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First Branch Forecast for August 7, 2023: Debt, Trump, and the Capitol Police

By DanielSchuman August 7, 2023 17 min read

TOP LINE It’s still recess. This week, we cover: The credit rating downgrade and how to get out of that hole Lessons from the federal Trump insurrection prosecution The bicameral hearing into problems at the Capitol Police And a smattering of other issues. CREDIT DOWNGRADE Our political leaders have managed to talk the markets into downgrading the […]

First Branch Forecast for July 31, 2023: What’s done and what’s left to do

By DanielSchuman July 31, 2023 17 min read

TOP LINE Recess is here, but it’s not an opportunity to breathe easier. All 12 appropriations bills have been reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee, a first for the Senate in five years. Meanwhile, only 10 have made it out of the House Appropriations Committee gauntlet and there’s talk they won’t take up the other two. […]

US Capitol Police Fails to Comply with Pre- and Post-January 6 Congressional Directives to Reform and GAO Recommendations on Security Preparedness and Training

By DanielSchuman July 26, 2023 6 min read

Demand Progress Education Fund Releases New Report Card and Recommendations A new report by Demand Progress Education Fund found that the US Capitol Police (USCP) has either failed to comply with or has slow-walked implementing several reform directives from Congress and recommendations by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), all aimed at improving the agency’s accountability. […]

First Branch Forecast for July 24, 2023: The Unbearable Difficulty of Tracking NDAA Amendments

By DanielSchuman July 24, 2023 15 min read

TOP LINE The last business week before recess arrives with little sense of how the two chambers will come eye to eye on appropriations when they reconvene in September. For your reading pleasure, we describe below the good news concerning civil liberties coming out of Congress as two important provisions cleared markups last week. Also, […]

Items Included In FY 2024 Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill Report

By DanielSchuman July 20, 2023 1 min read

On Thursday, July 13, 2023, the Full Senate Appropriations Committee reported out the FY 2024 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill 30-0. The bill text and report weren’t published online until Friday morning but can be found here. To help keep track of all items requested in the Senate Legislative Branch bill report, we built a public […]

First Branch Forecast for July 17, 2023: Summer of Minoritarian Legislating

By DanielSchuman July 17, 2023 17 min read

TOP LINE The NDAA is about to burst into flames like an unwatered Christmas tree, having passed the House by a bare 219-210. The appropriations bills have become a Barbenheimer of toplines and messaging amendments. Welcome to the summer of minoritarian legislating. The Senate Appropriations Committee reported out the Legislative branch appropriations bill 30-0 mid-week, […]

First Impressions: Funding Breakdown in the FY 2024 Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill

By DanielSchuman July 14, 2023 5 min read

By Taylor J. Swift, senior policy advisor On Thursday, July 13, the full Senate Appropriations Committee reported out the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill and report 30-0. Unfortunately, the bill text, manager’s amendment, and committee report didn’t come out until Friday morning, the day after the markup. The Senate proposed to appropriate $6.761 billion towards the […]

First Branch Forecast for July 10, 2023: The Pre-Recess Sprint

By DanielSchuman July 10, 2023 11 min read

TOP LINE Congress returns from the July 4th holiday and dives into a three-week sprint of work before the longer August recess. Appropriations bills remain the focus, with the Senate set to markup the Leg. Branch, CJS, and FSGG bills on Thursday. Look out for the proposed text perhaps the day before. The NDAA is slated to hit the House […]

First Branch Forecast for 6/26/23 – Teeing Up a Busy July

By DanielSchuman June 26, 2023 15 min read

TOP LINE This week Congress starts its two-week Independence Day holiday. We’re hoping to take next week off from writing our little newsletter, but we’ll be back. Among the highlights from this past week: Senate Appropriators adopted 302(b) allocations that are very different from the House’s untenable numbers, but with many Republican defections the National […]

Demand Progress Statement in Support of New Resolution Granting Senate Staff the Right to Unionize

By DanielSchuman June 23, 2023 1 min read

“The introduction of a resolution to grant Senate staff unionization rights long available to workers across this country is an important step toward strengthening Congress,” said Taylor J. Swift, senior policy advisor at Demand Progress. “We commend Senator Sherrod Brown and all senators supporting this important resolution to improve congressional workforce rights. A year of […]

Demand Progress Statement on Today’s Reintroduction of the PRESS Act

By DanielSchuman June 21, 2023 3 min read

Today, Rep. Kevin Kiley and Rep. Jamie Raskin in the House and Sen. Ron Wyden, Sen. Mike Lee, and Sen. Durbin in the Senate reintroduced the Protecting Reporters from Exploitative State Spying (PRESS) Act, legislation that prohibits overreach by government prosecutors seeking to extract confidential information and sources from reporters and their communications providers. The […]

First Branch Forecast for June 20, 2023: Approps Heats Up

By DanielSchuman June 20, 2023 21 min read

TOP LINE After a House Administration Subcommittee hearing focused on the personal rather than the institutional aspects of the Office of Congressional Ethics, we take a deeper look at why that office is vital to an ethical Congress. Congressional unions scored an historic win for committee staff and others. This week both chambers are in […]