The topic of this episode is, “How can the average American influence a member of Congress?”

A lot of Americans feel no connection to the US Congress. If you asked them, they probably could not name their members in the House of Representatives and their Senators. And few voters have had a conversation with their legislators, or have tried to persuade them by sending a letter or email to their legislators.

I am not picking on the average voter. I can tell you that before I started writing a doctoral dissertation on Congress in my late 20s, I had never been in contact with a representative or Senator. It simply had not occurred to me, nor did I believe that if I asked these people in suits who were hundreds of miles away from me, they would help me.

What was lost on me and is lost on so many other Americans is this basic truth: if you don’t tell Congress what you want, then how can you expect it to do what you want? Voting for candidates who support policies you prefer is important, but it's not enough. You need to communicate to your legislators to remind them of what you want and to let them know that your vote in the next election is not to be taken for granted.

So how can the average American get his voice heard on Capitol Hill? Here to help me answer this question is Brad Fitch, the author of the book, The Citizen’s Handbook for Influencing Elected Officials (Sunwater, 2025). Brad knows an awful lot about Capitol Hill—he has been there for 40 years and previously served as the CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation and a congressional staffer.

Read the full transcript of the episode here.

The topic of this episode is, “Who were the House Appropriations Committee Surveys and Investigations Staff and what did they do?”

More than a decade ago, a friend and longtime veteran of Capitol Hill informed me that he had received a contract to work for the House Appropriations Committee Surveys and Investigations staff. I had no idea who these folks were, despite all the years I had spent working for Congress. When I asked him for details, he explained to me that he really couldn't share much about who they were and what he was doing. I thought that was odd, but I didn't cry and I let it go. I remember thinking it was something that I should look into, but I had more pressing research and life responsibilities, and I never conducted that research.

As fate would have it, a couple of years ago, I ran into Professor Matthew Dull at an academic conference. He is a tenured professor at the Center for Public Administration & Policy at Virginia Tech University.

To my wonder and delight, he informed me that he had written a lengthy paper on the history of the House Appropriations Committee Surveys and Investigation staff. We talked about what he learned about this mysterious corps of congressional staff, and I was riveted. I promised myself that I would not only read that paper but that I'd bring him on the Understanding Congress podcast, and finally, I'm making good on that.

So Professor Matthew Dull is with me today to tell what he has learned.

Read the full transcript here.

Read the archival documents here.

The topic of this episode is, “Does the Congressional Baseball Game increase collaboration in Congress?”

Each June, members of our national legislature play ball. Democrats and Republicans from the House of Representatives each field a team, practice, and then play a game. The 2026 Congressional Baseball Game is on Wednesday, June 10, at 7:05 pm EDT at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. This tradition goes back to 1909, and the proceeds are contributed to charities.

More than a few Americans have scoffed at this event and groused that elected officials should be inside the Capitol doing their jobs. And sadly, the Congressional Baseball Game has been targeted by political extremists. Environmental activists ran onto the field during the 2024 game in hopes of drawing attention to their cause. They got booed, rightly. And one far left kook shot Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and four other individuals at a practice for the game.

My guest is SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor. She is an assistant professor at the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. She is also a faculty affiliate at the Center for Effective Lawmaking, which produces studies that entail who in Congress gets things done—and who doesn't. SoRelle recently coauthored an article on the Congressional Baseball Game titled “Playing Ball: Collaboration in the U.S. Congress.”

And I would be remiss if I did not mention that Professor Gaynor is the coauthor of Congress Explained: Representation and Lawmaking in the First Branch (CQ Press) and the author of the forthcoming book, Echo Chambers: How Partisan Communication Took Over Congress (University of Chicago Press).

Read the full transcript here.