Photo of Philip Wallach

Philip Wallach

Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

by Philip Wallach (page 3)

Post

How intraparty organizations reshape Congress. A review of Building the Bloc: Intraparty Organization in the U.S. Congress, by Ruth Bloch Rubin (Cambridge University Press, 2017)

February 8, 2018
  How can one legislator in 435, or even in 100, change the way things are done in his or her chamber? Putting aside the highly unusual cases where… Read More
Post

What would heal Congress?

January 31, 2018
Congress as an institution faces a critical juncture. Continuing on its current path will make it an extraneous appendage, whose presence is tolerated only grudgingly, as a nod to… Read More
Post

Ten ways to unsuck Congress

January 30, 2018
“This place sucks.” Sen. Joe Manchin’s candid commentary came during discussions with Democratic leadership about whether the West Virginia senator would run for reelection. Manchin’s remarks were less a… Read More
Post

What ails Congress? Six explanations

January 17, 2018
Summary Everyone has an opinion on what is wrong with Congress. This post covers the field, laying out six different types of explanations as to why America’s legislature is struggling,… Read More
Post

Proposed: A New Congressional Regulatory Office

September 22, 2016
If Congress has often been unwilling to actively control the output of the administrative state, over the years it has also become effectively unable to do so. As the… Read More
Post

What Does the House of Representatives Spend Its Appropriation On?

July 27, 2016
Guest post by Philip A. Wallach and Nicholas W. Zeppos There is a short and unsurprising answer: mostly, it spends on staff.  Personnel expenses amount to more than three-quarters of… Read More
Post

So What if Congressional Staff Levels are Declining?

June 27, 2016
Following Daniel Schuman’s presentation to the Legislative Branch Capacity Working group on June 20, R Street Institute’s Kevin Kosar posted a series of informative charts measuring congressional staff… Read More