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Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Announcements and Statements, Announcements, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Demand Progress Education Fund Releases Primer on Union Organizing Rights for Congressional Staff 

By DanielSchuman September 6, 2022 4 min read

Report Authored by Kevin Mulshine, former Senior Advisor and Counsel on the first staff of the Office of Compliance/Office of Congressional Workplace Rights Demand Progress Education Fund released today Union Organizing Rights on Capitol Hill to equip staff in the US House of Representatives with guidance on how they can implement newly won rights to […]

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Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Announcements and Statements, Advocacy, Announcements, Blog posts

Statement on House Staff Pay Floor Increase Going into Effect Sept. 1

By DanielSchuman August 31, 2022 1 min read

“At long last, no Member of the House of Representatives is permitted to pay their staff poverty wages. As of September 1, every staff person in the House of Representatives must be paid at least $45,000 a year, which meets the living wage in high cost Washington, DC,” said Daniel Schuman, policy director at Demand […]

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

First Branch Forecast for August 29, 2022: Letter of Note

By DanielSchuman August 29, 2022 5 min read

TOP LINE This week, recess continues. Last week saw two big announcements from the White House: (1) the partial student loan forgiveness program, which incidentally could help 2,000 staffers (or more!) on the hill, and (2) making federally-funded research free and publicly available, which will improve the availability of information for policymaking deliberations. You didn’t ask us, but congressional […]

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Accountability and Oversight, Congressional Security, Ethics and Influence, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

First Branch Forecast for August 22, 2022: The Executive Strikes Back

By DanielSchuman August 22, 2022 12 min read

TOP LINE It’s still recess, with two weeks until the Senate reconvenes and the House has a committee work week. House and Senate Security Manuals are now publicly available thanks to litigation brought by journalist Shawn Musgrave. The House and Senate resisted the effort, brought under a common law right of access, and only ceded ground after it […]

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Congressional Security, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

House and Senate Security Manuals Now Publicly Available

By DanielSchuman August 17, 2022 3 min read

The House and Senate Security Manuals have been the focus of litigation between journalist Shawn Musgrave and the House and the Senate. Musgrave is litigating whether a common law right of access exists for congressional documents, and he is ably represented by Kel McClanahan of National Security Counselors. He recently had a big win.

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

First Branch Forecast for August 15, 2022: A call to arms

By DanielSchuman August 15, 2022 6 min read

TOP LINE Recess. Barring emergencies, Congress is out until September. On Friday, the House passed the reconciliation package — the Inflation Reduction Act — which now goes to Pres. Biden for signature. The process by which this legislation was considered and enacted underscores the importance of allowing a bare majority to work its will and the […]

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Congressional Security, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Incivility

By DanielSchuman August 11, 2022 3 min read

We just finished reading The Field of Blood, a book focused on violence in Congress in the lead up to the Civil War. Did you know that, according to the author, between 1830 and 1860 “there were more than seventy violent incidents between congressmen in the House and Senate chambers or on nearby streets and […]

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

First Branch Forecast for August 8, 2022: It’s recess?

By DanielSchuman August 8, 2022 8 min read

TOP LINE This week. It’s recess-ish. The Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act reconciliation package over the weekend and the House is expected to briefly reconvene on Friday, August 12 to pass that legislation and perhaps a few other bills. The events of the past week highlight that normal spending processes rarely go by the book; that ethics and […]

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Appropriations, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Modernization, Appropriation Tracking, Announcements, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Demand Progress Proposals Included in FY 2023 Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations Bills and Explanatory Statement

By DanielSchuman August 5, 2022 17 min read

On Thursday, July 28, 2022, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patrick Leahy published 12 appropriations bills and accompanying explanatory statements, including the FY 2023 Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations bill and explanatory statement. These measures will not go through the traditional hearing and mark-up process. The bill and explanatory statement are packed with good government reforms and […]

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Appropriations, Appropriation Tracking, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Items Included In FY 2023 Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations Explanatory Statement

By DanielSchuman August 5, 2022 1 min read

On Thursday, July 28, 2022, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patrick Leahy published 12 appropriations bills and accompanying explanatory statements, including the FY 2023 Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations bill and explanatory statement. To help keep track of all explanatory statement items requested by the Senate Legislative Branch Subcommittee, we built a public spreadsheet that maintains a […]

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

First Branch Forecast for August 1, 2022: Reconciliation

By DanielSchuman August 1, 2022 19 min read

TOP LINE This week. The House floor is closed until Sept.13 (with committee work starting on Sept. 6); the Senate is in for its last scheduled week until Sept. 6. The Senate will stick around until it passes the “Inflation Reduction Act,” AKA mini-reconciliation, timing depending on Democratic Members not testing positive for COVID; and the House is expected to return […]

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