Diversity and Inclusion | First Branch Center

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

First Branch Forecast for July 31, 2023: What’s done and what’s left to do

By DanielSchuman July 31, 2023 17 min read

TOP LINE Recess is here, but it’s not an opportunity to breathe easier. All 12 appropriations bills have been reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee, a first for the Senate in five years. Meanwhile, only 10 have made it out of the House Appropriations Committee gauntlet and there’s talk they won’t take up the other two. […]

Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, US Capitol Police, Earmarks, Section 702

Appropriations, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

First Branch Forecast for July 10, 2023: The Pre-Recess Sprint

By DanielSchuman July 10, 2023 11 min read

TOP LINE Congress returns from the July 4th holiday and dives into a three-week sprint of work before the longer August recess. Appropriations bills remain the focus, with the Senate set to markup the Leg. Branch, CJS, and FSGG bills on Thursday. Look out for the proposed text perhaps the day before. The NDAA is slated to hit the House […]

Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, Staff Pay

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

First Branch Forecast for 6/26/23 – Teeing Up a Busy July

By DanielSchuman June 26, 2023 15 min read

TOP LINE This week Congress starts its two-week Independence Day holiday. We’re hoping to take next week off from writing our little newsletter, but we’ll be back. Among the highlights from this past week: Senate Appropriators adopted 302(b) allocations that are very different from the House’s untenable numbers, but with many Republican defections the National […]

Tags: Legislative Branch, PRESS Act, Congressional Data Task Force, US Capitol Police, House Ethics Committee, Diversity and Inclusion, Congressional Unionization, Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act, Congressional Research Service, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Legislation

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

First Branch Forecast for May 30, 2023: The debt limit agreeement

By DanielSchuman May 30, 2023 22 min read

TOP LINE Appropriations bills’ markups, scheduled to begin last week, have taken a hiatus awaiting the outcome of the topic du jour. It’s not clear that House Republicans would have been able to pass those bills individually. This week: the deal that Pres. Biden and Speaker McCarthy have reached to raise the debt limit scrambled the […]

Tags: Legislative Branch, factions, debt limit, Diversity and Inclusion, Congressional Research Service

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

First Branch Forecast for March 6, 2023: Members Request Staff Funding

By DanielSchuman March 6, 2023 13 min read

TOP LINE Money decisions figured prominently in a shortened work week for the House. Committee leaders followed suit with Senate counterparts in requesting more funds for their staff in the coming fiscal year, while appropriators established tighter controls over the earmarks process. CHA, meanwhile, has grabbed the spotlight early in this Congress. This week … The […]

Tags: Appropriations, Staff Pay, Modernization, Diversity and Inclusion, US Capitol Police, January 6, MRA, Earmarks, Legislative Branch

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

First Branch Forecast for February 21, 2023: Help Wanted: AOC

By DanielSchuman February 23, 2023 10 min read

TOP LINE The lights are off and no one is home as Congress takes an extended break for the Presidents’ Day holiday (which the newsletter also observed). When they return, the Senate committees have a clear path to staff up now that the Rules Committee has allocated budget allotments for each as it does at […]

Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, debt limit, factions, Appointments, Section 702

Appropriations, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Modernization, Appropriation Tracking, Announcements, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Demand Progress Proposals Included in FY 2023 Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations Bills and Explanatory Statement

By DanielSchuman August 5, 2022 17 min read

On Thursday, July 28, 2022, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patrick Leahy published 12 appropriations bills and accompanying explanatory statements, including the FY 2023 Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations bill and explanatory statement. These measures will not go through the traditional hearing and mark-up process. The bill and explanatory statement are packed with good government reforms and […]

Tags: Appropriations, Staff Pay, Modernization, Senate, Diversity and Inclusion, Congressional Ops, Leg Support Agencies

Appropriations, Congressional Security, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Modernization, First Branch Forecast, Uncategorized, Blog posts

First Branch Forecast for August 1, 2022: Reconciliation

By DanielSchuman August 1, 2022 19 min read

TOP LINE This week. The House floor is closed until Sept.13 (with committee work starting on Sept. 6); the Senate is in for its last scheduled week until Sept. 6. The Senate will stick around until it passes the “Inflation Reduction Act,” AKA mini-reconciliation, timing depending on Democratic Members not testing positive for COVID; and the House is expected to return […]

Tags: BillMap, Legislative Branch, factions, Staff Pay, Diversity and Inclusion

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

First Branch Forecast for July 18, 2022: Accumulation of Facts

By DanielSchuman July 18, 2022 14 min read

TOP LINE Happy House Union Day to all those who celebrate! Today is the day House staff can join a labor union under protection of law. It’s a historic occasion a quarter-century in the making. And yet, some Senate staff cannot collectively bargain until the Senate approves regulations adopted by the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights and some joint […]

Tags: Office of Legal Counsel, Staff Pay, Congressional Unionization, Diversity and Inclusion, US Capitol Police, NDAA

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

First Branch Forecast for July 11, 2022: The Plot Thickens

By DanielSchuman July 11, 2022 19 min read

TOP LINE This week. There are just a few weeks left until August recess — three in the House, four in the Senate — which means everything’s accelerating. • They’re back. The Senate is back on Monday and the House is back on Tuesday. It’s NDAA week in the House (amendments are here); Senate Dems appear to be lining up another […]

Tags: Staff Pay, Diversity and Inclusion, January 6, Earmarks, Political Violence

5.31.22

Testimony Concerning the Creation of an Office of Diversity and Inclusion in the Senate; Prepared by Demand Progress, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, for the Leg Branch Appropriations Subcmte for FY 2023

Accountability and Oversight, Appropriations, Congressional Security, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Modernization, Appropriation Tracking, Announcements, Blog posts, Reports & Analysis

Key Policy Provisions Included in the FY 2022 Legislative Branch Bill and Joint Explanatory Statement

By DanielSchuman April 3, 2022 27 min read

President Biden signed the FY 2022 appropriations omnibus bill into law on March 15th, 2022. Included in the omnibus package was the FY 2022 Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill, which contains dozens of policy provisions that aim to strengthen congressional capacity, oversight, technology, and modernization. This legislation signifies a monumental investment in restoring the Legislative branch. […]

Tags: Library of Congress, Staff Pay, House Intern Resource Office, Diversity and Inclusion, US Capitol Police

Tag: Diversity and Inclusion

First Branch Forecast for July 31, 2023: What’s done and what’s left to do

First Branch Forecast for July 10, 2023: The Pre-Recess Sprint

First Branch Forecast for 6/26/23 – Teeing Up a Busy July

First Branch Forecast for May 30, 2023: The debt limit agreeement

First Branch Forecast for March 6, 2023: Members Request Staff Funding

First Branch Forecast for February 21, 2023: Help Wanted: AOC

Demand Progress Proposals Included in FY 2023 Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations Bills and Explanatory Statement

First Branch Forecast for August 1, 2022: Reconciliation

First Branch Forecast for July 18, 2022: Accumulation of Facts

First Branch Forecast for July 11, 2022: The Plot Thickens

Key Policy Provisions Included in the FY 2022 Legislative Branch Bill and Joint Explanatory Statement

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