Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories
A person in a grocery store, paying with a credit card.

The U.S. Economy: Rebounding or Breaking Down?

‘It is complete chaos’: TPS recipients search for solutions after protections end under Trump

‘It is complete chaos’: TPS recipients search for solutions after protections end under Trump

What You Should Know About Russ Vought, Trump’s Shadow President

What You Should Know About Russ Vought, Trump’s Shadow President

The Life of a Showgirl Bodes Unwell for Popular Feminism

The Life of a Showgirl Bodes Unwell for Popular Feminism

Who’s Pulling Trump’s Strings? Inside Project 2025 and the 7 Think Tanks Reshaping America

Who’s Pulling Trump’s Strings? Inside Project 2025 and the 7 Think Tanks Reshaping America

Six lauded for running Capitol Hill offices that work even when Congress doesn’t

Six lauded for running Capitol Hill offices that work even when Congress doesn’t

Sen. Marco Rubio was honored for superior constituent service by the Congressional Management Foundation.

Gage Skidmore via Flickr
The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumMay 30, 2019
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
See More Writings by author

Hoping to persuade the public that not all of Congress is broken all of the time, a nonprofit that works to make Capitol Hill run more smoothly recognized six lawmakers today for operating particularly noteworthy offices.

"Americans usually only hear about Congress when something goes wrong," Congressional Management Foundation President Bradford Fitch said in announcing the bipartisan roster of awardees, who were chosen by a panel of former members and staffers. "The Democracy Awards shines a light on Congress when it does something right."

For top-notch constituent service, the winners were GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California.

Awards for fostering a humane work-life balance and opportunities for professional development went to GOP Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho and Democratic Rep. Salud Carbajal of California.

And for official websites and other public communications distinguished by informational depth and clarity, rather than public relations puffery, the winners were Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana and Democratic Rep. Mark DeSaulnier of California.

Latest news

The Quickest Way to Democratic Demise: A Permanent Emergency
Governance & Legislation

The Quickest Way to Democratic Demise: A Permanent Emergency

A crowd protesting.
Democracy

An Open Letter to Speaker Johnson: Real Patriots Don’t Fear Democracy

What Texans need to know about Prop 16, the ballot question on citizenship and voting
Democracy

What Texans need to know about Prop 16, the ballot question on citizenship and voting

Read More

The Real Shutdown: Congress’s Surrender of Power
white concrete dome museum
Photo by Louis Velazquez on Unsplash

The Real Shutdown: Congress’s Surrender of Power

Introduction: The Real Shutdown Inside Congress

Marjorie Taylor Greene has surprised many by questioning her party’s shutdown strategy, making her seem more pragmatic than GOP leaders. On this issue, she is right: the federal government is dark, and the clock is running down. Whether or not this becomes the longest shutdown in U.S. history, the damage is already done.

Earlier shutdowns—Clinton’s fight with Gingrich in 1995, Obama’s battle with House Republicans in 2013, Trump’s 2018 border wall standoff—were disruptive but contained. Agencies furloughed workers, parks closed, markets wobbled, and then the government reopened, usually with a compromise. What makes this shutdown different is what’s at stake: not just funding, but Congress’s very capacity to function as a coequal branch of government.

Keep ReadingShow less
Despite infighting, Democrats can still unite around one common goal

President Donald Trump is a unifying issue for Democrats and Republicans. Above, he speaks during a meeting with President of Argentina Javier Milei in the Cabinet Room at the White House on Oct. 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C.

(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/TNS)

Despite infighting, Democrats can still unite around one common goal

The only thing the parties can agree on is that Donald Trump is the central issue of our time.

Let’s start with a recent headline: “It’s 2025, and Democrats Are Still Running Against Trump.”

Keep ReadingShow less
‘Inhumane’: Immigration enforcement targets noncriminal immigrants from all walks of life

Madison Pestana hugs a pillow wrapped in one of her husband’s shirts. Juan Pestana was detained in May over an expired visa, despite having a pending green card application. He is one of many noncriminals who have been ensnared in the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations.

(Photo by Lorenzo Gomez/News21)

‘Inhumane’: Immigration enforcement targets noncriminal immigrants from all walks of life

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When Juan and Madison Pestana went on their first date in 2023, Juan vowed to always keep a bouquet of fresh flowers on the kitchen table. For nearly two years, he did exactly that.

Their love story was a whirlwind: She was an introverted medical student who grew up in Wendell, North Carolina, and he was a charismatic construction business owner from Caracas, Venezuela.

Keep ReadingShow less
Who’s Hungry? When Accounting Rules Decide Who Eats
apples and bananas in brown cardboard box
Photo by Maria Lin Kim on Unsplash

Who’s Hungry? When Accounting Rules Decide Who Eats

With the government shutdown still in place, a fight over the future of food assistance is unfolding in Washington, D.C.

As part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, Congress approved sweeping changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, affecting about 42 million Americans per month.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2025