About James Wallner
Legislative procedure from someone who has practiced it.
James Wallner is the founder and primary author of Legislative Procedure. He writes about the rules, precedents, practices, and strategies that shape how Congress works.
Wallner is a congressional procedure expert with more than two decades of experience studying, practicing, and teaching American politics and the legislative process. His work focuses on how the House and Senate actually operate—and how lawmakers use procedure to advance, block, amend, and ultimately decide legislation.
Through Legislative Procedure Consulting, Wallner advises organizations and individuals on congressional procedure and legislative strategy. He helps clients identify procedural opportunities and constraints, assess legislative options, and understand how decisions inside the House and Senate can affect policy outcomes.
Need help navigating Congress?
Experience Inside Congress
Wallner spent more than a decade working on Capitol Hill in senior positions in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
He served as Executive Director of the Senate Steering Committee during the chairmanships of Senators Pat Toomey and Mike Lee. In that role, he served as the principal parliamentary adviser to the chairman and the committee’s Executive Committee and worked directly on Senate procedure, floor strategy, nominations, legislation, and internal conference deliberations.
Earlier, Wallner served as Legislative Director to Senators Jeff Sessions and Pat Toomey. He began his Capitol Hill career as a Legislative Assistant in the House of Representatives.
That experience informs Legislative Procedure’s central approach: congressional rules cannot be understood in isolation. What matters is how lawmakers use those rules in practice—and how procedure interacts with politics, strategy, institutions, and individual senators and representatives.
Congressional Procedure & Legislative Strategy Consulting
Wallner works with organizations and individuals that need specialized expertise on Congress and the legislative process.
His consulting work can include:
House and Senate rules and procedure
Legislative and floor strategy
Senate parliamentary procedure
Filibusters and cloture
Budget reconciliation
Appropriations and continuing resolutions
Nominations and confirmations
Amendments, points of order, and procedural motions
Congressional organization and leadership
Analysis of legislation and its procedural path
Procedural research and historical analysis
Strategic assessment of congressional opportunities and constraints
Engagements can range from discrete research questions and procedural analysis to ongoing advisory work.
For consulting inquiries, contact James directly.
Research and Writing
Wallner’s research focuses on Congress, legislative procedure, the separation of powers, political parties, and the federal policymaking process.
He has written extensively about the United States Senate and is the author of three books on Senate politics, procedure, and institutional development:
The Death of Deliberation: Partisanship and Polarization in the United States Senate
On Parliamentary War: Partisan Conflict and Procedural Change in the United States Senate
The Death of Deliberation: Gridlock and the Politics of Effort in the United States Senate
His analysis has also appeared in publications focused on Congress, politics, public policy, and constitutional government.
Wallner is a non-resident fellow on the American Governance team at the Foundation for American Innovation.
Education
Wallner received his Ph.D. and M.A. in politics from the Catholic University of America. He also holds an M.Sc. in International and European Politics from the University of Edinburgh and a B.A. in political science from the University of Georgia.
He has taught courses on Congress, American government, and politics at several universities.
About Legislative Procedure
Wallner founded Legislative Procedure to make congressional procedure easier to understand without oversimplifying it.
The site explains the formal rules governing the House and Senate, but it also examines the precedents, practices, incentives, and strategic choices that determine how those rules work in the real world.
James Wallner is Legislative Procedure’s founder and primary author. Articles by other scholars and practitioners appear periodically as contributions and are identified by author.
Work With James Wallner
Understanding congressional procedure can determine whether a legislative strategy succeeds or fails.
For consulting, research, speaking, or other professional inquiries: