Playing with congressional data from the ProPublica Congress API

At our next Hacks/Hackers (https://www.meetup.com/Hacks-Hackers-DC/) meetup, we’ll get together to learn to work with legislative data using the ProPublica Congress API (https://www.propublica.org/datastore/api/propublica-congress-api). According to ProPublica: “The Congress API provides near real-time access to legislative data from the House of Representatives, the Senate and the Library of Congress. It includes details about members, votes, bills and other aspects of congressional activity.”

If you plan to come, register for a free API key[link (https://www.propublica.org/datastore/api/propublica-congress-api)] in advance, review the API documentation[link (https://www.propublica.org/datastore/api/propublica-congress-api)] and come with an idea or two for a project you’d like to work on using Congressional data.

We will meet at the Washington bureau (https://merrill.umd.edu/about-merrill/capital-news-service/cns_bureaus/#washington) of Capital News Service (http://cnsmaryland.org/), a news organization run by our co-sponsor the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism (https://merrill.umd.edu/). The bureau is located on the Concourse Level of the Ronald Reagan Building (building map (https://merrill.umd.edu/about-merrill/capital-news-service/cns_bureaus/#washington)).

Food won’t be provided, so feel free to bring your own snacks. There’s also a food court in the Ronald Reagan Building. After the meetup, join the community for networking and drinks.