Category Archives: Congressional Foreign Travel

A Closer Look at Congressional Foreign Travel

On Monday, Paul Singer at USA Today reported new data on the burgeoning practice of congressional foreign travel. According to Singer, federal legislators spent more government funds venturing abroad in 2016 than any other year in the past decade. Roughly … Continue reading

Posted in Congressional Foreign Travel, U.S. Foreign Relations Law, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A Legal Analysis of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s Trip to Syria

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) has drawn attention in recent weeks for leading a delegation to Syria and Lebanon, where she reportedly met with government leaders, refugees, and members of civil society. The stated purposes were to engage in fact-finding and … Continue reading

Posted in Congressional Foreign Travel, Foreign Affairs Constitution, U.S. Foreign Relations Law, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

New Article on the Diplomacy Powers of Congress

I’m happy to report that I have a new piece out in the Michigan Law Review. It’s entitled “Legislative Diplomacy” and provides an empirical and theoretical analysis on the extent to which Congress has constitutional authority to engage in international diplomacy. … Continue reading

Posted in Congressional Foreign Travel, Foreign Affairs Constitution | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Data on Congressional Foreign Travel

If you’d like to know about some of your representative’s or senator’s foreign travel habits, you can find out at the link below. The link will download a spreadsheet containing data on all congressional foreign travel for 2009, which is … Continue reading

Posted in Congressional Foreign Travel, Foreign Affairs Constitution, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Foreign Travel By Members of Congress (Part III)

As I explained previously (here and here), I’ve been writing a piece that examines Congress’s involvement in international diplomacy. One half of the article documents the nature and extent of the contemporary practice, while the other analyzes that practice from a separation-of-powers … Continue reading

Posted in Congressional Foreign Travel, Foreign Affairs Constitution | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Foreign Travel by Members of Congress (Part II)

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been writing an article on the subject of international diplomacy by members of Congress, with an emphasis on congressional delegations (“CODELs”) to foreign countries. Information about CODEL practice has been pretty limited, so … Continue reading

Posted in Congressional Foreign Travel, Foreign Affairs Constitution | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Foreign Travel by Members of Congress (Part I)

The Constitution allocates power over the conduct of foreign relations primarily to the executive, but diplomacy by Congress is common. Members of the House and Senate frequently travel overseas as part of congressional delegations—or “CODELs”—to meet with foreign officials, and … Continue reading

Posted in Congressional Foreign Travel, Foreign Affairs Constitution | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments