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

Forecast for January 13, 2020.

By DanielSchuman January 13, 2020 8 min read

THE TOP LINE 8 House Dems voted to cede Congress’s constitutional role in matters of war and peace by voting ‘No’ on the House war powers resolution while Rep. Amash plus GOP Reps. Gaetz, Massie, and Rooney voted ‘Yes’ to protect our system of checks-and-balances. Notable, in addition to the vast majority of Republicans who likely would have voted differently […]

Tags: Office of Legal Counsel, Foreign Lobbying, Budget, War Powers

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

Forecast for January 6, 2020.

By DanielSchuman January 6, 2020 16 min read

Welcome back. An astonishing amount has happened over the break, so let’s dive back in. THE TOP LINE The US assassinated Iranian Maj. Gen Qassem Soleimani in what may be a violation of US and international law — in flagrant violation of Congress’s war powers. Much more on this below in the section entitled “Wag the […]

Tags: Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act, Government Accountability Office, SCOTUS, Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, Whistleblower Protections, War Powers

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

Forecast for December 23, 2019

By DanielSchuman December 23, 2019 14 min read

Happy Holidays Everyone. 2019 has been a year like no other. Thank you for staying with us throughout it all. We’re going to take a week off and will be back in the new year. Go easy on us for this week’s newsletter. 🙂

Tags: Freedom of Information Act, SCOTUS, NDAA, Access to Court Proceedings

Appropriations, Appropriation Tracking, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

First Branch, Second-Rate Funding

By DanielSchuman December 17, 2019 4 min read

Of the $4.7 trillion proposed federal budget for FY 2020, $1.4 trillion is discretionary spending, that is,optional spending made through appropriations bills. Before Congress can spend that money, it is divided into 12 slices—one for each of the 12 appropriations subcommittees. These slices are called 302(b) allocations. Lawmakers are supposed to agree on 302(b) numbers […]

Tags: Data

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

Forecast for December 16, 2019

By DanielSchuman December 16, 2019 12 min read

TOP LINE It’s your jam. For weeks, we’ve been gearing up for leadership to jam members with tons of major votes as they head out the door. This week we will see at least two appropriations minibuses (likely Tuesday in the House), impeachment (Wednesday in the House), USCMA (i.e. NAFTA v2, likely on Thursday), a long […]

Tags: Freedom of Information Act, Staff Pay, House Ethics Committee, Office of Congressional Ethics, SCOTUS, NDAA

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

Forecast for November 18, 2019.

By DanielSchuman November 18, 2019 14 min read

Take a break from wall-to-wall impeachment coverage and read about what else is happening in today’s First Branch Forecast. TOP LINE What’s the best way for Congress to strengthen its tech policy chops? The National Academy of Public Administration issued their recommendations in a new report, “Science and Technology Policy Assessment: A Congressionally Directed Review.” Experts […]

Tags: Access to Court Proceedings, Government Publishing Office, War Powers, Trump Taxes, Science & Tech, US Capitol Police, House Ethics Committee

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

Forecast for November 11, 2019.

By DanielSchuman November 11, 2019 12 min read

PRE-RAMBLE With impeachment and the election season heating up, I want to talk directly about this newsletter. We focus on building a strong, modern, resilient Congress and stay away from items that are merely partisan or about political advantage. But questions arising from the operation of the legislative branch have become closely intertwined with the […]

Tags: Science & Tech, Access to Court Proceedings, Whistleblower Protections, Surveillance, US Capitol Police

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

Forecast for November 4, 2019.

By DanielSchuman November 4, 2019 12 min read

THE TOP LINE It’s a little off topic, but there is legislation to allow states to elect to observe daylight savings time for the duration of the year. It’s HR 1601 and has 13 co-sponsors (from both parties). Just saying. APPROPRIATIONS Another continuing resolution seems almost inevitable to keep the government open beyond Thanksgiving, when the current CR runs out, […]

Tags: Whistleblower Protections, Caucus Rules, US Capitol Police, Congressional Research Service

Appropriations, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Appropriators Should Provide Adequate Funding to Congress

By DanielSchuman October 31, 2019 3 min read

Congress is significantly underfunded — especially compared to the executive branch — and it has suffered deep staff cuts over the last 25 years. In March and in September, we co-authored letters naming the fact that not only does the Legislative Branch receive the smallest funding level of the 12 appropriations subcommittees, it has received […]

Tags: Leg Support Agencies

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

Forecast for October 28, 2019.

By DanielSchuman October 28, 2019 12 min read

CONGRESS IN BRIEF Government funding runs out by Thanksgiving and lawmakers still haven’t agreed on 302(b) allocations. The Senate will take up a package of four “non-controversial” spending bills this week (Ag, CJS, Interior & Transportation), but there’s no consensus on top line numbers. And now there’s talk about another CR until March — which keeps everyone frozen […]

Tags: Office of Legal Counsel, Staff Clearances, Science & Tech, Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, Whistleblower Protections

AI and Emerging Technology, Appropriations, Ethics and Influence, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for October 14, 2019

By DanielSchuman October 14, 2019 8 min read

Welcome back. The next recess is Nov. 4 for the House and Nov. 25 for the Senate. Buckle up. CONGRESS IN BRIEF Approps count-down. The CR ends the week before Thanksgiving—maybe there will be another CR to Christmas, or a full year CR, or a shutdown. I suspect House Approps Chair Nita Lowey, who announced she […]

Tags: Foreign Lobbying, Section 702, Surveillance, Government Publishing Office

Appropriations, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

The Leg Branch Approps To-Do List for FY 2019

By DanielSchuman October 12, 2019 10 min read

Congress requested a number of improvements to how the legislative branch functions as part of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (and, in one instance, for FY 2018). What happened? We reviewed the status of requested leg branch projects in the following chart and then provided an issue-by-issue analysis. We expect to […]

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

Forecast for January 13, 2020.

Forecast for January 6, 2020.

Forecast for December 23, 2019

First Branch, Second-Rate Funding

Forecast for December 16, 2019

Forecast for November 18, 2019.

Forecast for November 11, 2019.

Forecast for November 4, 2019.

Appropriators Should Provide Adequate Funding to Congress

Forecast for October 28, 2019.

Forecast for October 14, 2019

The Leg Branch Approps To-Do List for FY 2019

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