Category: Federal

  • Checks and Balances: State lawmakers press for oversight of emergency powers

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    The Checks and Balances Letter delivers news and information from Ballotpedia’s Administrative State Project, including pivotal actions at the federal and state levels related to the separation of powers, due process and the rule of law. This edition:  In this month’s edition of Checks and Balances, we review the six resolutions of disapproval filed under…

  • Transition Tracker: Biden announces bipartisan SCOTUS commission

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    Every weekday, Ballotpedia is tracking key presidential appointments, executive actions, and policy developments from the Biden administration. There are no committee hearings scheduled Monday. The Senate will reconvene for a full session on Monday at 3:00 p.m. after being adjourned since March 25.  News Biden issued an executive order on Friday to convene a bipartisan…

  • Two Cabinet-level positions remain unfilled in Biden admin

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    All 15 of President Joe Biden’s (D) main Cabinet secretary nominees were confirmed 61 days after he took office. At this point in President Barack Obama’s (D) presidency—82 days after his inauguration—he still had one vacant secretary post for the Department of Health and Human Services. President Donald Trump (R) had two: the secretaries of…

  • Ballotpedia’s Weekly Transition Tracker: April 3-9, 2021

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    Every weekday, Ballotpedia is tracking key presidential appointments, executive actions, and policy developments from the Biden administration. There were no committee hearings scheduled this week. The Senate stands adjourned until April 12 for a full session. Executive Actions and Nominations Biden announced David Chipman as his nominee for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,…

  • SCOTUS issues opinion, accepts case

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    The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) on April 5 issued an opinion in the case Google LLC v. Oracle America Inc. and accepted Brown v. Davenport for argument in October 2021. In Google LLC v. Oracle America Inc., the court reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s ruling and remanded…

  • Transition Tracker for April 9, 2021: Biden is expected to release the initial outline of his proposed 2022 federal budget.

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    Every weekday, Ballotpedia is tracking key presidential appointments, executive actions, and policy developments from the Biden administration. There are no committee hearings scheduled Friday. The Senate stands adjourned until April 12 for a full session. News Biden is expected to release the initial outline of his proposed 2022 federal budget on Friday, which will include…

  • Representative Alcee Hastings dies from pancreatic cancer

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    U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) died from pancreatic cancer on April 6. He was first elected to Florida’s 23rd Congressional District in 1992 and represented it until it was redistricted as District 20 in 2012. Hastings was first elected from the 20th District in 2012. In last year’s general elections, Hastings defeated Greg Musselwhite (R), 79%…

  • Ballotpedia releases federal judicial vacancy count for March 2021

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    In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies to all United States Article III federal courts from March 1 to April 1. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month. HIGHLIGHTS Vacancies: There have been five new judicial vacancies since the February 2021 report. There…

  • President Biden has announced 10 nominations for Article III judgeships

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    President Joe Biden (D) has announced his intent to nominate 10 individuals to Article III courts for lifetime judgeships as of April 1. As of this writing, the official nominations have not yet been submitted to the U.S. Senate.  For comparison with the previous administration, President Donald Trump (R) made his first Article III judicial…

  • Federal Register weekly update: One new significant final rule on drug listing regulations

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    The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s regulatory activity. From March 29 through April 2—the eleventh week of the Biden administration—the Federal Register grew by 1,210 pages for a year-to-date total of…