U.S. Government

U.S. Congress

On Topic

The 2012 election left the power structure in Congress unchanged, with the Republican party controlling the House and the Democrats, the Senate. Questions abound now about whether the 113th Congress can overcome deep ideological differences between the parties to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.

REUTERS/Yuri Gripas - A protester holds a banner behind Senator David Vitter (R-LA) (R) and Representative Ron DeSantis (R-FL) during their news conference on Capitol Hill, September 30, 2013.

Blog Post

Congress, the Affordable Care Act, and the Myth of the 'Exemption'

October 4, 2013, John Hudak

John Hudak discusses the realities of Congressional health care coverage and the ACA. He argues that the claim of the 'Congressional exemption' is false and that the Vitter Amendment has serious consequences for the federal workforce.

Recent Activity

Refine by: U.S. Politics | Politics and Elections | U.S. Economic Performance | The Presidency

  • In the News

    Today, committees have lost much of their autonomy to party leaders. As a result, investigations are often used in periods of divided government as a partisan tool to club the administration and its supporters. More often than not, committee investigations become arenas for majority party “message politics” — contests designed to score political points rather than to identify problems or to generate solutions that can garner bipartisan support. The higher the partisanship in Congress, the lower its committees seem to fall.

    May 9, 2013, Sarah A. Binder, New York Times

  • In the News

    When budget cuts hit high-profile business travelers, you can get Congress to act.

    April 30, 2013, Darrell M. West, Bloomberg

  • Interview | Moyers & Company

    Why Congress is Failing Us

    April 26, 2013, Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein

  • Interview | NPR

    As 'Devastating' as Sequester is, not 'Immediate Catastrophe'

    March 3, 2013, Thomas E. Mann

  • In the News

    [Without U.S. approval] the whole effort to make the IMF a more accountable, more legitimate institution worldwide cannot really be fulfilled.

    February 15, 2013, Domenico Lombardi, Bloomberg

  • In the News

    Don’t hold your breath [on Obama seriously tackling entitlement reform]. He has every reason to sit tight and play to his base. The American public is very much on his side.

    February 11, 2013, Ron Haskins, The Daily Beast

  • In the News

    [Obama's tone of his ’08 campaign] hasn’t worked very well, but this is the moment to go back to it, because if he doesn’t, he dooms the rest of his term to squabbling with the Republicans.

    February 11, 2013, Alice M. Rivlin, The Daily Beast

  • In the News

    [Filibustering of a presidential nominee is] just sort of emblematic of senators pushing their powers here into an area where we traditionally said that senators are willing to defer to the president.

    January 11, 2013, Sarah A. Binder, National Public Radio

  • In the News

    I suspect that in a war of wills between the parties [in Congress], an intense minority might prevail. After all, the majority typically has a full agenda on its plate and is just as likely to want to move on to other issues [giving in to the filibuster] as it is to battle it out with the minority.

    November 17, 2012, Sarah A. Binder, Washington Post

  • In the News

    What I would guess is the tea party types and other activist conservatives will heckle him [Rep. Scott DesJarlais] into leaving (Congress). He can expect a (primary) challenge.

    November 16, 2012, Thomas E. Mann, USA Today

View All Research on U.S. Congress ›Show 10 More

Featured Blog

FixGov: Making Government Work

Focused on new ideas to make government work, FixGov is a blog that identifies and aims to solve the nation’s most pressing political and governance challenges. The solutions offered here are sensible and realistic.

Past Events

Get Updates

U.S. Congress

See More Research From

See More Research From

View All Experts on U.S. Congress »