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Congress
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Fixing the House means more staff pay and member budget sway, panel concludes
Sep 24 2020
Its nickname has been the Fix Congress Committee, an unusually bipartisan effort by House members to make their workplace a bit more functional. On Thursday it wrapped up work by endorsing 40 more ideas — including on such politically dicey topics as Capitol Hill's spending on itself and lawmakers steering federal spending toward home.
The panel has been something of a pet project for good-government groups inside the Beltway, who engineered its creation two years ago, pelted it with ideas and prodded it toward consensus.
For these democracy reform advocates, the formula for quelling Washington gridlock and poisoned partisanship includes boosting a legislative branch that's fallen way behind in balance-of-power struggles — and that won't happen until Capitol Hill is a place where politicians and their aides actually want to work for more than a few years and have realistic hope of getting something done.
<p>That's why the recommendations from the panel, formally the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, aim to "help the legislative branch reclaim its Article One responsibilities, reform the broken budget and appropriations process and ensure the people's house has the capacity to meet the needs of those we serve," Rep. Derek Kilmer of Washington, the committee's Democratic chairman, said after the meeting.</p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>The proposals were all about the House, because two years ago the Republican-majority Senate declined to get involved in a similar self-assessment.</p><p>The recommendations by the panel, six members from each party, won't take effect until turned into a combination of leadership decisions, House rules changes or enacted legislation — meaning they will fade away unless an array of internal turf battles and partisan spats can be set aside. And, to preserve the panel's rare record of bipartisan accord, the sharpest edges of some of the more provocative proposals were sanded down to vagaries.</p><p>Nonetheless, the committee's final proposals touched on almost all the main problems <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/modernization-committee-extended-one-year" target="_self">lawmakers and experts identify as hobbling</a> Congress.</p><p>To allow a possible revival of a collaborative legislative process in which all members participate, instead of only a handful of the most powerful, the panel would revamp the House calendar to guarantee time for more committee work — and have some staffers work for both parties.</p><p>To stanch the Hill's rapid brain drain, where aides routinely turn just a few years of underpaid experience into lucrative corporate or lobbying work, the panel would increase budgets for member offices while ending staff salary caps and enhancing some health and student loan payment benefits.</p><p>Arguably most importantly, the panel would move to revamp processes for routine budgeting and the allocation of federal funds, which have been almost completely useless for more than a decade pockmarked by government shutdowns and last-minute stopgap spending deals.</p><p>Beyond switching from writing a budget blueprint every year, which no longer happens any time there's divided government, to shooting for one in every Congress, the panel made a gentle but firm proposal for reviving a limited and more publicly transparent version of so-called earmarks, essentially line items in spending bills directing federal cash to parochial pet projects. </p><p>Lawmakers who secured such provisions — which were banned more than a decade ago on the somewhat unfair grounds that they bloated the budget with "pork" — tended to vote for the spending bills on which they caught a ride, one of the main reasons why annual budget bills used to draw solid bipartisan support. Reviving them, the theory goes, would make the budget process smoother and less partisan once more, and give members more buy-in to their "power of the purse" responsibilities.</p><p>Thursday's package was adopted by voice vote, ensuring the panel's record of consensus was preserved to the end, although Republican William Timmons of South Carolina made clear he was no fan of what the panel dubbed a new "Community Focused Grant Program."</p><p>Two earlier sets of recommendations, 57 in total, were largely <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/amp/modernization-of-congress-2645461749" target="_self">embraced by the full House</a> in March but were focused on much less politicized matters — improving technology, modernizing personnel practices, streamlining antiquated bureaucracies and incubating some restoration of a bipartisan culture at the Capitol.</p><p>"You can have very divisive issues and still reach agreement if you take the time to listen and work things out," was the main lesson for Congress from the panel's work, said its top Republican, Tom Graves of Georgia.</p><p>"Our democracy is under incredible strain," added Jason Grumet of the <a data-linked-post="2638978529" href="https://thefulcrum.us/bipartisan-policy-center" target="_blank">Bipartisan Policy Center</a>, one of the think tanks and advocacy groups behind the effort. "The committee's own resilience sets an example for the rest of Congress.</p>
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Graeme Jennings/Getty Images
Rep. James Clyburn, along with other Democrats on the House subcommittee, led an investigation into election preparedness in four states.
