Modernizing oversight to improve government efficiency and accountability
While impeachment hearings and the 2020 election dominate the political headlines, several encouraging bipartisan efforts to reform Washington and improve governance are making progress below the radar. The result could… Read More
Video: Symposium on congressional capacity and endless war in Afghanistan & Syria
The Brennan Center’s Elizabeth Gotien, and R Street’s Casey Burgat, Anthony Marcum, and James Wallner discuss Congressional Capacity and the Endless War in Afghanistan & Syria at the Legislative Branch… Read More
Congressional undersight: Congress’s low capacity in foreign affairs and war-making
Currently, however, Congress’s oversight capacity is alarmingly lacking. The legislative branch simply does not have the levels of staff resources, funding or expertise to conduct effective oversight of the executive… Read More
A dynamic relationship: How Congress and the presidency shape foreign policy
To better understand what happens when the pendulum of power swings back and forth between Congress and the president, this paper examines the procedural and strategic dynamics that underlie the… Read More
Last time Congress got its mojo back
Ever since they retook control of the House of Representatives last November, Democrats have been itching for a proper fight with President Trump. Still, at the behest of their leaders,… Read More
Why Congress can’t sue to end military conflicts
Despite significant military engagement, Congress did not directly authorize hostilities in either Libya or Syria. And both instances were criticized by scholars and members of Congress as an… Read More
Congress must protect its constitutional power over war
Louis Fisher’s new policy study notes: “Nothing in Article II places any exclusive power in the president over external affairs. He is the Commander in Chief of the… Read More
How small is Congress relative to government?
Source: Casey Burgat, LegBranch.org The upcoming issue of Extensions, a journal published by the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma, will present a symposium… Read More
Executive privilege: Presidential power, secrecy, and accountability
Over at Lawfare, Margaret Taylor interviews Mark Rozell,… Read More
Bring back the OTA? Not without a few changes
This spring, the House included $6 million to revive the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) in its draft appropriations. The nonpartisan agency, defunded in 1995, was responsible for helping… Read More