Now in their ninth year, the Democracy Awards are the Congressional Management Foundation’s (CMF) flagship program recognizing excellence in non-legislative achievement on Capitol Hill. Founded in 1977, CMF is the premier bipartisan 501(c)(3) foundation dedicated to strengthening the First Branch by providing Members of Congress and their staff with hands-on, actionable support and essential resources that help them govern effectively, better serve constituents, and strengthen the institution. Across seven categories, these bipartisan awards honor Members of Congress and their staff for outstanding public service and contributions to strengthening the First Branch.
Each year, following an open self-nomination season, one Democratic office and one Republican office are recognized in each award category, along with four recipients of the Chief of Staff of the Year award. Applications for the 2026 season opened in late January, and throughout the spring, CMF conducted 47 interviews across 45 congressional offices from a pool of 154 applications. Winners were selected by an independent panel in May and will be honored at both a Winner’s luncheon in June and a formal ceremony in Washington, D.C. in July. Through this process, the Democracy Awards shine a light on the exceptional work taking place on Capitol Hill that too often goes unnoticed.
Award categories include:
Best of Constituent Service
- Winning this category indicates outstanding attention to detail, empathy, and persistence in solving constituent requests.
Best of Constituent Experience in D.C.
- The winners of this category will have demonstrated outstanding hospitality, responsiveness, and dedication to creating a positive and meaningful experience for constituents on Capitol Hill.
Best of Constituent Correspondence & Engagement
- A winner in this category will have demonstrated excellence in transparency, responsiveness, and fostering an ongoing and open dialogue between elected officials and the communities they serve.
Best of Innovation & Modernization
- Whether through technology, workflows, or new procedural methods, this award showcases innovation that has driven meaningful improvements, making the congressional office more responsive, efficient, and modernized in its work.
Best of Bipartisan Collaboration
- The winners of this award will have shown that meaningful progress is possible through bipartisan cooperation and a shared commitment to effective governance.
Excellence in Congressional Management
- The winning offices in this category set the standard for leadership, best management and organizational practices, professional staff development, open communication and collaboration, as well as ensuring a positive experience for staff while achieving the office’s goals.
Chief of Staff of the Year
- Recipients of this award are highly effective team leaders who successfully navigate challenges, build a strong office culture, and ensure the smooth functioning of both legislative operations and constituent services. In addition, the recipients of this award work not just in service of their office, but in service to Congress, working to improve the institution to leave it better for future Members and staff than they found it.
Participation in the Democracy Awards reflects a belief that Congress can and should be a place of public service, operational excellence, innovation, and institutional stewardship.
The Democracy Awards program grew from CMF’s longstanding commitment to recognizing excellence across Capitol Hill. Before the Democracy Awards, there were the CMF Golden Mouse Awards, honoring congressional offices whose websites and social media presence went above and beyond to further transparency, accountability, and constituent service.
Over time, it became clear Congress needed a new kind of recognition, one that celebrated not only how offices communicate, but how they operate internally, serve constituents, manage teams, and strengthen the institution itself.
With that vision in mind, the Democracy Awards were launched in 2018 with the guidance of congressional staff, scholars, and former Members of Congress.
Last year's winners include:
Best of Constituent Service
- Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT-01)
- Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA-04)
Best Constituent Experience in D.C.
- Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD-AL)
- Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA-06)
Best of Constituent Correspondence & Outreach
- Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX-11)
- Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA)
Best of Innovation & Modernization
- Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK-05)
- Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI)
Best of Bipartisan Engagement & Collaboration
- Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA-23)
- Rep. Don Davis (D-NC-01)
Excellence in Congressional Management
- Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC-09)
- Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13)
“Too many times we hear the negative stories about Congress and Capitol Hill. And that's why CMF created the Democracy Awards, so that we shine light on all the good that’s happening,” said Jen Daulby, CEO of CMF, at the 2026 Democracy Awards Nominees Reception.
The 2026 Democracy Award winners will be announced this July.
David Nevins is the publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
A golden tray sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains.
Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
In January, the New York Times asked President Donald Trump if there were any limits on his global powers.
“Yeah,” the president responded, “there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
That was eight months ago, but fortunately Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” has made ancient Greek literature newly relevant. Before that window closes, I’d like to talk about hubris.
Today, the term mostly means excessive pride or arrogance. That’s part of what the Greeks meant by it too, but the meaning was a bit richer and more specific. Hubris was an insolent or outrageous act that offended the gods, often because the transgressor was claiming abilities or authorities that solely belonged to supreme beings.
Nolan renamed and slightly modified the concept of xenia for the film, calling it “Zeus’ law.” In the director’s telling, mortals should follow the rules laid out by the gods, specifically the requirement to treat strangers with respect lest they be gods in disguise.
In a sense, hubris is the opposite, or at least the rejection, of xenia. The hubris of the suitors, and at times Odysseus himself, invites punishment by the gods and their mortal instruments.
Which brings me back to Donald Trump. His claim that there are no constraints on his personal power to dictate events on the global stage was one of the greatest expressions of hubris ever uttered by a political leader.
Trump’s claim was obviously false when he made it.
He vowed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. He’s proved powerless to make that happen. If he had divine powers to work his will, why would he have balked at implementing his tariffs so often that Wall Street adopted the “TACO trade” term for his deals? “TACO” stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
And why would Trump have made so many embarrassing concessions to China — from rescinding tariffs on Chinese goods to allowing them to buy crucial and incredibly valuable computer chips?
But Trump saw his success at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as proof of his ability to launch missiles to the same effect as Zeus’ lightning bolts. Trump believed he was the most powerful man who ever lived.
This is no exaggeration. In March, when the Iran invasion seemed successful, Trump gave a document penned by“Presidential Historian David King” to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan purporting to prove that Trump was “the most powerful person to have EVER walked this planet.” King was, in fact, a businessman and occasional caddy for legendary golfer Gary Player.
King compared Trump favorably to many of history’s most powerful, and often heinous, figures: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Many of these men thought they were the most powerful person in the world, too. And many were defeated precisely because they believed it.
At least Napoleon and Hitler had a string of truly impressive victories before they learned the folly of hubris. The limits on Trump’s power have been exposed by far less august forces than the combined might of the allies in World War II or the fearsome Russian winter.
Iran is a comparatively middling power. But the regime’s ability to absorb punishment while imposing its will on the Strait of Hormuz has proved to be a greater constraint on Trump’s power than his morality or mind. We should note that, at least rhetorically, his morality has not proved much of a constraint. He has repeatedly promised to destroy Iranian “civilization” if the regime refuses to capitulate.
But they haven’t — and won’t anytime soon — because the regime’s tolerance for pain far outstrips Trump’s. The combined fear of skyrocketing oil prices, outrage of Gulf state potentates, diminishing weapon supplies and domestic unpopularity is doing the work that international law, congressional oversight and the collective opinion of foreign policy experts can’t or won’t do.
If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.
Things might have gone better if he’d heeded that great Greek tragedian Sophocles: “For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue.”
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Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.