LEADING IN THE NEW CONGRESS

 

[Published on Newmax]

The Republican Congress has a small window of opportunity to redefine the political landscape.

Will Republicans repeat history or make history?

Remember 2011?  Republicans won an historic number of seats in 2010 only to become disappointingly ineffective.  A thundering herd of elephants birthed mice.

Republicans will need to overcome several challenges. 

First, most media will declare the “end of days” and breathlessly report the coming “Republican apocalypse” in detail.  They will demonize every incoming Republican with cherry-picked “facts” and an endless array of fiction. 

Second, Republicans will not be unified.  They rarely are.  Conservatives should remember that just because Members of Congress are “R”s they are not necessarily “ours”.  There are moderate and liberal Republicans, along with swamp dwellers, timid souls, and special interest conflicted.

Republicans, even with a slim majority, can make a difference if they achieve four major goals: Expose; End; Equip; Endure.

EXPOSE

Congress has a fundamental duty to conduct oversight and hold those in power accountable. 

This begins with Congress itself.  Republican leaders must immediately demand that January 6, 2021, videos from all 1,800 Capitol Hill cameras are preserved.  Any cameras “not working on that day”, and “lost" or “damaged” videos, must be fully explained and documented.

On January 6, 2023, Congress embraces transparency by releasing all January 6 videos from all cameras unedited or redacted.  Let Americans see for themselves what happened.

To follow-up, Congress then identifies law enforcement shown on Capitol security and news videos helping protesters by unlocking and opening doors, removing security barriers, waving them to the Capitol, or standing-by passively.  Each law enforcement officer should be individually brought behind closed doors and asked, under oath, “who told you to do that?” 

Those who “were following orders’ will be asked, “whose orders?”  Their superiors are brought forward and asked the same questions.  Congressional Q&A continues until top law enforcement officials either assert they initiated rules of engagement themselves or identify orders from specifically named elected officials.  These communications would then be released to the public.

There are countless Biden abominations that deserve investigation.  Republicans must heed the lessons from their ineffectual pursuit of Obama scandals.  Subpoenas will be ignored, documents will be withheld, slow walked, or become “missing”, witnesses will refuse to testify, lie, or obfuscate.

The gold standard remains the 1973 Watergate Committee.  They began with the lowest level people and worked their way up to the top.  Questions were asked and Members waited for answers instead of launching into finger waving monologues.  Public hearings are theatrical events. Republicans need to manage the plot, characters, and answers beforehand and build a narrative.  The truth is out there but is nearly impossible to uncover in a timely enough manner to matter.

Nonpartisan oversight should also occur, using hundreds of reports published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the 72 Department and Agency Inspectors General.  Americans need to repeatedly hear about the mindboggling expanse of waste, fraud, and abuse that is endemic in the Federal Government.  This validates the next Republican President’s reform agenda.

END

Republicans will end new Biden initiatives and reduce his ability for mischief. They can defund programs, positions, and people.  They can turn campaign promises into reality by introducing legislation addressing voter priorities.

Justification through hearings and legislation will reveal and debunk the underlying dogma that is driving the Biden agendas for climate change and wokism.  Deindustrializing America is foundational to Biden’s assault on energy independence.  Showcasing silenced experts on these matters is vital.

Biden will veto everything Republicans do, and they will not have the votes to override. Republicans can counter by thinking well ahead of these predictable moves. Biden vetoes will become opportunities to contrast Republican voter-endorsed solutions with how Biden’s policies destroy America. This builds the case for change in 2024.

EQUIP

Republicans used the last two years of President Jimmy Carter to pave the way for the Reagan Revolution.  The next two years can equip the next Republican President with ideas and actions that will define the political landscape for 2024 and beyond. Through hearings, legislation, and floor speeches, they can build a mandate for the next Republican President to “hit the ground running”.   This change agenda will generate Leftist attacks, providing insights for Republican counter measures when they are reintroduced in 2025. 

ENDURE

The Washington, DC swamp is far deeper and extensive than anyone ever realized.  Republicans who cannot be bought-off or scared-off will be relentlessly savaged.  Democrats are known for locking arms and never breaking ranks.  Republicans shoot their wounded, even ones with minor injuries.  Time to think strategically and prepare for future battles 

To save America we must think past one election, one hearing, or one piece of legislation. 

