RSS in GovernmentSenator Joseph Biden (D-Del.) is the first senator with a RSS news feed for press releases on his official site. Feeds for other senators will soon follow according to Jason Blum in Enterprise Systems Support of the office of the U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms. Plans call for what Blum refers to as "RSS relay agents." These are local customized feeds for hometown constituents for NOAA weather alerts and state news.
At least one other, Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), had a weblog on his official Senate site this past summer, but he didn't provide readers of "Travels with Tom" with a subscription feed.
The most sophisticated uses of RSS in the Senate are currently found at the presidential campaign blogs of Senators Edwards, Kerry and Lieberman. The site of the Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) campaign blog also hosts the Edwards Family Blog, "custom blogs" for registered members of his campaign, nine state specific campaign blogs, and four special purpose blogs including a nascent Spanish language blog.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and the newest member of this blogging trio Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) both have Movable Type installations. Former Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.) may not be in the race for the presidency, but supporters will be happy to know that he, too, has a news blog where they can leave comments and well wishes.
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U.S. Senator George Allen (R-Va.) has had an official RSS feed for about a week. We plan to offer specialized "channels" in the near future for regional news, grant announcements, etc.
Patrick Creehan
systems administrator / web developer
office of senator george allen