Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion

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

Forecast for June 17, 2019.

By DanielSchuman June 17, 2019 7 min read

CONGRESS IN BRIEF • Congress’s staff retention and diversity issues will be the subject of a Fix Congress committee hearing on Thursday. • The Congressional Research Service will be subject to a rare (and much needed) oversight hearing before the House Administration Committee on Thursday. It’s time to re-read Kevin Kosar’s “Why I Quit the Congressional Research Service.” • Approps on […]

Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, Foreign Lobbying, Science & Tech, press freedom

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

Forecast for June 10, 2019. Leg Branch Approps Goes to the Floor; Modernizing the Contempt Process; and Improving Constituent Communications.

By DanielSchuman June 10, 2019 13 min read

CONGRESS IN BRIEF • The Approps minibus will hit the House floor this week. Several hundred amendments were offered for Rules Committee consideration, including 38 for leg branch; H. Rules meets Monday at 5 and again on Tuesday. Anyone offering amendments to stop the member pay adjustment from taking place should read this and then find something useful to do instead. Don’t just […]

Tags: MRA, Office of Legal Counsel, Staff Pay, Congressional Transparency Caucus

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

Forecast for June 3, 2019. Mission Accomplished

By DanielSchuman June 3, 2019 9 min read

Congress is in session for the next 4 weeks. Here’s what you need to know: House FSGG Approps Subcommittee markup is tonight at 7. Here’s the draft bill and where you can watch the proceedings. The Fix Congress Committee is talking constituent engagement this Wednesday. The House is on track to consider appropriations bills on the floor starting June 12th. The Congressional Transparency Caucus will demo […]

Tags: Office of Legal Counsel, Staff Pay, Science & Tech

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

Forecast for April 22, 2019. What happens next?

By DanielSchuman April 22, 2019 6 min read

THE MUELLER REPORT IS OUT, but you knew that already. By outsourcing the investigation to Mueller, Congress shirked its constitutional obligation to oversee the executive branch. Mueller’s investigation was narrowly scoped to prosecutable crimes arising from “the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.” It’s Congress’s job to examine the larger issues within our political system that allowed […]

Tags: Freedom of Information Act, Office of Legal Counsel

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

Forecast for April 15, 2019. First hundred days.

By DanielSchuman April 15, 2019 13 min read

HOUSE OPERATIONS Technology staff hiring faces huge challenges, according to House Clerk Cheryl Johnson and House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving. At this past week’s House Admin hearing, both agencies said they struggle with hiring and retaining IT personnel, a topic that came up several times. The House officers identified insufficient resources to pay staff, the […]

Tags: US Capitol Police, White Supremacy, Science & Tech, Trump Taxes, Whistleblower Protections, Political Violence, Cybersecurity

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

Forecast for April 8, 2019.

By DanielSchuman April 8, 2019 14 min read

AUTHORIZERS AND APPROPRIATORS This past week House Leg Branch Approps received outside testimony from members of Congress and 18 outside witnesses, of which a dozen were in person, concerning strengthening the legislative branch. This sets the stage for this Tuesday’s House Admin hearing on House Officer priorities for 2019 and beyond, featuring the Sergeant at Arms, the Clerk, the Chief Administrative […]

Tags: Congressional Data Task Force, Cybersecurity, Science & Tech, MRA, US Capitol Police, Staff Clearances, Staff Pay, Congressional Research Service

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

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

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

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

Forecast for February 19, 2019. Never Waste an Emergency

By DanielSchuman February 19, 2019 6 min read

THE HOUSE COMMITTEE TASKED WITH MODERNIZING CONGRESS has 12 newly appointed members, an initial $50,000 budget (through March), and less than one year to issue recommendations. There’s little doubt that Congress must invest in its own brain power and modernize its technology. The select committee isn’t Congress’s only hope, as the oversight committees (House Admin + Senate Rules) and leg branch […]

Tags: Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act, Staff Pay, US Capitol Police, Earmarks, White Supremacy, Legislation, Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, Caucus Rules, press freedom

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

Forecast for January 28, 2019. A Strange Game. The Only Winning Move Is Not To Play.

By DanielSchuman January 28, 2019 8 min read

TOP LINE The shutdown was shut down, at least for three weeks, after (we suspect) Sen. McConnell made clear to the White House that he would no longer use his position as Senate Majority Leader to block a real vote in which the majority of his party would defect. McConnell signalled this by holding two votes […]

Tags: Trump Taxes, Legislation, US Capitol Police, Diversity and Inclusion, Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act

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

Forecast for January 22, 2019. Champagne Wishes & Caviar Dreams.

By DanielSchuman January 22, 2019 10 min read

TOP LINE In a lengthy and insightful essay, noted Holocaust historian Christopher Browning drew ominous parallels between the destruction of the Weimar Republic by the “old right” and what’s happening today. The most gripping section is his analysis of the old Republic, but this section is striking as well: “If the US has someone whom historians will look […]

Tags: Foreign Lobbying, White Supremacy, Legislation

Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion

Forecast for June 17, 2019.

Forecast for June 10, 2019. Leg Branch Approps Goes to the Floor; Modernizing the Contempt Process; and Improving Constituent Communications.

Forecast for June 3, 2019. Mission Accomplished

Forecast for April 22, 2019. What happens next?

Forecast for April 15, 2019. First hundred days.

Forecast for April 8, 2019.

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

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

Forecast for February 25, 2019. Your Salad Days.

Forecast for February 19, 2019. Never Waste an Emergency

Forecast for January 28, 2019. A Strange Game. The Only Winning Move Is Not To Play.

Forecast for January 22, 2019. Champagne Wishes & Caviar Dreams.

Media Center

Contact Us

Subscribe to first branch forecast