It took years for the Left to gain the upper hand.  

It will take years to end their reign.

Scot Faulkner served as Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives and helped lead Speaker Newt Gingrich's Congressional Transition in 1994. He was Director of Personnel for the 1980 Reagan Campaign and served on the Presidential Transition team.  He currently advises corporations on implementing strategic change.

LESSONS NOT LEARNED

 

[Also published on Newsmax]

Trump’s supporters are stirring.  They are aghast at the Biden era, feeling it is based on years of lies, conspiracies, and “fake news”.

Trump’s detractors continue to stir.  They hope relentless investigations will lead to Trump in handcuffs and ultimately in jail. 

Both sides want “payback”.  The anti-Trumps want finality and an object lesson, that assures no outsider ever again gets close to draining the Swamp.  The pro-Trumpsters want to retake the Legislative Branch in 2022 and the Executive Branch in 2024. 

Trump’s “populist revolution” will only succeed if he and his supporters learn lessons from the last four years.

“Republicans hold office.  Democrats hold power.” mused Mark Steyn on a recent Fox News show.

Trump and his supporters must understand this in all its manifestations, should they ever hope to achieve their vision.

Trump failed at the very basic level of wielding power.  He ignored the maxims: “People equal policy” and “Personnel is policy”.  Adhering to these maxims allowed the Reagan revolution to eradicate the Soviet Union and its empire, while shifting America’s political center of gravity for the first time since 1932.  Adhering to these maxims allowed the Gingrich revolution to reinvent Congressional operations for the first time since 1789, while re-establishing a competitive Legislative Branch for the first time since 1932.

Reagan’s and Gingrich’s revolutions made removing their opponents their first order of business.

All Carter appointees were removed within the first weeks of Reagan taking office.  Their badges were confiscated, and their security clearances revoked.  A team went door-to-door throughout the White House and Executive Office buildings assuring every Carter person, every pro-Carter careerist, every pro-Carter detailee, and every pro-Carter contractor were marched out the door.  Careerists were reassigned, contracts were cancelled.  

At the same time teams of Reaganites took complete control of core operations within every department and agency: the Executive Secretariats and the offices of Legal Counsel, Personnel, Finance, and Procurement.  Legions of Reagan appointees instantaneously overwhelmed the Executive Branch, methodically reviewing every recent and pending action, ending and reversing those not in full accord with the Reagan agenda. This included personnel actions, training, contracts, grants, legal actions, regulations, publications, meetings, and anything else of substance.

In some agencies, such as the General Services Administration (GSA) the center of government corruption under Carter, every employee was assessed and a new agency culture, complete with new position descriptions, hiring & promotion criteria, administrative processes, and accountability systems were put in place.  Pro-Reagan whistle blowers, investigative media, and congressional oversight professionals identified those careerists who were trustworthy to build viable cores of competent loyalists deep in every nook and cranny of the Executive Branch. 

The Gingrich Revolution began the same way.  Within an hour of becoming Speaker, every top administrator and administrative assistant was fired and walked out the door. Their files were seized, their security clearances revoked.  New House rules and reform legislation eradicated forty years of “kleptocracy” that robbed public funds and furnishings from the Capitol.  A new management team completely reinvented Congressional operations propelling the 18^th century work culture and processes into the 21^st.

In both cases, Reagan, Gingrich, and their operational teams, had a “sense of urgency” that drove them to clear the landscape of the old guard and ways.  They had a clear vision and detailed plans. They never blinked.  They never stood still.  They never leaked.  They never tolerated disloyalty.

Unfortunately, Trump and his team did the opposite.  They were told, in detail, by Reagan and Gingrich alums, what needed to be done.  They heard but never listened or learned.

The result was Trump never having control over his Administration.  Obama holdovers ran the White House correspondence unit for the first two years.  Obama, Clinton, and Deep State operatives remained in control of everything.  Those who were terminated never had their ID badges or security clearances removed.

Trump was too trusting of Swamp dwellers.  His Transition was run by Bush and Romney operatives.  His White House was filled with RINOs.  Confidential information, even from small meetings, was leaked to the media within minutes.

