Category: Federal

On September 25, a group of 17 states, Washington, D.C., and New York City, joined together to sue the Trump administration in an effort to block three new rules that changed how federal agencies enforce the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The lawsuit argues that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service…

On September 24, a panel of judges on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to delay enforcement proceedings against an accountant until after the court resolves a pending legal challenge. The accountant, Michelle Cochran, argues that since the president cannot fire the SEC Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) that…

The Democratic National Committee announced Friday that the October presidential primary debate will take place on one day, rather than two days as was expected. It will be held in Westerville, Ohio, with CNN and The New York Times as hosts. Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper, and Marc Lacey will moderate the debate.   Tulsi Gabbard…

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined a rehearing request before the full court on Wednesday in a case challenging President Donald Trump’s (R) three civil service executive orders. Unless plaintiffs appeal the case further, the court’s decision could wrap up over a year of litigation and lift an…

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 September 16 to September 20, the number of pages in the Federal Register increased by 1,088 pages, bringing the…

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a proposed rule on Tuesday aiming to implement a selection of employee performance provisions from President Donald Trump’s (R) three civil service executive orders.   President Trump issued the civil service executive orders (E.O. 13837, E.O. 13836, and E.O.13839) in May 2018. The orders include proposals aimed…

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) ended his presidential campaign Friday morning. “I feel like I’ve contributed all I can to this primary election and it’s clearly not my time,” he said in an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.   De Blasio participated in the June and July debates but failed to qualify…

On September 19, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Morrison C. England, Jr., issued a temporary injunction barring enforcement of SB 27, a California law requiring presidential and gubernatorial candidates to disclose their last five federal income tax returns in order to qualify for placement on the primary ballot. England, appointed to the bench by President…

Rep. Paul Cook (R-Calif.) announced Tuesday that he would not seek re-election to the U.S. House in 2020 and will instead run for the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. Cook was first elected to represent California’s 8th Congressional District in 2012, and he won re-election in 2018 by 20 percentage points.   In a…

On September 6, 2019, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 9-7 that the structure of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is unconstitutional. The Fifth Circuit sent the case back to the district court to decide how to resolve remaining questions about how the FHFA decided to handle the finances of Fannie Mae and…