ICYMI: Top reads on Congress

James C. Capretta, “Spending Caps Fight Exposes Both Parties’ Weaknesses,” Real Clear Policy:

“This bipartisan consensus to ignore the nation’s budgetary challenges probably won’t change until outside events force a different response. When that moment arrives, it’s pretty clear the political parties will need each other because, as this year’s smallish cap fight indicates, neither party is united and strong enough to act on its own.”

Molly E. Reynolds, “Will Congressional Democrats find unity on the budget?” Brookings FixGov:

“If this year proceeds anything like the three previous times that Congress and the president tackled the challenge, final resolution won’t come until at least the fall. But this round of negotiations represents the first time that House Democrats have participated in such bargaining as the majority party, and only time will tell whether and how that shapes the ultimate outcome.”

Charles Tiefer, “Mueller report: How Congress can and will follow up on an incomplete and redacted document,” The Conversation:

“I served as special deputy chief counsel of the House Iran-contra investigation of the Reagan administration. We did months of hearings on the type of material that is either incomplete or redacted, as today’s Congress will find, in the Mueller report. Here are some of the ways the House will likely follow up with more investigation.”

Joe Walsh, “Politics or Principle: Congress Must Decide,” The Bulwark:

“The answer is simple: Congress should do what the Constitution authorizes them to do, which is perform oversight and pass legislation based on the report’s findings. But the politics is much more complicated. And so Congress, namely the Democrat-controlled House, may not do much of anything.”

Charles W. Cooke, “Next Time, Use Congress to Investigate the President,” National Review:

“Whenever the next one comes, Americans must demand sweeping changes to the way in which it is handled. More specifically, they must demand that Congress, and not the executive branch itself, be put in charge of the investigations. There is no unaccountable fourth branch of government in the United States. Our repeated attempts to create one — including over the last couple of years — have been disastrous.”

Mike Lee, “The Not-So-Incredible Shirking Congress,” National Review:

“The Framers wasted no time in getting to the heart of the matter: They placed the legislative powers within the federal government — that is, the power to make law within the federal system — in the branch of government that would be most accountable to the people through regular, routine elections.”

Seung Min Kim, “Trump’s defiance puts pressure on Congress’s ability to check the president,” Washington Post:

“President Trump’s defiance of congressional attempts to investigate his administration has put new pressure on the legislative branch’s ability to serve as a constitutional check on a president who sees few limits on his executive power.”

Katherine Tully-McManus, “Office of Congressional Ethics starts year with a whisper, not a bang,” Roll Call:

“The Office of Congressional Ethics took no actions in the first quarter of the 116th Congress, due in part to its board not being filled until mid-March.”