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Surveying the Post-Election Landscape

A CNP Conversation with Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein

November 14, 2006

How will the mid-terms affect the institution of the Congress? CNP hosted noted Congressional scholars Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution and Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute to discuss the shifting landscape on Capitol Hill.

The authors of The Broken Branch argued that the culture of corruption has pervaded Congress, and the new Congress will need to construct the necessary rules and oversight packages to restore its integrity. The challenge for the majority party, they cautioned, will be to convince its members that now is a period for tough love rather than partisan revenge. For Mann and Ornstein, three ingredients in particular will be critical to advance the goal of good governance:

• Divided government: This was the first big forward step brought about by the mid-term elections, they argue, and creates a built in political incentive for Congressional oversight of the Executive branch.
• Appropriations reform: The power of the Congress is the power of the purse. In the past, Congress used the appropriations process as a means to regularly assess and exercise oversight over Executive branch spending and programs. Mann and Ornstein believe Congress must return to this regular practice, as well as reform the practice of budget earmarking. If performed well, the appropriations process can help prevent the kind of system failure exemplified by the Department of Homeland Security’s inability to respond to the type of humanitarian crises we saw after Hurricane Katrina.
• Reauthorization reform: A lack of debate and deliberation of policy has been the norm in Congress in recent years. The creation of rules and incentives to ensure government programs receive proper consideration and scrutiny before they are authorized and/or re-authorized is an essential component of the creation of good public policy.

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