It’s that time of year to recount where Congress has been naughty and nice in 2023.
Congress.gov is indicating 22 laws enacted during the course of the year, a number likely to increase slightly when you count the NDAA and whatever else was pushed through at the last minute. 2021 saw 81 bills become law. This is, of course, a terrible way to judge Congressional productivity, but it’s the end of the year and I’m tired.
Who knows how many bills were snuck into the NDAA? I’m not even sure which version to link to – although I *think* it’s this one. Congress.gov identifies 180 “related bills” incorporated into the NDAA. Notable incorporated bills include the Architect of the Capitol Appointment Act, the Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act, the Lobbyist Disclosure Improvement Act, the Sensible Classification Act, and the Defense Spending Oversight Act. There aren’t summaries up for them all, so some could overlap. From a transparency and accountability angle, this appears to be it for enacted legislation for all of 2024.
There are a bunch of good provisions in the House and Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations bills as well as CJS and FSGG, but we will see whether the FY24 appropriations bills become law. (Fingers crossed, right?)
We did see changes in the House at the start of the Congress in how it organized itself, some welcome and some less welcome. One significant accomplishment in the House Rules was the return of the House Modernization Committee as a subcommittee of the House Administration Committee. That committee remains active and is pursuing efforts to modernize the Legislative branch.
We expected the fights over leadership, and 2023 did not disappoint. We did not fully anticipate the duration of the fight over the election of the Speaker and his eventual removal. We had thought some Democrats and some Republicans might have struck a bargain to run the chamber, whether explicitly or implicitly. However, it appears that traditional Republicans preferred a coalition government with hardline Republicans. I am still hopeful that we will see more decentralization and mobile factions – we saw some of it in the ongoing fight over section 702 – but the party labels are remarkably sticky as an organizing principle.
The Senate toyed with reducing the threshold by which nominations go forward after an unprecedented blockade by Sen. Tuberville. We did see some significant movement there, especially with a resolution affecting the Senate standing rules, but ultimately pressure from fellow Republicans forced him to relent.
Just for completeness, we note the eventual expulsion of Rep. Santos, the weirdness around the ethics process, the weaponization of censure resolutions, and the gamesmanship around who can serve on committees. And then there’s Sen. Menendez. Also the authorization of an impeachment inquiry into Pres. Biden. Moving on.
We saw the firing of the Architect of the Capitol and the resignation of the CRS Director, both of whom were not fit for their jobs. Similarly, the departure of the USCP Inspector General after less than a year was a welcome development. All of these actions were taken with bipartisan support and suggest that the key overseers of the legislative branch – those in House Admin, Senate Rules, and Leg Branch Approps – are taking their responsibilities seriously. We note a spate of capably done oversight hearings on a wide range of issues. More of that, please.
Both the House and Senate are experimenting with AI, as are a number of the support agencies. This is good news and we welcome in particular the House’s flash reports on incorporating this technology into legislative processes. Similarly, we note the deployment of new eDiscovery tools and the CAO’s House Digital Services creation of a committee deconfliction tool.
The Congressional Data Task Force continues its quarterly meetings with stakeholders and the Congress held a Congressional hackathon this year, all of which have proven to be great opportunities for sharing ideas and approaches to modernizing Legislative branch technology. At the risk of dating myself, this is the energizer bunny of technology improvements.
On that point, the GPO announced this past week the launch of its congressionally mandated reports act portal, which will contain many reports required by law to be submitted by federal agencies to congress. We think this will revolutionize how congress and the public learn about agency activities.
Also, the Capitol Police, after significant prodding, have published nine IG reports on their website. Only 600+ to go. Seriously, this is a success only in that the USCP IG finally did something.
We’ve been impressed with the refreshes of the Rayburn and Longworth cafeterias, the launch of new spots for food and coffee, the new wayfinding signs throughout the House, the new wall art, and a general sense that the CAO is working to make the House of Representatives a more welcoming work environment. Keep up the good work. And we see you, CAO Coach. 🙂
There are a number of improvements included at the end of 2022 in the end of the year omnibus extravaganza that are out of scope for 2023, but please don’t think we missed significant changes in Congressional operations and funding levels. We’re hoping that that progress will be kept as we finally roll through the FY24 appropriations cycle and into FY25.
I know I’ve missed some of the good news. Send me an email and let me know what I’ve missed. Take some time off to recover and rest. January is going to be busy. And by the end of the year, there’s that debt ceiling matter to deal with. Have a happy new year.
