Author Archive
Oversight
Viewpoint: Congress Desperately Needs a Contingency Plan
What will happen if lawmakers can no longer meet because of the coronavirus?
Management
Viewpoint: Voters Deserve to Know How the 2020 Candidates Would Really Govern
Presidents can’t wave a magic wand and make single-payer insurance happen.
Management
Analysis: The Real Cause of the Last Government Shutdown—and the Next One
Republican leaders have proven unable to enact any spending bills, despite controlling both houses of Congress.
Management
Rewriting the Rules of Presidential Succession
A project begun after 9/11 assumes new urgency after the 2016 election—creating a more sensible plan for what happens when a chief executive steps aside.
Management
The Show Trial of IRS Commissioner John Koskinen
The congressional resolution condemning the longtime public servant breaks with both precedent and decency.
Oversight
Is This the Worst Congress Ever?
It can’t pass a budget, can’t confirm appointments, and now it can’t even scrounge up funding to address public-health crises.
Oversight
Why Bernie Sanders Can't Govern
Hillary Clinton’s realistic attitude is the only thing that can effect change in today’s political climate.
Management
Slashing IRS Budget Carries a Heavy Price
Cutting the agency's funding will result in a serious drop in revenue due to fewer audits and less oversight—which will worsen our federal budget deficits.
Oversight
Trust Is Not Enough to Break Through Washington Gridlock
Reality check: The bigger problems aren't because individuals don't get along; they're because of larger factors in the political culture.
Oversight
Congress Returns to Doing Nothing
One major piece of unfinished business: a spending measure to keep government open after Sept. 30.
Oversight
New Firing Process Could Make Things Worse at VA
Some of the reforms Congress is weighing could give more power to miscreants over their inferiors.
Oversight
Republicans Would be Better Off Dropping the Idea That All Government Is Bad
It's not just Eric Cantor. Reformist conservatives have good ideas, but until they drop the idea that all government is bad, they'll never be realistic.
Oversight
Why We Can't Stop Talking About Filibusters
The refusal of Senate Republicans to compromise has backfired on them big time.
Oversight
Analysis: Want Effective Government? Then You Have to Pay Better
Civil servants face a brain drain if Congress persists with pay freezes, benefit cuts, and badmouthing dedicated employees.
Oversight
What If Republicans Capture the Senate?
A winning midterm would encourage the GOP's worst impulses toward obstruction, hearten the 2016 presidential field, and bottle up Obama nominees.
Oversight
Why It's So Hard for Obama to Be Tough on Russia
The president needs Putin as his ally to accomplish his most ambitious second-term goals.
Oversight
Analysis: Henry Waxman: A Relic of the Era When Congress Used to Work
With the possible exceptions of Ted Kennedy and John Dingell, no one in the past 50 years or more has had a broader impact on American society than the retiring California representative.
Oversight
Analysis: Budget Deal May Not Herald the End of Congressional Dysfunction
There are paths to more functionality in 2014, but they are long, winding, pothole-filled, and have limited access.
Oversight
Analysis: Time to Stop the Senate Filibuster Madness
Blocking qualified D.C. Circuit Court nominees is all about denying a president the right to pick judges to fill vacancies.
Management
The White House's Original Sin: A Failure of Effective Management
The Healthcare.gov debacle shows the administration doesn't know how to run the executive branch.
