Modernization Committee Extended Through 117th Congress

December 22, 2020
Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced that the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress (@ModernizeCmte) would be extended through the 117th Congress. From the Modernization… Read More

Congress needs to curb presidential power. Here’s how it can start to.

December 18, 2020
George Will writes in the Washington Post about the powers and responsibilities vested in the House and Senate as well as recommendations for strengthening the bodies from the Select… Read More

Congress must reclaim its Article I powers in order to earn back public trust

December 1, 2020
Congressman Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), chairman of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress and former Congressman Tim Roemer (D-Ind.) penned an op-ed in The Hill about why Congress… Read More

More than 30 groups call on the House to re-establish the modernization committee

November 17, 2020
In a letter to leaders on Capitol Hill, a coalition of 38 organizations and 16 experts on Congress, including former members of Congress, called on the U.S. House to… Read More

House must take the first step to modernize how Congress works

November 17, 2020
LegBranch Co-founder and AEI resident scholar Kevin Kosar penned a new piece in The Hill about why Congress must reauthorize the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. Read More

Senate Judiciary Committee Rules

October 16, 2020
This piece originally appeared in Legislative Procedure. Senate Rule XXVI empowers the Judiciary Committee to adopt rules to govern its proceedings. The committees rules can… Read More

What Happens Now in the Senate Judiciary Committee

October 15, 2020
(This piece originally appeared in Legislative Procedure.) After two marathon days of questioning, the Senate Judiciary Committee is poised to complete its review of Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to… Read More

One way to modernize Congress is a throwback

October 14, 2020
Paul Kane, senior congressional correspondent and columnist for the Washington Post, writes about the last set of recommendations by the Select Committee for the Modernization of Congress and how… Read More

Senate Judiciary Committee’s Record on Virtual Hearings: May – Sept. 2020

October 6, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted Congress. According to GovTrack, 72 members of Congress so far “have been quarantined, tested positive for COVID-19, or came in contact with someone with COVID-19.”… Read More

Memo: Staff recruitment, retention, compensation and benefits; and chair term limits

October 16, 2019
To:                  The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress From:              Alan E. Wiseman, Co-Director, Center for Effective Lawmaking, Vanderbilt University; Craig Volden, Co-Director, Center for Effective Lawmaking, University of… Read More