Politics, history and the people who made it
Edits our stories on government money and the military: the federal budget, taxes, pay and benefits, and how Washington spends. Works from Treasury, CBO, GAO and Defense Department data, and links each figure to the table it comes from.
5 stories
How congressional leaders used Rule XIV, discharge petitions, cloture, and committee expansions to pass civil rights legislation between 1957 and 1968.
Trace how George Washington's 1782 cloth Badge of Military Merit evolved through executive orders and federal statutes into the modern Purple Heart.
How the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 passed Congress with bipartisan votes and reshaped workplaces, transit, architecture, and digital access.
How the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 reshaped U.S. politics, suburban apportionment, the Sun Belt, environmental law, and the Highway Trust Fund.
Explore the public record of 11 former U.S. Cabinet departments that Congress renamed, merged, demoted, or abolished through federal statutes.
