Category: Uncategorized

U.S. District Judge Michael McShane issued a nationwide preliminary injunction to block a rule issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) aimed at keeping Title X fund recipients from engaging in abortion-related activities. McShane’s ruling follows a similar decision made by Judge Stanley Bastian in the Eastern District of Washington, who…

In April 2019, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) reviewed 44 significant regulatory actions issued by federal agencies—the highest monthly review count of the Trump administration to-date. The agency approved one rule without changes and approved the intent of 39 rules while recommending changes to their content. Agencies withdrew four rules…

Gubernatorial and state legislative elections are taking place in five states in 2019. These elections could affect existing Republican trifectas in Kentucky and Mississippi and the Democratic trifecta in New Jersey. New trifectas could potentially form in Louisiana and Virginia.   A trifecta, which describes when one party holds the governorship, a majority in the state senate,…

In 2019, Ballotpedia is publishing primary election competitiveness data following each state’s major-party candidate filing deadline. Five states will hold regular statewide elections: Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana will hold elections for state executive offices, and Mississippi, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Virginia will hold elections for state legislative seats. Filing deadlines have passed in every state…

In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, one state voted for the winning candidate more than 90 percent of the time. And one state did so less than 50 percent of the time.   Ohio’s electoral votes have gone to the winning president 93 percent of the time—in 28 out of 30 general elections—since 1900.…

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in Department of Commerce v. New York, a case challenging the addition of a citizenship question on the U.S. Census. The question asks, “Is this person a citizen of the United States?”   Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross approved the addition of a citizenship question on the…

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 April 22 to April 26, the number of pages in the Federal Register increased by 1,330 pages, bringing…

U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian issued a preliminary injunction to block a new Trump administration rule aimed at keeping Title X fund recipients from engaging in abortion-related activities. Preliminary injunctions keep a new rule from going into effect while a court decides how to resolve legal challenges brought against it. In this case, the U.S.…

Every two-year election cycle, some Democrats or Republicans win U.S. House elections without major-party opposition. Over the past 100 years, 14.4% of regularly scheduled U.S. House general elections had only one major party candidate.   From 1920 to 2018, there were 2,434 U.S. House races without a Republican candidate in the general election compared to…

U.S. District Judge Michael McShane said he would issue a preliminary injunction to block a new Trump administration rule aimed at keeping Title X fund recipients from engaging in abortion-related activities, according to Maxine Bernstein at The Oregonian. Bernstein also reported that McShane called the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rule a “ham-fisted…