Those who complete all courses along one of the concentrations listed below will become a CPI Bellator and receive a sought-after credential from CPI. However, you may take as many or as few CPI courses as you wish.
Most courses consist of 4-6 class sessions, with each weekly session lasting between 1.5 to 2 hours. In order to have “completed” a course and obtain a CPI certification, you must have satisfactorily completed all required courses.
You will also have opportunities to attend exclusive forums with Constitutional scholars, historians, and experts in political thought.
Introduction to Congressional Writing
The ability to engage in clear, organized, and responsive writing is a foundational skill in succeeding on Capitol Hill. Through reviewing examples and engaging in writing practicums, this course is designed to impart the technical skills of good policy writing. Attendees will gain practical insights into good writing from Michael Connolly, a veteran Capitol Hill speechwriter, as well as the opportunity to practice and hone the craft of congressional writing. This course is highly recommended for entry level positions.
pre-writing strategies, first drafting, developing good habits and overcoming common challenges
four elements of paragraphing and strategies for improving successive drafts
sentence types, functions, and architecture
Overviews of and strategies for common congressional writing formats
Energy Policy: An Overview
“Energy independence” has been a platform issue for decades – but the mechanics of how it actually works are less well understood. Instructed by Kenny Stein, the Vice President of Policy at the Institute for Energy Research, this course is designed to unpack the practical aspects of American energy policy. Course material will cover regulations and policy as it relates to electricity generation, mining and fracking, energy markets, and how federal energy policy interacts with environmental policy.
Energy Sectors, Production Basics, Regulatory Roles, and Lobbying Interests
Electricity Generation, State and Federal Environmental Mandates, and Comparing Generation Sources
Federal Laws Governing Energy in the United States
Shale Revolution, Foreign Policy, and Market Changes
House Procedure and Strategy
Instructed by veteran House staffers, this course covers the basics of House procedure. Sessions cover the history and function of the House Rules Committee, the role of staff and Members on the House floor, an overview of germaneness, and the various procedural motions offered to the minority. This course is perfect for a new House staffer, policy organization staffer, or a veteran looking for a refresher.
House Floor, Committee of the Whole and the House, House calendars, and the discharge calendar
Overview of important House rules, Rules Committee, reading rules, and types of rules
Drafting and considering amendments, germaness as a concept, resolving differences between the House and Senate
Means of delay or protest, motions to recommit and case studies
Senate Procedure and Strategy 101
This course is designed to bring new Senate staffers up to speed and remind veterans of the tools and strategies they have at their disposal. Senate Procedure and Strategy 101 will cover the basic mechanics of the Senate floor, including the interaction between regular order and unanimous consent, cloture, moving to proceed, and the fundamentals of the Senate’s amendment tree and appropriations process. Each session ends with a practicum where attendees are encouraged to apply their skills in context. This a “must take” class for any Senate staffer and a prerequisite for Senate Procedure & Strategy 201, our advanced Senate procedure course.
An introduction to key concepts and procedural features of Senate procedure and the Senate floor.
An overview of Rule 13, Rule 14, and Rule 22 in the context of daily Senate operations, as well as the motion to proceed and an introduction to cloture.
How unanimous consent interacts with the Senate, creates leverage, and informs the Senate’s custom of holds – and how to handle it.
An overview of the forms and types of amendments, drafting guidance, and how amendments are made pending utilizing the Senate’s amendment tree.
The basics of appropriating and an introduction to the Senate’s Rule 16, which covers the appropriations process in the Senate.
Federal Budget Policy & Process
CPI’s federal budget course is designed to give attendees a practitioner's view of how federal budgeting works at the congressional and executive level. Course material covers the House and Senate budget process, including the unique features of how the budget reconciliation process is handled in each chamber and how budgeting interacts with the appropriations process. Finally, attendees will get an overview of how the executive branch manages federal spending through the Office of Management and Budget.
