Accountability and Oversight

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Forecast for March 2, 2020.

By DanielSchuman March 2, 2020 13 min read

ON YOUR RADAR Approps season is firing on all cylinders, with many Members schedules double- or triple-booked. It’s running us ragged, too. (At least we can help you keep track of testimony deadlines.) Maybe Congress should take a real look at fixing its hearing schedule? Anyway— Leg Branch heard testimony from LOC and GAO this past week, and there’s news […]

Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending February 20, 2020

By DanielSchuman February 21, 2020 1 min read

For the week ending February 20, 2020, there were 9 Capitol Police incidents reported; 9 individuals arrested. There were 4 traffic related incidents, including 3 invalid permit arrests. Capitol Police arrested ‘multiple’ individuals for crowding and obstructing Emancipation Hall of the Capitol Visitor Center on Monday, February 17th around 11 am.  Here’s how this week’s […]

Forecast for February 18, 2020.

By DanielSchuman February 18, 2020 14 min read

ON YOUR RADAR A nice breather. Both the House and Senate are in recess this week. Whistleblower Ombudsman. Congratulations to Shanna Devine, who was just named the House of Representatives’ first Whistleblower Ombudsman. The nonpartisan, independent office, established 14 months ago as part of the House rules package and filled this past week — with bipartisan support […]

Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending February 13, 2020

By DanielSchuman February 13, 2020 1 min read

For the week ending February 13, 2020, there were 9 Capitol Police incidents reported; 18 individuals arrested. There were 2 traffic related incidents, including 1 invalid permit arrest. Capitol Police arrested 10 individuals for crowding and obstructing the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building on Wednesday, February 5th at 1:47 pm.  Here’s how this week’s […]

Coalition Urges House Democratic Caucus to Publish Caucus Rules

By DanielSchuman February 12, 2020 1 min read

Earlier today, a coalition of 15 organizations sent a letter requesting the House Democratic Caucus to publish its current set of Caucus rules.  Similar letters were sent on January 31, 2019, February 7, 2019, and April 10, 2019, requesting the Caucus to publish the rules online. The coalition received a response on February 7, 2019, saying that the issue would […]

Forecast For February 10, 2020.

By DanielSchuman February 10, 2020 8 min read

ON YOUR RADAR Shedding light on the Justice Department’s OLC Opinions is the topic of today’s Transparency Caucus briefing, set for 2pm in 1310 Longworth. RSVP to Hannah.Mansbach@mail.house.gov. Here’s why we think OLC opinion transparency is important plus a refresher on legislative efforts concerning OLC opinions. Also, read Mike Stern’s latest on OLC. Oversight hearings […]

The U.S. Capitol Police: What A Year Of Data Tells Us About The Congressional Police Force

By DanielSchuman February 10, 2020 13 min read

Written by Amelia Strauss, Amelia@DemandProgress.org Research and Editing Contributions by Daniel Schuman & Taylor J. Swift Download this report as a PDF here. Download the underlying data as a CSV here. Introduction Congress has a security-force-police-department hybrid, the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP), tasked with the critical mission of protecting the Congress—Members, employees, and visitors—so constitutionally […]

Capitol Police Round Up: Week Ending February 6, 2020

By DanielSchuman February 7, 2020 1 min read

For the week ending February 6, 2020, there were 19 Capitol Police incidents reported; 58 individuals arrested. There were 5 traffic related incidents, including 4 invalid permit arrests. Capitol Police arrested 39 individuals for crowding and obstructing the entrance of the U.S. Capitol Building on Wednesday, January 29th at 2:06 pm.  Here’s how this week’s […]

Exempt from FOIA, US legislative support agencies follow uneven transparency standards

By DanielSchuman February 6, 2020 11 min read

Some legislative branch agencies and offices proactively disclose huge amounts of information in a structured data format, disclose what they could not proactively disclose, and follow a FOIA-like process to respond to requests for information. Most do not.

A Primer on Congressional Staff Clearances

By DanielSchuman February 5, 2020 1 min read

Today Demand Progress Education Fund and the Project on Government Oversight are pleased to publish a primer on congressional staff clearances. It is the result of several years worth of research. Security clearances govern access to classified information. While members of Congress are entitled to access classified information by virtue of the constitutional offices they […]