Paul Jenks’ commentary addresses the background of the scramble for thousands of presidentially appointed offices within the government that accompanies a new administration. The selection process has evolved over the past couple of hundred years and every position outside of the new president’s personal staff requires Senate approval.
Paul Jenks examines how the appropriations process this year has provided a multitude of interesting examples of the wide variety of tools available to Congress and the federal government for appropriating money, beyond just the ordinary appropriations bills in Congress.
Paul Jenks recounts how for the past two years he has run marathons and monitored Congress at the same time, describing how the two experiences are very similar.
Paul Jenks’ commentary highlights aspects of the Congressional appropriations process and also describes the budgeting process that is currently underway.
Paul Jenks’ discourse this month is on how the Senate has risen to its current prominence, hence his article title, descriptive of the Senate and people of the United States.
Paul Jenks describes how the committee markup is where the real work of Congress takes place. According to Paul, in the House, where floor amendments can be strictly regulated, they are the only place a member can propose a change. In some cases, the actual bill is written completely in a markup. This usually happens for appropriations bills, but is done increasingly for other really big bills.
The use of the veto and how Congress deals with it is the focus of Paul Jenks’ article this month.
This month Paul Jenks provides readers with a copy of a recent CRS report, Lobbying Law and Ethics Rules Changes in the 110th Congress.
Paul Jenks offers insights into the procedures by which Congressional earmarks are used to inject opinions and priorities, great and small, into the governing process.
Paul Jenks explains voting, a finely orchestrated legislative process that is full of arcane and ancient precedents and many mechanisms to get around the rules.