Hill Democrats focus voting concerns on four big battlegrounds
Sep 10 2020
Congressional Democrats this week moved to focus heightened concern about election preparedness on four of the biggest battlegrounds: Texas, Florida, Georgia and Wisconsin.
The majority of a special House committee, created this spring to oversee the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic, issued a report Wednesday focusing their apprehension on the limits of mail-in voting, poll worker shortages and safety of polling places in those states — with a combined 93 electoral votes central to the campaign strategies of both President Trump and Joe Biden.
The report by the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, which no Republicans signed, urged the states to spend quickly and generously to fix the problems — something they are unlikely to be able to do without a cash infusion from Congress itself, which looks less likely every day.
<p>The GOP-run Senate, Trump administration and Democratic House have been deadlocked for two months on the size and scope of another coronavirus economic recovery package, meaning the $3.6 billion in election aid the states have been seeking (or, more likely, a small fraction if it) is not close to being delivered in time to smooth the logistics of an election that is just 54 days away and will turn on the record use of voting by mail.</p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>"The states face the risk of serious problems in the general election," the report said. "In some of these states, these risks are exacerbated by state policies restricting mail-in voting and early voting."</p><p>Last month, the panel sent letters to chief election administrators in the four states requesting information about their general election plans. </p><p>"With just two months left before the general election, states cannot simply defer to local election officials to address these problems. Instead, states should move swiftly and proactively to implement CDC recommendations and ensure a free, fair, and safe election," the subcommittee wrote, referring to a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/election-polling-locations.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">report</a> issued in June by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p><p>All four face significant shortages in poll workers, and officials have not done enough to boost recruitment, the panel found. Georgia has said it needs 20,000 people to staff precincts Nov. 3 but the state has only filled a quarter of these positions so far.</p><p>Georgia officials also decided not to send all 7 million voters an absentee ballot application, like they did for the primary. This change could lead to confusion and potential disenfranchisement, the panel concluded.</p><p>Since Florida's March presidential contest and August primaries, state officials have not done enough to address long wait times or poll worker shortages, the report found. The state also lacks a sufficient early voting period.</p><p>Texas is one of just six states, and the only one that's competitive in the presidential race, that has not relaxed its restrictive excuse rules for absentee voting in response to the risks of voting in person posed by Covid-19. Half of the state's 254 county election officials also indicated concerns about not having enough people to work the polls.</p><p>Long lines and polling location closures in Wisconsin's April primary raised concerns for how the state will conduct its elections this fall. To help with staffing shortages, state officials have requested 1,100 National Guard members to be deployed as poll workers. But the subcommittee warned this could lead to voter intimidation, "especially given the history of law enforcement suppressing the votes of people of color."</p><p>During a hearing Wednesday where the report was released, panel Chairman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, a senior member of the House leadership and one of Biden's most influential backers, urged passage of additional funding to assist state elections and the Postal Service. (Grants totalling $400 million have almost all been spent since Congress delivered that money in March.)</p><p>Conducting a "free, fair and safe election in these circumstances is a challenge, but let there be no doubt if we all do our part America is up to the challenge," Clyburn said.</p><p>He also lambasted the president for resisting the additional money on the grounds it would allow for more voting by mail, which he asserted without evidence will create so much fraud that the November results can't be trusted — the first ever such denigration of democracy's basic function by an American president</p><p>"The evidence shows Americans are more likely to get struck by lightning than to conduct voter fraud by mail," Clyburn said. </p><p>Not so, responded Steve Scalise, the GOP whip and one of Trump's most important allies at the Capitol. "We don't want a recipe for disaster where we literally would be counting ballots weeks and weeks later," he said.</p>
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jim Risch pose with interns after a July hearing. It is essential internships — even remote positions — remain available, according to Harris and Bhatia.
How to keep internships vital to a functioning Congress during Covid
Aug 28 2020
Harris, a former congressional intern and aide, is CEO of Popvox Inc., an information and resources platform for civic engagement and legislating. Bhatia is a legislative correspondent for Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and founder of the Modernization Staff Association.
