CRS Report – Supreme Court Appointment Process: President’s Selection of a Nominee, Updated January 28, 2022: “The appointment of a Supreme Court Justice is an event of major significance in American politics. Each appointment is of consequence because of the enormous judicial power the Supreme Court exercises as the highest appellate court in the federal… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Congress
Congressional Pictorial Directory: 117th Congress now available
Govinfo: “The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) makes available the Congressional Pictorial Directory: 117th Congress on GPO’s govinfo, the one-stop site to information published by the Federal Government. GPO teammates designed and produced the Pictorial Directory, which features a color photograph of each Member of the House of Representatives and Senate. It also details each… Continue Reading
Libraries, Publishers Battle Over Terms for E-Books’ Use
Bloomberg Law: “States that want to give libraries a better deal on e-books are watching a publishers’ suit against Maryland, the first state to set terms for how digital books are distributed for public borrowing. Library associations, including the American Library Association and several state groups, have been pushing for state laws to require publishers… Continue Reading
How Trump’s flirtation with an anti-insurrection law inspired Jan. 6 insurrection
Washington Post: “Within days of President Donald Trump’s election defeat, Stewart Rhodes began talking about the Insurrection Act as critical to the country’s future. The bombastic founder of the extremist group Oath Keepers told followers that the obscure, rarely used law would allow Trump to declare a national emergency so dire that the military, militias… Continue Reading
Google deceived consumers about how it profits from their location data, attorneys general allege in lawsuits
Washington Post: “Attorneys general from D.C. and three states sued Google on Monday, arguing that the search giant deceived consumers to gain access to their location data. The lawsuits, filed in the District of Columbia, Texas, Washington and Indiana, allege the company made misleading promises about its users’ ability to protect their privacy through Google… Continue Reading
Congress Is Trying To Figure Out What To Do About Crypto’s Colossal Carbon Footprint
BuzzFeedNews: “For years, cryptocurrency has rivaled entire nations in terms of energy use, and US lawmakers are just now starting to investigate how crypto mining operations could be undermining global efforts to combat climate change. This question was the subject of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on Thursday that broadly examined the carbon… Continue Reading
Select Committee Subpoenas Trump Allies Involved in Attempts to Challenge or Overturn 2020 Election Results
“Washington—Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) today announced that the Select Committee has issued subpoenas to four individuals who publicly promoted unsupported claims about the 2020 election and participated in attempts to disrupt or delay the certification of election results. The committee is demanding records and testimony from Rudolph Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, and Boris… Continue Reading
2022 Edelman Trust Barometer
2022 Edelman Trust Barometer: “The world is failing to meet the unprecedented challenges of our time because it is ensnared in a vicious cycle of distrust. Four interlocking forces drive this cycle, thwarting progress on climate change, global pandemic management, racism and mounting tensions between China and the U.S. Left unchecked, the following four forces, evident… Continue Reading
Big Tech foes launch ‘campaign-style’ initiative to push for antitrust legislation
Washington Post: “Tech giants in the past decade have funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into lobbying, advertising, polling and research to advance their political interests in Washington. Now some of their top adversaries are forming a plan to use that same playbook to press Congress to pass bills that would place new limits on… Continue Reading
New Series of CRS Reports on Constitutional Analysis adds additional reports
Follow up to previous posting – New Series of CRS Reports on Constitutional Analysis, The Modes of Constitutional Analysis Parts 1-5 have expanded to include Parts 6-8. The Modes of Constitutional Analysis: Moral Reasoning and the National Ethos (Part 6), Brandon J. Murrill, Jan 13, 2022 The Modes of Constitutional Analysis: Structuralism (Part 7), Brandon… Continue Reading
The true cost of Amazon’s low prices
Vox/Recode: “On the heels of yet another year of record sales, Amazon is dealing with a couple of unwelcome updates in the new year. The Senate Judiciary Committee has announced it will soon be marking up the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, an antitrust bill targeting Amazon and other Big Tech companies. This follows… Continue Reading
Striking findings from 2021
Pew – “…here are some of Pew Research Center’s most striking research findings from the past year. These 15 findings cover subjects ranging from extreme weather to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing demographic shifts in the United States. And they represent just a small slice of the year’s full list of research publications…” Continue Reading
