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Aaron Wildavsky’s Anti–Government Shutdown Plan
Aaron Wildavsky’s Anti–Government Shutdown Plan

Worries about Congress’s capacity to carry out its constitutional duties are not new. In 1965, leaders of the American Enterprise ...

October 21, 2025
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After Decades of Red Ink, a Fresh Push for a Balanced Budget Amendment Emerges
After Decades of Red Ink, a Fresh Push for a Balanced Budget Amendment Emerges

The U.S government’s debt hit $37.6 trillion on Sept. 30, the end of the most recent fiscal year. To put ...

October 17, 2025
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Congress in Plain English: The Basics of a Government Shutdown
Congress in Plain English: The Basics of a Government Shutdown

On October 1, 2025 the United States federal government “shut down.” This is not the first time it has happened. ...

October 14, 2025
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Trump, Qatar, and the Senate’s Treaty Power
Trump, Qatar, and the Senate’s Treaty Power

On October 1, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order giving Qatar a security guarantee—something the Constitution reserves for ...

October 7, 2025
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The Congressional Appropriations Process: Background and Potential Innovations
The Congressional Appropriations Process: Background and Potential Innovations

James C. Capretta, The congressional appropriations process: Background and potential innovations, American Enterprise Institute, September 2025. James C. Capretta notes that ...

October 6, 2025
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Legislators in Tudor America
Legislators in Tudor America

Nearly six decades ago, Samuel Huntington wrote, “In functions and powers, American Presidents are Tudor kings. In institutional role, as ...

October 6, 2025
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You Can’t Replace Congress with the President
You Can’t Replace Congress with the President

In today’s American political system, the president is the unquestioned leader. But this was not how the framers of the ...

October 2, 2025
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How Often Does Congress Enact All 12 Spending Bills Before the End of the Fiscal Year?
How Often Does Congress Enact All 12 Spending Bills Before the End of the Fiscal Year?

Source: USAFacts.org The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 requires Congress to pass twelve appropriations bills before the September ...

September 30, 2025
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Status Quo or Revolution? The Peculiar Fiscal Footprint of the Trump Administration
Status Quo or Revolution? The Peculiar Fiscal Footprint of the Trump Administration

Donald Trump has been pushing hard against the boundaries of presidential authority. But at the core of the separation of ...

September 30, 2025
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How Congress Lost, Part VIII: Patronage and the Emergence of Senatorial Hegemony
How Congress Lost, Part VIII: Patronage and the Emergence of Senatorial Hegemony

Jay Cost, How Congress Lost, Part VIII: Patronage and the Emergence of Senatorial Hegemony, American Enterprise Institute, September 12, 2025. This ...

September 25, 2025
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Icons of Congress: Albert Gallatin
Icons of Congress: Albert Gallatin

In the pantheon of the heroes of the early republic, certain names stand out: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, ...

September 22, 2025
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State of the Congress 2024: An Assessment of the Civility, Functionality, and Capacity of the 118th Congress by Senior Congressional Staff
State of the Congress 2024: An Assessment of the Civility, Functionality, and Capacity of the 118th Congress by Senior Congressional Staff

Kathy Goldschmidt, State of the Congress 2024: An Assessment of the Civility, Functionality, and Capacity of the 118th Congress by ...

September 19, 2025
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Trump Attempts Pocket Rescission to Cut $4.9 Billion in Foreign Aid
Trump Attempts Pocket Rescission to Cut $4.9 Billion in Foreign Aid

President Donald Trump recently moved to cancel $4.9 billion in spending on foreign aid, the latest skirmish in the battle for control ...

September 19, 2025
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Prospects for Congress
Prospects for Congress

Congress is down, but how close is it to being out? What is the ultimate source of its vitality, and ...

September 3, 2025
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Congress in Plain English: Federal Control Over Washington, D.C.
Congress in Plain English: Federal Control Over Washington, D.C.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in Washington, D.C., and took control of the Metropolitan ...

September 2, 2025
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Carving up Discretionary Dollars: The Work of the 12 Appropriations Subcommittees
Carving up Discretionary Dollars: The Work of the 12 Appropriations Subcommittees

Every year, Congress faces a massive challenge: how to divide up roughly $1.5 trillion in discretionary federal spending across thousands ...

August 27, 2025
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Senate Appropriators Reject House Cuts to Congressional Funding for Capitol Hill Operations
Senate Appropriators Reject House Cuts to Congressional Funding for Capitol Hill Operations

Before leaving Washington for the August recess, the Senate advanced the annual legislative branch spending bill. The measure proposes $4.97 billion in spending on ...

August 22, 2025
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Congress’s Ironic Enfeeblement
Congress’s Ironic Enfeeblement

It is an honor to respond to my colleague Philip Wallach’s comprehensive and depressingly persuasive overview of the self-inflicted irrelevance of Congress. ...

August 15, 2025
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Soren Dayton and Josiah Watney, Making the Rules of the House: How Factional Politics Overcame the Rules Committee in the Past
Soren Dayton and Josiah Watney, Making the Rules of the House: How Factional Politics Overcame the Rules Committee in the Past

Soren Dayton and Josiah Watney, Making the Rules of the House: How factional politics overcame the Rules Committee in the ...

August 14, 2025
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Congress in Plain English: Gerrymandering
Congress in Plain English: Gerrymandering

Ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, the parties are playing hardball. Texas Republicans have convened a special session of their ...

August 12, 2025
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