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Don Wolfensberger, Opinion ContributorThe Hill |
Congress has a long history of using gimmicks to reduce government spending and balance the budget, but these efforts have not been successful, as...
President-elect Donald J. Trump has tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head up a non-governmental Department of Government Efficiency to...
President-elect Donald J. Trump is seeking to circumvent the long and drawn-out process of having to submit nominations to the Senate for its "advice...
The Congress will convene for its "lame duck" session next week to wrap up overdue appropriations bills and prepare for the new Congress and...
Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport immigrants if elected, a move that has only been invoked three times in the...
The House Rules Committee held a hearing on proposed rules changes for the 119th Congress, with Rep. Derek Kilmer recommending non-policy bipartisan...
House Speaker Mike Johnson pulled a six-month stop-gap government funding bill due to lack of votes, but later brought it back with a compromise CR...
House Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to pull the six-month stopgap continuing appropriations bill due to lack of votes, raising questions about a...
The House bill, No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act, would prohibit U.S. acceptance of a World Health Organization...
The term "coattail" has been around since the 1600s, but it wasn't until the mid-20th century that it was used in the political context to describe a...
Politicians write memoirs to tell their stories, lay their lives out for all to see, and sometimes seek higher office, while others use them to...
Party platforms matter because they reflect the general consensus of party members nationwide, but they are competing with an array of other...
Don Wolfensberger reflects on his experiences attending Republican National Conventions, including his first as a cheerleader for Barry Goldwater in...
Until Congress gets serious about strengthening the resources of its committees and support agencies so that it can resume bipartisan deliberations...
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that courts may not defer to an agency interpretation of the law simply because the law is ambiguous, and that...
The House of Representatives voted to adopt a special rule to consider three annual appropriations bills for the departments of Defense, Homeland...
A more partisan Congress has evolved. In committees like Armed Services, the bipartisan culture within did not change that much. But the political...
The contempt power has long been seen as a necessary means for a legislative body to do its work without disruption and to encourage...
Those in Congress today urging the Supreme Court to embrace a stricter enforcement regime are engaging in a classic case of the pot calling the kettle...
Matters are especially tight nowadays with 217 Republicans, 213 Democrats, and five vacancies. In an expected party-line vote, the majority’s...
Today Woodrow Wilson's maxim has been stood on its head as there seems to be a lot more public exhibitionism occurring in committees by members vying...
The budget process may not be dead, but it has transformed itself considerably since 1974 just to stay alive.
A new precedent has been set in this Congress for more frequent voting by speakers. It will likely be followed in future congresses, regardless of...
Speaker Mike Johnson has gained the respect of his conference, not only by listening for hours on end to his colleagues’ advice and complaints, but...
The overwhelming vote of 273-147 on final passage of the FISA bill affirmed that the leadership had struck the right chord with the new procedural...
The central question Congress should be asking itself is, “What can be done to reconnect with the people and earn their respect by addressing some...
With public approval ratings of Congress dipping into the teens, the warning lights are already flashing red. A wake-up call is long overdue for...
The first day of C-SPAN, March 19, 1979, was the day the House began televising its proceedings to the public — hence the cable company’s 45th...
The president may have thought that combining four disparate matters into a single bill would be strategically wise since most members could support...
The court minority’s particular lament is that, lacking an enforcement law, the judiciary is being shut-out from any action to enforce or remove the...
There are some hardline fiscal conservative members who openly advocate for a government shutdown: “Bring it on! Shut it down!” Their thinking is...
It's difficult to predict when or whether all this will end. But it is a far cry from James Madison’s ideal of a Congress in which various competing...
If the plain meaning interpretation of section 3 is accepted by the Supreme Court and ruled on accordingly, it should also avoid new challenges being...
The big question remains, where is all this going? How will the Supreme Court rule?
Whether this Congress will rival the do-little Great Depression’s 72nd Congress for a paucity of laws remains to be seen. But it is bound to take...