CategoryFederal

Federal Register weekly update: Highest weekly document total of 2023 to date

By Molly Byrne
In Federal
March 27, 2023 at 2:45 PM

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, accounting for both regulatory and deregulatory actions.

From March 20, 2023, through March 24, 2023, the Federal Register grew by 1,456 pages for a year-to-date total of 17,986 pages.

The Federal Register hit an all-time high of 95,894 pages in 2016.

This week’s Federal Register featured the following 640 documents:

  • 525 notices
  • Two presidential documents
  • 45 proposed rules
  • 68 final rules

Eleven proposed rules, including proposed amendments to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) from the Defense Acquisition Regulations System, and three final rules, including the prohibition of certain flight operations in the Tripoli Flight Information Region from the Federal Aviation Administration were deemed significant under E.O. 12866—defined by the potential to have large impacts on the economy, environment, public health, or state or local governments. Significant actions may also conflict with presidential priorities or other agency rules. The Biden administration in 2023 has issued 98 significant proposed rules, 60 significant final rules, and four significant notices as of March 24.

Ballotpedia maintains page counts and other information about the Federal Register as part of its Administrative State Project. The project is a neutral, nonpartisan encyclopedic resource that defines and analyzes the administrative state, including its philosophical origins, legal and judicial precedents, and scholarly examinations of its consequences. The project also monitors and reports on measures of federal government activity.

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Tracker: Article III federal judicial nominations by president by days in office since 2001

By Myj Saintyl
In Federal
March 27, 2023 at 2:26 PM

Through March 24, there were 890 authorized federal judicial posts and 75 vacancies. Seventy-three of those were for Article III judgeships. This report is limited to Article III courts, where appointees are confirmed to lifetime judgeships.

  • Through March 24, 118 judges have been confirmed
  • Through March 24, 158 judges have been nominated.

By March 1, after 771 days in office, President Joe Biden (D) had nominated 164 judges to Article III judgeships. For historical comparison*: 

  • President Donald Trump (R) had nominated 181 individuals, 142 of which were ultimately confirmed to their positions.
  • President Barack Obama (D) had nominated 129 individuals, 113 of which were confirmed.
  • President George W. Bush (R) had nominated 183 individuals, 131 of which were confirmed.

*Note: These figures include unsuccessful nominations and renominations.

The following data visualizations track the number of Article III judicial nominations by president by days in office during the Biden, Trump, Obama, and W. Bush administrations (2001-present). 

The first tracker is limited to successful nominations, where the nominee was ultimately confirmed to their respective court:

The second tracker counts all Article III nominations, including unsuccessful nominations (for example, the nomination was withdrawn or the U.S. Senate did not vote on the nomination), renominations of individuals to the same court, and recess appointments. A recess appointment is when the president appoints a federal official while the Senate is in recess.

The data contained in these charts is compiled by Ballotpedia staff from publicly available information provided by the Federal Judicial Center. The comparison by days shown between the presidents is not reflective of the larger states of the federal judiciary during their respective administrations and is intended solely to track nominations by president by day.

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Moore v. Harper petitioners, respondents submit briefs regarding SCOTUS’ next steps after North Carolina’s highest court re-hears case

By Dave Beaudoin
In Federal
March 22, 2023 at 5:41 PM

The parties in Moore v. Harper filed supplemental briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) on March 20 at SCOTUS’ request after the North Carolina Supreme Court announced it would re-hear the case. Joseph Ax at Reuters wrote, “If the justices decide they no longer have jurisdiction, they could dismiss the case without issuing a ruling.”

Moore v. Harper is a case argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 7, 2022, concerning the elections clause in the U.S. Constitution and whether that document empowers state legislatures alone to regulate federal elections without oversight from state courts. North Carolina House Speaker Timothy Moore (R) brought the case before SCOTUS after the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in February 2022 that the congressional boundaries the Republican-controlled legislature adopted in November 2021 were unconstitutional.

After the state supreme court overturned the original congressional district boundaries, it remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings. In February 2022, the Wake County Superior Court adopted congressional districts that three court-appointed former judges had adopted. The state used those districts for the 2022 elections.

