Abortion rights activists have quickly filed a slew of lawsuits in states with trigger bans on abortions that went into effect following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last week.
Lawsuits have so far been filed by organizations like Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in about half of the 13 states that had trigger laws dependent on the overturning of Roe.
In Mississippi, where the state government brought forward the ...
The Hill
Federal government getting ready to open its books and show us the receipts
As members of Congress and staff dig into President Biden’s 2023 budget request, they have a new tool for tracking when, where, and how the president is authorizing federal agencies to spend money — but Congress, and the public, needs to know this new tool exists. It comes in the form of apportionment transparency, an instrument designed to reinforce Congress’s power of the purse.
In Federalist No. 58, James Madison described the power of the purse — or the legislature’s autho...
Justice Breyer’s collegiality and civility will be sorely missed
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will be missed — not necessarily for his votes but for his voice, one that valued collegiality and civility on an increasingly politicized court.
The 83-year-old Breyer is stepping down after 28 distinguished years on the High Court. He came into public service at a time when compromise and searching for consensus were common in politics and in the courts.
He's leaving at a time when that sort of comity is rare — incl...
Five takeaways from the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling
The Supreme Court made its most dramatic intervention in American life in decades Friday, striking down the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had provided a constitutional right to abortion.
The rescinding of the right is likely to lead to the banning of abortion in around half the states in the nation.
Thirteen states already had so-called ‘trigger laws’ designed to make terminating a pregnancy illegal almost as soon as Roe fell. By Friday evening, nine states had ...
To advance equity, score it like the budget
It is often said that we measure what we value. Since 1974, we have assigned a high value to the price tag of new bills: The Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation score legislation for their effects on our national budget.
These scores matter for the public debate around a proposal, but they also matter for policy. For example, after CBO’s budget scoring projected that the Affordable Care Act would cost more than predicted, the bill was rev...
Pelosi: Social spending and climate package is ‘alive’
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that negotiations on a massive social spending and climate package remain active despite the opposition from Senate centrists that stopped the legislation in its tracks last year.
The Speaker emphasized that House Democrats, who passed a roughly $2 trillion reconciliation package in November, are essentially sidelined as Senate leaders seek to continue the delicate talks with the centrist holdouts.
But a day after meeting...
Suicide rates slow in states that expanded Medicaid: study
Story at a glance
- Suicide rates have been steadily increasing in the U.S. since 1999.
- Rising prevalence of mental health disorders along with a relative shortage of providers compound this epidemic.
- But new research reveals Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act was associated with hundreds of fewer suicide deaths over a period of four years.
Suicide remains one of the leading ca...
DACA turns 10 with Dreamers no closer to solid ground
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program turns 10 years old Wednesday, beset by lingering doubts about both its future and the current protections it grants to young immigrants.
The program, known widely as DACA, was instituted in a moment of crisis after then-President Obama hit a brick wall in his legislative attempts to modernize the immigration system.
For around 800,000 so-called "Dreamers," undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as minors,...
Sanders wades into Nevada House primary, backing challenger to Dina Titus
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) waded into a Nevada House primary on Thursday, throwing his support behind Amy Vilela, a former Nevada state co-chair to his 2020 presidential bid who is challenging Rep. Dina Titus (D) in the state’s 1st Congressional District, ahead of next week’s primary.
“Today, I am proud to endorse @amy4thepeople for U.S. House in Nevada's 1st District. When elected, Amy will be a champion for working families, and will fight for Medicare for All, a Green New De...