader's ObamaCare "alternative," the American Health Care Act, might wind up taking a Byrd bath in the Senate. He raises a good argument, but other aspects of the bill may also fall victim to the "Byrd rule."

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) is FreedomWorks’ Member of the Month for March. A freshman, Rep. Biggs sits on the House Judiciary Committee and was chosen to head the Environmental subcommittee within the Science, Space and Technology Committee in the 115th Congress.

We are proud to award Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-Ky.) bill to abolish the Department of Education, H.R. 899, as FreedomWorks’ Bill of the Month for March. His bill, only a sentence long in length, reads, “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2018.”

Shortly before adjourning for Thanksgiving, House Republicans met in private to vote on rules proposals for the 115th Congress, which begins on January 3. Among the proposals considered by the conference was one that would bring back earmarks.

Perhaps the cocktails preceding yesterday's welcome dinner at the American Constitution Society's annual convention are to blame, but when Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren addressed the dinner, they appeared to be suffering from memory problems. As they spoke about the Senate's handling of President Obama's judicial nominees and Donald Trump's remarks concerning a Mexican-American judge, their memory lapses were too numerous to discuss in a single post. But here are several examples:

Last Tuesday, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) unveiled a new anti-poverty initiative called ‘A Better Way to Fight Poverty’ at an outdoor press conference in Washington D.C.'s Anacostia neighborhood, which is plagued by high poverty rates and crime.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced revisions to the proposed rules interpreting the Fair Labor Standard Act’s regulations on the overtime compensation pay of white-collar, salaried workers. Currently, salaried employees making more than $23,660 annually are exempt from the DOL requirement that employers pay time-and-a-half for each hour over 40 hours weekly. The final rule, with several key changes to the proposed rule, will extend overtime pay protections to over 40 million American workers.