Fundamentals of Appropriations
The Fundamentals of Appropriations course outlines the architecture and mechanisms of federal spending. Over the course of three sessions, attendees will receive a historical overview of the federal appropriations process at the executive and congressional level, specifically: House and Senate appropriations process, the appropriations interaction with the 302(a) and 302(b) allocations set in the federal budget, the President’s budget, and how the Office of Management and Budget are involved with the congressional appropriations process. Attendees are encouraged, but not required, to also take our Federal Budget Policy & Process course.
Historical overview of the appropriations process.
The basics of Rules 16, which governs appropriations in the Senate.
Discussing the appropriations interaction between Congress and the executive branch agencies.
Defense Policy & the NDAA
The Department of Defense is the largest federal agency with 1.3 million active duty soldiers, 700,000 civilian personnel, and 1.1 million citizens who serve in the National Guard and Reserve Forces. This course is designed to provide attendees with an overview of how the DOD is organized, how it sets budget priorities, and ultimately how Congress authorizes and appropriates its funding. Over three sessions, the course material will cover the DOD's structure, the agency’s budget priorities, and close by covering the National Defense Authorization and defense appropriations.
Healthcare Policy and Politics
Healthcare policy can be complicated and a seemingly unending labyrinth of copays and premiums, but you as a congressional staffer, you might need to know how it works for your job. Come learn the layman's version of our complicated healthcare system. This course will cover insurance markets, Medicaid and Medicare, delivery system reform, and more.
Fundamentals of Election Integrity
Our Election Integrity Course introduces the major federal elections statues, identifies the appropriate areas for congressional engagement, and provides insight into current election related issues. This course is taught by leading experts in the field with decades of experience working on the issues from inside and outside the federal government. Some of the major statutes that you will learn about are: Voting Rights Act, Help America Vote Act, National Voter Registration Act, Ranked Choice Voting, and ensuring only citizens can vote.
Proper understanding of Article 1, Section 4, Electoral College Process, Funding of Elections
SAVE Act, NVRA, UOCAVA, and State Voter Laws, Congress/State Actions to Ensure Citizen Voting
Efforts to change voting laws, Ranked-choice voting, mail voting/vote harvesting, state election reforms
Fundamentals of Immigration Policy
What is conservative border security policy? What's the right amount of legal immigration? How can illegal immigration be disincentivized and prohibited? Fundamentals of Immigration Policy is designed to bring awareness to all of these concepts. The course material will cover the basics of federal asylum law, border security, interior enforcement, family-based immigration, and provide a robust discussion of conservative policy solutions.
America First: A Foreign Policy Overview
This course is designed to focus on a singular question: what does a conservative foreign policy look like? Attendees will pursue this concept within the context of a rising China, threats in the Middle East, and a militarily stagnant Europe. Discussion will also cover the main actors shaping the country’s foreign policy intellectually and in practice, and walk away with a framework to process critical questions regarding America’s changing role in the world.
Senate Procedure and Strategy 201
This advanced Senate procedure class builds on the offerings of Senate Procedure & Strategy 101 with more advanced concepts governing the Senate’s appropriations process, Senate committees, conference rules, Rule 22 germaneness, the amendment tree, and several case studies of complex floor scenarios. The last session is a Senate floor practicum with attendees applying strategy in various roles and contexts in the majority and the minority. This course is specifically designed to hone the skills taught in Senate Procedure & Strategy 101 and help attendees learn to apply floor tactics in multiple dynamic scenarios. Attendees must have taken Senate Procedure & Strategy 101 to register, or be waived in after consultation with the instructors.
A detailed look at how the Senate appropriates under its rules, including points of order and the defense of germaneness.
A deep-dive into Rule 22, including germaneness, precedence of motions, the one-hour rule, and advanced amendment trees.
An overview of committee rules and process, Rule 28, and conference rules.
Bringing multiple concepts together using case studies from real floor scenarios.
A live Senate floor practicum with participants standing in as Senators.