As a result of the 2022 elections, the North Carolina Supreme Court changed partisan control from a 4-3 Democratic majority to a 5-2 Republican majority. In February 2023, that court agreed to re-hear its decision overturning the district boundaries.

Amy Howe wrote at SCOTUSBlog that “Lawyers for those legislators [that brought the case] told the justices…that although the North Carolina Supreme Court is reconsidering part of its 2022 ruling, the Supreme Court should nonetheless decide the case before it. Lawyers for one group of challengers, Common Cause, agreed, while other challengers urged the justices to dismiss the case.”

The legislators’ brief argued, “the North Carolina Supreme Court decided Petitioners’ Elections Clause claim on the merits, concluding that Petitioners’ original congressional redistricting map could be invalidated by the North Carolina courts…That decision rendered a final judgment as to the use of the original map and the lower courts’ authority to draw a new one, and no further decision is possible in the North Carolina courts with respect to that judgment.”

Attorneys representing the state of North Carolina wrote in their brief, “The State’s 2022 congressional elections have already taken place under the state court’s interim map, and Petitioners will suffer no prejudice from letting the ordinary appeals process play out…Although the Court has already received briefing and heard oral argument in this case…The decisions on review are nonfinal, and this Court should therefore dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction.”

The North Carolina Supreme Court re-heard oral arguments in Moore v. Harper on March 14.

Reuters’ Ax wrote that the congressional boundaries that the state supreme court overturned “would likely have secured 11 of the state’s 14 congressional seats for Republicans.” In the 2022 elections, Republicans and Democrats won seven U.S. House districts each.

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U.S. weekly unemployment insurance claims fall to 192,000

By James McAllister
In Federal
March 22, 2023 at 11:47 AM

New applications for U.S. unemployment insurance benefits fell 20,000 for the week ending March 11 to a seasonally adjusted 192,000. The previous week’s figure was revised up from 211,000 to 212,000. The four-week moving average as of March 11 fell to 196,500 from a revised 197,250 as of the week ending March 4.

The number of continuing unemployment insurance claims, which refers to the number of unemployed workers who filed for benefits at least two weeks ago and are actively receiving unemployment benefits, fell 29,000 from the previous week’s revised number to a seasonally adjusted 1.684 million for the week ending March 4. Reporting for continuing claims lags one week.

Unemployment insurance is a joint federal and state program that provides temporary monetary benefits to eligible laid-off workers who are actively seeking new employment. Qualifying individuals receive unemployment compensation as a percentage of their lost wages in the form of weekly cash benefits while they search for new employment.

The federal government oversees the general administration of state unemployment insurance programs. The states control the specific features of their unemployment insurance programs, such as eligibility requirements and length of benefits.

For information about unemployment insurance programs across the country, click here.

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Biden issues first veto of his presidency to uphold rule allowing for environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) in retirement investing

By Ellen Morrissey
In Federal
March 22, 2023 at 10:30 AM
Photo of the White House in Washington, D.C.

President Joe Biden (D) vetoed the first legislation of his presidency on March 20, 2023. Biden vetoed H. J. Res. 30, a joint resolution of disapproval under the terms of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that sought to void a Department of Labor rule amending the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to allow retirement plans to consider certain environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors in investment-related decisions. 

The CRA creates a review period during which Congress, by passing a joint resolution of disapproval later signed by the president, can overturn a new federal agency rule and block the issuing agency from creating a similar rule.

The ESG investment approach involves considering the extent to which corporations conform to certain environmental, social, and corporate governance standards (such as net carbon emission or corporate board diversity goals) and avoiding investments in or otherwise withholding funding from companies that do not meet the standard.

In his veto message, Biden said that the Department of Labor rule protected retirement savings and pensions: “There is extensive evidence showing that environmental, social, and governance factors can have a material impact on markets, industries, and businesses. But the Republican-led resolution would force retirement managers to ignore these relevant risk factors, disregarding the principles of free markets and jeopardizing the life savings of working families and retirees.”

