As the news comes in that David Weprin will be running on the Democratic ticket in a special election to replace Anthony Weiner as Representative for New York’s 9th District, the most common question seems to be, “Who is David Weprin?” The following are a few answers to that question: 1. Not a Novice. Although [...]

The Library of Congress has just rolled out a list of the 100 most active legislators in the history of the U.S. Congress, measured by bills introduced. The Top 100 list is filled with stellar names from history that you should recognize, from Claude Pepper of the House to Jesse Helms of the Senate (apparently [...]

Section 1034 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 gives the President of the United States perpetual authority to use military force anywhere in the world that the President believes holds terrorists. Section 1034 abrogates Congress’ constitutional authority and duty under Article I Section 8 of the United States Constitution to declare war. In [...]

In the first month and a half of the 112th Congress, 187 Congressional Member Organizations — more familiarly known as “caucuses” — have registered with the Committee on House Administration in keeping with the rules of the House of Representatives. Caucuses bring together members of Congress who are focused on a subject, be it broad [...]

How can you speak truth to power if you don’t know where to call? Nearly three weeks into the 112th Congress, the following members of the U.S. House and Senate still have not gotten around to sharing a local phone number so that constituents can call the district office from home when they have a [...]

In the U.S. House of Representatives, one of the primary means by which a member of Congress can demonstrate an interest in an issue, besides the writing or supporting of a bill — is membership in a Congressional Member Organization, also known as a CMO or less formally as a “caucus.” As the 111th Congress [...]

With the advent of unlimited independent expenditures in the Spring of 2010, corporate political groups have been unleashed to influence congressional elections as they and their undisclosed individual contributors see fit. But although individual contributors to these corporate groups remain shrouded, the activity of the corporate groups themselves is tracked on a daily basis by [...]

Rep. James Sensenbrenner voted against a bill to add federal crimes for assaults and murders on the basis of sexual orientation. Why? He claimed it was a matter of supporting free speech, that criminalizing acts based on the ideas behind them violated the First Amendment. James Sensenbrenner is also the sponsor of H.R. 1772, a [...]

The House Armed Services Committee appears to have a two year backlog in the release of committee hearing transcripts to the public. But these transcripts are not actually transcripts: they are links to WMA audio files, not text files. Furthermore, the links are dead and the audio now removed. The situation is worse than it [...]

On June 24, Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas took to the floor of the House to explain why the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution needs to be canceled so that people born in the USA can be stripped of their citizenship: There are people coming into this country who want to destroy our way [...]