PRO&CON® Extras
Chief Justice’s Annual Report: Budget Cuts and Judicial Vacancies
On December 31, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts released his annual Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary —a State of the Union address, as it were, for the Judiciary Branch. In the 16-page document, the Chief Justice — in a writing style much more conversational than he uses in his Court opinions — discussed judicial efforts to keep a tight budget and the need for judicial vacancies to be filled promptly, and summarized of the workload of the various courts in the Federal system. He even spent several pages on the history of the Revolutionary War-era frigate the U.S.S….
Read more...New Leadership in Foreign Affairs
President Obama’s nomination of Senator John Kerry (MA-D) to be the next Secretary of State likely paves the way for Senator Robert Menendez (NJ-D) to replace Kerry as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Menendez is currently the third-ranking Democrat on the committee; however, the committee’s second-ranking Democrat, Senator Barbara Boxer (CA-D), already heads the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and cannot chair two committees. Senator Kerry, who first came to the Senate in 1985 and has had a seat on the Foreign Relations Committee ever since, became chairman in 2009. Recently, his focus has been on Afghanistan,…
Read more...Accountability Review Board Issues Report on Benghazi Attack
On Wednesday, the State Department Accountability Review Board (ARB) charged with investigating the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, issued its report. It found that “systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department” resulted in a security posture at the consulate that was “grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place.” It also stated that, because of budgetary concerns, a few State Department managers in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the Bureau of Eastern Affairs favored “restricting the use of resources as a…
Read more...The Impending Debate on Filibuster Reform
On January 3, 2013, 100 senators and 434 representatives (there is one vacancy) will take the oath of office and become the 113th Congress of the United States. Senate Democrats picked up two additional seats in the 2012 elections, giving them a 55-vote majority, including the two Independents, who are expected to caucus with the majority party. With the Republicans holding 45 seats, and Vice President Joe Biden’s tie-breaking vote, it might appear that the Democrats have a comfortable cushion; but under the current filibuster rules, any senator can still stall a vote and demand a supermajority of 60 votes…
Read more...Supreme Court to Hear Gay Marriage Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari in two cases dealing with the issue of gay marriage. In United States v. Windsor, the Court will consider the constitutionality of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act. In Hollingsworth v. Perry, the Court tackles the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in the State. The Court’s action sets the stage for a highly contentious, closely watched legal battle — the first time the High Court has directly addressed the issue of gay marriage. Oral arguments are expected in March, with a decision by the beginning of summer. Future issues of Supreme…
Read more...Could the Court Revisit Health Care Reform?
The Supreme Court’s landmark series of decisions on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in June of this year may not be the last word on the matter. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court instructed the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to rehear a lawsuit challenging the law’s mandate that companies and organizations with more than 50 employees provide health care or pay a penalty. Although the Supreme Court had upheld the requirement that all Americans have insurance or pay a fine (technically, a tax) — the so-called individual mandate — it declined to rule…
Read more...The Implications of Election Day 2012
On Tuesday, Americans went to the polls across the country to vote. Elections were held for president, every seat in the House of Representatives, and one-third of the Senate. The result is that the political playing field in Washington will look much the same as it has for the past two years. President Barack Obama was re-elected to a second term by a solid margin in the Electoral College. Democrats will continue to hold power in the Senate, adding two seats to give them a 55-45 majority (assuming Bernie Sanders (Socialist Party) of Vermont and newly elected independent Angus King…
Read more...Medicaid Expansion: The New Health Care Debate
A main goal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), President Obama’s health care reform legislation, was to extend health care insurance coverage to most uninsured Americans ― an estimated 30 million people. One way it does that for low-income people is by expanding eligibility for Medicaid, a Federal–State program that now covers more than 60 million Americans. It’s estimated that an additional 7 million would be covered through the expansion. The ACA provides that, effective January 1, 2014, Medicaid will be expanded to include individuals age 19 to 65 with incomes up to 133 percent of the…
Read more...Supreme Court Opens 2012-13 Term
The U.S. Supreme Court kicked off its 2012-13 term on Monday with an upcoming docket that, while perhaps not containing the high stakes legal fireworks that marked the end of the 2011-12 term, has a number of interesting cases set for the coming months. In its first case of the new term, the Court heard oral arguments in Kiobel v. Dutch Petroleum, which deals with whether parties — including corporations — can be sued under Federal law for human rights violations on either U.S. or foreign soil. Kiobel was originally argued last term, but it was relisted in order to…
Read more...Congress Expected to Punt on Major Issues
As Congress nears the close of a truncated pre-election session, a series of significant issues have yet to be resolved and are likely to be put off until the post-election lame-duck session. The following is a summary of the most important unfinished business before the House and Senate:
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