 Trump’s holding back on making appointments was “penny wise but pound foolish”.  He never had overwhelming forces in any department or agency.  He never had control of core operations.  That is why his initiatives withered after he signed Executive Orders.  There was no one there to implement them. On the other hand, political holdovers and anti-Trump bureaucrats ran rampant.  They derailed pro-Trump efforts while allowing ongoing Obama/Clinton policies, personnel actions, training, contracts, grants, legal actions, regulations, publications, and meetings to continue unabated.  

Despite this, Trump hobbled regulations, made foreign policy strides, and had legislative victories. Unfortunately, they are all being reversed in the Biden era.

Imagine what Trump could have done had he learned the lessons of Reagan and Gingrich?

 

 

MID TERMS MATTER

“CONSTITUTING AMERICA” SERIES ON CONGRESSIONAL HISTORY

The definition of a Midterm Election is that it is held mid-way through the term of the President. While not on the ballot, the President’s electoral mandate and actions to fulfill that mandate, are validated or challenged by voters as they elect members of the Legislative Branch.

Midterms were created as the solution to a fundamental issue in the founding of America:

What is the balance between responsive and responsible government?

The authors and advocates of the U.S. Constitution wrestled with this balance.

One the one hand, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, writing as “PUBLIUS”, asserted in their essays advocating for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, that frequent elections guaranteed Congress’ elected Members responding to the will of the people.

Federalist No. 52:

“First. As it is essential to liberty that the government in general should have a common interest with the people, so it is particularly essential that the branch of it under consideration should have an immediate dependence on, and an intimate sympathy with, the people. Frequent elections are unquestionably the only policy by which this dependence and sympathy can be effectually secured…. It is a received and well-founded maxim, that where no other circumstances affect the case, the greater the power is, the shorter ought to be its duration.”

Guaranteeing responsiveness and accountability also needed to be tied to short terms in office.

FEDERALIST No. 57:

“The House of Representatives is so constituted as to support in the members an habitual recollection of their dependence on the people. Before the sentiments impressed on their minds by the mode of their elevation can be effaced by the exercise of power, they will be compelled to anticipate the moment when their power is to cease, when their exercise of it is to be reviewed, and when they must descend to the level from which they were raised; there forever to remain unless a faithful discharge of their trust shall have established their title to a renewal of it.”

On the other hand, Hamilton and Madison worried that too frequent elections would create instability.

Federalist No. 62

“The mutability in the public councils arising from a rapid succession of new members, however qualified they may be, points out, in the strongest manner, the necessity of some stable institution in the government. Every new election in the States is found to change one half of the representatives. From this change of men must proceed a change of opinions; and from a change of opinions, a change of measures. But a continual change even of good measures is inconsistent with every rule of prudence and every prospect of success. The remark is verified in private life, and becomes more just, as well as more important, in national transactions.”

Hamilton and Madison raised an issue they considered worse than instability - arbitrary and capricious public policy. They sought a structural solution, “necessary as a defense to the people against their own temporary errors and delusions.” [Federalist 63]

Hamilton and Madison’s solution was to have two separate bodies within the Legislative Branch, one of which would have longer terms of service. “The proper remedy for this defect must be an additional body in the legislative department, which, having sufficient permanency to provide for such objects as require a continued attention, and a train of measures, may be justly and effectually answerable for the attainment of those objects.’ [Federalist 63]

The Senate, having six year terms for its members, would be a defense against, “particular moments in public affairs when the people, stimulated by some irregular passion, or some illicit advantage, or misled by the artful misrepresentations of interested men, may call for measures which they themselves will afterwards be the most ready to lament and condemn.” [Federalist 63]

Hamilton and Madison cited the importance of deflecting transitory and ill-thought public passion throughout history. “What bitter anguish would not the people of Athens have often escaped if their government had contained so provident a safeguard against the tyranny of their own passions? Popular liberty might then have escaped the indelible reproach of decreeing to the same citizens the hemlock on one day and statues on the next.” [Federalist 63]

They concluded that not only terms of service, but the cycles of elections would create the proper balance to assure responsive and responsible democracy: “when compared with the fugitive and turbulent existence of other ancient republics, very instructive proofs of the necessity of some institution that will blend stability with liberty.” [Federalist 63]

Their solution is embedded in the U.S. Constitution.

