Senior Fellow
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 (undergraduate and graduate) on Congress; the Presidency; Media and Politics; and a variety of Public Policy and Process classes, 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 is the editor of GAI’s “On the Hill” newsletter. 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
CV
Media: For interviews, events, and news stories, e-mail laura.blessing@georgetown.edu
