Career Paths to Congress
Chaplains in the U.S. Congress
House Ethics Process
House/Senate Differences
Lame Duck Congress: Attendance and Voting
Members of Congress: A Job Description
Members of Congress: Who Do They Represent?
Oath of Office for Members of Congress
Pledge of Allegiance: Standing for the Pledge
Pledge of Allegiance: Use in Congress
Qualifications to Run for Congress
Senate: 50-50 Split?
Senate Majority Leader: A Job Description
Sessions of Congress: Lengths
Size of House and Senate
Speaker of the House: a Job Description
First Congress
GOP: Origins of Term
Ideology: Left or Right
Lame Duck Congress: Definition
Party Animals: the Donkey and the Elephant
Statue of Freedom
U.S. Citizenship Test
Changing a Law
Conference Committees: In Decline
Conference Committees: Procedures
“Deem and Pass” Procedure
Executive Orders
Holds in the Senate
How to Find Basic Legislative Information
How to Keep Up With Congress
Types of Legislation
Ilona's Blog
March 2021
Talking Filibuster Fallacies by Ilona Nickels
The current raging debate over the need to reform or get rid of the filibuster lacks clarity. Three truths need to be acknowledged if anyone seeks to understand the issue rather than to grandstand it.
First, both parties have consistently used the filibuster over the years when it suited them. No one has a lock on using or abusing the filibuster. You could create an OED-size tome of hypocrisy by aggregating all the speeches defending the filibuster by Senators who now proclaim it to be an impediment to conducting the people's business.
Second, the majority party in the Senate will at some point become the minority party. It is inevitable.
November 2020
Defending the Electoral College by Ilona Nickels
The Electoral College exists to prevent one region of the country from dominating national election outcomes due to simply having more residents than any other state.
California should pick our President, saving the rest of the states a lot of bother. Would anyone agree with that statement? Yet, that would be the result if the voices wanting to abolish the Electoral College were to prevail.
The most recent instance of a presidential election decided by the Electoral College vote, and not the popular vote, was Trump v. Clinton in 2016.
October 2020
Bipartisanship: RX for Progress by Ilona Nickels
We have to see compromise as a necessary part of governing,
and not always as a selling out of one's principles.
Washington's favorite buzz word is "bipartisanship." Everyone thinks they know what it means, but all don't have the same meaning in mind when they use the word. Bipartisanship implies cooperation in policy-making among two parties that see things from different perspectives. It implies rising above the usual party divide to seek an outcome that serves the national interest.
On the other hand, it does not imply surrendering all principles just in order to get a deal.
September 2020
Citizen Influence on Congress by Ilona Nickels
It's said that Washington is swamped with lobbyists. It is.
So where does that leave the average citizen? With the advantage.
Cynicism about Congress is understandable. It also leads to a dangerous passivity. Congress doesn't legislate in a vacuum. It is a representative institution and it really does reflect the cascade of voices bombarding it. Individual citizens must be part of the noise or risk being overlooked as decisions that affect their livelihoods and industries are made.
People often ask: Why can't Congress just get its act together and get something done?