Modernizing Congress

Strengthening Article I with Policy and Oversight Capacity

March 1, 2023 | Luke Hogg

Today, Zach Graves, Executive Director of Lincoln Network, and figures from three other organizations, sent a letter to Speaker McCarthy and members of the House Republican Conference, recommending that they strengthen the legislative branch and its capacity for policymaking and oversight in the 118th Congress. The text of the letter reads: Dear Speaker McCarthy and members of

February 2, 2023 | Luke Hogg

Today, Zach Graves, Executive Director of Lincoln Network, and Matt Lira, former Special Assistant to the President for Innovation Policy, sent a letter to Speaker McCarthy, urging him to modernize the House of Representatives. The text of the letter reads: Dear Speaker McCarthy: Congratulations on your election as Speaker of the House of Representatives. As

January 10, 2023 | Dan Lips

After electing Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the House of Representatives moved to pass the House rules package for the 118th Congress. The measure shapes how the chamber will conduct its business over the next two years. Americans should be encouraged by an important change that will focus lawmakers’ attention on authorizing federal programs. Unlike the Senate,

November 29, 2022 | Zach Graves

Click here to download the full report in PDF format. Introduction At the beginning of each Congress, lawmakers in the majority have the opportunity to set priorities and implement operational and institutional reforms through the House rules package. This report is the result of many conversations with congressional experts on what we believe are ideas that can

November 15, 2022 | Zach Graves

Click here to download the full report in PDF format. About the report The start of a new Congress can be a significant opportunity for operational reform and modernization. This is particularly true for the House of Representatives, which come January will elect its Speaker and officers, and adopt new rules and protocols. This gives members, and intra-party

July 14, 2022 | Reynold Schweickhardt

Click here to download a PDF version of the paper. Despite many reforms over time, Congress has struggled to keep up with the pace of technological change and the new burdens it has brought. In particular, because of its distributed governance, legislative branch IT operations must contend with a greater number of coordination problems, inefficiencies, and vectors

June 23, 2022 | Reynold Schweickhardt

Click here to download a full PDF of the testimony. Chair Kilmer, Vice Chair Timmons, and Members of the Committee: I am pleased to appear today to testify about ways to improve the digital capacity of the House of Representatives. I will be speaking to structural issues that raise the costs of implementing digital initiatives

May 27, 2022 | Dan Lips

Click here to download a full PDF of the testimony. Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Braun, and Members of the Subcommittee: My name is Dan Lips. I am head of policy at Lincoln Network. I respectfully urge the subcommittee to fully fund the Comptroller General’s budget request of $810 million for the U.S. Government Accountability Office

Can the Senate See the Future?

May 6, 2022 | Lars Schönander

U.S. Senate committees have various responsibilities. They evaluate nominees for executive branch positions, conduct oversight, and review legislation. Committees use hearings as a primary tool to find facts, analyze policy issues, and inform legislative and oversight actions. But a review of Senate-hearing witness-testimony data raises questions about lawmakers’ ability to anticipate national issues before they

April 4, 2022 | Dan Lips

The 117th Congress may be remembered as a time of intense polarization. But the leaders of a bipartisan House committee have been operating below the national political radar to improve how Congress works. Their latest effort has the potential to deliver substantial taxpayer savings. Formed in 2019, the House Select Committee on the Modernization of

February 11, 2022 | Geoff Cain

At one time, the chipset cemented America’s position as a preeminent technological power. From the 1950s to 1970s, the US government and semiconductor companies like Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel worked together to turn America into the world’s biggest manufacturer of semiconductors. Semiconductors were the technological foundation of the Apollo missions, the first heat-seeking missiles and

January 21, 2022 | Dan Lips

Empowering members to engage in bipartisan fact-finding has the potential to reinvigorate Congress’s oversight authority under the Constitution Summary Since 2019, the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress has developed a successful track record of passing bipartisan recommendations that are resulting in real changes to improve the way that Congress works. An October

December 8, 2021 | Dan Lips

The House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress is building a track record of bipartisan success with nearly two-thirds of its recommendations from the 116th Congress being enacted to date. On Wednesday, the Select Committee passed its latest series of recommendations–including several proposals that would reform the way that Congress works with the Government

November 16, 2021 | Dan Lips

But Congress’s watchdog has the potential to do more to make government work better The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its annual Performance and Accountability report this week. The Comptroller General reported that the Congressional Watchdog agency’s work resulted in “about $66.2 billion in financial benefits—a return of about $93 for every dollar invested in

