Politics

The Emergency Measure Nobody Remembers Passing Is Now Old Enough to Have Children Who Work Near It

A stopgap provision inserted into federal law in 1997 as a brief and targeted intervention has just been renewed for the fourteenth consecutive time, having outlasted three presidencies, two recessions, and at least one of the staffers who originally drafted it. The provision, which was described at the time as a 'transitional measure pending permanent resolution,' has now been in temporary effect for longer than TikTok, most of its overseers, and the career of any sitting member of Congress who

Jun 26, 2026

Consulting Firm Charges $3.2 Million to Read Agency's Website Aloud in a Formal Document

The Bureau of Regulatory Alignment and Procedural Oversight has unveiled a landmark 600-page strategic mission report, the central finding of which appears to be that the bureau has a website. The report, commissioned at a cost of $3.2 million from the consulting firm Meridian Clarity Partners LLC, quotes the agency's own About page on 47 separate occasions, each time with full citations. A follow-up study to evaluate the report's findings has already been budgeted.

Jun 26, 2026

Political Consultants Announce, For the Seventeenth Consecutive Election Cycle, That Voters Are Finally Ready to Think

The nation's political consulting class has once again reached unanimous agreement that 2026 will be the year the American electorate sets aside emotional responses, flag imagery, and memorable three-word slogans in favor of detailed policy analysis. They said this in 1994. They have said it every time since.

Jun 26, 2026

The Agency That Fixed Everything in 1983 Has 847 Employees and a Request for More

The Federal Office of Petroleum Allocation Stabilization was created in 1974 to solve a crisis that ended nine years later. It has since solved nothing, employed everyone, and written a great deal of documentation about why this is actually fine.

Jun 26, 2026

Federal Agency Hails 'Historic Efficiency' After Responding to 2019 Public Comment in Fewer Than 2,000 Days

The Bureau of Regulatory Standards and Compliance has issued a formal press release praising itself for responding to a public comment submitted in October 2019, describing the four-and-a-half-year turnaround as 'a new benchmark in participatory governance.' The comment concerned a regulation that has since been enacted, repealed, reinstated, and renamed. The Bureau is now accepting public comments on whether to accept public comments more quickly.

Jun 26, 2026

Senate Hopeful's Barnstorming Campaign to Solve Problem Quietly Solved During the Bush Administration Is Working Perfectly

Congressman Dale Merritt of Tennessee is twelve points ahead in his Senate race on a platform built almost entirely around fixing a problem that Congress fixed in 2003. His campaign staff discovered this three weeks ago and have collectively decided it is not their problem. A fact-checker who has reviewed his speeches says he has 'moved past caring in a way that felt almost spiritual.'

Jun 26, 2026

Lobbying Industry Kindly Volunteers to Fix Lobbying Industry, Reports Everything Going Great

The nation's leading lobbying firms have stepped forward to clarify that the sweeping ethics reform bill currently moving through Congress was, in all meaningful ways, their project from the start. Experts from a think tank funded primarily by lobbying groups have confirmed this is how democracy is supposed to work. The bill is expected to pass with broad bipartisan support and a 400-page appendix nobody has read.

Jun 26, 2026

Campaign Consultants Announce, With Great Confidence, That 2026 Is Categorically Unlike Every Other Year They Have Said This

A panel of Washington's most expensive political strategists convened this week to announce that the 2026 midterm electorate is, at long last, prepared for a sophisticated, evidence-based conversation about policy. Retainer agreements, sources confirm, were signed in January. The consultants were unavailable to explain why they said the same thing in 2022.

Jun 26, 2026

Fifty Years of Quiet Survival: The Federal Agency That Has Mastered the Art of Being Impossible to Kill

The Office of Interagency Coordination and Procedural Alignment turns fifty this month, marking half a century of successfully not being abolished. Senior officials describe the anniversary as 'a testament to strategic invisibility,' while budget analysts confirm they cannot find anyone who can explain what the agency actually does.

Jun 26, 2026

Groundbreaking Four-Decade Research Project Validates What Gary From Accounting Wrote on a Napkin in 1987

After $11.7 million in funding and contributions from 847 experts across six federal agencies, researchers have conclusively determined that the infrastructure thing is indeed still broken. The original napkin remains unfiled in a desk drawer in Topeka.

Jun 2, 2026

Emergency Democracy Operations Handed to College Students While Cabinet Secretaries Learn Leadership Skills in Arizona

Sources confirm that America's foreign policy apparatus is currently being managed by unpaid 22-year-olds while senior officials attend a three-day retreat focused on 'Strategic Vision Actualization.' The State Department's coffee budget has mysteriously doubled.

