How to use Civibrief
A short tour: the three ways in, what every section answers, the parts that are easy to miss, and where to go for a specific question. None of it needs an account, and none of it is a preview of something paid.
Start here
Three moves, about a minute. Or skip all of it and browse: no step gates anything.
Prefer to be walked through it? Set up Civibrief does the same three steps in order and offers to save them at the end.
Every section, and the question it answers
This is the menu on the left, in the same order, with a sentence on each. On a phone, the button in the header opens it.
Two addresses are not in the menu because you reach them from inside the app: Find your jurisdiction, where My Civic View sends you the first time, and the brief gallery, reached from Your Civibrief.
Easy to miss
Eight things the app does that nothing on screen shouts about.
Members, officials, bills, rights, and activity in one box. Nothing to click first.
Hover or tap any dotted term for a plain-language definition, without losing your place.
The Source badge opens the official record behind a claim. Where sources disagree, both are shown.
Recolor the whole country by party control, income, funding, or representation, each lens naming its source.
The bookmark on a bill, member, region, or rights page files it in Saved Items.
The bell reports movement on what you follow. It never invents a reason to pull you back.
The Report control on any record takes a correction and a source, and we check it against the official record.
Dark, light, or follow your device. Set it once during setup, change it any time from the header.
Press Ctrl K (or ⌘ K on a Mac) from anywhere to jump into search. A plain / works too, as long as you are not already typing in a field. The arrow keys walk the results and Esc closes them.
Hover or tap either of these: a bill can survive markupA committee session where members amend a measure line by line and vote on whether to report it to the full chamber.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) and still die by pocket vetoIf Congress adjourns during the President's 10-day window so the bill cannot be returned, presidential inaction kills it instead of enacting it, and there is nothing to override.Read the full definition (opens a new tab). The definition opens in place, and the link inside it opens the full entry in a new tab so you keep your spot.
Where do I find
The questions people arrive with, and the page that answers each.
| You want to know | Go to |
|---|---|
| Who represents me? | My Civic View |
| How did my senator vote on that? | Roll-Call Votes |
| Is this bill actually moving? | Bills |
| What did the President sign this week? | Source Feed |
| What is happening on the floor right now? | This Week in Congress |
| What does cloture mean? | Glossary |
| How does a bill become law, step by step? | How Government Works |
| What are my rights in this situation? | Constitution & Rights |
| Who is running in 2026, and when do I vote? | Midterms 2026 |
| Who is paying lobbyists on this issue? | Lobbying Money |
| Which court covers my county? | Courts & Rulings |
| Who runs this agency, and who can remove them? | Departments & Agencies |
| Where does the money behind my member come from? | Representatives |
| How do I delete everything you have on me? | Account & Privacy |
Accounts, and what you give up without one
Short answer: almost nothing. An account backs up what you already built.
- Read every page in the app, all of it, with no cap and no trial.
- Set your area and get your representatives and your courts.
- Follow briefs and read Your Civibrief. Guests keep briefs in the browser, and nothing about them is stored on the server.
- Choose your theme, search everything, and open every official source.
- Saved Items, kept with your account instead of one browser.
- Notifications when something you follow moves.
- Reporting a bad record, which is tied to an account so we can follow up.
- An export of your data, and a permanent delete, on demand.
Supporting the project is a separate choice with its own page, Support the mission. It unlocks convenience and cosmetic extras only. No civic record is ever behind it.
What it will not do
Worth knowing up front, because it explains why some things you might expect are missing.
No ratings, rankings, or sentiment on any person or party. Party affiliation is stated once, plainly, as metadata.
Nothing is ordered to keep you here. Filters are choices you make, and clearing them shows everything again.
When a source is down we say so instead of substituting placeholder data, and when official sources disagree we show both.
This page is about the app. How government worksis about government: walkthroughs of the processes themselves, the offices and their powers, and the glossary. If the question is “where do I click”, you are already on the right page. If it is “how does this actually work”, go there. For what Civibrief is and where its data comes from, see About this app.