October 6, 2021 | Reynold Schweickhardt

Click here to download a PDF version of the paper. In 2021, the political parties on Capitol Hill have found little common ground. Yet they do agree on at least one key point: Congress needs to work better. Few congressional responsibilities are more vital than lawmakers’ interactions with their constituents. Constituents provide significant input in

September 29, 2021 | Dan Lips

The Hassan-Ernst bill would rescind $1.5 billion from a fund Congress terminated decades ago While Congress is focused on the debt limit and trillion-dollar spending packages, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) continues to highlight opportunities for lawmakers and federal agencies to save “tens of billions” implementing the nonpartisan watchdog’s recommendations for reforming the government. And

September 29, 2021 | Zach Graves

Written Testimony of Zach Graves Before the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress Click here to download the full PDF with footnotes. Note: The original date for this hearing was postponed and is currently expected to be rescheduled in the coming weeks. Chair Kilmer, Vice Chair Timmons, and members of the Committee: Thank you

August 3, 2021 | Dan Lips

The House of Representatives passed the Legislative Branch funding bill last week–increasing funding for Congress, the Capitol Police, and related agencies by nearly 14 percent over last year’s budget. For fiscal conservatives concerned about the ballooning federal debt, this is one area of the budget where we should be cheering for more funding than less.

July 22, 2021 | Zach Graves

Click here to view a PDF of the letter. Hon. Richard Shelby, Vice ChairU.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations Hon. Mike Braun, Ranking MemberSubcommittee on the Legislative BranchU.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations Re: Strengthening Article I with Policy and Oversight Capacity Dear Vice Chair Shelby and Ranking Member Braun, We the undersigned right-of-center organizations and individuals

June 24, 2021 | Zach Graves

Today at noon the House Appropriations Committee’s Legislative Branch Subcommittee will mark up its funding bill for fiscal year 2022. This legislation constitutes a big leap towards addressing the devastating decline Members of Congress have inflicted upon the Legislative Branch over the past quarter century, including a nearly 40 percent staffing reduction at committees and

May 17, 2021 | Zach Graves

Click here to download a PDF of the letter 30 organizations and 11 congressional experts sent a bipartisan letter to House appropriators today calling to restore funding levels for congressional personal office and committee staff, amounting to double-digit percentage increases. The bipartisan letter was organized by the progressive organization Demand Progress and the conservative organization Lincoln

May 13, 2021 | Dan Lips

Click here to download a PDF of the letter Chairman Ryan, Ranking Member Herrera Beutler, and Members of the Subcommittee: My name is Dan Lips. I am the Director of National Security and Government Oversight with the Lincoln Network. I respectfully urge the subcommittee to fully fund the Comptroller General’s FY2020 budget request of $744.3

April 15, 2021 | Zach Graves

This post was co-authored by Zach Graves and Dan Lips. The FY2022 appropriations process is underway. While it represents a small fraction of overall spending, one of the most important challenges on Congress’s agenda is meeting the funding needs for the Legislative Branch, and providing resources for key support agencies like the Government Accountability Office

March 29, 2021 | Dan Lips

President Joe Biden’s announcement that he is open to reforming the Senate’s filibuster has energized calls from progressives to eliminate the Senate minority’s most powerful procedural tactic to block legislation or force compromise. But in his new memoir, Getting to the Heart of the Matter: My 36 Years in the Senate, former Michigan Senator Carl Levin

March 26, 2021 | Zach Graves

Click here to download a PDF of the letter Chairman Kilmer, Vice Chairman Timmons, and esteemed members of the Committee: Thank you for the opportunity to testify. My organization, Lincoln Network, works to bridge the gap between Silicon Valley and DC. This work entails building up and future-proofing our institutions with the capacity they need

March 19, 2021 | Dan Lips

Days before Congress passed the $1.9 trillion emergency spending package, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office issued a grim snapshot of the nation’s fiscal condition. CBO warned that the “growing debt burden could increase the risk of a fiscal crisis and higher inflation as well as undermine confidence in the U.S. dollar, making it more costly to finance public and private

February 26, 2021 | Zach Graves

Dear Honorable Majority Leader Schumer, Honorable Minority Leader McConnell, Honorable Chairwoman Klobuchar, and Honorable Ranking Member Blunt: The COVID-19 pandemic, growing economic hardship for many American families, a national reckoning over racial injustice, and the January 6 siege of the Capitol have strained our democracy, underscoring the need for a strong, well-prepared Congress. While democratic

