Laura Blessing, Ph.D.
Laura Blessing, Ph.D. joined the Government Affairs Institute as a Senior Fellow in 2015 and also teaches in the McCourt School of Public Policy. After earning her PhD from the University of Virginia, she worked as an American Political Science Association (APSA) Congressional Fellow, serving as the legislative assistant for tax policy for a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee. Her interests include Congress, political parties, and policy, particularly tax and budget policy. She has taught classes at UVA (undergrad), Sweet Briar College (undergrad), and Georgetown University (graduate) on Congress; the Presidency; Media and Politics; the Public Policy Process; and Inequality and Public Policy, as well as advising students writing their Masters theses. At GAI she teaches two research seminars: Committees and Parties in Congress and the Politics of Tax and Budget Policy. She has published on the eroding budget process, tax policy in the 2016 Presidential campaign, social movements and the Presidency, and the importance of practical experience in politics informing scholarship. She has engaged in congressional testimony and other public commentary on politics in various media venues. She is currently working on a book on the politics of tax policy from the midcentury period to today.
Education: PhD, University of Virginia; MA, University of Virginia; MAT, Johns Hopkins University; BA, George Washington University.
Expertise:
- Politics of Tax Policy
- Budgetary Politics
- Legislative Politics
- Legislative Process
- State of Partisanship
- Congressional Operation and History
- Executive-Legislative Relations
Media: For interviews, events, and news stories, e-mail laura[dot]blessing[at]georgetown[dot]edu or you can call our office at 202-333-4838.
RECENT MEDIA IN THE MEDIA CENTER
Signaling the Right Turn: How to Understand Jimmy Carter
Laura Blessing | January 6, 2025
Many political narratives on the late 1970s are incomplete, simplifying a politically complex legacy of President Carter, who died on December 29. Carter is both more nuanced and more relevant to American politics today than is commonly understood. He presages—and hurries—major shifts that would become cemented with the Reagan Revolution. In many ways, the public
The Government We Deserve?
Laura Blessing | November 7, 2024
Election Day 2024 is behind us. The country is taking stock of who we are and where we might be going. The final calls on some congressional races are still forthcoming, as predicted. There are many ways of viewing the political moment we’re in, but any reading of political history shows precursors to phenomena of
Leading Expert on Congress