Associate Director, @BPC_Bipartisan | Fmr. @ModernizeCmte | Interested in all things Congress 🏛 | Opinions = My Own, RT ≠ Endorsements | he/him
Washington, DC
Joined October 2010
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Modernizing Congress is a sprawling portfolio of issues that can often be unwieldly! That’s why my @BPC_Bipartisan colleagues & I put together a new -LIVE & searchable- database of the @ModernizeCmte’s 200+ recommendations! bipartisanpolicy.org/moderni…
J.D. Rackey retweeted
🧵Gaming out an Alaska Senate Dispute
With things in Alaska heating up, I'm going to do my best to walk through some of the big questions if an Alaska Senate dispute unfolds....
1/12
Much attention has been paid to potential hardball on January 3rd in terms of seating the new House and disputes over election outcomes.
Very little attention has been paid to the Senate, but the new DOJ lawsuit in Alaska raises the specter. Unlike the House, the Senate is a continuing body. 67 of its members will still be in office on January 3rd.
34 currently caucus with Democrats
33 currently caucus with Republicans
BUT, If Brown prevails in Ohio, he will be sworn in in December. Bringing Democrats to 35. Florida is the other special election, but even if Republicans win, they're still at 33, as Moody is already in their column above.
Could get messy very fast, but not clear that Republicans have the advantage on the floor.
J.D. Rackey retweeted
Feels worth noting that the entiiiiiiiiire budget for actually *elected* legislative offices in 2026 was $1.5 billion. The disproportionality between $ spent for votes and $ spent for actually governing is insane.
voicemailgov.substack.com/p/…
J.D. Rackey retweeted
More than six dozen congressional offices have been targets of a string of suspicious mailings over the last two weeks, mostly to district offices.
For staff in those offices, it's sparked fear and uncertainty and brought up reminders of past threats.
rollcall.com/2026/10/27/susp…
J.D. Rackey retweeted
Tune in today as @BPC_Bipartisan and @NatlGovsAssoc launch a major new partnership. Our charge: develop policy ideas that expand American opportunity, adapt to a changing economy, and tackle the challenges of federalism—all in a fiscally responsible way.
📉 What does the next generation of leaders need to know about debt, demographics, and artificial intelligence?
Today, join BPC and @NatlGovsAssoc as we lay out the facts on America’s fiscal outlook.
Register now ➡️ ow.ly/Z0Ym51012hR
J.D. Rackey retweeted
Could Democrats win a House majority, and then have it be stolen from them? Will January 3 be the new January 6?
I’ve been getting those questions a lot lately. So I wanted to answer them in a comprehensive, sober-minded way.
Here’s what you should know: youtube.com/watch?v=X597Xnwa…
J.D. Rackey retweeted
📢 Calling all political data nerds 🤓
On the Rise is our unique, once-in-an-election-cycle report on shifting demographics and emerging trends among candidates for Congress — with a special focus on Gen Zers and millennials building political power 💪
And today, it’s officially here: futurecaucus.org/on-the-rise…
This is going to be a great event! Catch me on the Reforming Oversight panel on the 16th alongside @RepTomGraves, @kevinrkosar, SoRelle Gaynor, Phil Schiliro, and Melanie Anne Egorin
Just 1 day left until our Remodeling Congress Conference! On October 15-16, leading scholars, practitioners, and journalists will explore and advance solutions for reforming Congress.
Register to watch the livestream👇
zurl.co/smwZG
#Congress #elections #vote
ALT Graphic featuring the U.S. Capitol. At the top is the Miller Center at the University of Virginia logo. Prominent white text in the center reads, “1 DAY TO GO UNTIL REMODELING CONGRESS INSIDE AND OUT". A dark blue banner at the bottom displays the event details: "THURS., OCT. 15 - FRI., OCT. 16. ONLINE ONLY"
Very much looking forward to participating in this conversation!
Congress is broken—so how do we fix it? Join us on Oct. 15-16 for our Remodeling Congress Conference, where leading experts will explore and advance pragmatic, nonpartisan solutions for reforming Congress.
