Category Archives: legislation and legislatures

“Brian Svoboda on the Ends of Congressional Ethics Enforcement”

May 22, 2017, 5:47 amconflict of interest laws, ethics investigations, legislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Important guest post from Brian Svoboda over at Bob Bauer’s blog. Bob’s intro: My colleague Brian Svoboda, an expert in congressional ethics, has written an insightful commentary on how we might think about the ends and design of effective congressional… Continue reading

“House May Be Forced to Vote Again on GOP’s Obamacare Repeal Bill”

May 18, 2017, 1:53 pmlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Bloomberg: According to several aides and other procedural experts, if Republicans send the bill to the Senate now and the CBO later concludes it doesn’t save at least $2 billion, it would doom the bill and Republicans would have to… Continue reading

On Judicial Nominations, Senate Republicans Seem Ready “to Give the Pink Slip to the Blue Slip”

May 9, 2017, 9:15 pmlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Carl Hulse in the NYT on what I think is inevitable: Republican Senators ending the ability (via the “blue slip”) of Senators to block home state judicial nominees from consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee. It is just a matter… Continue reading

“Trump Gets a Win He Wasn’t Counting On: He Saved the Filibuster”

May 3, 2017, 7:52 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

NYT: President Trump may have lost the spending fight, but he can celebrate at least one significant congressional accomplishment this week: He single-handedly saved the Senate filibuster. By demanding in two Twitter posts on Tuesday morning that the Senate… Continue reading

“Goodbye, U.S. Senate”

April 7, 2017, 8:06 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Abbe Gluck with a great LA Times oped today, which concludes: Yes, Congress is more gridlocked and partisan than at any time in our history. Yes, the era of the “Schoolhouse Rock” legislative process is dead. But the answer… Continue reading

“Senate Republicans Deploy ‘Nuclear Option’ to Clear Path for Gorsuch”

April 7, 2017, 7:39 amlegislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

NYT: Senate Republicans on Thursday engineered a dramatic change in how the chamber confirms Supreme Court nominations, bypassing a Democratic blockade of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch in a move that will most likely reshape both the Senate and the court.… Continue reading

“The filibuster was already doomed before the nuclear option vote”

April 6, 2017, 8:05 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Josh Chafetz in WaPo: But the truth is, there’s less to the theatrics than meets the eye. The filibuster for Supreme Court nominees was already dead — it just hadn’t stopped moving quite yet. Before Democrats vowed to filibuster Gorsuch’s… Continue reading

“Senate plunges toward historic rules change in Supreme Court standoff”

April 5, 2017, 7:50 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

WaPo: The Senate plowed Tuesday toward a historic and bitter showdown over President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, with a parade of lawmakers taking to the Senate floor to deliver politically charged speeches for and against the president’s pick as a… Continue reading

“Senate Confirmation Strategies and Institutional Uniqueness”

April 4, 2017, 7:23 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Bauer blogs.

“Huefner’s Legislation and Regulation in a Nutshell”

March 21, 2017, 7:18 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

New book coming from the great Steve Huefner.

“Leashes Come Off Wall Street, Gun Sellers, Polluters and More”

March 5, 2017, 8:40 pmlegislation and legislatures, lobbyingRick Hasen

NYT: These are just a few of the more than 90 regulations that federal agencies and the Republican-controlled Congress have delayed, suspended or reversed in the month and a half since President Trump took office, according to a tally by… Continue reading

Would Any Prosecution of Sessions Be Barred by the Speech or Debate Clause?

March 2, 2017, 8:26 pmlegislation and legislatures, Speech or Debate ClauseRick Hasen

Putting aside whether perjury could be proven against AG Sessions, there’s another possible hurdle: the Speech or Debate Clause, which gives members of Congress immunity from criminal prosecution for certain legislative acts, for example a speech on the Senate… Continue reading

“Speech Ethics”

February 13, 2017, 7:16 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Bauer blogs.

Senate Goes Mini-Nuclear, Suspending Quorum Rules to Push Through Trump Nominees, Making Senate More Like House

February 1, 2017, 7:14 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

CNN: Senate Republicans took an extraordinary step Wednesday to move forward with two of President Donald Trump’s top Cabinet nominees after confronting a boycott from Democrats across the aisle. Republican lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee — the panel that… Continue reading