Category: Uncategorized

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 March 25 to March 29, the number of pages in the Federal Register increased by 1,076 pages, bringing…

Judge John McBryde of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas expressed concern on Tuesday in his opinion in Cochran v. SEC over the constitutionality of the administrative law judges (ALJs) at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).   The plaintiff, Michelle Cochran, appealed an adverse decision from an SEC ALJ in…

A new rule banning bump stocks will remain in force while critics challenge it in court. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected two requests to pause the ban while lower courts decide pending cases. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) bump stock rule went into effect on March 26. It requires owners of…

Each state has its own specific method for selecting judges but there are four primary selection types: partisan election, nonpartisan election, legislative election, and gubernatorial appointment.   A majority (26) of state supreme courts use gubernatorial appointment, while 22 use either partisan or nonpartisan elections. Two states, South Carolina and Virginia, select state supreme court…

Ballotpedia introduced a new initiative in 2018: Candidate Connection. We surveyed candidates at the federal, state, and local levels to help voters choose representatives who reflected their values and upheld their ideals.   A total of 1,957 candidates responded. They came from all but two of the 50 states and ran for all levels of…

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 March 18 to March 22, the number of pages in the Federal Register increased by 1,278 pages, bringing…

The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide whether courts should still defer to agency interpretations of their own ambiguous regulations. Under Auer deference, courts uphold agency interpretations of ambiguous regulations unless they are plainly erroneous or inconsistent. Supporters of Auer deference see Kisor v. Wilkie as a threat to the foundation of American administrative law…

President Trump’s (R) 2020 budget proposal includes provisions that would impact the structure and internal procedures of the federal civil service.   A selection of the provisions was previously featured in Trump’s three civil service executive orders (E.O. 13837, E.O. 13836, and E.O. 13839) issued in May 2018. These include proposals aimed at removing poor-performing…

One-hundred and five of the 6,073 state legislative races in 2018 were decided by fewer than 100 votes. Ninety-eight of these races were in state house races, and seven were in state senate races.   Fifty-four of the races resulted in a change in partisan control—36 favoring Democrats and 18 favoring Republicans. In the seats…

D.C. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan set aside a decision to delay and review an Obama-era requirement that employers submit pay data along with other employee information. Her March 4 decision held that the Trump administration’s delay was illegal because it violated the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).   Since 1966, the…