Rules and the Defense Bill

Don Wolfensberger at The Hill: Around the turn of this century we saw evolve a more partisan Congress with the prospect looming large every two years of either or both chambers flipping party control. In the case of the more stalwart committees like Armed Services,...

Congressional Pay

Paul Kane at WP: It’s been 15 years since members of the House and Senate allowed their federally mandated cost-of-living adjustment (often referred to as COLA) to take effect. Since then, their pay has been set at $174,000. Out of political fear from voters in both...

Absenteeism in the House

Don Wolfensberger at The Hill: The importance of requiring members’ presence in the chamber to vote was highlighted last Wednesday when the House narrowly adopted a special rule (H. Res. 1243) making in order three measures for floor consideration that week. The vote...

House Republicans and House Rules

Jordain Carney at Politico: The governing-minded Main Street Caucus has formed an internal working group to come up with potential changes to the Republican Conference and House rules. The group of approximately 10 members is being led by Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.)....

Special Rules in the House

Don Wolfensberger at The Hill: Of the 138 measures with special rules so far in this  Congress, as of May 22, 49 (37 percent) make unreported measures in order. That compares to 27 percent in the 109th Congress (2005-06); 25 percent in the 114th Congress (2015-16);...