Congress Begins New Year with Shrunken Ambitions

Washington Post: “Set to begin a new session Monday, lawmakers are struggling to find optimism that 2014 will mark a pivot point for an institution whose historically low approval rating has been at or below 20 percent for three years. Last year seemed to bring a rock-bottom moment — not just in the public’s view but also across the Capitol, where ambition withered among lawmakers themselves.”

However, David Hawkings gives three reasons Congress might start the year “unexpectedly strong.”