ARTICLE I; Section 3

1: The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof,3 for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

2: Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year;

The combination of having the entire Membership of the House of Representatives face the electorate every two years, and only a third of the Senate submit to re-election every two years created Midterm Elections.

Throughout American history, Midterm Elections have reshaped Presidential agendas, ended or launched new political movements, and marked watershed moments in the civic culture of the nation.

The 1858 Midterm, prior to American Civil War, showcased the fragmentation of the Democrat Party over slavery and catapulted the four-year-old Republican Party into becoming the dominant plurality faction in both the House and Senate. Sixteen years later, Republicans lost 96 House seats and their majority in reaction to the Grant Administration scandals, and the mismanagement of Southern Reconstruction. 

The 1894 Midterms heralded the reemergence of the Republican Party as a new dynamic force that would bring William McKinley to the Presidency in 1896. The voters also blamed President Grover Cleveland for a major economic depression, leading to jobless workers marching on Washington demanding relief. The Democrats lost 116 seats in the House, the largest defeat in history. Fourteen years later, splits in the Republican Party, especially the falling out between old allies, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, triggered Republicans losing 57 seats in the House and 10 Senate seats. This fragmentation worsened, leading to Woodrow Wilson winning the Presidency in 1912 with 42 percent of the popular vote in a three-way race.

The October 1930 Midterm reflected Americans reeling from the Stock Market Crash, facing a deepening Depression, and the collapse of trust in Republicans. The Republican Party lost 49 House and 8 Senate seats. The Republicans barely retained control of Congress by only two votes in the House and one in the Senate. Their Midterm debacle set the stage for the 1932 election, when Republicans lost the White House for twenty years, and lost Congressional power for three generations. Over the next 62 years, Republicans had ten years of intermittent rule in the Senate and led only two separate Congresses in the House.

America redefined itself in the 1994 Midterm elections. President Bill Clinton had overreached on universal healthcare. There was a revitalized Republican Party, fueled by Conservative Talk radio and the visionary leadership and aggressive tactics of Newt Gingrich.

Democrats were shocked, losing 53 House and 7 Senate seats. This brought Republican rule to the House for the first time since the 1952 election, a forty-two year hiatus. Only one Republican Member had served in the previous Republican era - as a House page.

Since 1994, Republicans have dominated the Legislative Branch, even gaining 6 House and 2 Senate seats in the 2002 Midterm, in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bush Administration unpopularity and Congressional scandals led to voters ending Republican rule in the 2006 Midterms. President Obama’s policy overreach, Conservative Talk Radio, and the rise of digital and social media, brought Republican majorities back to the House in the 2010 Midterms and the Senate in the 2014 Midterms.

No matter the outcome of the 2018 Midterms, the wisdom of those who struck the balance between responsive and responsible government in the U.S. Constitution will once again be vindicated.

[Scot Faulkner advises corporations and governments on how to save billions of dollars by achieving dramatic and sustainable cost reductions while improving operational and service excellence. He served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives. He also served on the White House Staff, and as an Executive Branch Appointee.]

GINGRICH REVISITED

Swearing-in 104th Congress - January 4, 1995

“CONSTITUTING AMERICA” SERIES ON CONGRESSIONAL HISTORY

Newt Gingrich is the most consequential Republican Speaker in history. He revitalized a failed Republican Party, forging the first GOP Congressional majority in forty years.

During his tenure, Gingrich revolutionized House operations, including bringing the Legislative Branch into compliance with all federal laws.

Republican Speakers have a rich history of shaping Congress. Two of the three House Office Buildings are named after Republican Speakers. Rep. Joseph Cannon (R-IL) remains the single most powerful Speaker in House history (1903-1911). Rep. Nicholas Longworth (R-OH) broke with Teddy Roosevelt to defend the Republican Party in the 1912 election and then broke with President Herbert Hoover to defend American taxpayers against the growth of big government (1925-1931).

Rep. Thomas Reed (R-ME) comes closest to Gingrich’s impact on the Legislative Branch. Reed was known for his communication ability, and his mastery of parliamentary procedure. As speaker (1889-1891/1895-1899) he mustered both of these skills to bring the House of Representatives back into alignment with the original rules written by Thomas Jefferson. Many consider his success assured the “survival of representative government”. [1]

Newt Gingrich was born and raised in Georgia. His early career as a professor of history and geography at the University of West Georgia well prepared him for the many times he would reference America’s founding principles during his political career.

