Framers of the Constitution put in a clause giving lawmakers immunity from liability for any ‘speech or debate.’ Interpreting it may be key in the battle to get some Republicans to testify.
State Sen. Joseph Thomas, D-Yazoo City, holds a copy of the proposed congressional redistricting map during debate over redistricting at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Jan. 12, 2022.
AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis
The results of the latest round of redistricting have advanced the anti-democratic trend where elected leaders choose their voters, undermining representative government.
Thomas Aquinas, Pope Innocent III and Italian mathematician Bonaventura Francesco Cavalieri.
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Apocalyptic thinking undermines democracy because it delegitimizes political opponents, turning them into enemies of God.
A ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ flag waves near the U.S. Capitol ahead of a House vote on the infrastructure bill.
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Five Democrats are refusing to vote on a signature bill until the Congressional Budget Office delivers its full cost estimate. For a small agency, the CBO can hold a lot of legislative sway.
At least 13 former Trump administration officials, including Jared Kushner and Kayleigh McEnany, pictured here, violated the Hatch Act, according to a new federal investigation released Nov. 9, 2021.
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
More than a dozen Trump administration officials are said to have violated a federal law that bars federal employees from political campaigning. They weren’t the first to have run afoul of the law.
The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge was part of Boston’s Big Dig, which was infamous for its cost overruns.
AP Photo/Steven Senne
Congress is inching closer to passing as much as $4.5 trillion in new infrastructure and social spending, which would be an attractive target for fraudsters.
Another door closes on federal police reform.
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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.
Several lawmakers from high-tax states like New York are pushing for changes to a key tax deduction in Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending package.
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The 2017 tax cuts put a $10,000 cap on the deduction for state and local taxes. The richest households would see the biggest gains from eliminating or raising the cap.
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez making a fashion statement.
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In 1950, the top 0.01% of earners paid almost 70% of their income in taxes. By 2018, the super-rich paid proportionately less than the average for all other Americans.
Protesters at an anti-vaccine rally in Pennsylvania in August 2021.
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Republicans are four times as likely as Democrats to say they’re not going to get the COVID-19 vaccine. What’s behind the polarization of who trusts or denies science?
The Richardson Independent School District in Texas is among the many districts across the state defying the governor’s mask mandate ban to require masks for students.
AP Photo/LM Otero
If it sounds like the law is all over the place on school mask mandates, that’s because it is. The nation’s schools are subject to a complex web of local, state and federal laws.
Israelis have long had a sweet tooth for Ben & Jerry’s.
AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov
Ben & Jerry’s decision to no longer sell ice cream in the occupied territories comes as Israel continues to lose the support of a group of Americans who once were stalwart allies.
Political leanings and community features predicted support of COVID-19 mitigation measures.
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Wanyun Shao, University of Alabama and Feng Hao, University of South Florida
Multiple factors determined whether or not individual Americans adopted COVID-19 safety measures, according to statistical analysis of public opinion data.
Young evangelical Christians are facing a dilemma whether to follow in the footsteps of their parents or pursue other choices.
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Disaffected young evangelicals and those who left the church describe an out-of-touch institution not in line with their political beliefs, a scholar found
Rep. Liz Cheney talks to reporters after House Republicans voted to remove her as conference chair on May 12, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
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Are the election law changes proposed in statehouses across the country really as bad as some say? An election law scholar cuts through the yelling to take a sober look at the new voting landscape.
Professor in U.S. Politics and U.S. Foreign Relations at the United States Studies Centre and in the Discipline of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney