Congress and the Executive III: NAIL

 LARP v IRL

• Compressed time
• No dilatory tactics
• No press, public, staff, House, or SCOTUS
• Limited role of POTUS (see below)
• Inherent limitations of simulation
• But role-play is still powerful

NAIL: Nominations, Appropriations, Investigations, Legislation

Nominations 

• Extent of confirmation power (about 1200 jobs)
• Schedule F?
• Nominations: Senate data
• Cabinet nominations rejected or withdrawn
• Pending:  Julie Su
• Hearings:  Whitehouse and White; DeVos

Appropriations

• Limitation riders and the case of ACA

Investigation and Oversight 

• GAO 
• CBO
• CRS
• Diminished institutional capacity

• Congress has fewer committee staff and nonpartisan wonks to help it than it did in 1990.
  
  Source: https://t.co/MK5SK2rZSM pic.twitter.com/5l9dNU8mu0

  — Kevin R Kosar (@kevinrkosar) March 13, 2024

• The role of the press -- featuring an alum of this course!!

Legislation:  Executive Branch Organization and Laws on Reporting 

• Inspectors General  (Trump firings)
• Reporting requirements
• The old legislative veto and the Congressional Review Act.  (A rare example of one that became law)  See Davidson, p. 318
• Congress "organizes" the executive:
  --  The "organization" of DHS.
-- DNI and the intelligence community

• The definitive encyclopedia article!
• Inherent contempt
• Civil contempt 
• Criminal contempt