The Levin Center named North Carolina Republican Senator Richard Burr and Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner as recipients of the second annual Carl Levin Award for Effective Oversight.  The award was given to the two senators for their roles as Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, in conducting the committee’s bipartisan, fact-based investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Levin Center Advisory Board Member Eleanor Hill joined Jim Townsend in presenting the award to the senators in Senator Burr’s office.  The Carl Levin Award is given by the Levin Center to a legislator at the federal, state, local, or tribal level who has led or played a central role in conducting an oversight investigation on a bipartisan basis with a dedication to fact-finding. “As Chair and Vice Chair, they have taken a politically fraught matter of fundamental importance to our democracy and issued a fact-based, clearly written, straight-forward report that was approved on a bipartisan basis by the Senate Intelligence Committee,” said Levin Center chair Carl Levin.  “That is a noteworthy accomplishment under any circumstances, but it is particularly noteworthy in today’s deeply partisan era.”  Read More.

On March 4th, the Levin Center and the Lugar Center filed an amicus brief in two Supreme Court cases reviewing Congress’ right to information.  The cases, Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP and Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG, involve the enforcement of Congressional subpoenas to an accounting firm and two banks seeking tax and financial records related to President Trump and his businesses.  President Trump filed suit to block the release of those records.  In both cases the lower courts ruled the documents should be produced to Congress.  President Trump appealed those decisions, and they are now pending in the Supreme Court.  President Trump argued that investigations into the activities of individuals, so-called “case studies,” are really law enforcement inquiries that only the executive branch can conduct. The Levin and Lugar Centers’ bipartisan amicus brief reviewed the extensive history of congressional investigations that relied on case studies of individuals and urged the Court to reject any effort to curtail Congress’ use of case studies as an oversight tool.  This is the first time either Levin Center has filed an amicus brief.   Read More.

The Levin Center on December 6, 2019, hosted a conference in Washington, D.C. to discuss the effectiveness of Congress’ efforts to track developments in science and technology as part of its oversight mission.  Panelists at the conference discussed two recent studies on congressional efforts to oversee science and technology, one from the National Association of Public Administration (NAPA) entitled, “Science and Technology Policy Assessment” and the second from the Belfer Center at Harvard University entitled, “Building a Twenty-first Century Congress.” Speakers included Congressman Mark Takano (D-CA) and Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) (by video), who have proposed legislation to re-establish the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), and Rush Holt, former CEO, American Association for the Advancement of Science.  See More.

In growing recognition of its expertise, the Levin Center was recently invited to testify before Congress on steps that could be taken to strengthen the capacity of lawmakers to conduct oversight, an essential job of the legislative branch of government.  On January 14, Elise Bean, co-director of the Levin Center’s Washington Office, testified before the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress on strengthening congressional oversight investigations.  The Levin Center recommended a series of reforms aimed at promoting bipartisan, fact-based, high-quality oversight investigations, including:  1) Issuing House legal opinions on oversight matters to guide Congress and the courts; 2) Paying committee clerks on a bipartisan basis with funds split between the two parties; 3) Allowing longer periods than 5 minutes to question witnesses during hearings; and 4) Altering committee budgets to better reflect the composition of the House. See More.

Also in January, Levin Center director Jim Townsend appeared before the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee to discuss the Michigan Legislature’s oversight capacity and performance and how it compares to other state legislatures.  The Levin Center presented the results of a study it commissioned from Wayne State University’s Center for Urban Studies:  a first-of-its-kind 1,000-page report on the oversight capabilities of all fifty states.  Townsend and study co-authors, Wayne Professor Marjorie Sarbaugh-Thompson and Professor Lyke Thompson, presented the report to the Committee.   “Investigating the performance of government and the issues that matter most to Michiganders should be a top priority of the Michigan Legislature,” said Townsend. “Doing so can also reduce the polarization that too often prevents state government from delivering good policies that the people want and deserve.”  Read More.

In January 2020, the Levin Center launched the Emerging Case Law on Congressional Oversight website that provides free public access to detailed information and updates on current court cases examining the right of Congress to obtain information to carry out its constitutional responsibilities.  The Levin Center website, organized by the Levin Center’s Elise Bean, currently keeps tabs on over a dozen key cases from 2016 to the present on the power of Congress to obtain information for investigative purposes.  Most of the cases address the right of congressional committees to enforce their subpoenas versus the right of President Trump or others to block them.  “In light of the unprecedented number of ongoing disputes between Congress and the President over the right of Congress to obtain information, the Levin Center is now making it easier to follow what’s going on in the courts,” said Carl Levin, chair of the Center.  Read More.

On Feb. 26, the Levin Center released a report it commissioned from the Citizens Research Council of Michigan (CRC) on the oversight of charter schools and their authorizers in Michigan.  The CRC report  entitled, “Improving Oversight of Michigan Charter Schools and Their Authorizers,” finds that while the state can “force the closure of the lowest-performing schools” and can suspend authorizers that are not doing their jobs, virtually no state standards govern when those actions are necessary or appropriate, and no requirements compel authorizers to report to the public on how they are spending state funds (up to 3% per pupil) intended to monitor charter schools. In addition, to the extent there is oversight by an authorizer, the report found that none of that oversight is public.  The CRC report lays out a series of actions that policy makers could take to close the accountability gap for charter school authorizers.  Read More.

Since our last newsletter, the Levin Center has continued to offer a wide range of training opportunities to strengthen bipartisan, fact-based oversight investigations.  In Feb. 2020, the Levin Center combined forces with the Lugar Center and the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) to offer the eleventh oversight boot camp for congressional staff – a two-day, in-depth, hands-on workshop that draws staff from the House and Senate and both parties.  Our boot camps have now trained over 200 congressional staffers in better oversight.  In Jan. 2020, the Levin Center offered its second annual bipartisan oversight training for committee clerks, again drawing staff from the House and Senate and both parties.  In Nov. 2019, as part of a POGO monthly training series, the Levin Center’s Elise Bean conducted a master class on how to obtain documents from federal agencies.  In Sept. 2019, the Levin Center led a bipartisan oversight workshop for a House subcommittee. Finally, over the last six months, the Levin Center provided several one-hour oversight sessions for agency employees through the Georgetown Government Affairs Institute.  This work continues to strengthen oversight norms that value bipartisan, fact-based, high-quality inquiries.

Levin Center Continues Model Oversight Program for High School Students

In late February, the Levin Center conducted its second annual model oversight program for Michigan Youth in Government, a YMCA civic engagement program for high school students.  Fifteen students were given materials describing a scenario requiring state-level oversight and were asked to design an investigative hearing, including drafting opening statements, calling and questioning witnesses, and agreeing on a bipartisan solution to the issue.  This year's scenario involved alleged labor trafficking in door-to-door magazine sales crews.  The student legislators at the conference concluded their hearing by proposing two bills: one requiring all traveling sales crews to register with the state and one requiring mandatory training for state police officers on detecting labor trafficking.  The Levin Center will offer the model oversight program again for the 2020-2021 academic year.