In our last post, we described the two primary drivers of Congressional dysfunction: over-centralization of decision-making, and lack of capacity.  Party leaders have monopolized the procedural tools for considering legislation that should be available to all Members.  And after decades of inadequate investment in its own capacity, Congress has deprived itself of the resources necessary to fulfil its role as a co-equal branch of government.  Here, we lay out the solutions; the […]

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In the House, rank-and-file Members have little incentive to do the nitty-gritty work of legislating and oversight because power is so heavily concentrated at the top.  The Speaker and other party leaders control all of the procedural levers that make the system run. ...

Part Two: Congressional Reform Blog Series In Part One of the We the Doers’ Congressional Reform blog series, we laid out why we’re committed to tackling Congressional reform. In this post, Part Two, we will delve into the role of Congress in creating the conditions for the federal government to effectively deliver the results that […]

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When we meet with stakeholders, potential partners, and potential funders, we get lots of nods as we talk about our plans to “measure what matters” and reform federal hiring, firing, technology development, and procurement. But when we get to the aspects of our platform that require Congressional action — biennial budgeting and appropriations, an end to government shutdowns, the creation of a feedback loop between civil servants and Congress, and big structural reforms to address the root causes of executive branch dysfunction — the nodding stops. Brows furrow....

Today marks the one-year anniversary of DOGE—and the release of We the Doers’ first report, Former Civil Servants Speak: How to Achieve Real Reform in a Post-DOGE World. This report—the output of our first workshop with former senior civil servants in December—reflects our belief that efficiency shouldn’t be measured just in terms of cuts, but […]

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We’ve worked through and around the challenges of bureaucracy long enough to understand what matters at a foundational level, and how to distinguish the proverbial babies from the bathwater. That’s the difference between performative reform headlines and real change, and that’s what it will take to fix the government....