Pew: “Partisan divide on whether shutdown is ‘very serious’ problem. With the partial shutdown of the federal government in its third week, both opponents and supporters of expanding the U.S.-Mexico border wall overwhelmingly oppose making concessions to end the stalemate. A new Pew Research Center survey finds that majority of Americans (58%) continue to oppose… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Congress
Federal Watchdog Finds Government Ignored Emoluments Clause With Trump Hotel
NPR: “Officials leasing the Old Post Office Building for the Trump International Hotel in Washington improperly ignored the Constitution’s anti-corruption clauses when they continued to lease the government property to President Trump even after he won the White House, according to an internal federal government watchdog. The Inspector General for the General Services Administration, the… Continue Reading
House of Representatives Adopts Whistleblower and Ethics Reforms for Itself
POGO: “The House of Representatives has new rules for itself that will foster stronger accountability and ethics, and protect whistleblowers. At the beginning of each legislative session, Congress adopts rules that cover everything from voting procedures to the names of committees to who is admitted into the halls of Congress to dress codes for Members.… Continue Reading
CRS – Can the Department of Defense Build the Border Wall?
Via FAS/Secrecy News: “If the President were to declare a national emergency in order to justify building a “wall” on the border with Mexico, there would be certain legal authorities that he could invoke to initiate construction operations. But the scope of those legal authorities is uncertain and would almost certainly trigger litigation to challenge their… Continue Reading
Redefining Representation: The Women of the 116th Congress
The New York Times – photographs of all but one (Liz Cheney of Wyoming) of the women (80% of them are Democrats) of the 116th Congress of the United States of America. “Just over a century ago, Jeannette Rankin of Montana won a seat in the House of Representatives, becoming the first woman ever elected… Continue Reading
Impact of Government Shutdown Across America
The New York Times – “In many parts of the United States, the shutdown has underscored how deeply the federal government is connected to everyday life. “From the start, it has seemed like the federal government shutdown with no end in sight. More than three weeks later, with Washington still gridlocked over President Trump’s demand… Continue Reading
U.S. Government Has Amassed Terabytes of Internal WikiLeaks Data
Gizmodo: “Late last year, the U.S. government accidentally revealed that a sealed complaint had been filed against Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. Shortly before this was made public, the FBI reconfirmed its investigation of WikiLeaks was ongoing, and the Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice was optimistic that it would be… Continue Reading
Politico – Impeachment Guide
“As talk of the I-word heats up, here’s POLITICO Magazine’s soup-to-nuts answers to all your questions about the politics—and the practical realities—of removing a president. So, what would an impeachment really take in the Washington of 2019, and how would it all go down? To answer these questions, POLITICO interviewed more than two dozen sources,… Continue Reading
Trump’s Russia Cover-Up By the Numbers – 101 contacts with Russia-linked operatives
The Moscow Project – “…an initiative of the Center for American Progress Action Fund dedicated to analyzing the facts behind Trump’s collusion with Russia and communicating the findings to the public…” Last Updated January 9, 2018 On January 6, 2017, the U.S. intelligence community issued a report that showed there were two campaigns to elect… Continue Reading
United States Congress elections, 2020
Ballotpedia – The encyclopedia of American politics: “A total of 468 seats in the U.S. Congress (33 Senate seats and all 435 House seats) are up for election on November 3, 2020. U.S. Senate – There are 11 Democratic seats, 20 Republican seats, and two seats currently waiting to be filled via special election on… Continue Reading
Congress’s Authority to Influence and Control Executive Branch Agencies
EveryCRSReport.com – CRS report – Congress’s Authority to Influence and Control Executive Branch Agencies, Updated December 19, 2018. “The Constitution neither establishes administrative agencies nor explicitly prescribes the manner by which they may be created. Even so, the Supreme Court has generally recognized that Congress has broad constitutional authority to establish and shape the federal… Continue Reading
The Special Counsel Investigation After the Attorney General’s Resignation
Via FAS: The Special Counsel Investigation After the Attorney General’s Resignation, CRS Legal Sidebar, January 2, 2019 : “Recent Department of Justice (DOJ) leadership changes have raised questions about their impact on the special counsel investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election and related matters. Who will oversee the investigation? How do personnel… Continue Reading