In 1978, Gingrich became the first Republican to win Georgia's 6^th Congressional District. Once in office, he learned parliamentary combat and the power of well-timed words from Rep. John Ashbrook and the conservatives of the Chesapeake Society. [2]

When many of Chesapeake conservatives followed President Reagan into the Executive Branch, Gingrich formed the “Conservative Opportunity Society” (COS). This became a rallying point for those wanting to make the House Republicans stand for something. [3]

COS members took the skills learned from Rep. John Ashbrook and the older conservative “street fighters” and added their own knowledge of using the media. Live coverage of House sessions had only been available to cable television audiences since March 1979 when CSPAN began to broadcast the House signal.

Through ingenious use of the one-minute speeches, that led the daily sessions, and the special orders, which ended the legislative day, Gingrich and the COS began to build a television audience. In the days before Rush Limbaugh and other conservative media personalities, the COS shows obtained a conservative “cult” following. The COS members became popular icons to a new generation of young conservative activists. Speaker O’Neill, in an attempt to humiliate the COS, ordered the House cameras to show the empty chamber that the COS was addressing late at night. This only added to the COS mystique as activists outside of Washington saw the empty chamber as a metaphor for COS members standing courageously alone against the powerful forces of big government.

In 1988, Gingrich launched an ethics complaint against then House Speaker Jim Wright (D-TX). He questioned the financial arrangements around Wright’s book, Reflections of a Public Man. Controversy swelled around Gingrich as Democrats attacked him for similar problems with his own 1977 book deal. Such attacks only added to Gingrich’s following among “grassroots” conservatives outside of Washington, DC.

The election of George Bush as president in 1988 led to a historic opportunity for Gingrich. Rep. Dick Cheney (R-WY) had been tapped to become Secretary of Defense. This happened in the wake of the unsuccessful confirmation fight for former Senator John Tower
(R-TX). With Cheney leaving the Minority Whip’s position in March 1989, the opportunity presented itself for a conservative insurgency against Michel’s candidate, Rep. Edward Madigan (R-IL).

Madigan had been the chief deputy minority whip and was viewed as the natural successor to Cheney. Republicans tended to reward people in turn and to shy away from insurgency candidates. This tradition of planned succession was symbolized by having conservative Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX) act as Madigan’s campaign manager against Gingrich.

On March 22, 1989, the tradition was shattered as Gingrich was elected by a two-vote margin. “The issue is not ideology; it’s active versus passive leadership,” said Rep. Weber. [4]

Gingrich immediately set about reshaping the opposition of the House. Along with the organizational resources of GOPAC, his personal political action committee, Gingrich built what became know as “Newtworld”. Joe Gaylord, Gingrich’s top lieutenant and then head of GOPAC, ran this interlocking structure behind the scenes. Dan Meyer moved from Gingrich’s personal office to head the Whip’s office. Tony Blankley, a veteran of the White House and active member of various conservative networks during the Reagan years, became the spokesman. A GOPAC consultant, John Morgan, an expert at tracking polls, began weekly assessments of how this new operation, and its aggressive strategy, were working.

The new organization moved the COS’s combative style to center stage. There were weekly “themes” for Members to focus on. This meant floor speeches backed up by fact sheets and talking points that Members could use back in their districts. An “echo-chamber” of opposition, linked to conservative grassroots groups, was becoming a machine. Its goal was to topple the Democrats in 1992 or ’94.

The elections of 1992 disappointed some House Republicans who had hoped for more voter outrage over the scandals of the 102nd Congress. The Republicans were left to ponder both their minority status in the House, and having to deal with a Democrat in the White House.

On December 7, 1992, the Republicans met to sort out their leadership in the 103rd Congress. Michel remained a declining figure among the insurgent House Republicans, but his popularity gave him another two years as minority leader. Gingrich would have to run his opposition effort as Minority Whip. However, Gingrich’s strategy of aggressive opposition received another major boost. Rep. Richard “Dick” Armey (R-TX) defeated Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) for Chairman of the Republican Conference. Another moderate/nonconfrontationalist was defeated and another conservative in favor of total warfare with the House Democrats was elevated to a key leadership position. [5]

Bolstered at the top by Gingrich and Armey, and by Rep. Jim Nussle’s (R-IA) House Reform group - the “Gang of Seven”, the COS, the 103rd Congress witnessed daily exposes of Democrat scandals and malfeasance.

