Category: Federal

Republican Party leaders and representatives from the 15 counties that make up Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District will meet on March 2 to choose their party’s nominee for a special election on May 21. Six candidates have declared their candidacy on the Republican side. Democrats already nominated Marc Friedenberg on February 12—he was the only Democratic…

On February 22, 2019, President Donald Trump (R) announced that he would nominate Kelly Knight Craft to be the 30th U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Trump tweeted, “I am pleased to announce that Kelly Knight Craft, our current Ambassador to Canada, is being nominated to be United States Ambassador to the United Nations…Kelly has…

The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted unanimously on February 21 to order a new election in the state’s 9th Congressional District following four days of hearings on alleged ballot tampering and election fraud.   The state Board will set the date for the primary and general election, unlike the nearby 3rd Congressional District,…

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) raised nearly $6 million in the first 24 hours of his 2020 presidential campaign, marking a record total for 2020 candidates with his initial fundraising haul and the number of donors—223,000—who contributed.   Sanders, who came in second in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary with 46 percent of pledged delegates,…

The U.S. Supreme Court released two unanimous opinions this week.   Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the unanimous opinion in Timbs v. Indiana, a case concerning the Eighth Amendment’s ban on excessive fines. It was her second opinion of the term.   Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered the unanimous opinion in Dawson v. Steager, a case…

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the following four cases next week:   *Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck, a case concerning the First Amendment’s limitation on governmental restriction of free speech and public access television channels.   *Mont v. United States, a case concerning supervised release for criminals.   *United States…

As of February 20, 2019, two special elections have been scheduled for the 116th Congress: one for Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District and another for one of Arizona’s U.S. Senate seats. Another will be scheduled for North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District.   Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District: A special election to fill the vacant U.S. House seat…

The United States Supreme Court agreed on February 15, 2019, to hear a case challenging the addition of a citizenship question on the 2020 census. Oral argument is scheduled for late April 2019.   Judge Jesse Furman of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a ruling in the…

There are 206 pivot counties in the country: those that voted for Barack Obama (D) in both 2008 and 2012 and Donald Trump (R) in 2016.   What happened in those counties in the 2018 elections for the U.S. House?   Democratic U.S. House candidates won 113 (55 percent) pivot counties and Republican candidates won 93.   Overall, Democratic…

President Donald Trump signed a $328 billion spending bill that includes $1.375 billion in funding for barriers on the southern border. He had requested $5.7 billion in wall funding. Trump, because he said he did not get the amount requested, declared a state of emergency on the southern border and directed $8.1 billion to build…