Register to watch the livestream👇millercenter.org/news-events…
#Congress
J.D. Rackey retweeted
Participants include @wjantholis, @Olivia_Beavers, @bindersab of @BrookingsInst, @leedrutman of @NewAmerica, Brandice Canes-Wrone of @HooverInst, @MikeEmanuelFox, @KornbergMaya, @kevinrkosar of @aei, Molly Nixon of @CatoInstitute, @JDRackey, @mollyereynolds, and @PhilipWallach !
J.D. Rackey retweeted
Congress Mod Idea #1:
A Congressional hearing might be where you thought Congress learns important information, but these days it's more theater than anything else.
One staffer I spoke to said their all-time favorite reform idea is rethinking institutional facilitation. Redesign the hearing format, and even the hearing rooms, so members are set up to learn instead of perform.
The House Select Committee on Modernization actually tried this by sitting with the parties alternating, ditching the formal dais, and dropping the rigid five-minute rule. The result? Grandstanding dropped and members focused on solutions instead of blame.
The House Select Committee on the CCP then borrowed the format for its bipartisan working groups, and it's now held up as a model of productive committee work.
Isn't that worth trying more widely?
Learn more from @BPC_Bipartisan's @JDRackey here: bipartisanpolicy.org/article….
Patrick rocks, hire Patrick!
🌟 It's Job Market Season! 🌟
Over the next week we're highlighting all of our amazing PhD candidates, postdocs, and recent alumni entering the job market. You can learn more about the candidates and their research on their websites.
Today we highlight Patrick Buhr, a Ph.D. Candidate studying Congress, the presidency, and separation-of-powers policymaking.
Website: patrickbuhr.com/
- Patrick's dissertation assesses how the nationalization of congressional elections affects legislative negotiations between Congress and the president.
- He argues that nationalization undermines the president's legislative agenda by giving the opposition party electoral incentives to see this agenda fail.
- He develops and tests this argument using formal theory, quantitative methods and new data collection, and interviews with Members of Congress, their staff, and former White House officials.
You can learn more about his dissertation or read his other working papers in legislative politics and administrative policymaking by visiting his website: patrickbuhr.com
J.D. Rackey retweeted
🧵📈📉NEW: full 2026 primary turnout data from @BPC_Bipartisan and @Jferrer505.
New this publication, an interactive 2026 map courtesy of @lilykincannon.
Going back to 2010, we have:
-state-by state data
-two-party turnout
-national turnout trends
-highest and lowest turnout states
-turnout by primary type
J.D. Rackey retweeted
Do you feel adequately represented? Me neither.
Congress needs more resources to do that, but most of all it needs to let ALL members really truly actually deliberate on substantive things.
As I recently wrote, "By providing a venue for idea submissions...the Subcommittee is keeping with the best practices that, in the words of one expert, made its predecessor, the “premier example of a reform committee.” 2/3 bipartisanpolicy.org/article…
@BPC_Bipartisan, @BPCAction, & our coalition partners recently sent a letter to the Subcommittee identifying common themes across submissions. We are excited to see what's next as the new set of 200 recommendation ideas are debated and scoped! 3/3 bpcaction.org/appetite-for-m…
Congressional Modernization Lives!!
Earlier this summer @HouseAdmin @HouseAdm_Dems launched a portal to collect ideas for future congressional modernization efforts. Many groups and individuals internal and external to Congress contributed, yielding 200 submissions!! 1/3
J.D. Rackey retweeted
A new @aei report by Scott Warren and me: understandingcongress.org/co…
We're having a program about this subject on Wednesday. Come or tune in! aei.org/events/congress-is-s…
J.D. Rackey retweeted
Congress still lacks a robust continuity plan. And no Congress would mean no representative democracy.
My latest for the Examiner: washingtonexaminer.com/premi…
To further clarify where this comes from: Research shows that increasing interpersonal relationships among lawmakers increases bipartisanship and effective lawmaking. Obviously, there are limits to it--but I think it's worth trying to incentivize good behavior. Research 👇
