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Shutdowns and their discontents
To: The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress From: Josh Chafetz, Cornell Law School Reform: Shutdowns and their discontents Almost no… Read More
Republicans go nuclear: An after action report
Republicans in the Senate finally acted to change the rules to speed up the confirmation process for some presidential nominations. They used the nuclear option to shorten the amount of… Read More
Leadership development in Congress: Background and proposals for reform
Please do not cite without permission of the authors. Executive Summary Both political parties in the U.S. House of Representatives follow several norms and informal practices that contribute to leadership… Read More
ICYMI: Top reads on Congress
Niels Lesniewski, “‘Nuclear’ fallout in Senate might take some time to register,” Roll Call: “The Senate’s Geiger counters hardly registered Wednesday afternoon after the most recent deployments of the “nuclear option”… Read More
The good, the bad, and the ugly: House committee authorizations edition
Follow the money. The cliche is typically employed by investigators looking to break a case. But the saying applies to Congress, as well. In order… Read More
Congressional capacity and reform: The role of staff
To: The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress From: Tracy Sulkin, Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Reform: Congressional capacity and… Read More
Testimony: Congressional staff
Written testimony of Casey Burgat Senior Governance Fellow, R Street Institute Before the House of Representatives Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee… Read More
Testimony: CRS has made great strides, but more improvement needed
Written testimony of Kevin R. Kosar Vice President of Policy, R Street Institute Before the House of Representatives Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee April 2, 2019 Thank you, Chairman Ryan, Ranking… Read More
Three ways Republicans can go nuclear
Frustrated by how long it takes to confirm President Trump’s nominees, Republicans are accusing Democrats of dragging out unnecessarily the time permitted under the rules after the Senate has invoked… Read More
Republicans poised to nuke legislative filibuster
In 2017, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., pledged not to abolish the legislative filibuster. He did so to persuade his fellow Republicans to back his plan to use… Read More