Reforming Congress – Matthew Green, The Catholic University of America

March 22, 2022  

  • Video
  • 0:14 – Introduction
  • 4:58 – How did caucuses form?
  • 9:13 – On the effectiveness of the Freedom Caucus
  • 13:10 – New insights into how caucuses or factions form
  • 15:10 – How a Speaker might overcome opposition from a caucus
  • 19:07 – The selection of the Speaker
  • 22:12 – Why the Speaker is usually a member of Congress but doesn’t have to be?
  • 23:35 – Responsibilities of the Speaker of the House
  • 26:53 – Does the Speaker influence how the House spends its time to legislate, conduct oversight, deliberate, etc?
  • 27:25 – How does the Speaker influence legislation that gets a vote or not?
  • 28:18 – What role does the Speaker have to select committee chairmen and regular committee members?
  • 30:05 – Extra-congressional activities
  • 34:18 – Do committees matter less than they did in the past?
  • 35:33 – Particular insights on the Speakership of Newt Gingrich
  • 39:53 – How congressional staff had been impacted by staff cuts in the 90s
  • 43:41 – On the discharge petition
  • 47:39 – How the parties discipline their members
  • 53:33 – Substantive vs. Procedural votes
  • 55:40 – Bargaining and negotiating
    [Lightning round]
  • 59:16 – What do you think congressional representation should mean?
  • 1:03:20 – How would your ideal congress allocate its time?
  • 1:04:35 – How should debate, deliberation, or dialogue occur or be structured in Congress?
  • 1:07:47 – What fundamental change or institutional improvement should Congress make in a 50 year time frame?
  • 1:09:56 – Upcoming research plans
Matthew-Green