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

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

First Branch Forecast for May 1, 2023: Analyzing CRS

By DanielSchuman May 1, 2023 17 min read

TOP LINE Last week’s House vote garnered a lot of attention but changed nothing. We see little room for Speaker McCarthy to maneuver to stay at the top of his conference while simultaneously negotiating a deal that avoids default on our nation’s debt. Prior Republican speakers have cut loose part of their conference to avert […]

Tags: Earmarks, debt limit, SCOTUS, January 6, US Capitol Police, Government Accountability Office, Congressional Research Service, Staff Clearances

AI and Emerging Technology, Appropriations, Modernization, Announcements and Statements, Blog posts

AI-Enhanced House Earmark Request Data

By DanielSchuman April 30, 2023 2 min read

Cross-posted from Congressional Data Coalition At the end of last week, the House Appropriations Committee published all earmark requests for FY 2024 on the committee’s website, including publishing them as a spreadsheet. This is great and welcome news. For the first time, the appropriations spreadsheet separated member names into different columns and included state, district, […]

Tags: Congressional Data, Earmarks

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

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

First Branch Forecast for February 27, 2023: Videodome

By DanielSchuman February 27, 2023 13 min read

TOP LINE Speaker Kevin McCarthy interjected himself into the debate over US Capitol Police openness and transparency in a major way by releasing the entirety of video recorded by its cameras on January 6, 2021 to Tucker Carlson at Fox News. The how and why of this decision are going to distract from the what […]

Tags: US Capitol Police, January 6, Congressional Data Task Force, Earmarks

Modernization, Rules, First Branch Forecast, Blog posts

First Branch Forecast for September 26, 2022: Rules Power Play

By DanielSchuman September 26, 2022 17 min read

TOP LINE Where will power reside in the next Congress? And what systems of control will delegate and manage that power? These are core questions to understanding the legislative branch at any time, of course. But the answers to those questions may be shifting, perhaps faster than anticipated and in ways that fundamentally change our […]

Tags: Library of Congress, Rules, House, Congressional Data Task Force, Earmarks, factions

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

First Branch Forecast for August 8, 2022: It’s recess?

By DanielSchuman August 8, 2022 8 min read

TOP LINE This week. It’s recess-ish. The Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act reconciliation package over the weekend and the House is expected to briefly reconvene on Friday, August 12 to pass that legislation and perhaps a few other bills. The events of the past week highlight that normal spending processes rarely go by the book; that ethics and […]

Tags: Congressional Unionization, ethics, debt limit, Earmarks, War Powers

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

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

First Branch Forecast for April 11, 2022: Fox on Stocks

By DanielSchuman April 11, 2022 28 min read

TOP LINE This week. The House and Senate are in recess for two weeks and not a moment too soon, with many Members of Congress reporting they’ve tested positive for COVID-19 and, we suspect, many others failing to make a public announcement. Mandatory mask wearing should return to the halls of Congress, positive tests should be recorded and […]

Tags: Earmarks, Government Accountability Office, Staff Clearances, Congressional Unionization, Foreign Lobbying, House Ethics Committee, US Capitol Police, SCOTUS, PRESS Act, Staff Pay, Budget Justifications, Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, Cybersecurity

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

First Branch Forecast for April 4, 2022: 4/04 Resolution Not Found

By DanielSchuman April 4, 2022 19 min read

TOP LINE On the calendar. The Senate and House are in today. The week before recess is often a whirlwind of activity and this week is no exception. In the committees, we have four — four! — House Leg branch appropriations hearings, a ModCom hearing on Continuity of Congress, a House Admin STOCK Act hearing, and … the Congressional Hackathon […]

Tags: Office of Legal Counsel, PLUM Act, Freedom of Information Act, Government Accountability Office, Staff Clearances, Congressional Unionization, US Capitol Police, Earmarks, Legislation, Office of Congressional Workplace Rights

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: debt limit, US Capitol Police, Earmarks, January 6

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

Forecast for July 6, 2021

By DanielSchuman July 6, 2021 18 min read

Welcome to the First Branch Forecast, your weekly look into the Legislative branch and government transparency. Subscribe here. We hope you had a wonderful July 4th weekend. THE TOP LINE House Appropriations favorably reported six of the twelve spending bills, including a Legislative Branch bill and report that included desperately and long overdue investments in the Legislative Branch, […]

Tags: Library of Congress, Inspector General, Diversity and Inclusion, January 6, SCOTUS, Congressional Data Task Force, Earmarks, White Supremacy, Legislation, Whistleblower Protections, Proxy Voting

Tag: Earmarks

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

First Branch Forecast for May 1, 2023: Analyzing CRS

AI-Enhanced House Earmark Request Data

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

First Branch Forecast for February 27, 2023: Videodome

First Branch Forecast for September 26, 2022: Rules Power Play

First Branch Forecast for August 8, 2022: It’s recess?

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

First Branch Forecast for April 11, 2022: Fox on Stocks

First Branch Forecast for April 4, 2022: 4/04 Resolution Not Found

Forecast for August 9, 2021

Forecast for July 6, 2021

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