On September 27,1994, Gingrich launched the first “European-style” parliamentary election, by crafting the “Contract with America”. For the first time in American history, a party ran its Congressional candidates based on an inspirational and visionary manifesto.

The “Contract with America” ignited the Republican base, leading to a 54 seat swing propelling the Republicans into power for the first time since 1954.

As Speaker, Gingrich drove the House’s agenda to pass the major elements of the “Contract” within 100 days. This was accomplished. However, Senate inertia and President Clinton’s vetoes prevented most of the “Contract” from becoming law.

Two “Contract” items did become reality, and these changed the Legislative Branch forever. HR 1, the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 was the first order of business and the first bill passed in the 104^th Congress. For the first time, the Legislative Branch was required to comply with all the laws it had passed. True accountability was achieved as Members had to live under the same laws they had thrust onto Americans. [6]

The other action was creating the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), which consolidated all non-parliamentary and non-security functions within one office. It’s mandate was to reinvent the operations of Congress to make it run like a business, while being completely transparent and accountable. This became the most comprehensive rethinking of Legislative Branch operations since the first Congress met in 1789. Obsolete functions were abolished, others were privatized.

Business practices were institutionalized by a team of corporate transformation experts, with the assistance of major accounting firms. Another team of computer experts implemented the “Cyber Congress”, which thrust House communications into the 21^st Century in one giant leap. The result was a lean, customer-focused, accountable operation that saved $186 million and became the model for support services in 44 parliaments around the world. The reforms were so thorough and effective, that they remain in place to this day.

Gingrich’s policy and budget confrontations with President Bill Clinton defined the balance of his tenure. Government shutdowns and other brinksmanship forced reforms in welfare and taxes, and reduced the federal budget deficit.

Conservatives became concerned over Gingrich’s seeming loss of focus and the mounting attacks by Democrats. House Appropriators angered conservatives over being increasingly enamored with spending and earmarks. House “revolutionaries” tried to reverse things. On July 16, 1997 a small band of “true believers”, along with Delay and Armey, mounted a revolt against Gingrich. This ill-fated “palace coup” weakened both the plotters and the Speaker. [7]

In December 1998, after a disappointing showing in the November elections, Gingrich announced he would not seek re-election as Speaker and would resign from the House. [8]

The looming impeachment of Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal further confused the situation. Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA), the Chair of the Appropriations Committee and assumed to be the next Speaker, shocked the Chamber by resigning as his own extramarital affair became public. Amongst the chaos, Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) became Speaker. [9]

Since leaving the House of Representatives, Gingrich remains an insightful commentator and provocative thinker. Returning the House to the rule of law, and being highly responsive to the will of the voter, remain lasting historic achievements that strengthened our democracy.

NOTES

[1] A vivid chronicle of Reed’s battle for parliamentary integrity and accountability can be found in Barbara Tuchman’s, The Proud Tower. Ballantine Books, 1962; pages 125-130

[2] Faulkner, Scot, Naked Emperors. Rowman & Littlefield, 2008; pages 81-82.

[3] Ibid., page 25

[4] Komarow, Steven (March 22, 1989). "House Republicans Elect Gingrich to No. 2 Spot, Chart Battle with Democrats". Associated Press

[5] Op. Cit. Faulkner p. 27.

[6] www.Govtrack.us. "H.R. 1 (104th): Congressional Accountability Act of 1995"

[7] Op. Cit., Faulkner p. 294.

8] Gingrich, Newt (1998). Lessons Learned the Hard Way. Harper Collins Publishers. pp. 159–160.

[9] http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/20/us/impeachment-overview-clinton-impeached-he-faces-senate-trial-2d-history-vows-job.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

[Scot Faulkner advises corporations and governments on how to save billions of dollars by achieving dramatic and sustainable cost reductions while improving operational and service excellence. He served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives. He also served on the White House Staff, and as an Executive Branch Appointee.]