In 1963, Joseph Valachi testified for 5 days before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, exposing Mafia operations on national TV. Its 135-page bipartisan report helped lead to the passage of the Organized Crime Control Act, which included RICO laws.

This week, our State Oversight Academy trained 28 state legislators and two Medicaid directors at CSG’s Medicaid Conference. Participants explored their role in Medicaid policy, proactive oversight of H.R. 1 changes, and practiced conducting oversight through a rural maternal health case study.

If you're in Michigan, don't forget to vote in the primary elections today! Find your precinct at the Michigan Voter Information Center: mvic.sos.state.mi.us

In 1932, the Senate launched an investigation into the 1929 stock market crash. After hiring Ferdinand Pecora in 1933, the inquiry took off. Pecora personally served subpoenas and waited for documents. The investigation laid the foundation for sweeping financial reforms.

On the 5th anniversary of Sen. Carl Levin’s passing, CORD adds U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee oversight reports—honoring the committee he led and his bipartisan belief that strong national security requires strong oversight. www.cord-levin-center.org

Find your polling place at mvic.sos.state.mi.us

We asked our staff: What does Congress mean to you? Here's what the State Oversight Academy said.

We asked our staff: What does Congress mean to you? Here's what the Learning by Hearings civics team said.

We asked our staff: What does Congress mean to you? Here's what the D.C. team said.

Today, we honor Senator Carl Levin on what would be his 92nd birthday.  He showed us how to work together, to treat everyone with dignity, to be compassionate, to ground our work in justice, to embrace the promise of this country, to laugh, and to root for the Tigers. We miss him every day.

We’re excited to announce the 2026/27 Elise J. Bean Oversight Fellows, Laura de Castro Quaglia from Roanoke College, and Greg Hunt! Their research will explore legislative oversight, accountability, transparency, and democratic governance, continuing Elise Bean’s legacy.

President Trump’s $1.8 billion fund for possibly paying persons committing violence on Jan. 6 is more than the annual budget of the U.S. Senate ($1.2 billion or $3.50 per American), an amount hardly sufficient to oversee the executive branch and competently do the people’s business.

In these times, a reminder of what democracy demands of our leaders and us all. @ Maryland State House

Friday Fact! In 1848, first-term House member Abraham Lincoln wrote: #America250

Did you know that the Levin Center has special oversight workshops for women legislators? We spent a great afternoon with the New York Legislative Women's Caucus in October discussing how women can work together to do great oversight in their state legislature!

March is National Reading Month, so we thought we'd offer some staff recommendations! Here are Ben's: The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann

March is National Reading Month, so we thought we'd offer some staff recommendations! Here are Linda's: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry Middlemarch by George Eliot Killer Angels by Michael Shaara Weight of Ink by Rachel Kaddish Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

March is National Reading Month, so we thought we'd offer some staff recommendations! Here are Jim's: The Known World by Edward Jones Atonement by Ian McEwan Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

March is National Reading Month, so we thought we'd offer some staff recommendations! Here are Clara's: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier Middlemarch by George Eliot Jade City by Fonda Lee Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

March is National Reading Month, so we thought we'd offer some staff recommendations! Here are Kyle's: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë The Wedding People by Alison Espach The Prisoner in His Palace by Will Bardenwerper Truman by David McCullough

March is National Reading Month, so we thought we'd offer some staff recommendations! Here are Margaux's: If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura Veronica Speedwell series by Deanna Raybourn Winter Journal by Paul Auster Harry Potter series (with her daughter)

📢Announcing our 2026 D.C. Intern Cohort! Kendall Yancey, a 1L at Wayne Law and Hampton University graduate, is interested in foreign policy, national security, and legislative oversight. He’ll serve his internship with the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

Announcing our 2026 D.C. Intern Cohort! Jeremiah Arnold, a 1L at Wayne Law and SVSU graduate, majored in Criminal Justice and Sociology and interned with the SVSU Foundation. He’ll serve on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee as this year’s Pauline Cohen Endowed Intern.

📢Announcing our 2026 D.C. Intern Cohort! Shannon Higgins, a 1L at Wayne Law, studied Biopsychology, Cognition & Neuroscience at the University of Michigan and worked with Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts. She’ll intern with the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

The fantastic instructors of the 22nd Congressional Oversight Boot Camp! Dave Rapallo, Andy Wright, Ashley Callen, and Tim Stretton (@pogo.org).

The 2nd Continental Congress/Congress of Confederation (1781) was our gov’t for most of the Revolutionary War, more than 8 years, making all major decisions.  It adjourned in 1789, after adoption of our Constitution, and the U.S. Congress came into being. #America250 #USA250 #Congress250

And so it begins… The first congress of the United States, representing 12/13 colonies (- Georgia) convened in Philadelphia on Sept. 5th in 1774 and met for 6 weeks. It tried to negotiate a relationship with Great Britain that acknowledged the rights of colonists. #Congress250 #America250 #USA250

🧵The Levin Center is launching our #Congress250 campaign today! #USA250 #America250

Happy holidays from the Levin Center!