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Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Congressional Security, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for June 7, 2021

By DanielSchuman June 7, 2021 21 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, our weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. Don’t miss an issue: subscribe here (it’s free). THE TOP LINE This week. The Senate is back and the House is holding a committee work week. Attorney General Garland will testify on Wednesday and the approps process is heating up. Strengthening Congress. […]

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Accountability and Oversight, AI and Emerging Technology, Appropriations, Congressional Security, Continuity and Resiliency, Ethics and Influence, Modernization, Appropriation Tracking, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for June 1, 2021.

By DanielSchuman June 1, 2021 21 min read

Bring on the out-of-office responses and welcome to this recess edition of the First Branch Forecast, where we look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. Now, you’ll have time enough at last to encourage your colleagues to subscribe here. TOP LINE The forgotten art of congressional oversight is the topic of a fantastic, extensive article by the American Prospect’s […]

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Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Congressional Security, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Continuity and Resiliency, Ethics and Influence, Appropriation Tracking, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for May 24, 2021

By DanielSchuman May 24, 2021 19 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. Encourage your colleagues to subscribe here. TOP LINE The House is holding a committee work week and the Senate is in. Next week, both chambers will be out to coincide with the Memorial Day holiday. The January 6th Commission bill (H.R. […]

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Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Announcements, Blog posts

Pay Congressional Staff More! Says Bipartisan Group of 30 Orgs to House Approps

By DanielSchuman May 17, 2021 6 min read

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 17, 2021 CONTACT: Daniel Schuman, policy director, Demand Progress, daniel@demandprogress.org, 240-237-3930 30 organizations and 11 congressional experts sent a bipartisan letter to House appropriators today calling to restore funding levels for congressional personal office and committee staff, amounting to double-digit percentage increases. The bipartisan letter was organized by the progressive organization […]

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Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Congressional Security, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Continuity and Resiliency, Modernization, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for May 17, 2021

By DanielSchuman May 17, 2021 18 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. Encourage your colleagues to subscribe here. TOP LINE Both chambers are in session this week and getting down to business: A bill providing for a January 6th Commission likely will be considered in the House this week. The legislation, introduced by […]

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AI and Emerging Technology, Congressional Security, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Modernization, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for May 10, 2021.

By DanielSchuman May 10, 2021 21 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here. TOP LINE STOP EVERYTHING. “100% of my focus is on stopping this new administration,” said Sen. McConnell at a press conference. He added: Democrats want to turn America into a “socialist country” and […]

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Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Congressional Security, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Modernization, Appropriation Tracking, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for May 3, 2021

By DanielSchuman May 3, 2021 24 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. We had thought last week would be quiet, but we were wrong. Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here. TOP LINE Calendar. The Senate is out this week and the House is holding a committee work week, which means […]

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Appropriations, Modernization, Appropriation Tracking, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

What Items Are Due to Congress: May 2021

By DanielSchuman May 1, 2021 18 min read

Congress regularly requests reports on strengthening Congress but there’s no central place to keep track of what they’ve requested. To help keep track of things, we built a public spreadsheet that maintains a catalog of projects, broken down by item due, entity responsible, and due date. The catalog covers reforms and requests ordered by the […]

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Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Advocacy, Blog posts

Video: Demand Progress Webinar on FY 2022 Appropriations Public Witness Testimony

By DanielSchuman April 30, 2021 2 min read

Demand Progress hosted a webinar on Friday, April 30 to hear from presenters who otherwise would have testified in person before the appropriations subcommittees on improving government transparency and accountability. This webinar was moderated by Taylor J. Swift, policy advisor for Demand Progress. The timestamps for each presenter are included below.

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Appropriations, Appropriation Tracking, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

How House Committees Get Their Money

By DanielSchuman April 28, 2021 6 min read

Our 2019 and 2020 articles on how House committees are funded have been updated for the 117th Congress. Committee funding in the House of Representatives is accomplished through a somewhat obscure process. Appropriators on the House Legislative Branch Appropriations Committee set a top dollar amount for the committees — they appropriate the funds — but […]

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Appropriations, Congressional Security, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Ethics and Influence, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for April 26, 2021

By DanielSchuman April 26, 2021 14 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here. TOP LINE Staffers on Capitol Hill continue to bear the trauma and burn out from working through a pandemic, the 2020 election, and the insurrection, leading many staff to leave their jobs, according to Business […]

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Appropriations, Congressional Security, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Continuity and Resiliency, Modernization, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for April 19, 2021

By DanielSchuman April 19, 2021 23 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. (Tell your friends to subscribe.) TOP LINE White nationalism has no place in Congress and yet several representatives on Friday were gathering support to start the America First Caucus, ostensibly focused on Anglo-Saxon “political traditions,” per PunchBowl.news. The America First Committee, the obvious antecedent, […]

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