Category Archives: legislation and legislatures

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

A Pivotal Moment for Senate Democrats

January 29, 2017, 4:58 pmlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

This week (even with the potential for a Supreme Court nomination as soon as Monday), Senate Democrats will face a pivotal choice: will they work their remaining levers of power to protest President Trump’s policies and power? Even without a… Continue reading

“Lawmakers Racing to Fix Gaping Hole in Utah Election Law”

January 12, 2017, 9:05 pmlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Utah Policy: A fight over Utah election law could roil the first few weeks of the 2017 Utah Legislature. Speculation is swirling that Rep. Chris Stewart could be named Secretary of the Air Force in the Donald Trump administration. If… Continue reading

“A House rules change you didn’t hear much about — and prosecutors won’t like”

January 5, 2017, 2:11 pmethics investigations, legislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Open Secrets: The Office of Congressional Ethics was saved from the landfill — where House Republicans had tried to bury it — by public outcry and a couple of tweets from President-elect Donald Trump. But few noticed a sentence… Continue reading

“The Parliamentary Tactic That Could Obliterate Obamacare”

January 5, 2017, 8:16 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Robert Pear for the NYT.

“In Republicans’ Ethics Office Gambit, a Spectacle of Tweets and Retreats”

January 4, 2017, 8:30 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Carl Hulse in the NYT: House Republicans might have amusedly applauded Mr. Trump’s cutting tweets when they were aimed at the news media and other common foes, but they found them measurably less funny when the criticisms were directed their… Continue reading

“GOP plans to crush Democratic opposition to Trump Cabinet”

January 4, 2017, 8:03 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Politico: Senate Republicans have a plan to break the Democratic resistance to Donald Trump’s Cabinet: Make their delay tactics as excruciating as possible. With Senate Democrats threatening to drag out the confirmation process for weeks, the GOP is preparing… Continue reading

“House Republicans Fret About Winning Their Health Care Suit”

January 1, 2017, 11:15 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

NYT: Congressional Republicans have a new fear when it comes to their two-year-old health care lawsuit against the Obama administration: They might win. The incoming Trump administration could choose to no longer defend the executive branch against the suit, which… Continue reading

How Will Congress and the Separation of Powers Function Under a Trump Administration?

November 29, 2016, 12:32 pmlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRichard Pildes

Christopher DeMuth, former head of OIRA in the Reagan OMB and former President of AEI, has a long, thoughtful essay in the weekend Wall Street Journal in which he explores whether the separation of powers might see a revival in… Continue reading

The New Political Realism: Transactional Politics and Earmarks

November 29, 2016, 8:35 amlegislation and legislatures, political polarizationRichard Pildes

Last week, Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post reported that there was “significant support” within the House Republican conference for bringing back earmarks. Republicans eliminated earmarks when they took the House majority in 2010 as part of “political reforms” that… Continue reading

“Hard Choice for Mitch McConnell: End the Filibuster or Preserve Tradition”

November 11, 2016, 9:09 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Carl Hulse NYT: In the afterglow of their election success, Republicans prefer not to discuss this unpleasant possibility. They would rather rhapsodize about a sunny legislative future in which the two parties work in harmony, negating the need for all… Continue reading

Orin Kerr on President Trump and Checks and Balances

November 9, 2016, 8:32 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Well worth reading: Here’s why I think this is really important. The modern presidency comes with extraordinary power. The president has power over the entire executive branch, from the military to the Justice Department to the FBI to the administrative… Continue reading

“A Narrower Majority for Republicans Could Widen the House Divide”

November 4, 2016, 8:50 amlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

NYT: But some members of the Freedom Caucus seem to have another agenda in mind. They strategized behind closed doors on Wednesday about how to press for their priorities during the lame-duck session, as well as under a potential… Continue reading

“Republicans are now vowing Total War. And the consequences could be immense.”

November 3, 2016, 11:50 amlegislation and legislatures, political polarization, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Important read from Paul Waldman: I know, my conservative friends will say that this kind of talk is just fear-mongering and exaggeration. But there is something deeply troubling happening right now, and it goes beyond the ordinary trading of blows… Continue reading