Remodeling Congress: Inside and out (Day 2)

Event Details

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The Miller Center aims to move the needle on congressional reform by bringing together key stakeholders already dedicated to the cause of a more representative and effective Congress. Efforts are underway to improve capacity, modernize operations, and shift structural incentives away from standoff and stalemate toward compromise and legislative action.

Building on insights from the Miller Center’s Presidency Project, this conference brings together scholars, practitioners, and journalists to advance pragmatic, nonpartisan solutions where the presidency and Congress overlap.

9:00–10:15am – Panel 1: Reforming Budget and Appropriations

The federal budget process is broken. What are the elements of its dysfunction? What are some ideas to reform it?

• Robert B. Blair, former House Appropriations staffer; former associate director, Office of Management and Budget; Miller Center
• Eloise Pasachoff, Georgetown University Law Center
• Molly Reynolds, Brookings Institution
• Shalanda Young, former director, Office of Management and Budget, Biden administration; former Democratic staff director, House Appropriations Committee
• Rachel Augustine Potter, UVA politics; Miller Center faculty senior fellow (moderator) 

10:15–10:30am – Break 

10:30–11:45am – Panel 2: Reforming Oversight

Congressional oversight, especially on emergencies and use of force, appears to swing between no oversight during one-party government and inquisition or obstruction during divided government. How does this compare to historical oversight trends?

• SoRelle Gaynor, UVA Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy; Miller Center faculty fellow
• Tom Graves, former U.S. Representative (R-GA); former vice chair, House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress
• Kevin R. Kosar, American Enterprise Institute
• J. D. Rackey, Bipartisan Policy Center
• Phil Schiliro, Co-Equal; former White House director of legislative affairs, Obama administration
• Melanie Egorin, UVA Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy; Miller Center faculty senior fellow (moderator)

12:00–12:45pm – Break

12:45–2:00pm – Panel 3: Reforming Representation and Elections

What has been achieved and what is possible in reforming representation and elections? Has redistricting followed the “big sort” or gone beyond it? Should we think differently about how we elect our members? Can (or should) we treat external and internal reforms separately?

• Brandice Canes-Wrone, Hoover Institution, Staford University
• Lee Drutman, New America
• Spencer Overton, George Washington University Law School
• Nick Troiano, Unite America
• Craig Volden, UVA Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy; Center for Effective Lawmaking
• Olivia Beavers, Wall Street Journal (moderator)

2:00–3:00pm – Closing Panel: Reflections and Pathways Forward

• Sarah Binder, George Washington University; Brookings Institution
• Maya Kornberg, Brennan Center for Justice, New York University School of Law
• Mara Rudman, Miller Center practitioner senior fellow
• Philip Wallach, American Enterprise Institute
• Mike Emanuel, chief Washington correspondent, FOX News Channel (moderator)

ROSTER OF PARTICIPANTS