News

Dates:
Filter:
Accountability and Oversight, Congressional Security, Ethics and Influence, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

First Branch Forecast: Police, PODA, and the Courts 12/06/2021

By DanielSchuman December 6, 2021 15 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your regular look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. Tell your friends to subscribe. THE TOP LINE This week: the Senate is in today; the House is in on Tuesday. Congress cleared a CR that funds the government through February 18th so this week expect a debt limit vote, NDAA consideration, and […]

Tags: , ,
Continue Reading
Accountability and Oversight, Congressional Security, Continuity and Resiliency, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

First Branch Forecast: Democratic slippage, court accountability, and the mother of parliaments 11/29/2021

By DanielSchuman November 29, 2021 9 min read

Welcome‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌First‌ ‌Branch‌ ‌Forecast,‌ ‌your‌ ‌regular‌ ‌look‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌Legislative‌ ‌branch‌ ‌and‌ government ‌transparency.‌ ‌Tell ‌your‌ ‌friends‌ ‌to‌ subscribe. THE TOP LINE Welcome back. The Senate is in today; the House is in on Tuesday, with the Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act on suspension and further appropriations bills possible. We’re curious about House Oversight’s Wednesday hearing into the Future […]

Tags: , , , , , ,
Continue Reading
Accountability and Oversight, Congressional Security, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

First Branch Forecast: Clearances, Compensation, and Censure 11/22/2021

By DanielSchuman November 22, 2021 4 min read

Welcome‌ ‌to‌ the Thanksgiving-week First‌ ‌Branch‌ ‌Forecast,‌ ‌a quick — abridged, even — ‌look‌ at ‌the‌ ‌Legislative‌ ‌branch‌ ‌and‌ government ‌transparency.‌ ‌Tell ‌your‌ ‌friends‌ ‌to‌ subscribe. THE TOP (AND ONLY) LINE OOO. We know most people are out, so here’s just the highlights — we’ll have a full report next week. Clearances. Each senator can now designate […]

Tags: , , , ,
Continue Reading
Accountability and Oversight, Modernization, Uncategorized, Advocacy, Blog posts

Senate Personal Offices Now Allowed a Staffer With TS/SCI Clearance

By DanielSchuman November 16, 2021 3 min read

Every senator will now be able to designate one aide as eligible to apply for a TS/SCI clearance according to an announcement made by Sen. Schumer and reported by Politico. Clearances give staffers the ability to review matters deemed classified by the Executive branch. Senator Murphy is a long-time champion of this change, which had […]

Tags:
Continue Reading
Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Modernization, Rules, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

First Branch Forecast: Top lines, bottom lines, effective oversight, and legislative nirvana (Nov. 8, 2021)

By DanielSchuman November 8, 2021 10 min read

Welcome‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌First‌ ‌Branch‌ ‌Forecast,‌ ‌your‌ ‌regular‌ ‌look‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌Legislative‌ ‌branch‌ ‌and‌ ‌government ‌transparency.‌ ‌Tell ‌your‌ ‌friends‌ ‌to‌ subscribe. THE TOP LINE OOO. The Senate is in recess until the week of November 15th; no floor votes are scheduled in the House until the week of the 15th, although there are a few committee […]

Tags: , ,
Continue Reading
Accountability and Oversight, Congressional Security, Ethics and Influence, Modernization, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

First Branch Forecast: Better Later Than Never– What’s In the Approps Bills? (Nov. 2, 2021)

By DanielSchuman November 2, 2021 12 min read

Welcome‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌First‌ ‌Branch‌ ‌Forecast,‌ ‌your‌ ‌regular‌ ‌look‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌Legislative‌ ‌branch‌ ‌and‌ ‌government ‌ ‌transparency.‌ ‌Tell ‌your‌ ‌friends‌ ‌to‌ subscribe. THE TOP LINE Notable events this week: Strengthening Congressional Oversight Capacity is the focus of a ModCom hearing on Thursday; ACMRA and several IG bills get a HSGAC mark-up on Wednesday; and save the date for next Monday’s lightning […]

Tags: , , ,
Continue Reading
Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Modernization, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for October 25, 2021

By DanielSchuman October 25, 2021 17 min read

Welcome‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌First‌ ‌Branch‌ ‌Forecast,‌ ‌your‌ ‌regular‌ ‌look‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌Legislative‌ ‌branch‌ ‌and‌ ‌government‌ ‌transparency.‌ ‌Tell ‌your‌ ‌friends‌ ‌to‌ subscribe. WE NEED YOUR HELP Many First Branch Forecast readers were unsubscribed from our newsletter for technical reasons that have nothing to do with us. The upshot: hundreds of people lost their subscriptions; many others had our emails go […]

Tags: , , , ,
Continue Reading
Accountability and Oversight, Congressional Security, Ethics and Influence, Modernization, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for October 12, 2021

By DanielSchuman October 12, 2021 19 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your regular look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. Subscribe here. THE TOP LINE The House will be back briefly on Tuesday to vote to raise the debt ceiling. With the quick turn-around during a committee work week, how many members will vote by proxy? Honestly, voting remotely seems appropriate […]

Tags: , , , , ,
Continue Reading
Accountability and Oversight, Congressional Security, Continuity and Resiliency, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for August 23, 2021

By DanielSchuman August 23, 2021 14 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your regular look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. Subscribe here. THE TOP LINE They’re back? The House of Representatives returns for two days to pass a Budget resolution, a voting rights bill, and 12 suspension bills (including, we hope, the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act.) The Senate does not return until […]

Tags: , , , , ,
Continue Reading
Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Congressional Security, Continuity and Resiliency, Ethics and Influence, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for August 9, 2021

By DanielSchuman August 9, 2021 14 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. Subscribe here. A preview of coming distractions: if Congress takes a break, we may take one, too. Wouldn’t that be nice. THE TOP LINE Members of Congress can force policy change without moving a bill. Rep. Bush made that clear last week in […]

Tags: , , ,
Continue Reading
Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Modernization, Rules, Appropriation Tracking, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

What Items Are Due to Congress: August 2021

By DanielSchuman August 2, 2021 25 min read

Congress regularly requests reports on strengthening Congress but there’s no central place to keep track of what they’ve requested. To help keep track of things, 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 requests ordered by the […]

Tags: , , , , , ,
Continue Reading
Accountability and Oversight, Congressional Security, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for July 26, 2021

By DanielSchuman July 26, 2021 18 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. Subscribe here. THE TOP LINE Former Maryland police chief Tom Manger was sworn in as the US Capitol Police Chief. The Capitol Police are in disarray, with a dysfunctional and inadequate oversight structure, a poorly designed administrative structure, a well-founded absence of […]

Tags: , , , ,
Continue Reading