Congressional Security

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

First Branch Forecast for January 31, 2022: Proxy Voting FTW

By DanielSchuman January 31, 2022 12 min read

Welcome‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌First‌ ‌Branch‌ ‌Forecast,‌ ‌your‌ ‌regular‌ ‌look‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌Legislative‌ ‌branch‌ ‌and‌ government ‌transparency.‌ ‌Tell ‌your‌ ‌friends‌ ‌to‌ subscribe. This week. The Senate is back today; the House is back tomorrow. Appropriations run out on February 18th, so expect a short CR, an omnibus bill, or a shutdown. Looking at scheduled committee proceedings, we see separate Tuesday HSGAC […]

Tags: Staff Pay, US Capitol Police, January 6, Proxy Voting

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

First Branch Forecast for January 18, 2022: Fire, Freedom, and Funds

By DanielSchuman January 18, 2022 16 min read

Welcome‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌First‌ ‌Branch‌ ‌Forecast,‌ ‌your‌ ‌regular‌ ‌look‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌Legislative‌ ‌branch‌ ‌and‌ government ‌transparency.‌ ‌Tell ‌your‌ ‌friends‌ ‌to‌ subscribe. THE TOP LINE It’s Tuesday, Lemon. The House is back today after the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday with an apparently light floor schedule; the Senate canceled recess to try again to move voting rights […]

Tags: January 6, congressional staff

Congressional Security, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

First Branch Forecast for January 10, 2022: Gloom and doom?

By DanielSchuman January 10, 2022 8 min read

Welcome‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌First‌ ‌Branch‌ ‌Forecast,‌ ‌your‌ ‌regular‌ ‌look‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌Legislative‌ ‌branch‌ ‌and‌ government ‌transparency.‌ ‌Tell ‌your‌ ‌friends‌ ‌to‌ subscribe. THE TOP LINE This week. The House is back Monday evening with a quorum call to start the second session of the 117th Congress; the Senate is back on Monday as well. The floor and […]

Tags: US Capitol Police, January 6

Accountability and Oversight, Congressional Security, Advocacy, Blog posts

Make U.S. Capitol Police IG Reports Publicly Available Online

By DanielSchuman January 6, 2022 2 min read

Federal inspectors general routinely publish their findings online. This helps hold federal agencies to account by creating public and internal pressure to address the concerns raised by the IG and creating a record should they fail to fix problems. However, the Capitol Police Inspector General is one of a handful of IGs that withholds their […]

Tags: Inspector General, US Capitol Police, Transparency

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

First Branch Forecast: ModCom, PODA, PACER, + USCP 12/13/2021

By DanielSchuman December 13, 2021 19 min read

Welcome‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌First‌ ‌Branch‌ ‌Forecast,‌ ‌your‌ ‌regular‌ ‌look‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌Legislative‌ ‌branch‌ ‌and‌ government ‌transparency.‌ ‌Tell ‌your‌ ‌friends‌ ‌to‌ subscribe. THE TOP LINE Bonus week. The Senate is in today; the House is in tomorrow, with the ominous last vote predicted at “???” We’ll see both chambers vote to raise the vestigial debt ceiling […]

Tags: Congressional Research Service, Freedom of Information Act, Staff Clearances, Foreign Lobbying, US Capitol Police, NDAA

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

First Branch Forecast: Police, PODA, and the Courts 12/06/2021

By DanielSchuman December 6, 2021 15 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your regular look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. Tell your friends to subscribe. THE TOP LINE This week: the Senate is in today; the House is in on Tuesday. Congress cleared a CR that funds the government through February 18th so this week expect a debt limit vote, NDAA consideration, and […]

Tags: Staff Pay, Staff Clearances, US Capitol Police

Congressional Security, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

The Capitol Police Should Issue FOIA-like Regs — Here’s our Model Regs That Show Them How

By DanielSchuman December 6, 2021 2 min read

Today Demand Progress Education Fund released model public records request regulations for the United States Capitol Police Force. If implemented, these regulations would create a FOIA-like process for the Capitol Police, which our multi-year investigation had previously revealed to be particularly secretive.

Tags: US Capitol Police

12.3.21

Model Public Records Request Regulations For the US Capitol Police

Accountability and Oversight, Congressional Security, Continuity and Resiliency, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

First Branch Forecast: Democratic slippage, court accountability, and the mother of parliaments 11/29/2021

By DanielSchuman November 29, 2021 9 min read

Welcome‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌First‌ ‌Branch‌ ‌Forecast,‌ ‌your‌ ‌regular‌ ‌look‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌Legislative‌ ‌branch‌ ‌and‌ government ‌transparency.‌ ‌Tell ‌your‌ ‌friends‌ ‌to‌ subscribe. THE TOP LINE Welcome back. The Senate is in today; the House is in on Tuesday, with the Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act on suspension and further appropriations bills possible. We’re curious about House Oversight’s Wednesday hearing into the Future […]

Tags: Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act, Staff Clearances, Diversity and Inclusion, US Capitol Police, Statements of Disbursements, Whistleblower Protections, Political Violence

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

First Branch Forecast: Clearances, Compensation, and Censure 11/22/2021

By DanielSchuman November 22, 2021 4 min read

Welcome‌ ‌to‌ the Thanksgiving-week First‌ ‌Branch‌ ‌Forecast,‌ ‌a quick — abridged, even — ‌look‌ at ‌the‌ ‌Legislative‌ ‌branch‌ ‌and‌ government ‌transparency.‌ ‌Tell ‌your‌ ‌friends‌ ‌to‌ subscribe. THE TOP (AND ONLY) LINE OOO. We know most people are out, so here’s just the highlights — we’ll have a full report next week. Clearances. Each senator can now designate […]

Tags: Staff Pay, Staff Clearances, Diversity and Inclusion, US Capitol Police, Political Violence

11.16.21

Coalition Letter Thanking Senate Committee for Advancing Legislation that Strengthens Inspectors General System

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

First Branch Forecast: Unions, CBO, & Leahy 11/15/2021

By DanielSchuman November 15, 2021 14 min read

Welcome‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌First‌ ‌Branch‌ ‌Forecast,‌ ‌your‌ ‌regular‌ ‌look‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌Legislative‌ ‌branch‌ ‌and‌ government ‌transparency.‌ ‌Tell ‌your‌ ‌friends‌ ‌to‌ subscribe. THE TOP LINE The House and Senate are back this week, as I’m sure you noticed. — Senate. You’ve probably seen all the commentary on Senator Schumer’s letter on the Senate schedule for the next month or two. Of […]

Tags: Congressional Unionization, NDAA, Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, Whistleblower Protections, Political Violence, Proxy Voting

First Branch Forecast for January 31, 2022: Proxy Voting FTW

First Branch Forecast for January 18, 2022: Fire, Freedom, and Funds

First Branch Forecast for January 10, 2022: Gloom and doom?

Make U.S. Capitol Police IG Reports Publicly Available Online

First Branch Forecast: ModCom, PODA, PACER, + USCP 12/13/2021

First Branch Forecast: Police, PODA, and the Courts 12/06/2021

The Capitol Police Should Issue FOIA-like Regs — Here’s our Model Regs That Show Them How

Model Public Records Request Regulations For the US Capitol Police

First Branch Forecast: Democratic slippage, court accountability, and the mother of parliaments 11/29/2021

First Branch Forecast: Clearances, Compensation, and Censure 11/22/2021

Coalition Letter Thanking Senate Committee for Advancing Legislation that Strengthens Inspectors General System

First Branch Forecast: Unions, CBO, & Leahy 11/15/2021

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