Year: 2025

  • Supreme Court hears case on nationwide injunctions tied to birthright citizenship order

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    What happened? The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments May 15 in Trump v. CASA, Inc., a case challenging President Donald Trump’s (R) executive order restricting birthright citizenship. The case was consolidated with Trump v. Washington and Trump v. New Jersey, in which four and 18 states, respectively, filed lawsuits against the administration. The legal…

  • Proposed OPM rule would change procedures to terminate career federal employees

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    What’s the story On May 23, 2025, the public commentary window ended for a proposed Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rule that would modify the procedures for terminating career federal employees, also known as civil servants. The OPM proposed the rule on April 23. The proposed “Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service”…

  • Trump signs legislation addressing deepfakes, 32 states have passed similar laws since 2019

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    Welcome to the Tuesday, May 27, 2025, Brew.  By: Lara Bonatesta Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: Trump signs legislation addressing deepfakes, 32 states have passed similar laws since 2019 On May 19, President Donald Trump (R) signed Senate Bill 146, also called the TAKE IT DOWN Act.  According to…

  • ICYMI: Top stories of the week

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    Texas legislators put citizen voting requirement on 2025 ballot  On Nov. 4, Texas voters will decide on a constitutional amendment that would add noncitizens to the list of people who cannot vote in the state. In Texas, a two-thirds supermajority vote in each chamber is required to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. This…

  • The Ballot Bulletin: Ballotpedia’s Weekly Digest on Election Administration, May 23, 2025

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    Welcome to The Ballot Bulletin: Ballotpedia’s Weekly Digest on Election Administration. Every Friday, we deliver the latest updates on election policy around the country, including nationwide trends and recent legislative activity.  In this week’s Ballot Bulletin, we cover 305 bills state legislatures acted on in the past week. Weekly highlights The big takeaways from the…

  • House passes One Big Beautiful Bill Act budget reconciliation bill 215-214

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    House Republicans’ 2025 budget reconciliation package, H.R. 1 – the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed the chamber 215-214 on May 22. Approval in the House sent the bill to the Senate. The bill includes provisions on tax policy, border security and immigration, defense, energy production, the debt limit, adjustments to SNAP and Medicaid, and…

  • A look at the laws governing foreign spending on candidates and ballot measure campaigns

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    Welcome to the Friday, May 23, 2025, Brew.  By: Lara Bonatesta Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: A look at the laws governing foreign spending on candidates and ballot measure campaigns  This year, several states have acted on legislation about the issue of foreign spending on candidate elections and ballot…

  • Reconciliation, Explained (pt. 2) — What to watch as Congress negotiates Trump’s budget bill

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    Episode #190 Reconciliation, Explained (pt. 2) — What to watch as Congress negotiates Trump’s budget bill On this episode: Congress is once again turning to the powerful tool of budget reconciliation to try and pass major legislation — and with razor-thin majorities in both chambers, every vote counts for the Republican coalition trying to pass…

  • Boston could become the seventh of the 100 largest cities to adopt ranked-choice voting

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    Welcome to the Thursday, May 22, Brew.  By: Briana Ryan Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: Boston could become the seventh of the 100 largest cities to adopt ranked-choice voting On May 14, the nonpartisan Boston City Council voted 8-4 to approve a home rule petition to adopt ranked-choice voting…

  • Two candidates are running in a special election for District 4 on the Miami Board of Commissioners

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    Jose Regalado and Ralph Rosado are running in a nonpartisan special election for District 4 of the Miami City Commission on June 3, 2025. Former incumbent Manolo Reyes died on April 11. The winner will complete the remainder of Reyes’ term, which will expire in 2027. Regalado was the assistant building director for the city…