ICYMI: The Washington Post Takes Up Congressional Capacity
Max Ehrenfreund writes: “With so much work to do, even a veteran lawmaker steeped in the details of public policy could struggle to keep it all straight. For the… Read More
How Executive Detailees Could Help Ease Congress’ Staffing Problems
Source: Russell Mills and Jennifer Selin, 2017. It is becoming more widely acknowledged that Congress has a staffing problem. While the executive branch employs more than 4 million people,… Read More
An Uncomfortable Reality… Congress Needs More Staff
At the Ripon Society Forum, Kevin R. Kosar writes: Mark Twain famously remarked, “Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat… Read More
ICYMI: What Calling Congress Achieves
Illustration credit: Oliver Munday, New Yorker. Kathryn Schulz of the New Yorker writes: “Americans vote, if we vote at all, roughly once every two years. But even in a slow… Read More
Can Congress Do Its Job?
Lee Drutman writes: “[O]ver the years, and particularly over the past few decades, Congress has ceded more and power to the executive. Admittedly, it has done some of this… Read More
New Innovation Fellows Arrive In Congress and Aim to Augment Capacity
Two hundred individuals applied, and only four were chosen as the 2017 TechCongress Innovation Fellows. They are: Sunmin Kim, a deputy editor for The Economist Intelligence Unit, who specialized… Read More
Overseeing the Executive: Does Congress Have Sufficient Staff?
Lee Drutman, co-director of the Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group, writes on Vox: So what accounts for the Senate’s almost 30-year drought of “notable investigations”? The most obvious explanation… Read More
How Long Do House and Senate Staff Stay In Their Jobs?
The Congressional Research Service has released two reports to answer this question: Staff Tenure In Selected Positions In House Members Offices 2006-2016 Staff Tenure In Selected Positions… Read More
Is the House of Representatives Legislating In the Dark?
In this short audio interview, Professor James Curry (University of Utah) explains how limited resources have enabled party leaders to write and negotiate most laws in Congress. Lacking… Read More
The Congressional Tendency to Cannibalize Itself
Source: Profs. Tim LaPira and Herschel Thomas Why is Congress loath to increase its staff, and sometimes eager to cut it? Professors Anthony J. Madonna and Ian Ostrander… Read More