First Branch Forecast: “While legislative branch agencies belong to Congress, not all are entirely free of executive branch entanglements. The question of how Congress chooses, oversees, and removes legislative branch agency heads is integral to the independence of the legislative branch, especially with recent White House efforts to take over or place personnel inside the Library of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, the Government Publishing Office, and the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights. Legislative branch agencies are responsible for providing confidential legal and policy advice to Congress, conducting its oversight of the Executive branch, providing Congress with access to records, independently evaluating the state of our economy, administering the legislative branch workplace including addressing complaints concerning member misbehavior, and much more. There are very good reasons why their activities should be fully independent and separate from White House control. A few years back we surveyed how appointments work for officers like the Architect of the Capitol, Librarian of Congress, the Director of the Government Publishing Office, the Comptroller General of the United States, and there was no consistency. How inconsistent? Let’s provide some examples…”