Commentary on Congress

What’s Wrong with Congress?
What’s Wrong with Congress?

Kevin Kosar, author of the essay, "What's wrong with Congress?" recently spoke with Richard Morrison of the Competitive Enterprise Institute ...

February 12, 2026
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Trump Signs Minibus Spending Bill with $6.5 Billion in Earmarks
Trump Signs Minibus Spending Bill with $6.5 Billion in Earmarks

President Donald Trump recently signed $174.7 billion spending legislation. The White House said little upon signing the Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior ...

February 6, 2026
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Two Cheers for a Semi Normal Appropriations Process
Two Cheers for a Semi Normal Appropriations Process

Is it too kind to give any cheers at all to Congress’ appropriators during the second government shutdown of this ...

February 3, 2026
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The Federal Government Booked a $1.8 Trillion Deficit Last Year
The Federal Government Booked a $1.8 Trillion Deficit Last Year

President Donald Trump’s first year of his second, nonconsecutive term brought all sorts of changes. His administration shuttered the United States Agency ...

January 30, 2026
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What’s Wrong with Congress?
What’s Wrong with Congress?

The 119th Congress returned to the U.S. Capitol recently. They have an immense amount of work to get done, policy ...

January 27, 2026
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Legislative Tool to Circumvent House Leadership Gets Biggest Win Yet on Obamacare Subsidies Vote
Legislative Tool to Circumvent House Leadership Gets Biggest Win Yet on Obamacare Subsidies Vote

Congress returned to work in Washington, and one of the first issues lawmakers addressed was government health insurance subsidies. These temporary, ...

January 18, 2026
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Who Do Hoosiers Choose?
Who Do Hoosiers Choose?

There is something surreal about the conflict currently playing out in Indiana, where the president of the United States has ...

December 28, 2025
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Term Limits Will Not Make Congress Work Better
Term Limits Will Not Make Congress Work Better

A poll in Des Mines, Iowa, November 2022. Source: Wikimedia Commons, Phil Roeder. Few would seriously argue that Congress today is ...

December 19, 2025
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House Republicans Want to Show Voters They Can Get Things Done. Can They?
House Republicans Want to Show Voters They Can Get Things Done. Can They?

The House has spent much of the last two months of this year trying to catch up on its work. It passed 22 ...

December 15, 2025
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Senate and Trump on a Collision Course Over the Leadership of the GAO
Senate and Trump on a Collision Course Over the Leadership of the GAO

Gene L. Dodaro is not a household name. He is a mild-mannered man who is rarely seen without a necktie and ...

November 14, 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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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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