Category: Federal

On October 15, U.S. District Court Judge Joan Ericksen assumed senior status in the District of Minnesota, which created a vacancy on that court. Ericksen had first joined the court in 2002 after being nominated by President George W. Bush (R).   As of October 18, there were 98 Article III vacancies in the federal…

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke is the second 2020 presidential candidate to complete Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey, answering questions about his personal beliefs, professional background, and political priorities.   In his response, O’Rourke lists the first actions he would take in the Oval Office and explains his policy focus on strict gun regulations. He also describes…

Three federal district judges in New York, California, and Washington issued temporary injunctions on October 11 blocking the Trump administration’s public charge rule from taking effect on October 15. A fourth federal judge in Chicago issued a similar injunction on October 14.   The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration…

Twelve Democratic presidential candidates will meet on stage Tuesday in the fourth primary debate of the 2020 election cycle:   • Joe Biden • Cory Booker • Pete Buttigieg • Julián Castro • Tulsi Gabbard • Kamala Harris • Amy Klobuchar • Beto O’Rourke • Bernie Sanders • Tom Steyer • Elizabeth Warren • Andrew…

On October 11, President Donald Trump announced that Kevin McAleenan was leaving as acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). McAleenan is the seventh person to serve as DHS secretary.   Trump tweeted, “Kevin McAleenan has done an outstanding job as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security. We have worked well together with Border…

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) announced the dates of three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate for the 2020 general election. The CPD has sponsored every presidential and vice presidential general election debate since 1988.   Presidential debates are scheduled for the following dates in 2020: September 29 at the University of Notre…

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) announced yesterday that she would not run for re-election in 2020. She was first elected to Congress in 1988 and represents New York’s 17th District.  Lowey received 88% of the vote over a Reform Party candidate in winning re-election in 2018. She ran unopposed in both the Democratic primary and general…

Federal agencies can fully implement President Donald Trump’s (R) three civil service executive orders after the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday lifted an injunction that had blocked the implementation of provisions concerning the use of union official time.   President Trump issued the civil service executive orders…

In an opinion delivered on October 1, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the FCC’s 2018 net neutrality repeal but struck down the agency’s preemption of state and local net neutrality regulations. The court also directed the agency to consider how the repeal would affect public safety,…

Tuesday was the final day for candidates to qualify for the fourth Democratic presidential primary debate on Oct. 15, 2019. They needed to reach the polling threshold of 2 percent support or more in four national or early state polls and the fundraising threshold of 130,000 unique contributors.   Twelve candidates were expected to make…