by jpitney | Dec 5, 2025 | Congress, House of Representatives
Don Wolfensberger: When the House returned to work on Nov. 17 after a 43-day government shutdown and a 54-day recess ordered by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), it was a bitter homecoming. The usual backslapping and camaraderie were missing, replaced by a startlingly...
by jpitney | Oct 31, 2025 | Congress, Senate, Separation of Powers
Don Wolfensberger writes that there are four key things to consider in determining how much the Senate has deviated from its originally planned track. First, the Senate is not, as it might claim, the world’s greatest deliberative body. Deliberation has gone the way of...
by jpitney | Jul 13, 2025 | Congress, Foreign Policy, Presidency, War Power
Don Wolfensberger at The Hill: In the Iran case last month, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) introduced concurrent resolutions in their respective chambers prohibiting the president from going to war with Iran. Kaine...
by jpitney | Mar 21, 2025 | Congress, Oversight, Separation of Powers
Don Wolfensberger at The Hill: Restoring trust in Congress will take a concerted effort over time to move overly zealous executive officials back into their proper constitutional boxes. To restore trust in Congress requires that Congress first regain trust in itself....
by jpitney | Feb 8, 2025 | Congress, Elections, House of Representatives, Transparency, Volunteering
Don Wolfensberger at The Hill: Former Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson (D-Texas) and House Speaker Sam Rayburn (D-Texas) were great party leaders in their time. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) probably comes closest to their caliber of leadership in...
