Modernizing Congress is a sprawling portfolio of issues that can often be unwieldly! That’s why my @BPC_Bipartisan colleagues & I put together a new -LIVE & searchable- database of the @ModernizeCmte’s 200+ recommendations!

Not ‘according to sources familiar with the planning’, but according to the precedents.

https://t.co/jX9ZMMjZcT

A great roundup of 50yrs of House power dynamics by @danielschuman & @Nehlsie! One line to keep in mind for moving forward: The House needs to redistribute power and accept messier legislative processes as a justifiable consequence for greater representational capacity.🔗👇

When Nancy Pelosi stepped down as Speaker I was asked to evaluate her time as leader, which was really exciting until the scope and scale of that task began to settle in. Put simply, she is among the greatest speakers in House history.

Seems potentially problematic for bringing the House back to town. If only they had adopted emergency remote voting procedures (not proxy voting) as a continuity measure...one of many ways Congress continues to hamstring its own functionality.

My take on the IEEPA & tariffs case before SCOTUS this morning, via @rollcall's @mikemacagnone. 🔗🔽

"We find that, once in office, political newcomers are less likely than career politicians to work across the aisle. The very outsiders many voters hope will “fix” Congress contribute to the partisan divisions that keep it from functioning."

I don't believe we should be reading too much into what missing this month of session will mean for the larger congressional agenda. As I told @justinjpapp1, "Congress always finds a way to get itself out of the predicaments that it puts itself in."

Instead, we should think about it in the context of the all too common calendar and scheduling issues that Congress faces. Cancelling session days makes an already difficult committee scheduling process that much more impossible.

I don't believe we should be reading too much into what missing this month of session will mean for the larger congressional agenda. As I told @justinjpapp1, "Congress always finds a way to get itself out of the predicaments that it puts itself in."

Much post-Loper Bright discourse focuses on what powers Congress might need in this new regulatory era. @BPC_Bipartisan's @danestangler @JDRackey and I think that misses at least part of the equation. How well could Congress wield new/different powers in its current state? Not

The other final essay is a contribution from several folks at @BPC_Bipartisan (thanks to @danestangler, @ThorningMichael, and @JDRackey!) in connection with their own important work on the subject:

Just published in PNAS (@PNASNews) : “Electing amateur politicians reduces cross-party collaboration” We show that districts electing first-time members of the U.S. House experience substantial declines in bipartisan representation in the subsequent Congress. 🧵1/4

I know you've always wondered how members of Congress, senators, and the president get paid. Don't worry, I've got you covered!

My contribution to @seungminkim's excellent rundown on why and how shutdowns keep happening: members don't have much reason to conclude they will be punished for supporting a shutdown. But my second thought this morning: if anything Democrats have reason to think voters might

Classic @rollcall farewell to a behind the scenes aide who’s been on the Hill for 40 years from @jcqlnwng https://t.co/cr4XRJSmZh

The debate over bottom-up vs top-down strategies for reducing polarization have mostly tilted toward bottom-up efforts. And philanthropic support has largely followed. New research from @d_e_holliday @ylelkes @seanjwestwood highlights the limits of that approach and why top-down

More from me on congressional accountability mechanisms:

More on recent censure events from @Bencjacobs:

The incentive structure has shifted: Members are electorally rewarded (and often boost their fundraising numbers) when they either behave in a manner that subjects them to accountability mechanisms, or initiate the use of these mechanisms against someone from the opposite party.