The House of Representatives approved the resolution 216-204 on Feb. 28, 2023, with 215 Republicans and one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), voting yes. The Senate approved it 50-46 on March 1, with 48 Republicans and two Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.), voting yes. Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) introduced the resolution on Feb. 7 with the full title “Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to ‘Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights'”.

Congress may override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers. 

Presidents have issued 2,585 vetoes in American history, and Congress has overridden 112. President Franklin D. Roosevelt vetoed 635 bills, the most of any president. Presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Q. Adams, William H. Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, and James A. Garfield did not issue any vetoes.

Dating back to 1981, President Ronald Reagan (R) issued the most vetoes with 87. Biden has issued the fewest, followed by President Donald Trump (R) with nine. 

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Federal Register weekly update: 498 documents added

By Molly Byrne
In Federal
March 22, 2023 at 10:16 AM

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, accounting for both regulatory and deregulatory actions.

From March 13, 2023, through March 17, 2023, the Federal Register grew by 1,266 pages for a year-to-date total of 16,530 pages.

The Federal Register hit an all-time high of 95,894 pages in 2016.

This week’s Federal Register featured the following 498 documents:

  • 421 notices
  • Six presidential documents
  • 31 proposed rules
  • 40 final rules

Eleven proposed rules, including proposed amendments to the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) from the General Services Administration, and four final rules, including amendments to adjudication regulations regarding presumptive radiation exposure locations from the Veterans Affairs Department were deemed significant under E.O. 12866—defined by the potential to have large impacts on the economy, environment, public health, or state or local governments. Significant actions may also conflict with presidential priorities or other agency rules. The Biden administration has issued 87 significant proposed rules, 57 significant final rules, and four significant notices as of March 17.

Ballotpedia maintains page counts and other information about the Federal Register as part of its Administrative State Project. The project is a neutral, nonpartisan encyclopedic resource that defines and analyzes the administrative state, including its philosophical origins, legal and judicial precedents, and scholarly examinations of its consequences. The project also monitors and reports on measures of federal government activity.

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2024 presidential candidates campaign in New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina, and Ohio

By Ellen Morrissey
In Federal
March 19, 2023 at 12:30 PM

As of March 15, 2024, five noteworthy candidates are running in the 2024 presidential election, including one Democrat and four Republicans.

Below is a summary of each candidate’s campaign activity from March 8 to March 15.

  • Author and 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson (D) held campaign events across New Hampshire from March 8 to March 13.
  • Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (R) campaigned in Iowa from March 8 to March 10 and held a rally in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on March 13. During a townhall in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on March 8, Haley announced she was in favor of raising the retirement age for younger Americans.
  • Entrepreneur and author Vivek Ramaswamy (R) campaigned in Cincinnati, Ohio on March 11. He also published several op-eds. On March 8, he wrote an op-ed for the Daily Mail, and on March 12, wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, titled “SVB Doesn’t Deserve a Taxpayer Bailout.”
  • Former President Donald Trump (R) held a campaign event in Davenport, Iowa, on March 13, marking his first official campaign visit to the state this cycle. He spoke about education policy, saying he supported universal school choice, electing school principals, and eliminating the U.S. Department of Education. 
  • Former Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton (R) announced he would be campaigning in New Hampshire on March 15.

At this point in the 2020 cycle, 17 noteworthy candidates were running for president. Sixteen were seeking the Democratic nomination, and one (Trump) was seeking the Republican nomination.

Notable stories at the time included Beto O’Rourke’s (D) campaign announcement, Andrew Yang (D) reaching the donor threshold to participate in the Democratic primary debates, and the Democratic National Committee’s selection of Milwaukee to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The 2024 Republican National Convention will be held in Milwaukee, along with the first Republican presidential primary debate.

In the 2016 election cycle, no noteworthy candidates were running for president as of March 15, 2015. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was the first noteworthy candidate to announce his campaign on March 23 of that year. At this point in the 2016 cycle, candidates who would eventually declare were preparing to do so. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) hired new staff in preparation for a run, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) discussed fundraising with The Washington Post. Discussion of Hillary Clinton’s (D) private email server was in the news as well, with The Washinton Post reporting on 2020 Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush’s use of a private email server while in office as governor of Florida.

