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

Forecast for March 29, 2021.

By DanielSchuman March 29, 2021 16 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. (Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.) TOP LINE We made it. The House and Senate are on recess for the next two weeks. With members at home, at fundraisers, or on CODELs, staff will have an opportunity to catch […]

Tags: Freedom of Information Act, Earmarks

Appropriations, Appropriation Tracking, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

How Senate Committees Get Their Money

By DanielSchuman March 25, 2021 5 min read

Senate committees are at the heart of the legislative process, but what resources are provided for them to do their work? We reviewed the funding levels for Senate committees this Congress as compared to last Congress and over the decades. Here is what we found: Senate committees are funded at $238.2 million for the 117th […]

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

Forecast for March 22, 2021

By DanielSchuman March 22, 2021 21 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. (Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.) TOP LINE The security supplemental funding bill could reach $2 billion, according to Billy House, and is intended to strengthen security at the Capitol and enhance member protection. To place this number in […]

Tags: Office of Legal Counsel, Staff Pay, Office of Congressional Ethics, US Capitol Police, SCOTUS, Earmarks, Legislation, Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, Cybersecurity, Proxy Voting

Congressional Security, Reports & Analysis

New Capitol Police Misconduct Complaint Report Obscures More Than it Reveals

By DanielSchuman March 17, 2021 4 min read

Complaints about U.S. Capitol Police operations, including accounts of racist misconduct within the department and managerial abuses of power, have recently been elevated in the wake of the January 6th attack on Congress. Hard information is hard to come by as it is nearly impossible to get any official data on employee misconduct from the […]

Tags: US Capitol Police

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

Forecast for March 15, 2021

By DanielSchuman March 15, 2021 26 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. (Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.) TOP LINE It’s been a year since we wrote to every Member of Congress on how Capitol Hill should respond to COVID. If I were to grade the response, I’d likely give the House of […]

Tags: Staff Pay, Leg Support Agencies, Legislation, Office of Congressional Workplace Rights

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

Forecast for March 8, 2021

By DanielSchuman March 8, 2021 24 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. (Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.) THE TOP LINE General Honoré will brief Congress today in three closed meetings on his “Capitol Security Review” that was conducted out of public view over the last six weeks. The NYT published a […]

Tags: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Freedom of Information Act, Staff Pay, Foreign Lobbying, US Capitol Police, January 6, Political Violence, War Powers, Office of Congressional Ethics

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

Forecast for March 1, 2021.

By DanielSchuman March 1, 2021 22 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. (Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.) TOP LINE Officials tasked with keeping the Capitol safe and open testified before Congress last week — see the video & written testimony from the HSGAC/Senate Rules hearing with all the former security leaders and […]

Tags: Freedom of Information Act, Staff Pay, Diversity and Inclusion, US Capitol Police, January 6, Judicial Security and Privacy Act, Earmarks, Leg Support Agencies, Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, Political Violence, Cybersecurity

Appropriations, Modernization, Rules, Appropriation Tracking, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

What Items Are Due to Congress: March 2021

By DanielSchuman March 1, 2021 19 min read

Congress regularly requests reports on strengthening Congress but there’s no central place to keep track of what they’ve requested. So we are keeping track so you don’t have to. We built a public spreadsheet that maintains a catalog of projects, broken down by item due, entity responsible, and due date. The catalog covers reforms and […]

Tags: Leg Support Agencies

Appropriations, Congressional Security, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Continuity and Resiliency, Ethics and Influence, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for February 22, 2021

By DanielSchuman February 22, 2021 15 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. (Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.) SUPPORTING CONGRESSIONAL STAFF + MEMBERS The Office of Employee Assistance (OEA) and mental health inside the Legislative branch was the topic of the first Leg branch Appropriations subcommittee hearing for the FY 2022 appropriations cycle, […]

Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, House Ethics Committee, US Capitol Police, January 6, Earmarks, Political Violence, Cybersecurity

Continuity and Resiliency, Ethics and Influence, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

The Congressional Budget Office and Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

By DanielSchuman February 18, 2021 4 min read

The Congressional Budget Office is a Legislative branch agency that supports the Congressional budget process by providing analyses of budgetary and economic issues. CBO makes use of an outside panel of advisers to help inform its work products. Because outside experts can have conflicts of interest, CBO requires the advisers to annually submit forms to […]

Tags: Leg Support Agencies

Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

What to do about Congressional Earmarks

By DanielSchuman February 16, 2021 8 min read

We’ve known, at least since December, that congressional earmarks are coming back, and the latest news reiterates that they will return in some fashion. Earmarks are congressionally directed spending — legislative language in an appropriations bill that directs spending for a particular purpose, such as building a bridge or pushing funding to a specific corporation […]

Tags: Earmarks

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

Forecast for February 15, 2021

By DanielSchuman February 15, 2021 11 min read

THE TOP LINE Impeachment Trial. There’s no legitimate question about Trump’s guilt, the Senate confirmed its jurisdiction 56-44 (which is basically what CRS said), and jury nullification is not a legitimate option. What’s at stake for Trump: disqualification from serving again in high office. What’s at stake for America? Whether we suffocate our democracy. Sen. McConnell declared his support for […]

Tags: Freedom of Information Act, US Capitol Police, January 6, Proxy Voting

Forecast for March 29, 2021.

How Senate Committees Get Their Money

Forecast for March 22, 2021

New Capitol Police Misconduct Complaint Report Obscures More Than it Reveals

Forecast for March 15, 2021

Forecast for March 8, 2021

Forecast for March 1, 2021.

What Items Are Due to Congress: March 2021

Forecast for February 22, 2021

The Congressional Budget Office and Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

What to do about Congressional Earmarks

Forecast for February 15, 2021

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