Appropriations

Appropriations, Congressional Security, Ethics and Influence, Modernization, Rules, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for October 1, 2018. Briefing on House and Party Rules, Plus the Launch of TechCongress.

By DanielSchuman October 1, 2018 8 min read

THE TOP LINE On Thursday we briefed congressional staff on House, committee, and caucus reform proposals with experts from Issue One, Georgetown, and the Brookings Institution. Incidentally, party rules are very important: for example, the earmark ban and chairman term limits are both Republican party rules. Learn more about how we’d make the House work better in our […]

Tags: Legislation, Science & Tech

AI and Emerging Technology, Appropriations, Congressional Security, Ethics and Influence, Modernization, Rules, First Branch Forecast

Forecast for September 24, 2018. Congress’ Staff Capacity Problem, Plus the Library of Congress Started Publishing CRS Reports.

By DanielSchuman September 24, 2018 8 min read

THE TOP LINE Rules reform is the topic of a Congressional Transparency Caucus event on Thursday at 2 in Rayburn 2456 entitled “Playing by the House Rules.” RSVP here. Rep. Quigley will make opening remarks. Panelists include Daniel Schuman, Demand Progress; Meredith McGehee, Issue One; Matt Glassman, GAI at Georgetown; Molly Reynolds, Brookings Institution. For more, we […]

Tags: Caucus Rules, Cybersecurity, press freedom, Foreign Lobbying, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Inspector General

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

Forecast for September 17, 2018. Celebrating Constitution Day and Reforming the House Rules.

By DanielSchuman September 17, 2018 9 min read

THE TOP LINE Happy birthday to the US Constitution, signed 231 years ago today. In its honor, we are pleased to publish online the Constitution Annotated, a treatise commissioned by Congress that explains the Constitution as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court. By we, I mean Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, GovTrack.us, and Demand Progress. Reforming the House’s […]

Tags: Staff Pay, Diversity and Inclusion, Foreign Lobbying, Earmarks, factions, Access to Court Proceedings

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

Forecast for September 4, 2018. Appropriations Bills and SCOTUS Nomination Are Moving Forward Quickly.

By DanielSchuman September 4, 2018 13 min read

THE TOP LINE Appropriations. House and Senate appropriators have moved their bills faster than usual, but time is running out. Only eight legislative days remain for the House and sixteen days for the Senate to reach agreement and enact them before the fiscal year starts on Oct. 1. The action will be on the floor, in the House Rules committee, […]

Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, SCOTUS, social media, Government Publishing Office

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

Forecast for August 6, 2018. Transparency Bills Are Stuck and the Clock Is Ticking.

By DanielSchuman August 6, 2018 6 min read

TICKING CLOCK ON TRANSPARENCY BILLS The House and Senate have about a dozen good government and transparency bills that have widespread support, have advanced through the chambers, but are now stuck for no apparent (or good) reason. Here’s four of them: — The Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act (HR 4631), which requires all mandated agency reports […]

Tags: Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act, Office of Congressional Ethics, Legislation, NDAA, Political Violence, press freedom

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

Forecast for July 30, 2018. Congressional Pay Study, plus Congress’ Official Intranet, DemCom, is New and Improved.

By DanielSchuman July 30, 2018 10 min read

TOP LINE — Appropriations will continue to dominate Congressional attention even as the House goes into recess, with another minibus teed up in the Senate this week and President Trump threatening to shut down the government. The House has scheduled 19 sessions days before the November election; only 11 before the end of the fiscal […]

Tags: press freedom, social media, Legislation, PRESS Act, Diversity and Inclusion, Staff Pay

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

Forecast for July 23, 2018. Appropriations in the Spotlight, Plus Whistleblower Cases Have Doubled Over the Last Five Years.

By DanielSchuman July 23, 2018 8 min read

THE TOP LINE The Committee on House Administration is the focus of several conversations. — 30 good government organizations asked House Admin to send the Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act to the floor before the recess. The Committee voted to report the measure three months ago but has not actually reported the bill as part of a […]

Tags: Whistleblower Protections, Congressional Transparency Caucus, Legislation, Diversity and Inclusion, Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act, Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service

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

Appropriators to Strengthen Access to Inspectors General Reports

By DanielSchuman June 22, 2018 4 min read

The Senate Appropriations committee provided $2 million to the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) to enhance the website Oversight.gov, which provides a central repository for Inspector General reports from dozens of federal Inspectors General. The website currently is funded through a pass-the-hat mechanism, where each Inspector General kicks in some money […]

Tags: Inspector General

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

What’s in the Senate Appropriations Committee’s 2019 Leg Branch Approps Bill

By DanielSchuman June 17, 2018 22 min read

On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously adopted the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill for 2019 (committee bill text, committee report), advancing the measure to the full chamber. The legislation contains provisions concerning the Senate’s ability to do its job, mirroring in some instances provisions contained in the House bill, which was passed by that chamber last week. (As is […]

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

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

2019 House FSGG Approps Bill and Transparency

By DanielSchuman June 15, 2018 5 min read

On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee favorably reported the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act for FY 2019, which contains a few transparency-related measures and a few omissions. (Bill as reported; Committee Report as reported). I’ll address a few of the items: Central website for Congressional Budget Justifications No direct funding for Oversight.Gov DATA […]

Tags: House, Data, Congressional Ops, Science & Tech, Leg Support Agencies, Legislation

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

Transparency Provisions Inside the FY18 Appropriations Law

By DanielSchuman April 18, 2018 14 min read

The recently-signed omnibus spending law contains transparency provisions intended to make our federal government just a little more open and accountable. They include: creating a hub for the reports that explain each agency’s federal spending request; a first step towards opening up federal court orders for everyone to read without charge; creating a central repository […]

Tags: Executive Branch, Budget

Appropriations, Rules, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Staff Designees on the House Appropriations Committee

By DanielSchuman August 12, 2016 3 min read

Earlier today I tweeted a request for evidence that members of the House Appropriations Committee used to be granted staff designees — staffers paid by the committee that are chosen by and serve the individual members of the committee — but that the designees are being phased out. The following is evidence of that practice.

Tags: House, Congressional Ops

Forecast for October 1, 2018. Briefing on House and Party Rules, Plus the Launch of TechCongress.

Forecast for September 24, 2018. Congress’ Staff Capacity Problem, Plus the Library of Congress Started Publishing CRS Reports.

Forecast for September 17, 2018. Celebrating Constitution Day and Reforming the House Rules.

Forecast for August 6, 2018. Transparency Bills Are Stuck and the Clock Is Ticking.

Forecast for July 23, 2018. Appropriations in the Spotlight, Plus Whistleblower Cases Have Doubled Over the Last Five Years.

Appropriators to Strengthen Access to Inspectors General Reports

What’s in the Senate Appropriations Committee’s 2019 Leg Branch Approps Bill

2019 House FSGG Approps Bill and Transparency

Transparency Provisions Inside the FY18 Appropriations Law

Staff Designees on the House Appropriations Committee

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