War Powers | First Branch Center

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Forecast for February 18, 2020.

By DanielSchuman February 18, 2020 14 min read

ON YOUR RADAR A nice breather. Both the House and Senate are in recess this week. Whistleblower Ombudsman. Congratulations to Shanna Devine, who was just named the House of Representatives’ first Whistleblower Ombudsman. The nonpartisan, independent office, established 14 months ago as part of the House rules package and filled this past week — with bipartisan support […]

Tags: Office of Legal Counsel, Government Accountability Office, Department of Justice, US Capitol Police, Science & Tech, Leg Support Agencies, Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, Caucus Rules, Whistleblower Protections, War Powers

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

Forecast For February 10, 2020.

By DanielSchuman February 10, 2020 8 min read

ON YOUR RADAR Shedding light on the Justice Department’s OLC Opinions is the topic of today’s Transparency Caucus briefing, set for 2pm in 1310 Longworth. RSVP to Hannah.Mansbach@mail.house.gov. Here’s why we think OLC opinion transparency is important plus a refresher on legislative efforts concerning OLC opinions. Also, read Mike Stern’s latest on OLC. Oversight hearings […]

Tags: Office of Legal Counsel, Congressional Research Service, Staff Clearances, Foreign Lobbying, US Capitol Police, Earmarks, Science & Tech, Leg Support Agencies, Budget, Political Violence, War Powers

Accountability and Oversight, Congressional Workplace Fairness and Inclusion, Ethics and Influence, Modernization, Uncategorized, Blog posts

Forecast For February 3, 2020.

By DanielSchuman February 3, 2020 10 min read

THE TOP LINE Congress’s science & tech policy agency was defunded in the 90s; this week, Harvard’s Ash Center published Zach Graves and my road map to building a modern congressional technology assessment office. (More below) The House moved to reassert congressional war powers authority when it passed two measures that limits the spending of money on war with […]

Tags: Staff Pay, Department of Justice, MRA, Science & Tech, Whistleblower Protections, War Powers

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

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

Forecast for January 21, 2020.

By DanielSchuman January 21, 2020 12 min read

House Members are in their districts this week but the Senate is in for impeachment trial proceedings, which start today. Senators are the deciders, but they are not jurors. Before we start, it’s worth rereading MLK’s letter from a Birmingham jail. I found this section resonant: “I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means […]

Tags: press freedom, War Powers, Earmarks, Remote Voting, Staff Pay, Government Accountability Office, Freedom of Information Act, Office of Legal Counsel

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

Forecast for January 13, 2020.

By DanielSchuman January 13, 2020 8 min read

THE TOP LINE 8 House Dems voted to cede Congress’s constitutional role in matters of war and peace by voting ‘No’ on the House war powers resolution while Rep. Amash plus GOP Reps. Gaetz, Massie, and Rooney voted ‘Yes’ to protect our system of checks-and-balances. Notable, in addition to the vast majority of Republicans who likely would have voted differently […]

Tags: Office of Legal Counsel, Foreign Lobbying, Budget, War Powers

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

Forecast for January 6, 2020.

By DanielSchuman January 6, 2020 16 min read

Welcome back. An astonishing amount has happened over the break, so let’s dive back in. THE TOP LINE The US assassinated Iranian Maj. Gen Qassem Soleimani in what may be a violation of US and international law — in flagrant violation of Congress’s war powers. Much more on this below in the section entitled “Wag the […]

Tags: Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, Whistleblower Protections, War Powers, Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act, Government Accountability Office, SCOTUS

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

Forecast for November 18, 2019.

By DanielSchuman November 18, 2019 14 min read

Take a break from wall-to-wall impeachment coverage and read about what else is happening in today’s First Branch Forecast. TOP LINE What’s the best way for Congress to strengthen its tech policy chops? The National Academy of Public Administration issued their recommendations in a new report, “Science and Technology Policy Assessment: A Congressionally Directed Review.” Experts […]

Tags: House Ethics Committee, US Capitol Police, Science & Tech, Trump Taxes, War Powers, Access to Court Proceedings, Government Publishing Office

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

Forecast for December 17, 2018. #MeToo Legislation Sent to the President, Sen. Kyl Resigning, and Nancy Pelosi Secures Support for Speaker.

By DanielSchuman December 17, 2018 11 min read

TOP LINE A government shutdown is looming on Friday and it’s all Trump’s fault, just ask him. With 7 approps bills outstanding, and Congress having done it’s homework, will Congress enact 6 bills as written and turn the 7th into a long term CR, kick the can to the next Congress, or something else? Here’s what happens in […]

Tags: War Powers, Cybersecurity, Caucus Rules, Legislation, factions, Foreign Lobbying, Diversity and Inclusion

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

Forecast for November 19, 2018. Challenges to House Leadership; Changes to House Rules; and How New Members Will Shape Up.

By DanielSchuman November 18, 2018 13 min read

THE TOP LINE House Dems scheduled leadership elections for next week, and everyone else elected their leadership last week. Details on who was elected and what’s going on with Dems elections are below. A draft House rules summary was unveiled last week (WaPo published it), with potentially major changes in the lower chamber. House rules rarely change in significant […]

Tags: Earmarks, factions, Leadership, War Powers, press freedom

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Forecast for February 18, 2020.

Forecast For February 10, 2020.

Forecast For February 3, 2020.

Forecast for January 27, 2020.

Forecast for January 21, 2020.

Forecast for January 13, 2020.

Forecast for January 6, 2020.

Forecast for November 18, 2019.

Forecast for December 17, 2018. #MeToo Legislation Sent to the President, Sen. Kyl Resigning, and Nancy Pelosi Secures Support for Speaker.

Forecast for November 19, 2018. Challenges to House Leadership; Changes to House Rules; and How New Members Will Shape Up.

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