“Greater Idaho”: All About the Oregon-Idaho Border

Seven counties in rural eastern Oregon have now voted in nonbinding, county-level initiatives to leave Oregon and join the state of Idaho. According to proponents of the "Greater Idaho Movement," conservative-heavy rural Oregon has more in common with their neighbors in Idaho than with the greater numbers of liberal voters in the state's coastal cities …

Transgender Women and Girls in Sports

Over the past several weeks, multiple states have introduced legislation limiting or banning male to female transgender athletes from participating in women's and girl's sports.  Proponents of the various bills and laws argue that transgender athletes would have an unfair advantage over cisgender (or biological) women and girls, especially if the transgender athletes went through …

“Packing The Courts?”

Unpacking Biden’s new commission tasked with evaluating potential changes to the Supreme Court The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States & its creation is mapped out in the Constitution. What’s not written into the Constitution? The maximum number of Justices allowed to serve at any one time. As a result, this …

Biden and the Border

The Trump administration and the Biden administration have very different approaches to immigration policy, particularly at the US southern border, both in rhetoric and policy. Biden has made it a goal to reverse much of what Trump did while in office, though it's slow going for him. The number of migrants at the border is …

Biden’s Foreign Policy Changes

US foreign policy is a complicated subject. It shifts with every president to reflect the new administration's needs and goals. Each president sets the overall tone, working closely with advisors and the Department of State. The State Department consists of the Secretary of State (currently Antony Blinken), the US Mission to the UN, and the …

House Committee Assignments

This procedure is in the news again, and it's time we went over how a Representative gets assigned, and potentially removed. Getting Assigned There are different types of committees on the House.  Select committees, which are special committees formed for a specific purpose and may stay permanent or disband at the end of their served …

A 50-50 Senate: Why it’s Complicated

With the swearing in of Georgia’s two new Democratic Senators, the Senate is now split evenly between the two parties, with 50 senators of each party. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has formally become the majority leader.  Sen. Schumer's leadership isn't the same as when Sen. Mitch McConnel (R-KY) was majority leader, because Schumer doesn't hold …

How to contact your Federal election officials:

Start by finding who they are, and what their contact information is. Luckily, you can do both using the links below: House of Representatives: Find your region's Representative at this link - here. You will be asked to enter your zip code, and possibly your street address if the zones overlap in your zip code. …

Senate Edition: What is a ‘special election’ and what is going on in Georgia?

Amidst a heated Presidential election, a lot is also going on in the Senate.

Addressing your worries: What happens when polls close, and is it safe to speculate on the timeline of results?

With election day underway, a big topic of conversation is whether we will find out the results today. In a typical election year, results for a large number of states come in right after polls close, and by the time California polls close, we have our confirmed winner.  However, this election is anything but normal. …