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Testimony: Congressional staff
Written testimony of Casey Burgat Senior Governance Fellow, R Street Institute Before the House of Representatives Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee… Read More
Testimony: CRS has made great strides, but more improvement needed
Written testimony of Kevin R. Kosar Vice President of Policy, R Street Institute Before the House of Representatives Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee April 2, 2019 Thank you, Chairman Ryan, Ranking… Read More
Three ways Republicans can go nuclear
Frustrated by how long it takes to confirm President Trump’s nominees, Republicans are accusing Democrats of dragging out unnecessarily the time permitted under the rules after the Senate has invoked… Read More
Republicans poised to nuke legislative filibuster
In 2017, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., pledged not to abolish the legislative filibuster. He did so to persuade his fellow Republicans to back his plan to use… Read More
Rule change empowers leaders to silence senators
Republicans in the Senate want to change the rules to speed up the confirmation process for presidential nominations. Yet their proposal goes much further. It empowers the majority and minority… Read More
The beginning of the end of the legislative filibuster? The unintended consequence of Blunt-Lankford rule change
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell set up debate this week to limit post-cloture time to two hours on judicial and executive branch nominees (except agency heads and Supreme Court nominations). But… Read More
ICYMI: Top reads on Congress
Katherine Tully-McManus, “Should Congress spend more on itself to avoid deterioration?” Roll Call: “Civil society groups and former lawmakers are calling on appropriators to boost funding for Congress itself to… Read More
Enhancing expertise and diversity in committees and staffing
To: The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress From: Michele Swers, Professor of Government, Georgetown University Reform: Enhancing Expertise and Diversity in Committees… Read More
Fundraising requirements should not be a part of the chair/committee assignment process
Editor’s note: Over the next several weeks, LegBranch will be posting a series of reform proposal memos by congressional scholars. These proposals will take up a range of topics, including… Read More
Enough of our budget farce
he Trump administration’s new budget is fake news. That isn’t because it fails to live up to its grandiose title: “A Budget for a Better America: Promises Kept. Taxpayers First.”… Read More