Category: Federal

On December 17, 2018, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) announced that he would not seek re-election to his seat in 2020. He was first elected to the Senate in 2002 and was re-elected in 2008 and 2014. Alexander was previously a two-term governor of Tennessee and served for two years as the U.S. Secretary of…

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) became the seventh Democratic elected official to enter the 2020 presidential race, announcing her run Monday on Good Morning America. She was first elected to the Senate in 2016 after previously serving as California’s attorney general.   Harris joins former Obama Cabinet member Julian Castro, former Rep. John Delaney (Md.), Rep.…

U.S. Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) announced that he will resign from office on January 23, 2019, to take a job in the private sector. It’s likely he won’t be alone in leaving his Congressional seat early—20 members of the 115th Congress (2017 and 2018) did so before their terms expired.   Seventeen U.S. House members…

Yesterday’s congressional approval rating was 17 percent, according to Ballotpedia’s polling average. The congressional approval rating indicates public satisfaction in the job performance of the members of the United States Congress.   The 17 percent rating was the lowest rating since the week of September 24, 2018, when the rating was also 17 percent. Since…

A day after a federal judge in California enjoined new contraception rules in 13 states and Washington, D.C., a federal judge in Pennsylvania issued a nationwide injunction. The Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Labor announced the two final rules on contraception in November 2018. According to the agencies, those rules provide flexibility…

On January 16, President Donald Trump (R) announced six nominees to Article III federal judicial positions. Article III federal judges are appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate, and serve for life. The nominees are: Greg G. Guidry, nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. James Wesley Hendrix, nominee…

Andrew Wheeler, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, appeared before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Wednesday.   After the committee votes on Wheeler’s nomination, the full Senate will have to vote to confirm him. He needs a simple majority for confirmation. Republicans currently hold the majority with…

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a confirmation hearing on January 15 and 16 for William Barr’s nomination to be United States Attorney General.   In his opening statement, Barr said that, if confirmed, he would “enforce the law evenhandedly and with integrity,” as he said during his confirmation hearing for attorney general in the George…

Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.), who has served in the U.S. House since 2011, announced Thursday that he will resign from Congress on January 23, 2019, to pursue a job in the private sector.   Marino served as the state co-chair for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 and was briefly a nominee to head the…

On January 13, 2019, Federal Judge Haywood Gilliam blocked Trump administration contraception rules from going into effect in Washington, D.C., and thirteen states. The plaintiff states are challenging two final rules announced by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Labor in November 2018. According to the agencies, those rules provide flexibility to…