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

Forecast for June 29, 2020

By DanielSchuman June 29, 2020 12 min read

THE TOP LINE Musical chairs. The House of Representatives will have new committee chairs in the 117th Congress, but how will they be chosen? That’s a difficult enough question that we dig into it below. NDAA. House Armed Services will markup the NDAA on Wednesday; on Monday, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to […]

Tags: Government Accountability Office, Proxy Voting, Caucus Rules, NDAA, Legislation, Inspector General

Continuity and Resiliency, Rules, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Initial Thoughts on the House’s Remote Deliberation Resolution

By DanielSchuman May 13, 2020 6 min read

This morning, House Rules Committee Democrats introduced a resolution (H. Res 965) that would provide for some remote deliberations for House committees and on the floor. Accompanying that resolution was a Dear Colleague from the Rules Committee that explains how the resolution would work, a one-page explainer, and a statement from the Democratic members of […]

Tags: Congressional Ops, Proxy Voting

Continuity and Resiliency, Rules, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Continuity of Congress: A Timeline of Remote Deliberations and Voting

By DanielSchuman May 8, 2020 1 min read

Congress has been mostly absent as the country fights against the COVID-19 pandemic. Even before the pandemic began, many lawmakers, outside organizations, and former Members of Congress encouraged the legislative branch to instantiate remote deliberations and voting measures in the event of an emergency. We created a timeline of many of the recent key events […]

Tags: Congressional Ops

Continuity and Resiliency, Rules, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Can Online Presence Count Towards A Quorum?

By DanielSchuman May 4, 2020 1 min read

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a fantastic report last week analyzing the constitutional rules governing quorum requirements to coincide with last week’s virtual hearing on Continuity of Senate Operations and Remote Voting in Times of Crisis. If you’re not a policy wonk who finds quorum requirements inherently interesting, consider this: Determinations around remote […]

Tags: Congressional Ops

Continuity and Resiliency, Rules, Reports & Analysis

Continuity of Congress Play-By-Play For The Week Ending May 2, 2020.

By DanielSchuman May 4, 2020 4 min read

CONTINUITY OF CONGRESS: House of Representatives Activity on remote proceedings for the past week fills two pages on our ongoing timeline. Sunday was not a day of rest, as the New Dems Coalition sent a second letter to House Leadership, urging them to bring a remote voting resolution to the floor no later than May […]

Tags: Congressional Ops, Proxy Voting

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

Forecast for March 23, 2020

By DanielSchuman March 23, 2020 16 min read

The Pope banned public masses, closed Holy Week services, and is encouraging “spiritual communion” when it is unsafe to receive it in person; the New York Stock Exchange has rushed a rule into effect to facilitate electronic auctions in light of the temporary closure of the trading floor; and yet the Speaker of the House and Majority Leader […]

Tags: Remote Voting, Office of Congressional Ethics, Surveillance

Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Continuity and Resiliency, Modernization, Rules, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for March 9, 2020.

By DanielSchuman March 9, 2020 11 min read

TOP LINE There’s more news than can fit in our little newsletter. The House Rules Committee did its part to encourage the Article I Renaissance (to steal a phrase from Lorelei Kelly) with a nearly four-hour hearing spiced with thoughtful expert testimony examining how Congress’ role has been diminished over decades and how to reassert congressional authority. (How, […]

Tags: Freedom of Information Act, Government Accountability Office, Staff Pay, SCOTUS, Surveillance, Leg Support Agencies, War Powers, Government Publishing Office

Rules, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

House Rules Committee: Congress Needs to Take Back Its Power

By DanielSchuman March 6, 2020 2 min read

House Rules did its part to encourage the Article I Renaissance with a nearly four hour hearing and thoughtful expert testimony examining how Congress’ role has been diminished over decades, as well as how to reassert congressional authority.

Tags: House, Executive Branch

Appropriations, Rules, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

Forecast for February 25, 2020.

By DanielSchuman February 25, 2020 4 min read

We’ve been busy writing reports and appropriations requests, so welcome to an abbreviated and belated First Branch Forecast. IN BRIEF House Rules are a way for lawmakers to set priorities & implement reforms. We tracked the status of reforms in the House Rules package: see the results. Approps season is in full swing. Roll Call has a draft House […]

Tags: Freedom of Information Act, US Capitol Police, White Supremacy, Leg Support Agencies, Political Violence

Ethics and Influence, Modernization, Rules, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Reforms Included in the House Rules for the 116th Congress

By DanielSchuman February 20, 2020 7 min read

At the beginning of each Congress, House lawmakers adopt rules that will govern the state of play for both sessions of that Congress. The rules of the House of Representatives are a chance for the majority to set priorities as well as implement operational and institutional reforms. We made a number of reform recommendations — […]

Tags: House, Congressional Ops

Accountability and Oversight, Rules, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Coalition Urges House Democratic Caucus to Publish Caucus Rules

By DanielSchuman February 12, 2020 1 min read

Earlier today, a coalition of 15 organizations sent a letter requesting the House Democratic Caucus to publish its current set of Caucus rules. Similar letters were sent on January 31, 2019, February 7, 2019, and April 10, 2019, requesting the Caucus to publish the rules online. The coalition received a response on February 7, 2019, saying that the issue would […]

Tags: Coalition, Caucus Rules, House

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

Forecast for January 27, 2020.

By DanielSchuman January 27, 2020 9 min read

THE TOP LINE The “Senate is hiding from all of us,” writes longtime hill reporter Kathy Kiely, who said “the current security scheme appears designed to protect lawmakers from reporters’ questions.” The restrictions on press access, which we oppose, are a black eye on the Senate and a provocation for future restrictions. Care about leg branch funding? We’ve […]

Tags: Office of Legal Counsel, Earmarks, Science & Tech, Whistleblower Protections, War Powers

Forecast for June 29, 2020

Initial Thoughts on the House’s Remote Deliberation Resolution

Continuity of Congress: A Timeline of Remote Deliberations and Voting

Can Online Presence Count Towards A Quorum?

Continuity of Congress Play-By-Play For The Week Ending May 2, 2020.

Forecast for March 23, 2020

Forecast for March 9, 2020.

House Rules Committee: Congress Needs to Take Back Its Power

Forecast for February 25, 2020.

Reforms Included in the House Rules for the 116th Congress

Coalition Urges House Democratic Caucus to Publish Caucus Rules

Forecast for January 27, 2020.

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