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DeSantis holds slight lead in PredictIt’s 2024 Republican presidential primary market

By Ellen Morrissey
In Federal
March 17, 2023 at 11:07 AM
Photo of the White House in Washington, D.C.

As of March 13, 2023, PredictIt’s 2024 presidential market shows President Joe Biden (D) leading at $0.39, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) at $0.29, and former President Donald Trump (R) at $0.25. Biden has held the lead in this market since Jan. 22, 2023. No other candidate has more than a $0.10 share price. The share price, which rises and falls based on market demand, roughly corresponds to the market’s estimate of the probability of an event taking place.

Trump is the only candidate of this group to have officially announced his presidential campaign.

The Democratic presidential primary market shows Biden leading at $0.65. One other candidate, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), has a share price at or above $0.10. Newsom stands at $0.14.

DeSantis holds a slight lead in the Republican presidential primary market, at $0.40, followed by Trump at $0.39. No other candidate has a share price at or above $0.10. The only candidate besides Trump in this group to have announced a 2024 presidential campaign, former South Carolina Governor and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (R), is at $0.09. 

PredictIt is an online political futures market in which users purchase shares relating to the outcome of political events using real money. Each event, such as an election, has a number of contracts associated with it, each correlating to a different outcome. Services such as PredictIt can be used to gain insight into the outcome of elections. Due to action from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, PredictIt may halt trading. The platform was initially set to shut down on Feb. 15, but the CFTC action is currently under injunction as a court considers PredictIt’s appeal to the decision.



13 candidates filed for federal and statewide offices last week

By Elisabeth Moore
In Federal, State
March 14, 2023 at 11:49 AM

Ballotpedia identified 13 declared candidates for federal and statewide offices over the previous week. All of these candidates declared prior to their state’s official filing deadline. That number is four fewer than the number of candidates processed the previous week (17). Seven of those candidates were Democratic, while five were Republican. One was Independent.

Of those candidates, 11 filed for Congress, one filed for state legislatures, and one filed for governorship. 

Each week, Ballotpedia processes declared candidacy for all elected federal and state offices. We process both official and declared candidates.

An official candidate is someone who registers with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline or appears on candidate lists released by government election agencies. A declared candidate is someone who has not completed the steps to become an official candidate but who might have done one or more of the following:

  • Appeared in candidate forums or debates
  • Published a campaign website
  • Published campaign social media pages
  • Advertised online, on television, or through print
  • Issued press releases
  • Interviewed with media publications

For more on Ballotpedia’s definition of candidacy, click here.



Federal Register weekly update: More than 5,000 documents added so far in 2023

By Molly Byrne
In Federal
March 13, 2023 at 10:44 AM
Image of the south facade of the White House.

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, accounting for both regulatory and deregulatory actions.

From March 6, 2023, through March 10, 2023, the Federal Register grew by 1,610 pages for a year-to-date total of 15,264 pages.

The Federal Register hit an all-time high of 95,894 pages in 2016.

This week’s Federal Register featured the following 547 documents:

  • 422 notices
  • Three presidential documents
  • 50 proposed rules
  • 72 final rules

Eight proposed rules, including proposed requirements for tobacco product manufacturing from the Food and Drug Administration, and seven final rules, including amendments to the Federal Management Regulation regarding real estate acquisition from the General Services Administration were deemed significant under E.O. 12866—defined by the potential to have large impacts on the economy, environment, public health, or state or local governments. Significant actions may also conflict with presidential priorities or other agency rules. The Biden administration has issued 76 significant proposed rules, 53 significant final rules, and four significant notices as of March 10.

Ballotpedia maintains page counts and other information about the Federal Register as part of its Administrative State Project. The project is a neutral, nonpartisan encyclopedic resource that defines and analyzes the administrative state, including its philosophical origins, legal and judicial precedents, and scholarly examinations of its consequences. The project also monitors and reports on measures of federal government activity.

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