Essays
Judgment / October 7, 2026
Most Americans think the House of Representatives debates bills. It doesn't. It debates permission slips. Before most major legislation can reach the floor...
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Every few months, Washington rediscovers the poison pill rider. A bill that seemed certain to pass suddenly has a provision attached that makes it...
The modern fight over recess appointments is almost always a fight about the calendar. How many days must the Senate be gone? Does a three-day break count?...
Most people pull up a congressional town hall schedule finder and see a piece of logistics. That is the wrong way to look at it. In a constitutional...
There is a heresy buried in the age of the viral clip, and I want to name it plainly. Most of what we now call a town hall is not self-government. It is...
Let me start where the term-limit crowd and I agree. The anger behind the movement is justified. Americans look at Washington and see a permanent political...
The term has been with us for more than two centuries. In 1812, Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a redistricting plan that included a district...
Every American who has watched a congressional hearing in the last decade has seen the same scene. A senator or representative gets five minutes. He spends...
James Madison wrote a sentence in 1822 that ought to be pinned above every government website in the country. "A popular Government, without popular...
Most coverage misses what budget reconciliation actually is. It is not a budget. It is not a normal piece of legislation. It is a procedural exception that...