<p>Remote work is changing congressional internships, and that's not all bad news. </p><p>Remote internships are expanding opportunity and bridging the traditional gulf between Capitol Hill and members' offices in their districts, although they can be tough for offices — and interns — to navigate. Several organizations are stepping up to provide resources and support to ensure that offices are able to continue their internship programs in these exceptional times.<br></p><p>A <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYPUZgwOWfQ&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">recent webinar</a> on managing successful remote internships in the era of Covid-19 — hosted by <a data-linked-post="2639015361" href="https://thefulcrum.us/college-to-congress" target="_blank">College to Congres</a>s, the <a data-linked-post="2638674385" href="https://thefulcrum.us/congressional-management-foundation" target="_blank">Congressional Management Foundation</a> and the Modernization Staff Association — featured new research on the prevalence of remote internships, and a few surprising benefits. Remote work has "leveled the playing field" for staffers in D.C. and their colleagues in the field, a study by CMF revealed, and helped make interns and full time staff in the district feel more connected to the policy work occurring in Washington.</p><p>Today's interns are tomorrow's staffers. So it is essential these positions remain available, even remotely, both for the help they provide to offices and the important opportunity for young people to learn about Congress. Last year, the House took a significant step to expand the internship pipeline by <a href="https://cha.house.gov/member-services/house-paid-internship-program" target="_blank">authorizing</a> $25,000 a year for every office to help pay interns. These stipends make it easier for students from a variety of backgrounds and economic situations to spend time on the Hill. And now the House has refined the rules to allow $10,000 annually in compensation for district office interns.</p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>During the pandemic, though, most interns are limited to remote work, a development that may actually expand opportunities for students around the country to (virtually) experience Capitol Hill. In an example that may be applicable to Congress, NPR received<a href="https://current.org/2020/08/how-to-find-a-pubmedia-job-in-a-pandemic/?wallit_nosession=1" target="_blank"> 20,000+ applications</a> for its internships this year — a tenfold increase over the year before that it attributed to the potential for remote interns to work from anywhere. As one producer <a href="https://twitter.com/brandonetc/status/1291525407171391488" target="_blank">tweeted</a>, it's "almost like our industry's reliance on NYC- and DC-based jobs is reducing our potential talent pool." </p><p>The executive director of Pay Our Interns, Carlos Mark Vera, explains: "The vast majority of internship opportunities are concentrated in five cities across the country — Washington, New York City, San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles. That puts working class youth who cannot afford to relocate at a severe disadvantage and limits their opportunities. Capitol Hill internships are no different. Remote congressional internships can level the playing field by taking relocation and housing costs out of the equation, but it is still important for offices to pay interns. While those working remotely do not have the same expenses as an in-person internship, many still have to pay bills." </p><p>Hiring and managing remote interns can be challenging, however, and some offices chose to reduce or suspend their programs this summer. "The lack of interns has increased the workload of staff, particularly the constituent services team," CMF's Bradley Sinkhaus said. "One office mentioned that interns 'are invaluable in rural districts' and offices miss having interns to mentor and train."</p><p>A significant complication is the <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44491.pdf" target="_blank">limitation</a> on access to technology for unpaid House interns. Paid interns can be provided with official devices and remote access to the office network. But unpaid interns are not allowed to access personal constituent information, like correspondence or casework, if working from home. </p><p>Offices have been getting inventive in creating substantive remote programs that benefit both the interns and the office — having interns compile press clips, write responses to form letters (that are then sent through the office system by a staffer), draft speeches, suggest social media posts, and take notes at meetings, hearings and briefings.</p><p>Several organizations collaborated on a "virtual intern project" to provide intern-specific resources. <a href="https://www.collegetocongress.org/" target="_blank">College to Congress</a>, which provides training, mentoring and financial support for Hill interns, recently announced its online curriculum C2C-U will be available for free to all congressional interns for the rest of the year. Its training modules span the gamut from the legislative process to writing constituent letters, and can help lighten the load for intern coordinators within congressional offices. "All of our online resources apply to both in-person and remote working positions," CEO Audrey Henson said of her curriculum. "One of my biggest hopes is for more offices to take advantage of this opportunity to hire from a wider range of backgrounds since remote working has eliminated some of the large, prohibitive expenses."</p><p>Also, the Modernization Staff Association has updated its <a href="https://medium.com/intern-update/capitol-hill-work-from-home-guide-5550fb9478ed" target="_blank">Capitol Hill Work From Home Guide</a> with tips for junior staffers and intern coordinators. CMF maintains <a href="https://www.congressfoundation.org/component/content/article/134" target="_blank">guidance</a> for a successful internship program. And Popvox is sharing a weekly <a href="https://medium.com/intern-update" target="_blank">newsletter</a> to keep Hill interns connected and informed — even when operating remotely.</p><p>Not surprisingly, many of the people spearheading these efforts are former interns. We know Hill internships open doors and change lives, and that Capitol Hill is better for the energy and perspective these young (and sometimes not-so-young) people bring. As Congressional offices begin to make their plans for the fall, we strongly encourage them to offer internships and to tap into available resources to make these internships a success.</p>
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The postmaster general being sworn in before he testified at a virtual Senate hearing.
