Essays
Attention / October 2, 2026
Type a congressman's name into a congressional financial disclosure search and for a few minutes you feel like you are doing something serious. The trades...
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Let me state the principle plainly: a congressional subpoena is not a request for a meeting. It is not an invitation to negotiate. It is a legal command...
Every time the Office of Management and Budget publishes a sequestration order, Washington reaches for the same worn-out script. One side lists the programs...
Most people treat the fight over House rules as inside baseball. That is a mistake. Procedure is power. The way the House of Representatives considers a...
There is a free, public federal database that lets any citizen see which former officials, lobbyists, public-relations operatives, and think-tank scholars...
There is a dirty secret in campaign finance law, and it is not what most people think. Everyone argues about how close is too close, whether a candidate and...
The first time I heard a member of Congress move to "strike the last word," I assumed someone was about to make a grammatical change. That is what the words...
Most people only notice the Senate Judiciary Committee when a Supreme Court seat is open. Cameras appear in the hearing room, senators rehearse their moral...
Most Americans hear the phrase "60-day deadline" and assume it is the one place where Congress finally put a leash on presidential war powers. That...
The most dangerous phrase in Washington is not "shutdown." It is "current levels." A continuing resolution sounds like a harmless bridge between budgets...