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.
Bills have a long journey that includes going through the parliamentarian’s office in the Senate. Here, a corridor in the Senate.
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The Senate has a lot of rules, and its parliamentarian interprets what those rules allow – and what they don’t. That can mean a bill will face either huge obstacles, or very few obstacles to passage.
Political pressure is focusing on the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Many states have found ways to remove partisan politics from their court systems.
Supporters of former President Trump gather outside of Trump Tower during a rare visit Trump made to his New York offices, March 8, 2021.
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Jeb Barnes, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The idea that Washington, D.C., is paralyzed by gridlock rests on half-truths about the legislative process and a basic misunderstanding of how contemporary policymaking works.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, launches a filibuster in 2016.
Senate Television via AP
The US system was designed with more checks and balances than many other successful democracies – the filibuster’s main function is to give undue power to a vocal minority.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats meet with reporters before the House voted to pass a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package on Feb. 26, 2021.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
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.
Laws and policy are being made in Washington – both inside Congress and out.
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Jeb Barnes, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The idea that Washington, DC is paralyzed by gridlock rests on half-truths about the legislative process and a basic misunderstanding of how contemporary policymaking works.
Joe Biden at a press conference in Wilmington, Delaware, in January.
Chip Somodevilla/AFP
Endless filibustering has paralysed the US Senate, and with it all of Congress. Will this form of obstructionism be one of the main challenges facing Biden, as some Democrats fear?
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.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris meet Feb. 1 with Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, to discuss a coronavirus relief package.
AP/Evan Vucci
Politicians say they want it, but how often, and under what circumstances, does bipartisanship really happen?
The U.S. Capitol, which was besieged by insurrectionists on Jan. 6, and where the Trump impeachment trial takes place in the Senate.
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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.
House of Representatives members and staff walk the article of impeachment against Donald Trump across the Capitol.
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
There are a lot of questions about the point of putting on trial someone who is no longer in office.
Pro-Trump rioters trying to enter Capitol building. A recent poll showed that up to one-fifth of Americans supported the assault on the Capitol.
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To repair the public’s dwindling trust in the federal government, politicians must recommit to the impartial cooperation that bolsters political institutions.
Attorney general nominee Merrick Garland speaks during an event with President-elect Joe Biden.
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
History shows that attorneys general who are picked by – and serve at the pleasure of – the president are not as independent as they may be expected to be.
An aggressive US climate policy rollout could provide a much needed dose of reality to the climate discourse in Canberra – and show Australia the transition can be done.
In such a narrowly divided chamber, the onus will be on the Biden administration not lose a single Democrat. This could limit the scope of his ambitious agenda.
Protesters forcing their way into the Capitol.
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