A lot of coastal infrastructure wasn’t designed for the frequent flooding and crashing waves brought by rising seas.
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The federal government sent a lot of money to states to help with an anticipated COVID-related economic downturn. Turns out, states did not need that much money – but they may spend it anyway.
The new government report describes 144 sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena.
U.S. Navy
A new nine-page report, requested by Congress, doesn’t say what the 144 UFO sightings from 2004 to 2021 are, but does say that the government wants to learn more.
Draftees are sworn into the U.S. Army in 1940.
AP Photo
Since Tyre Nichols’ death there are renewed calls for Congress to pass police reform legislation. But the federal government has almost no control over state and local police departments.
Bills have a long journey that includes going through the parliamentarian’s office in the Senate. Here, a corridor in the Senate.
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The Senate has a lot of rules, and its parliamentarian interprets what those rules allow – and what they don’t. That can mean a bill will face either huge obstacles, or very few obstacles to passage.
Biden laid out an ambitious agenda to Congress with a historic backdrop.
Melina Mara/The Washington Post via AP
With the country’s vaccine rollout succeeding where pandemic management failed, and Biden moving boldly on climate and immigration, his presidency is off to a promising start.
The seats in the House chamber will be filled according to elections in the 50 states.
U.S. House of Representatives
The US Census Bureau has announced which states will gain and lose representation in Congress as a result of the 2020 census. Here’s how it makes the calculations.
Consider the bill known as the Stark Naked Act of 1997, one of many pieces of legislation with curious, perhaps manipulative, names.
After mass shootings, there are more calls for gun control. Here’s one in Boulder, Colo., where 10 people died in a shooting.
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After mass shootings, politicians in Washington have failed to pass new gun control legislation, despite public pressure. But laws are being passed at the state level, largely to loosen restrictions.
U.S. taxpayers spend more than $2 billion annually in tax preparation fees.
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Dozens of prosperous countries save billions of dollars and hours annually by not requiring residents to fill out tax returns, so what is the United States waiting for?
President Joe Biden signs the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill into law Thursday.
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Jeb Barnes, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The idea that Washington, D.C., is paralyzed by gridlock rests on half-truths about the legislative process and a basic misunderstanding of how contemporary policymaking works.
Democrats celebrate passing the first big legislation of the Biden presidency.
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
It’s awfully hard to wrap your mind around a sum that large. But converting it to a more bite-size representation can affect a voter’s willingness to support government spending.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren argues that her plan is constitutional.
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
Economists estimate the tax on households worth over $50 million could bring in $3 trillion over 10 years, but it will run into constitutional challenges.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats meet with reporters before the House voted to pass a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package on Feb. 26, 2021.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
In 1974, Congress invented the reconciliation process to reduce deficits. More recently, reconciliation has been used in ways that increase the deficit. A public policy scholar explains the process.
It may seem like a lot, but it’s not the most important change in the bill.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite