Newsletter: What If Casework Worked Differently?
Our work on casework focuses on strengthening casework as it is today: today’s Congress, today’s levels of resourcing, staffing, district size, etc. But it’s sometimes an interesting experiment to step back and ask — what would casework look like if any of these were different?
That’s the focus of a new joint paper from Protect Democracy, New America, and POPVOX Foundation on how constituent services might work under a proportional representation/multi-Member district system for the House. While POPVOX Foundation does not take a position on electoral reform, the paper is an opportunity to discuss casework from a new angle, thinking through potential tradeoffs of possible reforms. Critically, one point we make in the paper is that many of the potential models for how casework might be more efficient or effective under a multi-Member system are possible today. Things don’t necessarily have to be the way they are — food for thought!
As always, if you have questions about our work or suggestions for how we can be helpful, please feel free to reply to this email, or reach out to me at anne@popvox.org.
Anne Meeker
Deputy Director
POPVOX Foundation
Constituent Services in American Multi-Member Districts: How Would It Work?
A new paper by POPVOX Foundation Deputy Director Anne Meeker and New American Senior Fellow Lee Drutman, in partnership with Protect Democracy, examines the potential impacts of multi-member districts on the critical constituent service work that many Americans rely on when navigating federal agencies and programs.
TODAY: Ask a Congressional Liaison
Casework teams rely on Congressional liaisons at Federal agencies to help solve problems for constituents — but working as a Congressional liaison comes with its own challenges. In this webinar, we are delighted to be joined by former Senior Congressional Liaison Jeremy Dillard, who served almost a decade in the VA’s Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs handling thousands of Congressional inquiries escalated beyond the regional level.
Inside the VA: A Former Congressional Liaison’s Perspective
Thursday, April 3 at 3 PM EDT
In this webinar, we will share observations and trends from almost a decade of handling Congressional casework requests, including the behind-the-scenes of structural problems that drive casework, tips for writing effective inquiries, and thoughts on how Congress can strengthen liaisons for more effective casework in the future.
Casework News
I’ll be joining the Senate EAP Casework Forum on April 15 to talk about the current state of casework and big trends in how it’s changing. Come hang out!
Casework transitions between Members in flipped seats are always tricky, and this year is no different as Senator Bernie Moreno [R, OH] says that former Senator Sherrod Brown [D, OH] did not transfer open cases.
More reporting on how some offices have been able to resolve casework issues through direct contact with Elon Musk. Although, we’d caution against putting all eggs in that basket…how about some reforms to the agency liaison system instead?
I know AI is still controversial (we have lots of info on responsible use cases for Congress if you’re curious), but I’m really excited about the potential for similar technology to streamline elements of casework.
Agency News
SSA
SSA is investigating errors leading to widespread outages of the My Social Security portal.
DOGE is working on a project to migrate SSA’s codebase from COBOL to a more modern programming language — a hi-wire modernization effort that will likely involve the use of AI tools to rewrite and patch code.
Senators Cortez Masto [D, NV] and Bill Cassidy [R, LA] introduced a bill to increase the limit on savings for SSI recipients.
Immigration
DHS has suspended green card processing for refugees and asylum seekers to allow for additional screening.
A delay in the release of H2B visas for the year is raising concerns among business owners who rely on seasonal labor.
ICE appears to be manually revoking students’ immigration status at universities across the country. Separate from an immigration visa, status is verified by universities and states that the student is currently meeting criteria like enrolling in class; however, DHS does have the authority to revoke immigration status even if a student’s visa is still valid. Students may not be automatically notified if their status is changed.
On the other hand, many students have received emails that their student visas are no longer valid. The sudden change seems likely to be based on the Department of State’s closer review of student visa holders’ social media activity.
Immigration lawyers report that they are inundated with calls from green card holders seeking advice on whether they can return to the country after international travel.
ProPublica reports on safety concerns for ICE deportees shackled on deportation flights.
Agency staff cuts
A leaked internal White House document details an anticipated 8-50% staff reduction across 22 federal agencies yet to come this year. The White House noted in response that this document was a leaked discussion draft, and proposed cuts are not yet final.
Lots for HHS this week, as the agency lays off 10,000 employees across divisions including infectious disease management, LIHEAP, and the FDA.
An appeals court also reversed a ruling blocking the Trump Administration from firing a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board. If the board loses its quorum, it will not be able to process cases related to RIFs and other personnel changes.
Additional agencies with sharp staff cuts/reductions in program scope this week include the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, US Agency for Global Media (including Voice of America), Institute of Museums and Library Services, Minority Business Development Agency, Woodrow Wilson Center, Interagency Council on Homelessness, and Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
GSA fired or reassigned remaining employees in its office managing child-care programs in federal buildings across the country, meaning that child-care centers in federal buildings may no longer be accredited or accessible.
Offices may be hearing from constituents with cases open with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights — NOTUS reports that transition of cases from attorneys impacted by RIFs has been inconsistent.
HUD opts to not provide back pay or benefits to reinstated employees, and reinstated HUD employees have not received payment as of March 28.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is also still operating under a new preliminary injunction that preserves the agency’s data, capacity, and workforce.
Trump Administration moves to end collective bargaining for many federal employees
The Trump Administration is invoking a provision of the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act allowing the President to restrict collective bargaining on national security grounds. The American Federation of Government Employees says the executive order would likely impact over half of all federal employees.
Timely advice on refund theft
The Taxpayer Advocate Service provides some advice for taxpayers whose refunds get stolen, a bigger-picture look at why refund theft is a problem, and potential reform to address it.
Speaking of TAS
A new bill from Representatives Feenstra [R, IA] and Davis [D, IL] would strengthen TAS’ ability to hire counsel.
And speaking of refund checks
Paper checks from the US government are now officially gone: President Trump signed two executive orders eliminating paper checks and creating new authorities for agencies to share information to cut down on financial fraud.
Slightly different stories on FEMA
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem continues to say that FEMA is “set for elimination,” but a bill introduced by Representatives Moskowitz [D, FL] and Donalds [R, FL] would instead make FEMA an independent agency, instead of a sub-agency of the Department of Homeland Security. The Trump Administration has convened a FEMA advisory council tasked with making recommendations on what to do with the agency; the council’s first meeting is set for April 24.
Tackling the federal government’s web sprawl
The Federal CIO announced an initiative to consolidate the web “footprint” of the federal government, with a goal of making information easier to find and the government’s web presence more accessible to constituents.
OMB regulation allows agencies to halt grant funding that no longer “effectuates priorities”
A 2020 revision to OMB regulations on federal grantmaking provide agencies with broad latitude to halt grants that no longer advance program goals or agency priorities.
