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I love Jon Stewart and believe the information that the Daily Show puts out, while satirical, is often more accurate than the main stream media. That said, his opening piece on Monday, April 20th, where he castigates Congress for getting excited about legislating, is set on the wrong premise. Stewart’s
Many in the media are beginning to notice that Congress is, in fact, working again. It’s negotiating deals, passing significant compromises, voting on amendments, and taking on serious issues. As the 114th Congress was being sworn in I outlined a few reasons for optimism and potential areas of compromise. That
Bipartisan deals were the big theme this week on the Hill. This was a welcomed contrast to the last two Congresses where even routine bipartisan measures were hard to come by. In part, this was expected. Now that Republicans control both the House and Senate, they have an interest in
Disapproval of a governmental action isn’t sufficient to get your day in court, no matter how intense that disapproval may be. Back in August 2012, a group of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents sued their boss (then-DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano) over President Obama’s decision to allow undocumented minors to
The House budget proposal is being brought to the floor under an uncommon rule called the queen-of-the-hill. It’s being framed as quirky, odd and, at times, a signal of Republican dysfunction. However, it perhaps best described as a release valve. Under the queen-of-the-hill process multiple amendments (which is a full
Since the House budget resolution dropped yesterday a lot of complaints have surfaced about its lack of detail. Lack of detail have some claiming it abandons Paul Ryan’s budget, – even though it is remarkably similar – and many pundits and politicians lamenting the vague character of the House Republicans’
Article II of the Constitution begins, “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.” The extent of that “executive power” has been debated since the beginning of the republic—indeed, even earlier. The Founders were familiar with John Locke’s concept of “executive prerogative” (that
Today Senate Republicans are moving forward on the inevitable. They will vote on a clean DHS funding bill with no immigration riders attached. With time running out they struck a deal with Democrats, which Minority Leader Harry Reid agreed to a couple hours ago. The key point here is that
It’s well known that any Republican attempt to reverse Obama’s executive action would be an uphill battle. Because any congressional response required a legislative fix, Republicans face a likely insurmountable veto, even if they managed to overcome a filibuster in the Senate. All the checks of government disadvantage Republicans’, and
Institutional power is more of an academic topic. Nonetheless, it has enormous ramifications. The current immigration debate is a great example of that. Despite the rhetoric around the DHS debate, America has never had a dictator president – the current president included. However, the DHS/immigration debate is an interesting look
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