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Supreme Court to Decide What Constitutes a Senate “Recess”

On January 13, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a much-watched case interpreting the president’s appointment power.  Written at a time when it could take weeks for members of Congress to get to the capital, Article II, section 2 of the Constitution allows presidents to fill vacancies temporarily during recesses for positions that would otherwise


81 More Ways to Save Taxpayer Dollars

Like all presidential budget requests, President Obama’s FY14 budget includes recommendations for streamlining government to promote greater efficiency.  Traditionally, presidents propose cuts to programs (Obama’s budget includes 215) and encounter resistance from Congress, but this year might be different. Congressional Reaction Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-MD) recently sounded a call


Filibuster Rules Changes Epitomize the Senate

The more things change… The Senate has spoken—at length—and the result is…not much. This sentence could characterize the 112th Congress as well as the changes agreed to in Senate Resolution 16, the first roll call of the 113th (86 yeas, 9 nays). After months of the majority’s frustration with constant filibuster threats, impassioned pleas for


Parsing the Supreme Court’s Decision

In terms of public policy, the Supreme Court’s 5:4 decision to uphold the bulk of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is an enormous victory for President Obama and the 111th Congress that enacted it. Politically, it may be a wash—for Obama and Democrats, it’s a relief to have the High Court’s seal


All Eyes On The Supreme Court

Capitol Hill’s collective gaze is fixed upon the Supreme Court, which is poised to announce decisions on several cases by the end of its term in late June. The marquee event, of course, is the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Will the Court invalidate the signature accomplishment of the Democratic


Where the Action Is: Super PACs in 2012

In what has become the most quoted axiom in modern campaign finance, Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and John Paul Stevens opined in 2003, “Money, like water, will always find an outlet.” That outlet in the 2012 campaign is the “Super PAC,” a creature spawned by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010.


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