ICYMI: Top reads on Congress
By Marian Currinder
Senate
David Hawkings, “GOP Slips Past Another Senate Custom, and Democrats Turn Blue,” Roll Call:
“And now, the “blue slip” — symbol of a single senator’s abilities to wield dispositive clout in an otherwise democratic legislature — is threatened with an unprecedented shredding.”
Niels Lesniewski, “McConnell’s Plan for a Packed Summer Senate Agenda,” Roll Call:
“The Kentucky Republican said he would prioritize the fiscal 2019 defense authorization, a new farm bill and updated water resources development legislation. McConnell did not seem to envision a summer full of votes on “gotcha” amendments targeting vulnerable senators (almost entirely Democrats in 2018).”
Niels Lesniewski, “McConnell to Senate: Don’t Book Nonrefundable Travel for August Recess,” Roll Call:
“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is far from waving off the idea that he might truncate the August recess, and doing the math on the amount of floor time needed for his current legislative agenda seems to point to one thing: extra work weeks.”
George Will, “Mitch McConnell Is Winning The Long Game,” National Review:
“In his 33 Senate years, he has become a major figure in the history of two of the government’s three branches — the legislative, and now the judicial as he oversees the reshaping of federal courts.”
Burgess Everett, “Mitch McConnell’s record-breaking reign,” Politico:
“On June 12, McConnell will surpass the 11-plus-year run of former Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas to become the longest-serving Republican Senate leader ever. “
House
John Patty, “Paul Ryan is facing immigration trouble from both sides of the aisle,” Vox:
“In the past three days, the discharge petition for HR 4760 has gained 12 signatures, bringing it to 213 (just five shy of the required 218). Of those 12 signatures, 10 are from Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer.”
Lindsey McPherson, “5 Obstacles to a House Republican Immigration Deal,” Roll Call:
“House Republicans are trying to do in a matter of weeks what they couldn’t accomplish during their nearly eight years in the majority — pass a sweeping immigration bill.”
Sarah A. Binder, “Explaining House Republicans’ fight over immigration,” Brookings (podcast):
“In a 5-minute podcast, Sarah Binder explains the division between moderate and conservative House members over the various immigration policies being debated in Congress, including the Dreamers bill.”
Elaina Plott, “The Man Who Would Be Speaker,” The Atlantic:
“In the span of a year, Scalise has gone from being an otherwise nameless lawmaker to the Donald Trump-christened “Legend from Louisiana”—from a reliable booster of coastal restoration to someone who, his supporters now believe, is an essential component of God’s plan for America.”
Congress, Miscellaneous
Amanda Clayton and Pär Zetterberg, “Will 2018’s ‘pink wave’ of female candidates make it in Congress? Almost certainly. Here’s how.” Washington Post:
“So what difference might women make? A lot. We examined experiences across the globe and learned that when women enter politics, governments change their spending priorities — shifting money away from the military and toward public health.”
Scott R. Anderson, “Why war powers need an expiration date,” Brookings:
“Ensuring a strong legal and political foundation requires Congress’s active involvement—as a body, not just as individual members. A sunset provision is the clearest way to ensure that this happens.”
John Lawrence, “How the ‘Watergate Babies’ Broke American Politics,” Politico:
“Against the fallout of the Watergate scandal and the executive branch abuses of the Nixon administration, the November 1974 congressional election resulted in one of the largest infusions of new faces into the House of Representatives in political history.”
Susan Ferrechio, “Congress struggles to police itself on sexual harassment,” Washington Examiner:
“The House is all but dismissing a bill senators passed unanimously last week that would for the first time hold lawmakers financially responsible for harassment settlements that now come out of the Treasury.”
David Sherfinski, “Budget writers blame lawmaker apathy for delays,” Washington Times:
“They’re already six weeks behind the legal deadline and congressional budget writers are not much closer to getting a 2019 budget written, saying their colleagues are apathetic about the process.”
Joseph Postell, “What’s the Matter with Congress?” CRB:
“Congress is complex, so it is much harder than it is with the presidency or the courts to pinpoint the source of its failings. The Constitution sets out few guidelines for the legislative process. History and custom play a significant role in how Congress works (or fails to work) today, and institutional rules channel behavior in a more fundamental way.”
Topics: | Other |