Inside Congress: A Guide for Navigating the Politics of the House and Senate Floors

Required reading for anyone who wants to understand how to work within Congress.

The House and Senate have unique rules and procedures to determine how legislation moves from a policy idea to law. Evolved over the last 200 years, the rules of both chambers are designed to act as the engine for that process. Each legislative body has its own leadership positions to oversee this legislative process.

To the novice, whether a newly elected representative, a lawmaker’s staff on her first day at work, or a constituent visiting Washington, the entire process can seem incomprehensible. What is an open rule for a House Appropriations bill and how does it affect consideration? Why are unanimous consent agreements needed in the Senate?

The authors of Inside Congress, all congressional veterans, have written the definitive guide to how Congress really works. It is the accessible and necessary resource to understanding and interpreting procedural tools, arcane precedents, and the role of party politics in the making of legislation in Congress.

• Congressional Procedure: A Practical Guide to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress: The House of Representatives and Senate Explained
• Is Congress Broken?: The Virtues and Defects of Partisanship and Gridlock
• Climbing the Hill: How to Build a Career in Politics and Make a Difference
• The U.S. Congress: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
• The Art of the Political Deal: How Congress Beat the Odds and Broke Through Gridlock
• The Logic of American Politics (Eighth Edition)
• Congress For Dummies
• The Federalist
• The Supreme Court; Twelfth Edition
• Act of Congress: How America's Essential Institution Works, and How It Doesn't