Election mail will be delivered 'fully and on time,' DeJoy vows
Aug 21 2020
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy promised on Friday that the Postal Service would fulfill its "sacred duty" to deliver election mail this fall and said he was "extremely highly confident" that even mail-in ballots sent close to Election Day would be delivered on time.
In the first of his two appearances before Congress this month, the embattled postmaster sought to tamp down public outcry over cutbacks and to rebut allegations by Democrats and voting rights groups that he's collaborating with President Trump in an extraordinary effort to undermine the integrity of the election.
DeJoy, a major Trump donor who became the nation's top postal official 10 weeks ago, testified to a Republican-majority Senate committee that he is not working on behalf of the White House. And "the insinuation is quite frankly outrageous," he declared, that he is out to ruin the central exercise of American democracy with policy changes rendering impossible the timely delivery and return of an unprecedented tens of millions of absentee ballots sure to be cast because of the pandemic.
<p>"There have been no changes in any policies with regard to election mail for the 2020 election," he said during a virtual hearing of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "The Postal Service is fully capable and committed to delivering the nation's election mail fully and on time."</p><p>He also pledged at one point that USPS would treat all ballot applications and returned voter envelopes as first class mail, which has top delivery priority, even if it is marked and paid for as slower service. </p>
<p>DeJoy, a former logistics executive, also testified he has not spoken with President Trump, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin or White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about postal service changes and has not faced political pressure to reduce capacity for election mail.</p>
<p>The president has stoked concerns by deriding the Postal Service as a "joke" and repeatedly claiming without evidence that too many votes cast away from polling places will produce a fraudulent election. "The honorable thing to do is drop the Mail-In Scam before it is too late!" he tweeted last week, one of dozens such missives since the spring.</p>
<p>"The board's committed, the postal workers are committed, the union leadership is committed to having a successful election," DeJoy testified.</p><p>His recently implemented cost-cutting policies including cutbacks on overtime, reduced extra-delivery trips and removal of sorting machines and mailboxes. The changes spurred widespread anxiety about ballot delivery — especially as images went viral of truckloads of removed mailboxes, a roundup he said he did not know about in advance,</p>
<p>"When I found out about it," he said, "and looked at the excitement it was creating, I decided to stop it and we will pick it up after the election, but this is a normal process that has been around, it's been around 50 years."</p><p>A group of 90 House Democrats called on the Postal Service's board of governors in a letter Wednesday to rein in DeJoy and consider firing him if he did not reverse more cost-cutting moves than just those he said on Tuesday would be suspended until after the election. And on Friday six state attorneys general sued him and the Postal Service in federal court, alleging that changes at the USPS amounted to voting rights violations.</p><p>Adding to concerns over election readiness, the Postal Service last month warned 46 states their voters are at risk of being disenfranchised, since their deadlines for requesting and returning ballots are incompatible with mail delivery standards.</p>
<p>This notice had nothing particularly to do with the extraordinary circumstances of 2020, DeJoy said, and a similar letter is sent before every national election.</p><p>"This was not a change from anything we have done in previous years," he said. "It was just more detail and more emphasis put on it partly because of the expected rise in vote by mail and also because of the pandemic."</p><p>Asked if he supports voting by mail, DeJoy revealed that he plans to use the process to cast his ballot in North Carolina, which has no-excuse absentee voting. "I've voted by mail for a number of years," he said. "The Postal Service will deliver every ballot and process every ballot in time that it receives."</p><p>DeJoy is set to testify before the Democrat-led House Oversight and Reform Committee on Monday.</p>
<p>And on Saturday, the House is scheduled to interrupt its summer break long enough to vote on legislation that would deliver $25 billion to the USPS to address its budget troubles and also countermand many of the recent organizational changes. The Senate has no plans to vote on the measure.</p>
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