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
William Barr and Congress’ broken contempt power
Source: ABC News. Last month, the House Judiciary Committee voted to recommend that the House hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress. The 24-16 decision was made along partisan… Read More
Video: Congress and the judiciary: What the House and Senate can do to fix the courts
Court reform is moving to the forefront of political discourse. On the 2020 presidential campaign trail, candidates are… Read More
Congress’ science and technology knowledge problem
By Kevin R. Kosar “Suppose you were an idiot,” Mark Twain once quipped, “and suppose you were a member… Read More
The National Emergencies Act of 1976
Do you ever get the feeling that your friends and coworkers are talking about an obscure federal statute that you have never heard of before? Have you recently been unable… Read More
No, getting rid of Congress is not a clever idea
Congressional majorities and President Donald Trump disagreed about how much money ought to be used to extend barriers running along our nation’s southern border. Their disagreement led to a partial… Read More
Will Congress score headlines or legislative wins in next session?
The 116th Congress may be doomed before it even begins. Less than one month before the new session gavels in for the first time, members of both the House and… Read More
What the Democrats should do on trade
Reflecting on the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 six months after its passage, Senator Reed Smoot (R-Utah) declared: “The improvement since passage of the act has been… Read More
Opinion: Will the Democratic House pursue Kavanaugh’s impeachment?
After last week’s midterm elections, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declared that Democrats in the next Congress will prioritize issues including ethics reform, infrastructure and healthcare. Some committee leaders, however, may… Read More
How to restrain the President: Congress and trade policy
Since his inauguration, President Trump has levied aggressive, unilateral tariffs on numerous products, which has triggered foreign retaliation against American exports. However, the controlling of international trade is originally Congress’s… Read More