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James Wallner

Senior Fellow, Governance Project, R Street Institute

by James Wallner (page 2)

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For Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation process, the Constitution is on Senate GOP’s side

September 29, 2020
(This piece originally appeared in the Washington Examiner.) Republicans are poised to remake the Supreme Court in their image. On Saturday, President Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett… Read More
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Road to the Supreme Court Runs Through Capitol Hill

September 23, 2020
(This post originally appeared on Legislative Procedure.) President Donald Trump announced that he will soon nominate someone to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. Read More
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The Senate isn’t the problem, senators are

September 22, 2020
According to today’s conventional wisdom, people are deeply divided about politics. Liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, are at odds with one another when it comes to identifying the problems… Read More
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ICYMI: Shall we have a king?

September 10, 2020
King George III. Painting by Allan Ramsay, 1765. In January 1787, America’s top diplomat, John Jay, asked George Washington, its leading citizen, “Shall we have a King?” Neither… Read More
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Speaking up for the filibuster

August 27, 2020
The filibuster is one of the great bugbears of American politics. Democrats and Republicans have routinely blamed the infamous practice when the Senate fails to act on their policy priorities. Read More
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Podcast: What values are essential in a successful democracy?

June 29, 2020
Listen here. In this special bonus episode of Politics In Question, Julia Azari, Lee Drutman, and James Wallner discuss the values that make democracies successful. What exactly are… Read More
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How the Senate keeps track of its precedents

April 22, 2019
An intricate architecture of rules and practices governs the legislative process in the Senate. The institution’s procedural structure rests on five interlocking supports: the Constitution; the Standing Rules of the… Read More
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Republicans go nuclear: An after action report

April 8, 2019
Republicans in the Senate finally acted to change the rules to speed up the confirmation process for some presidential nominations. They used the nuclear option to shorten the amount of… Read More
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Three ways Republicans can go nuclear

April 1, 2019
Frustrated by how long it takes to confirm President Trump’s nominees, Republicans are accusing Democrats of dragging out unnecessarily the time permitted under the rules after the Senate has invoked… Read More
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Republicans poised to nuke legislative filibuster

April 1, 2019
In 2017, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., pledged not to abolish the legislative filibuster. He did so to persuade his fellow Republicans to back his plan to use… Read More