Appropriations

AI and Emerging Technology, Appropriations, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Ethics and Influence, Modernization, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for April 1, 2019. Every Day Is April’s Fools Day.

By DanielSchuman April 1, 2019 12 min read

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMIN (FRANKLINS): Last week the House approved H. Res 245, which contains House Admin’s recommendations on how to allot funds amongst all the committees (except approps, which is funded separately). The upshot: flat funding for everyone, and a smaller-than-expected amount for the Fix Congress Committee. We break down the numbers and analyze them here. With an […]

Tags: Government Accountability Office, Freedom of Information Act, Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, Foreign Lobbying, House Ethics Committee

Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Ethics and Influence, Modernization, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for March 25, 2019. Only the best and most serious people.

By DanielSchuman March 25, 2019 10 min read

MUELLER LITE? Recess is over, Congress is back, and appropriations season is in full swing, but what is everyone talking about? Sigh. As my kids would say, “BORING!” Let’s talk about Congress instead. The House and Senate are back for three weeks. PROPOSED HOUSE COMMITTEE ALLOTMENTS (i.e., how much the House will spend on each of its […]

Tags: Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act, Staff Clearances, Office of Congressional Ethics, Legislation, Political Violence

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

Forecast for March 18, 2019. The seven-per-cent solution.

By DanielSchuman March 18, 2019 9 min read

SEVEN PERCENT OF THE HOUSE, or 32 Members, spoke at a Member’s Day hearing of the Fix Congress Committee, held on Tuesday, with 35 members submitting written testimony. (Video, Witness statements). The 3 hour hearing, which followed the committee’s organizational meeting that adopting committee rules, is too complex to recap, but we summarized the subject matter in this spreadsheet. FWIW, I […]

Tags: Cybersecurity, US Capitol Police, Staff Pay, Foreign Lobbying

3.11.19

Feds Lag in Publishing Funding Requests

Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Ethics and Influence, Modernization, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for March 11, 2019. The Not at SXSW Edition.

By DanielSchuman March 11, 2019 8 min read

IT’S SUNSHINE WEEK, devoted to all things transparency, and there are a ton of Congress tie-ins. On the House floor, set for a vote this week, are: the Access to Congressionally Mandated Report Act (which requires all agency reports sent to Congress to be online on a central website); the Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2019 (to improve transparency of the […]

Tags: Library of Congress, Freedom of Information Act, Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act, Office of Congressional Ethics, White Supremacy, Legislation

Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Feds Lag in Publishing Funding Requests

By DanielSchuman March 11, 2019 5 min read

Congressional Budget Justifications (CBJs) are plain-language explanations of how an agency proposes to spend money it requests that Congress appropriate, but how easy is it for congressional staff and citizens to find these documents? Demand Progress surveyed 456 federal agencies and entities for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 and found: 7.5 percent of the 173 […]

Tags: Data, Executive Branch, Leg Support Agencies, Budget

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

Forecast for March 4, 2019. This House Is Falling Apart.

By DanielSchuman March 4, 2019 8 min read

IT WILL COST BILLIONS to keep the Congress from literally (physically) falling apart, the acting Architect of the Capitol explained at an appropriations hearing last week. Read this round-up (with a nifty chart!) of the four legislative branch appropriations hearings on GAO, GPO, AOC, and CBO. One big take-away: if the House is going to modernize — or even […]

Tags: Library of Congress, US Capitol Police, Earmarks

Appropriations, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

The Congress’s Edifice Problem

By DanielSchuman March 1, 2019 6 min read

According to the Architect of the Capitol, it will take several billion dollars to keep the Congress from literally falling apart. This, and much more, was the subject of four legislative branch appropriations hearings this past week. It’s not just the physical infrastructure of Congress that’s eroding, the power of the institution has taken a […]

Tags: Congressional Ops, Science & Tech, Leg Support Agencies

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

Forecast for February 25, 2019. Your Salad Days.

By DanielSchuman February 25, 2019 6 min read

WORKING IN CONGRESS again is in the news, starting with Sen. Klobuchar receiving a drubbing for her ongoing mistreatment of staff. The New York Times tells a gross story of Sen. Klobuchar and a comb, but less salaciously describes her throwing objects and requesting staff return money earned during parental leave if they leave the office. The […]

Tags: Staff Pay

Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Ethics and Influence, Modernization, Rules, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for February 4, 2019. Executive Time.

By DanielSchuman February 4, 2019 9 min read

THE TOP LINE H.R. 1, the pro-voting & ethics strengthening bill, is getting negative reviews from anti-anti-corruption politicians (Mitch McConnell), court-identified fabulists (Hans Spakovsky), and K street lobbyists. It’s also the subject of an Oversight hearing on Wednesday. Why won’t House Dems release their caucus rules? Progressives & grassroots orgs are pushing for their publication while Democratic Caucus chair Hakeem Jeffries dodges press questions. Rep. Jeffries didn’t respond to […]

Tags: Staff Clearances, Foreign Lobbying, Office of Congressional Ethics, US Capitol Police, Korematsu Day, factions, White Supremacy, Caucus Rules

Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Rules, Appropriation Tracking, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

How House Committees Get Their Money

By DanielSchuman January 25, 2019 5 min read

(A version of this article updated for the 116th Congress is available here). Committee funding in the House of Representatives is accomplished through a somewhat quirky process. Appropriators in the House Legislative Branch Appropriations Committee set a top dollar amount for the committees — they appropriate the funds — but it is the Committee on […]

Tags: House, Data, Congressional Ops

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

Forecast for November 26, 2018. On Deck: House Democratic Leadership Elections and Potential Partial Shutdown.

By DanielSchuman November 26, 2018 7 min read

THE TOP LINE House Dem leadership elections are this week. More below. The Government may partially shut down on December 7 when the CR runs out of gas. The House launched the Office of Employee Advocacy (OOEA) according to a Nov. 5 CAO Dear Colleague. House staffers can learn more by following this internal House link. The OOEA provides legal representation […]

Tags: Congressional Research Service, Staff Pay, Earmarks, factions, Leadership

Forecast for April 1, 2019. Every Day Is April’s Fools Day.

Forecast for March 25, 2019. Only the best and most serious people.

Forecast for March 18, 2019. The seven-per-cent solution.

Feds Lag in Publishing Funding Requests

Forecast for March 11, 2019. The Not at SXSW Edition.

Feds Lag in Publishing Funding Requests

Forecast for March 4, 2019. This House Is Falling Apart.

The Congress’s Edifice Problem

Forecast for February 25, 2019. Your Salad Days.

Forecast for February 4, 2019. Executive Time.

How House Committees Get Their Money

Forecast for November 26, 2018. On Deck: House Democratic Leadership Elections and Potential Partial Shutdown.

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