Ethics and Influence

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

Forecast for May 20, 2019.

By DanielSchuman May 20, 2019 8 min read

DESCRIBING WHY CONGRESS IS BROKEN can be hard, but this awesome claymation video helps. Seriously, it’s better than schoolhouse rock. (Thanks CS Monitor). ON STARTING IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS, PELOSI’S STRATEGY HAS BEEN DELAY, DELAY, DELAY. But with Rep. Justin Amash’s statement this weekend that the “Mueller’s report reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet […]

Tags: Library of Congress, Leg Support Agencies

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

Forecast for May 13, 2019.

By DanielSchuman May 13, 2019 16 min read

THIS IS YET ANOTHER long winded, discursive First Branch Forecast. What’s inside? • What happened when the Modernization Committee examined transparency as a means to strengthen Congress? • What exactly was included in the leg branch’s budget bill? The contents may surprise you. • Oversight Wars: the phantom privilege • Freedom of the Press • Swamp […]

Tags: Cybersecurity, press freedom, Science & Tech, Leg Support Agencies

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

Forecast for May 6, 2019. So It’s Finally Time for Infrastructure Week?

By DanielSchuman May 6, 2019 12 min read

BIG PICTURE: SPENDING ON THE HOUSE House Leg Branch Approps Subcommittee favorably reported its FY 2020 approps bill that contains a ton of great provisions. Oddly, Republican members spoke favorably about the bill during the proceedings even as they voted against it, suggesting that their opposition had to do with political concerns unrelated to the work of the […]

Tags: Staff Pay, US Capitol Police, Leg Support Agencies

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

Forecast for April 29, 2019. It’s off to work we go.

By DanielSchuman April 29, 2019 9 min read

CONGRESS IS BACK FOR THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS. Buckle up, it’s gonna be bumpy. The Scylla and Charybdis of our odyssey will be Appropriations and the Trump investigation(s). It’s possible that the Trump administration’s refusal to meaningfully cooperate with subpoenas and accede to requests to testify will become fused to the appropriations process, as appropriations […]

Tags: Cybersecurity, Office of Congressional Ethics

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

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

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, 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

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 May 20, 2019.

Forecast for May 13, 2019.

Forecast for May 6, 2019. So It’s Finally Time for Infrastructure Week?

Forecast for April 29, 2019. It’s off to work we go.

Forecast for April 15, 2019. First hundred days.

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.

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

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

Media Center

Contact Us

Subscribe to first branch forecast