115th Congress (2017 - 2019)
Latest Notable Federal Laws PassedThroughout Tuesday’s oral arguments in Gill v. Whitford, Justice Anthony Kennedy and the Supreme Court’s left-leaning justices grilled Wisconsin’s attorneys with tough questions that suggest a majority of the court is prepared to impose constitutional limits on political redistricting. The highlight of the hour came when Justice Sonia Sotomayor posed a very simple inquiry that cut to the core of the case: “Could you tell me what the value is to democracy from political gerrymandering? How does that help our system of government?” Democratic voters in Wisconsin say gerrymandering the voting districts has given Republicans too much power and violate the Constitution. Wednesday afternoon, nearly the entire membership of the US Senate packed into a bus and headed to the White House grounds for an unprecedented classified briefing from top Trump administration officials on North Korea policy. Such a huge meeting, on such a volatile topic, had people wondering — was the United States about to announce some risky new policy on North Korea? Perhaps some kind of scary military escalation, or even a preemptive strike on a nuclear-armed power? It’s worth taking a step back to realize just how broken the process for selecting Supreme Court justices now is. In 2016, Senate Republicans responded to Antonin Scalia’s death by inventing and establishing the absurd faux principle that open seats on the Supreme Court cannot be filled in an election year. Given that America hosts national elections one out of every two years, that means, in theory, that Supreme Court seats should remain unfilled fully 50 percent of the time. Sen. Mitch McConnell has won his Supreme Court bet. Last year he risked control of the Senate by pressing even the most vulnerable Republicans to deny Merrick Garland the barest of consideration. He was rewarded with a Trump presidency. Now he will cash in by installing Neil Gorsuch on the Court after deploying the so-called nuclear option, abolishing the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees. If there is one man on Capitol Hill that President Trump might want to stay in the good graces of, it's Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.). Nunes is the head of the House intelligence committee, which is in charge of investigating Russia's role in the 2016 election — you know, the one Democrats think could prove collusion between the Trump campaign and a foreign power. The Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act would leave 24 million more Americans without health insurance by 2026 than under current law, according to an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office released Monday. The CBO report found that 14 million more people would be without health insurance by 2018. Following a two-year spike, the plan would also lower average premiums after 2020, relative to President Barack Obama's healthcare law. The health care bill House Republicans unveiled earlier this week has a serious defect?—?it cannot pass the Senate in its current form even if every single Republican backs it. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) explains why.
Latest Notable Federal Laws PassedThroughout Tuesday’s oral arguments in Gill v. Whitford, Justice Anthony Kennedy and the Supreme Court’s left-leaning justices grilled Wisconsin’s attorneys with tough questions that suggest a majority of the court is prepared to impose constitutional limits on political redistricting. The highlight of the hour came when Justice Sonia Sotomayor posed a very simple inquiry that cut to the core of the case: “Could you tell me what the value is to democracy from political gerrymandering? How does that help our system of government?” Democratic voters in Wisconsin say gerrymandering the voting districts has given Republicans too much power and violate the Constitution. Wednesday afternoon, nearly the entire membership of the US Senate packed into a bus and headed to the White House grounds for an unprecedented classified briefing from top Trump administration officials on North Korea policy. Such a huge meeting, on such a volatile topic, had people wondering — was the United States about to announce some risky new policy on North Korea? Perhaps some kind of scary military escalation, or even a preemptive strike on a nuclear-armed power? It’s worth taking a step back to realize just how broken the process for selecting Supreme Court justices now is. In 2016, Senate Republicans responded to Antonin Scalia’s death by inventing and establishing the absurd faux principle that open seats on the Supreme Court cannot be filled in an election year. Given that America hosts national elections one out of every two years, that means, in theory, that Supreme Court seats should remain unfilled fully 50 percent of the time. Sen. Mitch McConnell has won his Supreme Court bet. Last year he risked control of the Senate by pressing even the most vulnerable Republicans to deny Merrick Garland the barest of consideration. He was rewarded with a Trump presidency. Now he will cash in by installing Neil Gorsuch on the Court after deploying the so-called nuclear option, abolishing the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees. If there is one man on Capitol Hill that President Trump might want to stay in the good graces of, it's Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.). Nunes is the head of the House intelligence committee, which is in charge of investigating Russia's role in the 2016 election — you know, the one Democrats think could prove collusion between the Trump campaign and a foreign power. The Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act would leave 24 million more Americans without health insurance by 2026 than under current law, according to an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office released Monday. The CBO report found that 14 million more people would be without health insurance by 2018. Following a two-year spike, the plan would also lower average premiums after 2020, relative to President Barack Obama's healthcare law. The health care bill House Republicans unveiled earlier this week has a serious defect?—?it cannot pass the Senate in its current form even if every single Republican backs it. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) explains why.
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