Arkies in the Beltway

"Arkies in the Beltway" is back with a new episode for the week of Dec. 8, 2024! I'm Alex Thomas, Washington correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansas leading the discussions. Congress is sprinting to complete its work before the holidays. The Senate and House of Representatives have a full agenda of things to accomplish before Dec. 20, i...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of Nov. 24, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing the discussions. Members of Congress are away from Capitol Hill this week for Thanksgiving. When they return to Washington, it will be a three-week sprint to complete work for the 118th Congress...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of Nov. 17, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing the discussions. Members of Congress have returned to Capitol Hill, and they are not wasting time preparing for next year's Republican trifecta. Senate Republicans elected Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark....

Welcome to "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of Nov. 10, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing these discussions. Arkansas' members of the U.S. House of Representatives had a successful Election Day. All four incumbents — Republican Reps. Rick Crawford, French Hill, Steve Womack and Bru...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of Nov. 3, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing these discussions. Election Day is Tuesday, and Arkansas' federal lawmakers have multiple reasons to keep their eyes on the results. There are, of course, the races in Arkansas' four House of Rep...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of Oct. 27, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing these conversations. We conclude our series covering Arkansas' four congressional races by looking at the 4th Congressional District contest. U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., has served on Cap...

Welcome to "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of Oct. 20, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing these conversations. This week's episode is the third part of our series covering Arkansas' four congressional races in this fall's general election. We're looking at the contest in the Natur...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of Oct. 13, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing these conversations. We continue our month-long series on Arkansas' four congressional races by looking at the 2nd District contest between Republican incumbent Rep. French Hill and Democratic c...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of Oct. 6, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing these conversations. Election Day is less than a month away, and Arkansans will have many candidates to consider for local, state and federal offices. During October, "Arkies in the Beltway" will...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of Sept. 29, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at the Arkansans influencing the national political discussions. The "Man in Black" is now in bronze. Arkansans joined congressional leaders, Arkansas lawmakers and members of Johnny Cash's family on Capitol Hill last Tuesday for a ceremony unv...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of Sept. 22, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing the discussions. The main focus on Capitol Hill this week — at least, when it comes to legislative business — will be lawmakers' ability to prevent a government shutdown at month's end. The Hou...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of Sept. 15, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing the discussions. We are nearly seven weeks away from Election Day, and campaigning is in full swing, both nationally and in Arkansas. Democratic congressional candidate Marcus Jones is criticiz...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of Sept. 8, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing the discussions. Members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives return to Capitol Hill on Monday, bringing an end to their month-long August recess period. Lawmakers will arrive in Wash...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of Sept. 1, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing the discussions. U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., have introduced bipartisan legislation supporting research on smartphone use in schools. The Focus on Learning Ac...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of August 25, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at the Arkansans influencing our national political discussions. As Democrats from across the country converged in Chicago last week for the Democratic National Convention, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette spent time following the Arkansas delega...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of August 18, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing the discussions. Democrats from across the country are converging in Chicago this week for the Democratic National Convention. The event completes a month of changes to the Democratic Party's...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of August 11, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing the discussions. Arkansas Democrats are ecstatic about Vice President Kamala Harris' choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Harris named Walz to the Democratic presidential tic...

Welcome to "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of August 4, 2024! I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing these discussions. U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., had an opportunity to present Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe with questions surrounding the assassination attempt on former Presi...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of July 28, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing the discussions. Arkansas' delegation for this year's Democratic National Convention did not waste any time backing Vice President Kamala Harris as their party's presidential nominee. Delegates...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of July 21, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at the Arkansans influencing our national political discussions. This week, we are taking a look at an event outside of Beltway. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette joined Arkansans in Milwaukee last week as they participated in the Republican Nationa...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of July 14, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing the discussions. Members of Congress were busy upon returning to Capitol Hill from their Independence Day break. U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., introduced separa...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of July 7, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and in a change of pace, we are not spending time this week focusing on national politics and the Arkansans influencing those discussions. Rather, we're taking a break from our usual coverage to discuss this year's Congressional Art Competition. Since 1982, mor...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of June 30, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing the discussions. The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee continues to move swiftly in considering Congress' annual appropriations measures. The committee's Transportation, Hou...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of June 23, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing the discussions. The U.S. Capitol last week was rather quiet. The Senate did not make much legislative progress on the chamber floor, and members of the House of Representatives spent the week a...

This is "Arkies in the Beltway" for the week of June 16, 2024. I'm Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with your look at national politics and the Arkansans influencing the discussions. U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., released Senate Republicans' framework of the next farm bill, another step in Congress' efforts to pass a sweeping legislative package addressing...