A Trick Rule

At The Hill, Don Wolfensberger explains the procedural trick by which House Republicans barred resolutions of inquiry: Last week a special rule was scheduled to consider just five matters, all resolutions to disapprove regulations promulgated during the Biden...

The Missing Branch

At The Atlantic, Yuval Levin writes that Congress was assertive in the 1980s and 1990s, but… The reasons for the subsequent decline in Congress’s stature and assertiveness are complex, but some of the very measures Gingrich took to consolidate power on Capitol...

Bundling Special Rules

Don Wolfensberger at The Hill: Back in the old days, if the House Rules Committee had four bills before it seeking a special rule for floor consideration, the committee would grant one special rule for each.  In modern times, the committee, in order to save on time...

Stopping Time to Keep Tariffs

In 1987, Speaker Jim Wright (D-TX) created a new day in order to rush passage of a bill. Philip Wallach at The American Interest: Most dramatically, as Wright sought to push through a revenue-positive reconciliation bill following “Black Monday” in October 1987, his...