It's a grand old flag
Tension builds in the legislative branch as lawmakers struggle to reconcile their party loyalty with their duty to country and their fellow citizens
The top line
The House and Senate are back this week and will try to figure out a budget reconciliation agreement all Republicans can support. House Republicans will try to move their budget resolution, the Senate will rubber stamp nominees, and the slow ramp-up of the FY 2026 appropriations process will continue even as FY 2025 founders. That ticking sound is the countdown to the government shutdown on March 14th, i.e., the ides of March. We also will see four Congressional Review Act floor votes to repeal regulations issued during 2024, and apparently efforts to purchase a statue of Ben Franklin.
I'm sure you saw that Sen. McConnell, the "gravedigger of American democracy," confirmed he will not run again for the Senate. Thanks, Mitch, for your successful efforts to allow unlimited money into politics and the plutocracy it empowered, the far right Supreme Court and its roll back of separation of powers, and your strategic and steadfast refusal to hold Trump politically accountable for his effort to overthrow the government.
We are seeing a few Republican members starting to tentatively speak out as Trump's EOs create havoc back in their districts. From farmers whose payments were frozen to veterans who are being fired, the public is reaching out to their elected officials who alternatively deny what has happened and promise to look into it. This website tracks the human toll of the indiscriminate firings, including this fed who oversaw the safety of organ donations. For the dollars and cents crowd, red state residents receive more funds from the federal government than they contribute in taxes, a fact that will become more apparent as time goes on.
This week I'm not going to recover the same ground – the rise of Caesarism, the collapse of congressional institutionalists, and what Congress should do. I will come back to address what individual members of Congress can do and why we need to coalesce a popular pro-democracy movement, but not today.
The purge this weekend of senior military officials and the direction of prosecutors to go after political opponents gives you all the information you need about the urgency of the moment. The consolidation of power in a new government is always weakest at the start and now is the time for those who still support Democracy to make their stand.
We are beginning to see notable acts of civil disobedience. The American flag is a very good symbol for pro-democracy efforts.1
Appropriations
News reports suggest that House and Senate appropriators remain "deadlocked" over topline funding levels for FY 2025. Impoundment destroys the appropriations process by making negotiations worthless. With impoundment, any legislative agreement can be undone by the president after enactment. Democrats are insisting that appropriations language be binding – you know, because it is – and Republicans apparently don't "want to limit Trump's options." What's the word for unchecked power vested in an individual?
In the House, it is member day for the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday. We also will see public witness testimony for American Indians and Alaska Natives for appropriations. There's also a few oversight hearings.
Trackers
The Trump administration is removing data from government websites and data.gov. A number of organizations and individuals are tracking those efforts and working to backup that data. Interested? Here is a continuously-updated list of data rescue efforts.
Project 2025, the not-so-secret pre-plan to remake the US government, is in full swing. This handy spreadsheet shows how those proposals are transmuted into executive orders, courtesy the Center for Progressive Reform.
Are you having trouble tracking bills signed into law, new IG or support agency reports, and more? Our librarian friends at USCD have a weekly govinfo roundup that I think is great.
Where does federal spending go? USAFacts made a handy, interactive information graphic. This kind of analysis is only possible because Congress enacted legislation like the DATA Act, which provides transparency for federal spending.
Leg ops
The House Admin Committee has scheduled a markup on February 25th of the committee's draft oversight and authorization plan. I hope they will add to their plans making the appointments of the LC, GAO, and GPO heads pursuant to congressional direction.
The House Admin Committee's organizational meeting transcript is now available. I had tracked all of their meetings, transcripts, videos, etc. from the last Congress, which is surprisingly difficult to do, and that's available here.
The Senate Rules Committee held a business meeting this past Thursday to adopt funding levels for senate committees and adopt its own rules of procedure.
Rep. Stephanie Bice, the chair of the Modernization Subcommittee, wrote about its successes so far and the path forward.
Legislative technology
Senate Democrats launched a new portal for whistleblowers. That's the good news. Beware, however, it does not appear to follow best practices to protect confidential communications. Perhaps they should ask the House Whistleblower Ombuds for advice.
The Congressional Data Task Force announced its next meeting on March 11, 2025. If you're in Congress or interested in Congress, this is a good place to talk about legislative tech. RSVP here.
Wade Ballou, who is the preeminent House expert on turning your ideas into law, explained how technology can help the legislative drafting process in an article for Bussola Tech.
Go for the gold. Applications are open for the third year of the Data Skills for Congress program. Data Skills for Congress is a partnership between the Goldman School of Public Policy and USAFacts to provide a FREE certificate program in data skills and data policy for congressional staff. (As in previous years, I expect to teach a class or two in this seminar.)
Participants have the option to choose from one of two cohorts in 2025, either a 10-week program during the spring or an accelerated 5-week program during the August recess.
In case you missed it
Sen. Lee wants to strip federal district courts of their ability to block Trump's EOs. Instead he proposes that any temporary restraining order must be issued by a three-judge panel with direct appeal to SCOTUS.
Congressional security is something I think about a lot. It's useful to have a comparative point of view on parliamentary security from the folks at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. This document was written by the former Director of Security for the UK Parliament. Surprisingly not on the list of threats to parliamentary security: one's own executive branch. The UK Parliament identified 14 attacks on parliament or parliamentarians since 1974 – and they've listed attacks on parliaments worldwide.
Noted Congress expert Kevin Kosar pointed out the false choice between getting things done and following the law.
Chris Nehls, my go-to person for systems thinking, explains how to rethink learning.
The grassroots are melting down Congress's phones and some Democrats apparently are resentful. Others, like Sen. Kim, are pleased to see the public has their back.
A new Library of Congress IG report found serious problems with the Library of Congress's efforts to launch its new visitor experience and issued eight recommendations. There are significant cost overruns and the Library may miss the revised March 2027 deadline to open the third feature exhibit.
The Levin Center's Jim Townsend rightly rebukes those in Congress who would surrender the Legislative branch's prerogatives.
Transparency and accountability
The FOIA advisory committee will meet on March 6th. Good luck with your FOIA requests, it appears that Trump officials are firing the staff who process them… at least in one agency.
Speaking of FOIA, Trump's efforts to move DOGE records under the Presidential Record Act and away from prying FOIA requests has encountered a lawsuit.
Whistleblower Ombuds event. In honor of Women’s History Month, join the Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds and Time Magazine’s 2002 person of the year Sherron Watkins for a virtual discussion: Meet a Woman History Maker: Fireside Chat with Enron Whistleblower Sherron Watkins on March 7th from 2:00 to 3:00 pm ET. Ms. Watkins will answer questions on how she exposed the infamous Enron scandal, paving the way for landmark corporate whistleblower rights. House staff can register for the event and view speaker details here.
Odds and Ends
Federal agencies are created by Congress and independent agencies are supposed to be independent. But Trump is working to take them over and issued a new EO to effectuate that purpose. Maybe I should lend him my copy of Building a Legislative Centered Public Administration?
Don't eff with the mail. Seriously?
CRA? Looks like we're back to Republicans working to overturn Biden's EOs through the use of the Congressional Review Act. Go here to see what's on the chopping block.
Navigating paywalls. It's important to pay people for what they write. If you're having trouble accessing a news article because it's stuck behind a paywall, there are workarounds like this one. But if you find yourself on a website a few times, it might be worth subscribing.
Rep. Cory Mills is being investigated for assault.
And now a word from Colleen Shogan, former Archivist of the United States. "In a democracy we rely upon transparency, we rely upon accountability."
The image for today’s newsletter comes from the Library of Congress’s collection.