February 17, 2021 | Zach Graves

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Schumer, House Republican Leader McCarthy, and Senate Republican Leader McConnell: We write in firm opposition to the proposed enclosure of the U.S. Capitol with permanent security fencing. The Capitol and surrounding buildings must remain open to all engaged in the business of our democracy. Congress should be the shining

February 8, 2021 | Zach Graves

Click here to download a PDF of the letter Dear Chair DeLauro, Chair Leahy, Ranking Member Granger, and Vice-Chair Shelby: On behalf of the undersigned individuals, civil society organizations, and industry groups, we urge you to increase the share of discretionary funding available for the Legislative branch both to address the historically diminished resources available

February 8, 2021 | Dan Lips

Click here to download a PDF of the letter Dear Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, and Leader McCarthy: On behalf of the undersigned organizations, members of the Power of the Purse Coalition, we write requesting your support for advancing a number of initiatives in the 117th Congress to strengthen the legislative branch’s constitutional authority

January 28, 2021 | Zach Graves

The shuttering of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) in 1996, along with contemporaneous cuts to Congress’s policy capacity, created a deep institutional gap in the formation of science and technology (S&T) policy in the United States. A quarter century later, in the wake of a middling response to the COVID-19 pandemic, eroding military superiority,

Why GAO is Congress’s Best Investment

December 7, 2020 | Dan Lips

A new report examines the Congressional watchdog’s return-on-investment Facing a December 11 deadline to fund the federal government, Congress must finalize its annual spending bills or punt those negotiations into the new year. As lawmakers negotiate on Capitol Hill, taxpayers should keep an eye on one small line item in the federal budget. Last year,

October 23, 2020 | Dan Lips

GAO’s Work Has Yielded $1.1 Trillion in Taxpayer Savings Since 1999. But Congress Can Do More to Leverage Them. The United States faces growing governance and fiscal challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic is exposing the federal government’s limited ability to manage a national crisis. The Congressional Budget Office warns that the national debt will eclipse GDP

September 28, 2020 | Dan Lips

As the November election fast approaches, the 116th Congress is coming to an end. Big changes may soon occur on Capitol Hill including a potential Democratic takeover of the Senate. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are now speculating about ways to strengthen the upper chamber. Democrats Considering Ending the Legislative Filibuster Prominent Democrats,

August 7, 2020 | Zach Graves

Click here to download a PDF of the letter. The Honorable Richard Shelby Chair, Committee on Appropriations United States Senate The Honorable Patrick Leahy Ranking Member, Committee on Appropriations United States Senate Dear Chairman Shelby and Ranking Member Leahy: We write to respectfully request that video of Senate Appropriations Committee legislative mark-ups be broadcast online

July 31, 2020 | Zach Graves

Click here to download a PDF of the letter. The Honorable Tim Ryan H-306, The Capitol Washington, DC 20515 The Honorable Jamie Herrera Beutler 2352 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Dear Chairman Ryan, Ranking Member Herrera Beutler, and Members of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Committee: We write in deep appreciation of your efforts to

July 17, 2020 | Zach Graves

Click here to download a PDF of the letter. Hon. Zoe Lofgren, Chair Hon. Rodney Davis, Ranking Member Committee on House Administration Committee on House Administration U.S. House of Representatives U.S. House of Representatives Re: Hearing Entitled “Exploring the Feasibility and Security of Technology to Conduct Remote Voting in the House” Dear Chair Lofgren, Ranking

Rebuilding Congress’ Policy Capacity

July 11, 2020 | Zach Graves

Click here to read the full article discussing efforts to modernize Congress. Earlier this month, the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress held a hearing on improving staffing capacity and policy expertise in Congress. A major theme of this discussion was the historical loss of congressional staff capacity, and how to address it. To reverse this

June 22, 2020 | Zach Graves

40+ Organizations Ask Appropriators to Shift Funding from the Executive Branch to the Legislative Branch The following letter can be downloaded here The Honorable Nita Lowy Chair Committee on AppropriationsUnited States House of Representatives The Honorable Richard ShelbyChair Committee on Appropriations United States Senate The Honorable Kay Granger Ranking Member Committee on AppropriationsUnited States House

June 10, 2020 | Zach Graves

The following letter can be downloaded here June 10, 2020 The Honorable James E. Risch U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee United States Senate 423 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-6225 Re: Committee Proceedings Should Be Open and Transparent Dear Chairman Risch: We, the undersigned transparency and accountability organizations, write to express our deep concerns regarding a