Understanding Congress

The topic of this episode is, “Does Congress still suffer from Demosclerosis?" My guest is Jonathan Rauch , the author of the classic book, Demosclerosis: The Silent Killer of American Government (Times Books, 1994). Jonathan is a fellow at the Brookings Institution, and the author of numerous books, including The Constitution of Knowledge (Brookings Institution Press, 2021), and Kindly Inquisitor...

The topic of this episode is, "what is Congress' role in a contingent presidential election?" Two centuries ago, America had a contingent presidential election. No candidate got a majority of votes, and thus it fell to Congress to decide who got to be president. Might the United States have another contingent election? Certainly it is possible. Four of the past six presidential elections have been...

This topic of this special episode of the Understanding Congress podcast is a recent book by a former Hill staffer. It is titled Fire Alarm: The Investigation of the U.S. House Select Committee on Benghazi (Lexington Books, 2023) The author is Bradley F. Podliska is an Assistant Professor of Military and Security Studies at the U.S. Air Force Air Command and Staff College in Montgomery, Alabama. B...

The topic of this episode is “Why is Congress struggling to manage the nation’s finances?” My guest is Representative David Schweikert of Arizona. He was first elected to Congress in 2011. Prior to that, he was a businessman, served in Arizona’s state legislature, and as Maricopa County Treasurer. He is a Republican and holds a seat on the Ways and Means Committee, which writes tax policy. David a...

The topic of this episode is, “What is legislative effectiveness?” We voters often say that we want our senators and members of Congress to do things, and preferably, the right things. We tend to dislike it when we see people on Capitol Hill who are all talk and no action. And in theory, we should vote out of office those lawmakers who are ineffective. Let me have a caveat here. To be sure, there...

The topic of this episode is, What is the State of the Union Address, and Why Does Congress Host It? Once per year, the President of the United States comes to the U.S. Capitol to deliver a speech known as the State of the Union Address. Usually this happens in late January or early February, but it has occurred as late as March 1 . Both members of the House of Representatives and Senators assembl...

The topic of this episode is, “What is congressional capacity, and why does it matter?” As regular listeners know, almost inevitably I have a guest on my show. But this episode, you get just me. The reason is simple: I have been working on congressional capacity for years, and I would like to share my thoughts and hear your feedback. Kevin Kosar: Welcome to Understanding Congress , a podcast about...

The topic of this episode is, “Delegates to the House of Representatives: who are they and what do they do?” My guest is Elliot Mamet . He is a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Lecturer at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Previously, he served as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow. Elliot holds a Ph. D. in Political Science from Duke Universi...

The topic of this episode is, “How is Congress involved in foreign policy?” My guest is Jordan Tama , a Provost Associate Professor at American University’s School of International Service. He is the author or editor of five books on foreign policy. They are: · Polarization and US Foreign Policy: When Politics Crosses the Water’s Edge , co-edited with Gordon M. Friedrichs (Palgrave Macmillan, Fort...

The topic of this episode is, “Can Congress access classified information?” My guest is Daniel Schuman . He is the Policy Director at Demand Progress, a grassroots, nonpartisan organization that has worked to improve the legislative branch and to make government more transparent to the public. Daniel also is the editor of the First Branch Forecast , an extraordinarily informative newsletter that y...

The topic of this episode is, “What does the U.S. Government Accountability Office do?” To answer that question we have Gene Dodaro . He is the eighth Comptroller General of the United States—that means he is the head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). He has held that position since December 2010. Prior to becoming the top dog at this government watchdog agency, Gene held other e...

The topic of this episode is, “What is the Congressional Research Service, and what does it do?” The guest of this show is me, Kevin Kosar .  I spent a little over a decade at the Congressional Research Service (CRS) working as a non-partisan analyst and as an acting section research manager. Subsequent to my time at the agency, I was one of the individuals who advocated that Congress make CR...

The topic of this episode is, “Does the Senate still work?” To answer that question, we have Martin Gold , a partner with Capital Council, LLC, a government relations firm in Washington, DC. Marty spent many years in the US Senate working for individual senators, committees, and a majority leader. He also is the author of the book, Senate Procedure and Practice (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018), whic...

The topic of this episode is, “Why is congressional oversight important, and how can it be done well?” To help us tackle this subject we have Elise Bean . She is the Director of the Washington Office of Wayne State University’s Levin Center. Elise spent 30 years in Congress working as an investigator for Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and for the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Elise hand...

The topic of this episode is: “What are the job descriptions of representatives and Senators?” To answer that question, we have Dr. Casey Burgat . He's the director of the Legislative Affairs program at the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University. Dr. Burgat also has had stints at the Congressional Research Service, and he worked with me back when I was at the R Str...

The topic of this episode is: "What is the congressional debt limit?" To answer that question we are once again speaking with Philip Wallach. He was the very first guest on this podcast, where we pondered why we need a Congress . Phil is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and the author of the book, Why Congress , which was published by Oxford University Press in 2023. Phil also...

The topic of this episode is, “What do congressional committees do?” My guest is Dr. Maya Kornberg. She is a political scientist in the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center. Dr. Kornberg leads the center’s work related to information and disinformation in politics, Congress, and money in politics. Maya also is the author of Inside Congressional Committees: Function and Dysfunctio...

The topic of this episode is: “Partisan polarization: Is it crippling Congress?” My guest is  Frances Lee . She is a professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University and a top scholar on Congress. She is the author and co-author of many articles and books on Congress, and has written for popular publications including the  Atlantic  magazine and the  New York Ti...

The topic of this episode is, “What are the Duties of the Speaker of the House of Representatives?” My guest is Paul Ryan . Paul Ryan was the 54th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. In office from October 2015 to January 2019, he was the youngest Speaker in nearly 150 years. Prior to becoming Speaker of the House, Paul served as the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He als...

The subject of this episode is, “Are elections fueling polarization in the House of Representatives?” Polarization in Congress is a well-documented fact of life. This is particularly true on high salience issues, such as immigration and abortion. Yet the tendency of legislators to reflexively oppose policy ideas offered by the other party has bled into other, more prosaic issues. For example, in l...

The topic of this episode is, “Are members of the House of Representatives legislating in the dark?” My guest is James Curry . He's an Associate Professor and the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Political Science at the University of Utah. Professor Curry studies how contemporary legislative processes and institutions affect legislative politics, with a particular focus on the ro...

The topic of this episode is, “Who was the meanest man in Congress?” My guest is Timothy J. McNulty , who taught journalism at Northwestern University and spent more than thirty years at the Chicago Tribune . During his years as a journalist, Tim was a national and foreign correspondent, and also an editor. He logged untold hours paying attention to Congress and its many characters. And importantl...

The topic of this episode is, “What role should Congress have in foreign affairs?” My guest is Alissa Ardito, the author of the book Machiavelli and the Modern State: The Prince, the Discourses on Livy, and the Extended Territorial Republic (Cambridge University Press, 2015). She has had a rich and varied career in governance, and she has thought deeply about legislatures and policymaking. Dr. Ard...

The subject of this episode is, “What are the goals of congressional budgeting?” My guest is Paul Winfree . He is a distinguished fellow in economic policy and public leadership at the Heritage Foundation. Importantly for today’s discussion, Paul has a great deal of knowledge about congressional budgeting. He has had stints both in the White House and in the Senate, where he worked on budgeting fi...

The subject of this episode is, “What is a conference committee and why are they so rare today?” My guest is Josh Ryan . He is an associate professor of political science at Utah State University. Josh studies Congress, the president, state legislatures and executives, as well as electoral institutions. Importantly for the purpose of this episode of Understanding Congress , Josh is the author of t...