As Congress reflects on its success in passing the First Step Act at the end of 2018, it must look toward ways to build on the existing momentum. The First Step Act was constructed to shift our justice system toward ensuring that we are incarcerating the right people for the right amount of time and that while people are incarcerated, our correctional system is using resources wisely to rehabilitate inmates. It makes steps toward reentry initiatives following incarceration by reauthorizing the Second Chance Act but leaves much still to be done in the space of breaking down barriers to reentry to allow rehabilitated inmates to be successful in society.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) made some news on Wednesday when she sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging a postponement of the State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on January 29. Although she stopped short of disinviting him, Speaker Pelosi cited security concerns related to the government shutdown as the reason.

Limited government conservatives remain disgruntled in Congress, both when in the majority and when in the minority. Republicans campaign on shrinking government, lowering taxes, embracing free markets, and upholding the constitution. But members who actually hold themselves to these promises once in Congress exist only in small pockets.

It’s no secret that Republicans have a difficult time doing what they said, but that doesn’t stop them from pretending they’re trying. True conservatives have been trying to end crony subsidies for years and the Farm Bill, H.R. 2, was supposed to be their chance to end wasteful programs that have been draining the economy since the New Deal era.

Last week, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) announced that he would not seek re-election. His future had been an open question. He was essentially recruited to take the gavel of the chamber after Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) called it quits in October 2015.

President Obama’s “Clean Power Plan” (CPP) drains our economy for Sierra Club hysteria. CPP sacrifices thousands of jobs, billions in growth, and lots of happiness. Thankfully, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt will likely toss it.

In a press conference on Friday, President Donald Trump criticized the process that Congress used to pass the Consolidated Appropriations Act, H.R. 1625, although he signed the spending bill into law. Still, he threatened to veto a future spending bill that was packed with wasteful spending and unrelated legislative priorities.

In 2015, Congressman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) started a movement to remove then-Speaker of the House, John Boehner (R-Ohio), from his position. Of this effort, Meadows said, "It's really more about trying to have a conversation on making this place work, where everybody's voice matters, where there's not a punitive culture. Hopefully, we'll have some discussion about that in the days and weeks to come."