There is an official budget process—and then there is the way the legislature actually funds the federal government. The two decreasingly resemble each other. kevinrkosar.substack.com/p/unorthodox...

So many political and policy fights are exactly this: debates about causation. What causes this problem? What remedy will improve matters? Etc. lawliberty.org/establishing...

"So far, it’s been crickets from Senate Republicans about preserving the upper house’s treaty-making prerogative. A little history might remind them of what they should be doing." Trump, Qatar, and the Senate’s treaty power www.understandingcongress.org/2025/10/07/t...

"The Pentagon needs sober, judicious leadership, not a drama queen who makes things jarring and fevered." www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...

Great explainer episode with @kevinrkosar.bsky.social and @pwallach.bsky.social This would make a really nice class “reading” assignment if you’re trying to work appropriations shenanigans into your syllabus. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/u...

Want me to mail you a copy of Government Project? It is a profound book that holds lessons for our times. The Wall Street Journal deemed it a politics book of the year. See kevinrkosar.substack.com/p/want-me-to...

"What is needed first is a recommitment to republicanism as legislative government. We the people should take seriously the necessity of a Congress that reflects the public will and strives earnestly to implement it." theamericanenterprise.com/you-cant-rep...

This Yuval Levin essay and its 9 figures are worth your time. "Status quo or revolution? The peculiar fiscal footprint of the Trump administration" www.understandingcongress.org/2025/09/30/s...

Congress's power of the purse is weakening and the Post Office is circling the drain. But there's good news... kevinrkosar.substack.com/p/the-power-...

We asked about coalition formation in Portland’s first elections under STV and an enlarged city council. That involved analyzing interest-group endorsements of candidates. Here are some PCA results. One notable finding was some business-labor cross-endorsement. www.aei.org/research-pro...

There are tables in the paper about endorsement overlap. Jaehun Lee led the charge on data collection and is top-notch about precision. I enjoyed working with him and @kevinrkosar.bsky.social. MI’s support made my collaboration possible.

The new issue is posted! What's Kilinga Bacanora? Plus: Bubbly from Italy, a Guinness family drama, the return of Zyr Vodka, and a classic turns 50 beveragesbooksandmore.substack.com/p/whats-kili...

One thing good leaders do is facilitate healthy conversations that aim to build consensus on what to do. That is not happening enough in Washington, DC these days. So many politicians are gaslighting us and trying to own issues rather than solve major problems.

I've been worried about the Postal Service for years. Right now I am really worried. Here's my new essay explaining why. The US Postal Service Is Going Broke: America’s Postal Service turned 250 years old this year. Does it have a future? theamericanenterprise.com/the-us-posta...

A new paper by Jack Santucci, Jaehun Lee, and I: Portland City Elections: Toward Two Parties, More, or None? www.aei.org/research-pro...

"Hundreds of federal employees who lost their jobs in Elon Musk’s cost-cutting blitz are being asked to return to work. The General Services Administration has given the employees.. until the end of the week to accept or decline reinstatement" apnews.com/article/doge...

New piece by Jay Cost. Gallatin was booted from the Senate because he was deemed to have failed the duration of citizenship requirement. He could have grown hateful at America. Instead he responded by getting into the House & the cabinet. What a guy! www.understandingcongress.org/2025/09/22/i...

Explainer from @kevinrkosar.bsky.social on the pocket rescission ploy.

😂 "Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), quickly attacked the Democrats who did not vote on the Kirk measure. 22 Democrats skipped that vote. But 4 Republicans also failed to stick around for that roll call - including Mr. Collins of Georgia!" jamiedupree.substack.com/p/finger-poi...

Yes, it is called stenography. “A reporter who publishes only what the government ‘authorizes’ is doing something other than reporting" www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

My latest for the Examiner, wherein I write about the pocket rescission, which is of dubious legality. www.understandingcongress.org/2025/09/19/t...

Who at the DOJ thought this was a smart move? "DOJ quietly removes study showing right wing attacks ‘outpace’ those by left" thehill.com/homenews/adm...

“When one party controls the Senate, the House and the White House, there’s a tendency to rally around the president and to do what the president wants,” said David Walker.... “But somebody’s got to be able to be the independent referee...” www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

Why am I not shocked. "The family of the late Rep. Alcee Hastings (d. 2021) was disbursed thousands in remaining campaign funds, according to the filings." www.notus.org/congress/dea...

"For the vast majority of Americans, voting is easy because we have made it so.... Americans have high trust in local election officials, and their support for voting absentee or by mail reflects that confidence." www.aei.org/articles/vot...

