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Category Archives: Congress

New York Times, Washington Post compete with meme accounts for chance to be first with big headline

NiemanLab: “The ways people hear about big news these days; “into a million pieces,” says source. It’s not often that massive political news breaks on a Sunday afternoon — especially one in steamy late July, the leading edge of the Greater August vacation season. But break news Joe Biden most certainly did with this tweet… Continue Reading

Donald Trump wants to reinstate a spoils system in federal government by hiring political loyalists regardless of competence

Via LLRX – Donald Trump wants to reinstate a spoils system in federal government by hiring political loyalists regardless of competence – If elected to serve a second term, Donald Trump says he supports a spoils system, a plan that would give him the authority to fire as many as 50,000 civil servants and replace them… Continue Reading

Making sense of rumors about the Trump assassination attempt

2024 U.S. ELECTIONS RAPID RESEARCH BLOG This is part of an ongoing series of rapid research blog posts and rapid research analysis about the 2024 U.S. elections from the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public. Key Takeaways After the assassination attempt on presidential candidate Donald Trump, people converged online to make sense of available… Continue Reading

The Donald Trump Interview Transcript

Bloomberg – Full text, fact-checked – unpaywalled – “Bloomberg Businessweek interviewed former US President Donald Trump at his golf club, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on June 25, two days before the first 2024 presidential debate and about two weeks before a failed assassination attempt. In a discussion focused on business and the global economy,… Continue Reading

Answers – What’s Project 2025?

Unpacking the Pro-Trump Plan to Overhaul US Government “…The Forces Behind Project 2025 – Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts launched Project 2025 in April 2022, a few months before Trump officially announced his reelection campaign. Since then, the number of groups backing the initiative has grown. As of now, Project 2025’s advisory board and so-called… Continue Reading

Illegal Immigrant Murderers in Texas, 2013–2022

CATO Institute: “Crime committed by illegal immigrants is an important and contentious public policy issue, but it is notoriously difficult to measure and compare their criminal conviction rates with those of other groups such as legal immigrants and native‐​born Americans. This policy analysis is the latest paper that attempts to resolve those data disputes by… Continue Reading

Conservative-backed group creating list of federal workers it suspects could resist Trump plans

AP: “From his home office in small-town Kentucky, a seasoned political operative is quietly investigating scores of federal employees suspected of being hostile to the policies of Republican Donald Trump, a highly unusual and potentially chilling effort that dovetails with broader conservative preparations for a new White House. Tom Jones and his American Accountability Foundation… Continue Reading

America in Facts 2024: A Data-Driven Report for Congress

“To create America in Facts 2024, USAFacts interviewed Congressional staff on their topics of interest and the challenges they face when using data. These interviews spanned the House of Representatives and the Senate, included Republicans and Democrats, and identified several topics that we used to inform this report. We hope that members of Congress and… Continue Reading

CISA, EAC release communications guide for state, local election offices

NextGov/FCW: “The top U.S. cybersecurity agency and federal election information clearinghouse jointly unveiled a guide to help election officials develop a public communications plan for conveying accurate information on election administration and security. Both the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Election Assistance Commission targeted state, local, tribal and territorial officials in the guidance released… Continue Reading

Clarence Thomas, the Gordon Gekko of the Supreme Court

Prevail: “There’s a scene in Wall Street where Michael Douglas’s Gordon Gekko is explaining to Charlie Sheen’s Bud Fox the difference between being rich and being rich. “I’m talking about liquid,” he says in the back of his limousine. “Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred… Continue Reading

Financial regulators have ‘insufficiently’ addressed hedge funds’ use of AI

FedScoop: ” SEC and CFTC oversight of how investment vehicles use AI to inform trading decisions is lacking and poses risks to market stability, a report from the majority staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee finds. Federal financial regulators are playing catch-up in their oversight of how hedge funds are using… Continue Reading