Category «Congress»

How Kavanaugh compares to other SCOTUS nominations close to elections

Axios: “How Kavanaugh compares to other SCOTUS nominations close to elections. President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to fill the seat of Justice Anthony Kennedy comes just 120 days before the 2018 midterm election. The big picture: There have been five other cases since 1950 when seats have opened within 150 days of a midterm …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

AP – Trump lawyers call Comey ‘Machiavellian’ in note to Mueller

WASHINGTON (AP) — “Lawyers for President Donald Trump unleashed a blistering attack on former FBI Director James Comey in a confidential memo last year to the special counsel, casting him as “Machiavellian,” dishonest and “unbounded by law and regulation” as they sought to undermine the credibility of a law enforcement leader they see as a …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Legal Research

Lawmakers support union lawsuits against executive orders

FCW.com: “A group of four current and former lawmakers are supporting federal unions’ lawsuits against the trio of executive orders aimed at making it easier to fire federal employee and restricting union activity. The lawmakers — current Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Peter King (R-N.Y.) and former Reps. William Clay (D-Mo.) and Jim Leach (R-Iowa) — filed …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

The Cadwalader Cabinet, A Machine Learning Research Platform

“Artificial Lawyer recently caught up with Steven Lofchie, a New York partner in the Financial Services Department at top US law firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, to hear about the firm’s custom-built legal research and knowledge management platform that leverages machine learning, known as the Cabinet. The Cadwalader Cabinet provides analysis of US financial regulation …

Subjects: AI, Congress, Government Documents, Legal Research, Marketing

Intel Committee Releases Unclassified Summary of Initial Findings on 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment

News release: “Today [July 3, 2018], Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) and Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) released the Committee’s unclassified summary of its initial findings on the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Russian activities in the 2016 U.S. elections. The Committee finds that the overall judgments issued in the ICA …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

President’s Selection of a Nominee for a Supreme Court Vacancy: Overview

EveryCRSReport.com – President’s Selection of a Nominee for a Supreme Court Vacancy: Overview, June 27, 2018: “On June 27, 2018, Justice Anthony Kennedy, after serving on the Supreme Court as an Associate Justice since 1988, announced his intention to retire from the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Kennedy indicated that his retirement would be effective July …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

Draft Bill – Trump Administration abandons foundation of WTO

“Axios has obtained a leaked draft of a Trump administration bill [scroll down to see the text of the bill embedded in this article as referenced] — ordered by the president himself — that would declare America’s abandonment of fundamental World Trade Organization rules. The draft legislation is stunning. The bill essentially provides Trump a …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Facebook gave 61 companies access to sensitive user data

WSJ (paywall) – “Facebook Inc. disclosed it gave dozens of companies special access to user data, detailing for the first time a spate of deals that contrasted with the social network’s previous public statements that it restricted personal information to outsiders in 2015. The deals with app developers, device and software makers, described in 747 …

Subjects: Congress, E-Commerce, Privacy, Social Media

Congress.gov New, Tip, and Top for June 2018, Part 2

In Custodia Legis: “Earlier this month, Andrew provided an update on the Congress.gov enhancements, including that the date of the “Previous Meeting” on the homepage is now linked to a list of items that were on the House or Senate floor that day. The previous release also included errata, a published correction for a committee …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Free Law Project Trump’s Supreme Court List

“On June 27, 2018, Associate Justice Kennedy informed President Trump that he would be retiring from the Supreme Court effective July 31st. In response to this announcement, President Trump stated that his next Supreme Court nomination would come from his existing list of potential Supreme Court justices. In our Judge and Appointment database, we have compiled …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Legal Research

Public Release of CRS Reports: FAQ for Congressional Staff

Via FAS – CRS announcement, June 22, 2018: “On March 23, 2018, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 was signed into law. The law directed the Librarian of Congress, in consultation with the CRS Director, to establish and maintain a public website that will contain written CRS products available on CRS.gov. In response, the Library and …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation, Libraries