Congress

Interim Chancellor and Provost Susan R. Wente and Jeff Balser, president and CEO at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and dean of the School of Medicine, sent a joint letter last week to members of the Tennessee congressional delegation applauding recent bipartisan efforts to invest in programs that support scientific research, public health and education, and urging Congress to finalize funding for fiscal year 2020. Read More

As students return to class and faculty and staff resume their work, thoughts and efforts turn to the opportunities that the new year holds, writes Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos in his first column of 2019. Read More

Congress has given itself until Dec. 22 to produce a new budget, but Bruce Oppenheimer, professor of political science, says that's not a guarantee that a deal will be made. Here's what he's going to be watching for. Read More

The new Center for Effective Lawmaking, which studies the causes and consequences of the legislative effectiveness of members of Congress, will be introduced in Washington on Tuesday, Sept. 26. The center is a joint effort by the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University. Read More

Congress has reaffirmed the partnership between the federal government and American research universities by enacting a bipartisan appropriations spending package for fiscal year 2017 that preserves and increases funding for key federal research agencies—including a $2 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health. Read More

PredictGov pulls from decades of congressional data plus hundreds of variables, including the bill’s sponsor, amendments, economic trends and political shifts. Read More

With the start of the 115th Congress, Vanderbilt's Office of Federal Relations wishes to remind the university community of the current regulations regarding federal lobbying disclosure reports as well as congressional restrictions on gifts, meals and travel. Read More

Vanderbilt professor Derek Griffith spoke at a recent Washington forum on the health of men and boys sponsored by two congressmen and the American Psychological Association. Read More

By obstructing most legislation President Obama sends its way, Congress has weakened rather than exercised its power, says a Vanderbilt University political expert. Read More

Bad feelings about each other rather than competing ideologies keep Republicans and Democrats from encouraging their representatives to compromise and get things done, say the authors of a new book about why Washington won’t work. Read More

Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos visited with members of Congress in Washington, D.C., June 8–9 to encourage members to reach a budget agreement that allows for additional discretionary funding for important priorities such as research and education. Read More

The American Political Science Association announced it will award a prestigious honor to a book on Congress co-written by Vanderbilt's Alan Wiseman. Read More

Interim Chancellor and Provost Susan R. Wente (Vanderbilt University) Susan R. Wente, Ph.D., interim chancellor and provost at Vanderbilt University, and Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, sent a joint… Read More

A measure of the legislative effectiveness of almost any member of the U.S. House of Representatives is easily available with the launch of a new website and upcoming book co-authored by Vanderbilt political scientist Alan Wiseman. Read More

When Congress gets too many hands on an issue, its influence actually decreases, researchers from the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions at Vanderbilt University found. Read More

Vanderbilt University law professor Rebecca Haw told a U.S. House subcommittee that the power of state licensing boards should be trimmed to the point where competition can again take hold. Read More

Researchers analyzed data from the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) used by the George W. Bush administration to grade the effectiveness of federal programs. Read More

Vanderbilt professor Marcy Singer-Gabella and other education leaders traveled to the nation’s capital Feb. 27 to testify before Congress about what is needed to train and retain the nation's top teachers. Read More

The latest Vanderbilt Poll results are in, with registered voters in Tennessee giving their opinions on Medicaid expansion and other issues. Read More

Although the NSA may not conduct queries or examine content unless it or a court determines that “national security” is at stake, national security is apparently at stake quite often, if the recent reports about monitoring hundreds of thousands of foreigners’ calls as well as the calls of foreign leaders are true, writes Christopher Slobogin, Milton R. Underwood Professor of Law. Read More