Former aides to Donald Trump have refused and delayed compliance with a subpoena issued by the Jan. 6 committee. It has set up a messy legal fight over executive privilege.
Months of bipartisan talks in Congress aimed at reaching consensus over policing reforms have ended with no agreement. Two policing scholars argue that federal efforts are better placed focusing on supporting local measures.
GOP Rep. Liz Cheney says the American people “deserve the full and open testimony of every person with knowledge of the planning and preparation for Jan. 6.” Will they get it?
Speaker Tony Smith – who has been battling to force better behaviour in the House of Representatives on MPs including Scott Morrison – has announced he will not contest the next election.
Since Tyre Nichols’ death there are renewed calls for Congress to pass police reform legislation. But the federal government has almost no control over state and local police departments.
The US Census Bureau has announced which states will gain and lose representation in Congress as a result of the 2020 census. Here’s how it makes the calculations.
In 1974, Congress invented the reconciliation process to reduce deficits. More recently, reconciliation has been used in ways that increase the deficit. A public policy scholar explains the process.
The vote to acquit former President Trump for inciting the attack on the Capitol is a symptom of the dramatic decline of the US constitutional system, which is being eroded from within.
Kurt Braddock, American University School of Communication
Language affects behavior. When words champion aggression, make violence acceptable and embolden audiences to action, incidents like the insurrection at the Capitol are the result.
To repair the public’s dwindling trust in the federal government, politicians must recommit to the impartial cooperation that bolsters political institutions.
Judges are generally reluctant to decide elections, as the Supreme Court controversially did in 2000. As a result, Trump’s flurry of litigation could wind up throwing the election to the House.
Regina Bateson, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Women and people of color continue to appear on ballots less often than white men, and that, in part, is due to concerns by American voters that others will not view these candidates as electable.
The presidential election outcome seems to be at least partially in dispute. Six scholars provide a history of contested elections in the US and explain what happens when the results are challenged.
Biden and Trump are both preparing for a court battle in November. But when the Electoral College produces no clear winner, it’s the House of Representatives that’s supposed to select the president.
To overhaul an election redistricting process tainted by gerrymandering, Michigan has adopted a governance mechanism prominent 2,500 years ago in ancient Athens, the birthplace of democracy.