Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion

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Forecast for September 10, 2018. Legislative Branch Appropriations and Conference Rules.

By DanielSchuman September 10, 2018 10 min read

TOP LINE The Leg Branch minibus conference report may get a House floor vote this week; there was an actual, real-life conference committee last week. Here’s what’s in the House and Senate bills. — As a bonus (& thanks to Tim Ryan), the House plumped down $8.8m for intern pay in the amended legislation (text is unavailable), a big step forward to opening up the […]

Tags: Caucus Rules, social media, Staff Pay, Freedom of Information Act, Congressional Research Service, Cybersecurity, press freedom

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

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

Forecast for August 27, 2018. Rest in Peace Senator John McCain.

By DanielSchuman August 27, 2018 16 min read

TOP LINE Senator John McCain has died. We wish him fair winds and following seas and offer condolences to his family. — McCain Senate Office Building? In his tweets commemorating the life of Sen. McCain, Sen. Schumer said he would introduce a resolution to rename the Russell Senate Office Building after McCain. Richard Russell was a Democratic lion of […]

Tags: Staff Pay, Science & Tech, Legislation, Transparency in Government Act

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

Forecast for August 13, 2018. While #MeToo Stalls in Congress, SCOTUS Nomination Hearings Move Forward.

By DanielSchuman August 13, 2018 6 min read

THE TOP LINE Rep. Collins was arrested for insider trading every news outlet on earth reported, but that’s not the most interesting part. Multiple news outlets described what happened as Speaker Ryan stripping Collins of his committee membership. He didn’t. Curious? Read my dive into the Speaker’s power to police member behavior and what that means for policy dissenters. […]

Tags: white, press freedom, Science & Tech, SCOTUS

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

Forecast for July 16, 2018. Library of Congress Plan for Publishing CRS Reports Falls Short.

By DanielSchuman July 16, 2018 9 min read

THE TOP LINE The sixth annual Congressional Legislative data and transparency conference, which took place this past week, was a big success. the hits: the Clerk’s office unveiled Ask Alexa for legislative info (and requested ideas for additional inquiries); GPO revealed an API for almost-all info on govinfo; GPO launched the Legislative Innovation Hub website to support collaboration on transparency and tech; […]

Tags: Legislation, Diversity and Inclusion, Inspector General, Library of Congress

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

Forecast for April 23, 2018.

By DanielSchuman April 23, 2018 5 min read

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ~Monday’s committee vote on Pompeo’s nomination sets the stage for Gina Haspel at CIA. She led efforts to destroy gov’t records (videos of torture) to stop disclosure to Congress and the public. The CIA is selectively declassifying records (and tweeting) to rehabilitate her on her involvement w/ torture. ~Will A.G. Sessions be asked about […]

Tags: Staff Pay

Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Ethics and Influence, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Recs on the House’s Harassment Bill

By DanielSchuman January 26, 2018 9 min read

In early December, we shared our recommendations on how Congress should address harassment. Since then, the Committee on House Administration has published a draft reform bill — the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 Reform Act — and today we are publishing our recommendations on how that bill should be further strengthened. We expect the underlying legislation will be shortly enacted into law. Members […]

Tags: Office of Congressional Ethics, Congressional Ops, Leg Support Agencies, Legislation

Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Thoughts on Harassment in Congress and Reform of the Congressional Accountability Act

By DanielSchuman December 7, 2017 7 min read

Today the House of Representatives held its second hearing on the issue of sexual harassment in Congress, focusing on the 1995 Congressional Accountability Act, the law that created the framework through which harassment and other congressional workplace issues are addressed. The House and Senate recently passed resolutions requiring sexual harassment training, and the House is exploring whether […]

Tags: Congressional Ops, House, Legislation

Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Experts Call on Senate to Stabilize Committee Staff

By DanielSchuman October 18, 2016 4 min read

October 18, 2016 Dear Majority Leader McConnell, Majority Whip Cornyn, Democratic Leader Reid, and Democratic Whip Durbin: The United States Senate is an institution rooted in history and tradition. Its long serving members and staff are a repository of policy expertise that serve as a counterweight to an often over-assertive executive branch. We encourage the […]

Tags: Congressional Ops, Senate

Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion

Forecast for August 27, 2018. Rest in Peace Senator John McCain.

Forecast for August 13, 2018. While #MeToo Stalls in Congress, SCOTUS Nomination Hearings Move Forward.

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.

Forecast for July 16, 2018. Library of Congress Plan for Publishing CRS Reports Falls Short.

Forecast for April 23, 2018.

Recs on the House’s Harassment Bill

Thoughts on Harassment in Congress and Reform of the Congressional Accountability Act

Experts Call on Senate to Stabilize Committee Staff

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