We at OpenCongress.org been (reasonably, I would argue) so engrossed in the debate over health care reform and unemployment benefits here at OpenCongress that we've done a poor job of keeping you up to date on the U.S. Federal budget. I've mentioned it a few times in the...

A few weeks ago I wrote about the wonderful work a community of OpenCongress users is doing to research information about pending unemployment legislation. These users had banded together in the comment threads for these bills, and were organizing calls...

The House today is set to vote on an extension of unemployment benefits. The comment threads on bills related to the issue have long been a valuable resource for people seeking information on unemployment benefits. For example, with huge interest in...

OpenCongress doesn't delve too often into the realm of the Executive Branch, but I've received several e-mails of late asking about congressional involvement when President Obama names a "czar" within his administration. Most of the e-mails center around the meme that these "czars" are appointed without congressional approval,...

Recently, we at OpenCongress have received a lot of requests to see the text of the America's Affordable Health Choices Act (HR 3200) with page numbers. There's no denying this is a complex piece of legislation with far-reaching effects on Americans and the economy,...

I was reading an article in the Washington Post this morning that raised a number of interesting questions for me. Specifically, the article is about the F-22 fighter jet that's at the center of a high-profile showdown between President Barack Obama's administration...

The House today is scheduled to vote on the Waxman-Markey climate change bill, a sweeping piece of legislation that will establish a program to cap emissions of pollutants and a system for trading emission permits. I won't go into too much detail for two...

Just a few weeks ago, Reps. John Culberson (R-TX) and Tim Ryan (D-OH) began their great Twitter debate over U.S. energy policy. It seemed a welcome move for many in the online world: members of Congress connecting with citizens, sharing their ideas and debating policy in an open environment.