Was James Madison the First Majority Leader? Jay Cost and I discuss this nerdy topic in the latest episode of the Understanding Congress podcast. www.understandingcongress.org/podcast/was-...

My review of Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia & Finally Finding Home’ by Stephen Starring Grant Glynnis: USPS is a "broke-dick chickenshit outfit run by a bunch of peckerwood know-it-alls that would not know how to find their asses" freebeacon.com/culture/hes-...

"On a recent podcast, Tucker Carlson praised feudalism as 'so much better than what we have now' ... This romantic view of medieval hierarchy ignores a brutal reality: For most people, feudalism meant grinding poverty, disease, and early death." thedispatch.com/article/peas...

Certainly, this fellow is more interested in politics and governance than the average voter. But...

Good essay by Prof. R. Shep Melnick. lawliberty.org/forum/politi...

Senate appropriators reject House cuts to congressional funding for Capitol Hill operations www.understandingcongress.org/2025/08/22/s...

“IRS has identified areas where staffing reductions created a potential gap in mission critical expertise,” the agency’s acting human capital officer and acting deputy human capital officer said in an email" www.govexec.com/workforce/20...

"Adding more seats in the House of Representatives, however, would have positive effects: districts would shrink, more communities would have direct representation, and the opportunities for gerrymandering would decrease." www.understandingcongress.org/2025/08/12/c...

"In 1788 Patrick Henry, the leader of the Anti-Federalists in the Virginia House of Delegates, sought to prevent James Madison from being elected to the First Congress. He had Madison’s Fifth District... drawn to..." www.understandingcongress.org/2025/08/12/c...

“There’s a kind of unwritten agreement; it’s one thing to have large ships firing missiles into foreign territory or bombs dropping from the sky, but it’s far another thing when you’re talking about putting US soldiers physically into another country" www.understandingcongress.org/podcast/does...

"If we do not believe in reasoning together, there is no need for Congress to mount a comeback as an institution." -Philip Wallach www.understandingcongress.org/2025/08/04/c...

"Americans can be forgiven for thinking Congress has become about as useful as a human appendix—prone to inflammation and perhaps best removed entirely." -Philip Wallach www.understandingcongress.org/2025/08/04/c...

I named her Crowlista Flockhart.

You will be missed, Dan Balz. Congrats, @ktumulty.bsky.social ! www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

The new issue of Beverages, Books, and More is posted. Special and belated thanks to @daveweigel.bsky.social for his book, The Show That Never Ends, which was a delight I highlighted in the newsletter. beveragesbooksandmore.substack.com/p/summer-rea... Enjoy!

“The wages of nonsupervisory workers—roughly the bottom 80 percent of workers by pay, including manufacturing workers and service-sector workers who are not managers—have grown by around 60 percent over the past two generations." lawliberty.org/book-review/...

Here's my latest piece for the Washington Examiner. This is a very weird year in budgeting and things may go off the rails entirely. www.understandingcongress.org/2025/07/26/c...

“The problem is less that the world is malign than that it’s complicated. The world we’ve built for ourselves is complex to the point of being paralyzing. Then we wonder why people feel hopeless and angry.” Stephen Starring Grant, Mailman amzn.to/419RVhu

👀"the House Appropriations Committee made some unusual news. Working on a government funding bill, the panel voted to require the Kennedy Center to name its opera house after First Lady Melania Trump - if the Kennedy Center wants federal funding." jamiedupree.substack.com/p/house-gop-...

The Epstein discharge petition situation led Speaker Johnson to shutter the House before the scheduled spring break. Speaking of which, why does Congress recess in the summer? Jay Cost explains. www.understandingcongress.org/2025/07/23/c...

“What are the qualities that make a good legislator?” Was Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) being a good legislator when he objected to the results of the 2020 presidential election because some of his constituents thought the race had been stolen? open.substack.com/pub/kevinrko...

RE: Senate FY2026 leg branch bill: "It would keep the GAO steady at $811.9 million for the coming fiscal year, unlike the bill backed by House Republican appropriators last month, which would slash funding for the nonpartisan watchdog nearly in half." rollcall.com/2025/07/10/a...

Quite the week for MAGA. The Trump Admin says there is no Epstein list and he croaked himself, and declares that it it supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia by sending more arms.

Was the passage of OBBBA expeditious? Certainly – when compared to the past few presidencies. Only 165 days separated Trump’s second inauguration on January 20th and the signature into law of one of his major legislative priorities. www.understandingcongress.org/2025/07/15/t...

A resource-allocation decision. "Her online rise isn’t incidental. DeLauro has a team of three chronically online staffers in their 20s who are eager to pitch her fresh ideas that could showcase her work in Congress..." www.notus.org/democrats/ro...