The topic of this episode is, “What are congressional norms and why do they matter?”

To many Americans, the United States Congress appears to be a rather nasty place. There are lawmakers calling each other names, introducing resolutions to censure legislators and boot them off committees, and generally behaving towards one another in beastly ways. At least twice in the last few years there were moments when it appeared a couple of members of the House of Representatives might well throw punches at one another.

There is a lot of constitutional and procedural hardball being played in both the Senate and the House. Members are ignoring long-agreed-upon rules or stretching their meanings to justify partisan power plays.

All of which prompts the question, “Is Congress losing the norms that once helped facilitate collective action amongst representatives and senators?

My guest for this episode is Brian Alexander. He is an Associate Professor of Politics at Washington and Lee University. Brian is also the author of A Social Theory of Congress: Legislative Norms in the Twenty-First Century (Lexington Books, 2021), and he is the editor of a new volume titled The Folkways of Congress: Legislative Norms in an Era of Conflict (Brookings Institution Press, 2026).

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The topic of this episode is, “Should Congress pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution?”

The federal government experienced a shutdown in autumn 20025, which is one of many that have occurred in the past 20 years. The nation also has racked up about $38 trillion in debt, and Congress and the president have not taken real action to right America’s fiscal ship.

So should Congress pass a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution?

My guest Kurt Couchman says ‘Yes, it should.’ Kurt is the author of the new book, Fiscal Democracy in America: How a Balanced Budget Amendment Can Restore Sound Governance (Palgrave MacMillan, 2025).

Kurt has been kicking around Capitol Hill for about 15 years. Presently he is a senior fellow at Americans for Prosperity, a group that promotes the principles and policies of economic freedom and liberty. Previously, Kurt worked for two members of Congress, and has had stints at the Cato Institute and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, among other gigs. He has spent a lot of time engaged with Congress on matters relating to federal spending and the budget, so I am delighted to have him here with us to discuss the idea of a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution.

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The topic of this episode is, what are budget rescissions and pocket rescissions?

Rescissions have been in the news recently. This past July President Donald J. Trump sent the House and Senate a rescissions message. This memorandum requested that Congress rescind, or take back, spending authority it had previously granted. Congress passed the legislation, which cut $9 billion from foreign aid, the U.S. Institute for Peace, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. A rescission of funds has not occurred since 1999, when former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, struck a deal with the Republican-held House and Senate.

Now the Trump administration is attempting a maneuver called a “pocket rescission.” What’s a pocket rescission?

To answer that question I have as my guest my colleague, Dr. Philip Wallach. He is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He is a colleague and a friend. At AEI he studies America’s separation of powers, with a focus on regulatory policy issues and the relationship between Congress and the administrative state. His latest book is Why Congress (Oxford University Press).

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