The 1887 Electoral Count Act spells out the process for Congress to convene and review election results on Jan. 6, and it requires both the House and Senate to uphold any challenges to Biden’s win.
Banned in 2011, pork-barrel spending may return to Congress, where Democrats want to resurrect the practice to make passing budgets easier – and help keep their narrow majority in 2022 elections.
For the first time since 1994, incarcerated individuals can get federal aid to pay for college. A prison education scholar explains how higher education helps those who have run afoul of the law.
Congress and the White House are trying to wrap up negotiations on a nearly $1 trillion coronavirus bailout, but Senate Republican demands for a liability shield has been a key obstacle.
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.
Federal election law is riddled with uncertainties. And that’s not a good situation for the country if it finds itself in the middle of a contested election.
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.
There are similarities between the law-and-order language used by the 1968 and 2020 presidential candidates and the racial tension and political polarization both years. But much is different.
Though critics claim Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination jeopardizes the high court’s legitimacy, research shows there are ways the judiciary can bolster its standing and weather controversial decisions.
Donald Nieman, Binghamton University, State University of New York
The framers of the Constitution were very clear that presidential terms have time limits. Not four years and a day. Not three years and 364 days. Four years.
Taking oath is an important tradition before assuming charge of a public office. It entails a commitment to the future. What is the history of oath-taking?
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.
Those who say the Supreme Court’s last term was a liberal success fail to understand that the types of decisions they see as victories are fleeting triumphs that will not endure.
The advocates of friendship as a way to solve America’s partisan divide are wrong. There are more effective ways to tackle intractable political problems.