Commentary on Congress

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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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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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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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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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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The Senate’s essential referees
The Senate’s essential referees

I began my career in the Senate chamber as a page, the junior-most staff member in the body. From the ...

August 5, 2025
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Choosing congressional irrelevance
Choosing congressional irrelevance

On February 7, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado offered the following advice on X: “Dear Speaker Johnson, Simply pass every executive order ...

August 4, 2025
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Congress passes spending cuts — but the small savings may make for bigger budgeting troubles
Congress passes spending cuts — but the small savings may make for bigger budgeting troubles

Something remarkable occurred on Capitol Hill this month: Congress and the president partnered to make a law that cut the budgets of ...

July 26, 2025
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The One Big Beautiful Bill Act became law quickly. Here’s why.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act became law quickly. Here’s why.

Donald J. Trump, signing ceremony for the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, July 4, 2025. Source: White House Instagram. On ...

July 15, 2025
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Congress tries to ban insider trading by its members
Congress tries to ban insider trading by its members

Media stories erupted recently about Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) financial dealings. “Stock market watchdog claims Nancy Pelosi raked in $4.7M in a single ...

July 7, 2025
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What members of Congress are saying about Trump vs. Musk and the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”
What members of Congress are saying about Trump vs. Musk and the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”

Clash of the titans. Source: Google Gemini. On May 28, Elon Musk, de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency ...

June 11, 2025
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Trump and Congress clash over who has final say on the Library of Congress
Trump and Congress clash over who has final say on the Library of Congress

Who is in charge of the Library of Congress: Congress or the president? Until recently, the settled answer in Washington was ...

June 6, 2025
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Who Is in Charge of the Library of Congress?
Who Is in Charge of the Library of Congress?

The past week has been witness to the rarest of rare Trump-era occurrences: Congress has been standing up for itself ...

May 22, 2025
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The Republicans’ Debt Delusion: Tough talk on the budget is plentiful, but policy decisions tell a different story.
The Republicans’ Debt Delusion: Tough talk on the budget is plentiful, but policy decisions tell a different story.

If you listen to how Republicans in Washington talk about federal spending these days, you might imagine that we have ...

May 20, 2025
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In Congress the factions decide
In Congress the factions decide

Caucuses, caucuses everywhere. Source: Rep. Ritchie Torres, X.com. House Republicans are battling over what should be included Donald Trump’s “one, big, ...

May 14, 2025
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Congress: The Missing Branch
Congress: The Missing Branch

Everyone who follows American politics is going to spend a lot of time thinking about presidential and judicial power over ...

May 13, 2025
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House GOP shuts down Democrats’ oversight of Trump
House GOP shuts down Democrats’ oversight of Trump

House Republicans recently sank numerous Democratic efforts to investigate President Donald Trump’s administration, but anyone who is not a close watcher of Congress would ...

May 12, 2025
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Congress and regulation: How to bolster legislative oversight capacity
Congress and regulation: How to bolster legislative oversight capacity

The Constitution designates Congress as the lawmaking institution in our federal government. Yet, an enormous amount of lawmaking gets done ...

May 6, 2025
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