Category: Federal

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.   During the week of August 19 to August 23, the number of pages in the Federal Register increased by 1,738 pages, bringing…

On August 21, President Trump issued a presidential memorandum directing the Departments of Education (DOE) and Veterans Affairs (VA) to simplify the process disabled veterans must follow to have their student loans forgiven.   Under the Higher Education Act, veterans who have total and permanent disabilities because of their military service qualify for federal student…

A chapter of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) representing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs employees in Buffalo, New York, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York on August 13, 2019, arguing that President Donald Trump’s (R) three civil service executive orders exceed the president’s constitutional…

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 5,590 pageviews for the week of August 18-24. Yang’s pageview figure represents 8.9% of the pageviews for all Democratic candidates during the…

On Aug. 7, Pennsylvania state employee Catherine Kioussis filed a class-action lawsuit against the Service Employees International Union Local 668 seeking restitution for agency fees paid to the union in 2017 and 2018.   Who are the parties to the suit? Kioussis, the plaintiff, works for the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. She is represented…

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) suspended his presidential campaign on Friday, August 23, making him the sixth notable Democrat to do so. “I think it’s evident that this is now a three-way race between Biden, Warren and Sanders, and really it’s a debate about how far left the party should go,” he said in an interview…

Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy (R) announced his resignation from the U.S. House August 26, effective at the end of September. In a post to his Facebook page, Duffy cited the need to spend more time with his family as he and his wife expected the birth of their ninth child.   “With much prayer, I…

The special election for North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District will be held on September 10, 2019. Early voting began on Wednesday, August 21, and will continue through September 6. The district’s former incumbent, Rep. Walter Jones (R), died earlier this year. Greg Murphy (R), Allen Thomas (D), Tim Harris (L), and Greg Holt (Constitution Party)…

A special election in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District will be held on September 10, 2019, and early voting began Wednesday. Voters will be able to cast early ballots until September 6.   The state board of elections called a new election following allegations of absentee ballot fraud in the 2018 race. Dan Bishop (R),…

Julián Castro became the 10th candidate to qualify for the September and October presidential primary debates Tuesday.   Unlike the first two debates this summer, candidates must reach both a grassroots fundraising threshold and a polling threshold. They need 130,000 unique contributors with 400 unique donors per state in at least 20 states. Candidates also…