Category: Federal

Special elections will take place in North Carolina’s 3rd and 9th Congressional Districts on Tuesday, September 10. These are the final two of three special U.S. House elections in 2019. Early voting began August 21 and was scheduled to end September 6, although many polling locations have been closed due to Hurricane Dorian. Here’s a…

In August 2019, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) reviewed 48 significant regulatory actions issued by federal agencies. The agency approved the intent of all 48 rules while recommending changes to their content.   OIRA reviewed 35 significant regulatory actions in August 2018—13 fewer rules than the 48 significant regulatory actions…

Donald Trump appointed and the Senate confirmed 146 Article III federal judges through September 1, 2019, his third year in office. This is the second-most Article III judicial appointments through this point in a presidency of all presidents dating back to Theodore Roosevelt. Only Bill Clinton, with 165 judicial appointments, had more.   The average…

Each week, we report the number of pageviews received by 2020 presidential campaigns on Ballotpedia. These numbers show which candidates are getting our readers’ attention.   Andrew Yang’s campaign page on Ballotpedia received 5,219 pageviews for the week of August 25-31. Yang’s pageview figure represents 9.6% of the pageviews for all Democratic candidates during the…

On Aug. 26, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 and two of its members, Karen Erickson and Heath Hanrahan, filed a suit in U.S. District Court challenging Wisconsin Act 10, legislation enacted in 2011 that made multiple changes to the state’s public-sector labor relations laws.   Who are the parties to the suit?…

On Wednesday, Dan Bishop (R) and Dan McCready (D) met in their first and only debate of North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District special election, which takes place Sept. 10. The candidates began the debate by addressing criticisms from their opponent and opposition ads from satellite groups before moving on to discuss healthcare, immigration, and other…

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) will lack the necessary quorum to enforce campaign finance violations effective August 31 following the resignation of Vice Chairman Matthew Petersen (R).   The FEC is an independent federal agency responsible for disclosing campaign finance information, enforcing limits and prohibitions on contributions, and overseeing public funding of presidential elections.  …

U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) announced his resignation effective December 31, 2019. He cited his health as a reason for the resignation. He is the first senator to announce an early retirement from the 116th Congress and the fifth senator not to run for re-election in 2020. Three other Republicans and one Democratic senator are…

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) announced she was ending her campaign for the presidency in an interview with The New York Times Wednesday.   In a tweet announcing her withdrawal, Gillibrand said, “I am so proud of this team and all we’ve accomplished. But I think it’s important to know how you can best serve.…

On August 26, U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the Trump administration to enforce a new asylum rule while a challenge to the rule is working its way through the court system.   What happened?   The solicitor general asked the U.S. Supreme Court to grant a stay of…