Today’s Senate is dysfunctional by any measure. The “world’s greatest deliberative body” spends most of its time voting on routine presidential nominations to the executive and judicial branches. When the Senate does consider legislation, most senators feel they have little substantive input. Bills are crafted behind closed doors under the purview of party leaders. The […]
A happy 50th birthday for the congressio...
President Biden’s White House recently delivered to Congress its “Mid-Session Review” of the federal budget. The bottom line was bad: the deficit for 2024 is projected to be $1.87 trillion and the nation likely will be $37 trillion in debt by the end of the year. This news arrived just one week after the 50th […]
The end of Chevron deference isn’t the e
Last week, I had coffee with a wonk who works on immigration policy, a political moderate who is trying to get Capitol Hill to have a sane, bipartisan conversation about the topic and enact reforms. It is a challenge, seeing as how legislators frequently behave as if they would prefer to campaign and fundraise on […]
How Congress can tame the administrative...
The administration of Joseph R. Biden has enacted a record-setting number of consequential regulations this spring, according to an analysis by George Washington University. In April alone, 66 “significant” final rules were finalized — meaning they “have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or adversely affect in a material way the economy, […]
Americans dislike deficits and debt. So ...
Do voters punish politicians who increase budget deficits and saddle future generations with debt? According to one research paper, yes, they do. Adi Brender (Bank of Israel) and Allan Drazen (University of Maryland) crunched data from 23 nations on budgets and the electoral fortunes of chief executives, who voters tend to view as responsible for fiscal stewardship. Their unambiguous finding […]
Want government to work better? Then hav...
Last month, President Joseph Biden announced new tariffs on steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles and some other items. His administration argues this action is retaliation for “China’s unfair trade practices” and aims to “protect American workers and businesses.” Cynics allege Biden is trying to appeal to voters considering voting for Donald J. Trump, who has thundered on and […]