Daniel Wirls, University of California, Santa Cruz
Members of the House of Representatives relish their connection to their districts and their constituents. So why are they called “Congressman” or “Congresswoman” instead of “Representative”?
Very few Americans believe Congress is doing a good job. Some of them have a simple solution: Throw the bums out and institute term limits. But that creates more problems than it solves.
Historically, federal courts prioritized voting rights and legal congressional districts for upcoming elections above all other concerns. But the Supreme Court changed that in 2022.
In taxpayer-funded email messages to constituents, Republicans prefer visual elements and strategic timing, and Democrats prefer more text-heavy missives.
Proposed U.S. legislation banning TikTok and the recently revealed Canadian national security review of the app reveals the insincerity and hypocrisy of politicians.
Kevin McCarthy, the only speaker of the House to be ousted, has quit Congress. The ancient Greeks and Romans, as well as Shakespeare, understood the price of ambition like McCarthy’s: humiliation.
The conviction and incarceration of 2 former Trump aides who refused to comply with the House Jan. 6 committee’s information requests could revive a potent tool for accountability.
The problems faced by the House GOP in choosing a new speaker aren’t particular to Republicans. They’re a reflection of larger problems that have afflicted both parties in Congress.
The absence of a speaker of the House − a single individual but the linchpin in Congress − could produce a dangerous crisis in America’s constitutional democracy.
In the 1850s, a fight over the speakership took nearly two months and 133 rounds of voting. But for nearly a century, the majority party in the House has unanimously supported its leader. No longer.
Long gridlocked by fighting between the two major political parties, the US House is now split by conflict within the GOP, thanks in part to redistricting practices that boost extremism.