Jun 2, 2026

Historic Legislation Creates Framework for Eventually Considering Whether to Address the Thing Everyone Forgot About

The Procedural Reform Acceleration and Coordination to Improve Coordination Act represents a breakthrough in legislative efficiency, successfully establishing a 47-member task force empowered to recommend the formation of a working group that might eventually identify what problem they were supposed to solve. Experts hail it as either revolutionary progress or an elaborate form of government performance art.

Apr 16, 2026

Political Consulting Industry Maintains Perfect 38-Year Track Record of Predicting Imminent Voter Enlightenment

Washington's premier political consulting firms have issued their annual joint statement confirming that American voters are definitely about to start paying attention to politics any day now. The prediction, unchanged since 1986, comes with renewed confidence and several pre-invoiced consulting packages for the awakening.

Apr 16, 2026

Professional Democracy Interpreters Express Grave Concerns About Amateur Democracy Interpretation

The $847 million voter analysis industry warns that direct communication between politicians and constituents could bypass crucial intermediary services. Emergency summit scheduled to address alarming trend of politicians accidentally understanding what voters want.

Apr 3, 2026

Bipartisan Commission Formed to Study Why Previous Commissions Failed to Study Commission Failures

The newly established National Commission on Commission Effectiveness has begun its comprehensive review of why 47 previous investigative panels failed to determine their own purpose. Initial findings suggest the problem may require additional study.

Apr 3, 2026

Lobbying Industry Celebrates 'Democracy Enhancement Week' with Gala Honoring Transparency at Undisclosed Location

Washington's premier influence professionals gathered to commemorate their invaluable contributions to American democracy at an exclusive event where attendance was limited to those who could afford to demonstrate their commitment to democratic participation. The evening featured heartfelt testimonials about how professional advocacy ensures that every voice is heard, provided that voice is properly amplified through appropriate channels.

Mar 20, 2026

Department of Pre-Planning Successfully Completes 18-Month Study on Whether to Begin Planning to Plan

After extensive deliberation, federal officials have triumphantly announced they are nearly ready to commence the preliminary phases of potentially starting to consider the infrastructure project Congress approved in 2019. The breakthrough came following a comprehensive review of who might be qualified to lead the committee that will eventually decide what the project should accomplish.

Mar 20, 2026

Meta-Evaluation Initiative Triumphantly Validates Need for Future Meta-Evaluations

After 24 months and $8.3 million, the Department of Administrative Excellence has successfully determined that determining things requires determination. Officials celebrate the conclusive proof that their methodology for proving methodologies works exactly as methodically as intended.

Mar 19, 2026

Revolutionary Efficiency Initiative Achieves Perfect Timing by Completing Just as Next Revolutionary Efficiency Initiative Begins

The Department of Administrative Excellence has successfully concluded its four-year strategic overhaul designed to streamline operations, with the final report arriving precisely as officials break ground on an identical four-year strategic overhaul. Agency leaders describe the timing as 'serendipitous' and 'cost-effective.'

Mar 19, 2026

Agency Marks Three Decades of Outstanding Achievement in Not Starting Things

The Federal Bureau of Strategic Readiness Operations has reached a remarkable milestone: thirty years of flawless preparation for work that might eventually begin. Officials say the agency's commitment to thorough groundwork has never been stronger.

Mar 18, 2026

Federal Bureaucracy Achieves Breakthrough in Making Things More Complicated Than They Already Were

The newly formed Efficiency Modernization Coordination Council has successfully turned the simple act of improving government into a 23-person committee that requires three separate approvals to schedule a coffee break. Their first major accomplishment: determining that efficiency requires more inefficiency.

Mar 18, 2026

Committee to Evaluate Committee Effectiveness Concludes More Committees Needed to Evaluate Committee Conclusions

The Federal Advisory Committee on Advisory Committee Optimization has delivered its definitive verdict after 18 months of rigorous deliberation: America desperately needs three additional committees to properly understand what they just spent 18 months studying. The 200-page report recommends forming committees to review the committee that reviewed committees.

Mar 18, 2026

Congressional Investigators Launch Investigation Into Why Their Investigation Into Previous Investigations Never Investigated Anything

A freshly minted oversight committee has begun the delicate process of examining why its predecessor failed to examine why their predecessor failed to examine anything meaningful. The investigation into the investigation of investigations is expected to require its own investigation by early 2025.

Mar 18, 2026

Interdisciplinary Task Force Marks Three Decades of Studying Whether Task Forces Should Exist

The Federal Interagency Working Group on Interagency Working Groups has spent thirty years determining if government needs working groups. Their conclusion remains pending, though they've successfully created fourteen subcommittees to help reach it.

Mar 17, 2026