With all the talk of recent potential changes to Congress’ quorum requirements to allow remote or proxy voting, I thought now would be a good time to place the potential change in the historical context of Congress’ major changes to the quorum requirements and how any legal challenges could have long-term impacts upon how Congress […]
With COVID-19 cases still common throughout the United States and unemployment around 10 percent, many Americans are in a dire economic situation. As the COVID-19 economic stimulus recently expired, and President Trump and Congress have been unable to reach any agreement on an extension, President Trump unilaterally issued four executive orders for economic relief. Many […]
The days of the Senate filibuster are likely numbered. Recently, President Obama called for eliminating the filibuster as a relic of Jim Crow. Likewise, President Trump has repeatedly called for eliminating the filibuster, and Joe Biden has indicated openness to eliminating the filibuster. If the Senate were to eliminate the filibuster, this is not the […]
In response to mass shootings across the country, several politicians, including President Trump, have called for increased gun-control measures. House Democrats had already passed some gun control bills before the mass shootings, and Speaker Pelosi has urged the Senate to consider the legislation. To encourage immediate action, Speaker Pelosi recently wrote a letter to President […]
Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order staying an injunction that prevented the federal government from using roughly $2.5 billion to build a wall along the border with Mexico. This has led to the unusual situation where every judge to examine the legality of using the funds has found the use illegal, yet nobody […]
Much of a senator’s influence comes from the power to say no. Part of this traditional influence are the blue-slip and hold processes. The blue-slip process has historically required each home-state senator to return a “blue slip” stating that the senator supports a judicial nominee before the Senate will consider a nominee. Likewise, a hold has historically […]
Recently I wrote a post on why the reprogramming of funds from the Support for Counterdrug Activities fund (10 U.S.C. § 284) to build the wall is likely legal. However, the $2.5 billion that President Trump said he would reprogram are not currently available in the fund. As such, to get funds to use 10 U.S.C. […]
The Department of Justice recently announced that it will support a district court ruling that the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) should be enjoined as the allegedly unconstitutional modifications in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that zeroed out the individual mandate to purchase health insurance are inseverable from the rest of the ACA. […]
Recent Senate confirmation battles have featured unprecedented conflict. Without the need to consult with Democrats to overcome a filibuster on nominees, Republicans have eliminated some of the bipartisan confirmation norms such as the “blue slip” for U.S. circuit court nominees, which required each home state senator to approve of a circuit court nominee. In response, […]
Although the national emergency declaration is getting much of the attention, its legality will not primarily determine whether President Trump can build a wall along the border with Mexico. Specifically, only about a quarter of the additional funding President Trump wants to use to build the wall would come through his national emergency authority. Instead, the […]
To ensure that federal employees were promptly paid after the 35-day shutdown ended, Congress recently passed the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019. However, by passing the Act, Congress might have inadvertently required all federal employees to work during a future shutdown. The Antideficiency Act requires the government to shut down when Congress does […]
With the 35-day partial shutdown finally ending, federal employees are getting back to work. However, many employees in the Washington, DC area have missed some work this past week due to a snowstorm. As such, I thought now would be a good time to examine some of the government’s actions during the shutdown compared to […]
With the partial federal shutdown reaching over three weeks, federal employees who work for shut down agencies are missing full paychecks. Additionally those essential employees who worked the Saturday after the shutdown began have not been paid for that day of work. Employees who cannot afford to miss paychecks may start to incur severe adverse […]
President Trump has threatened that if Congress does not appropriate money to build a wall along the border with Mexico, then he will build the wall through his national emergency powers. However, if Congress does not want President Trump to build the wall, he cannot build it. The Appropriations Clause states that “[n]o Money shall be drawn […]
Even though 25% of the federal government is shut down, many federal employees are considered essential (i.e., their service is necessary for emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property) and must work during the shutdown. Soon, you might hear about these employees having to work for free during the shutdown. However, […]