1. What was the result of this election in November 2019? On Election Day, Republican Mark Harris led Democrat Dan McCready by fewer than 1,000 votes.
2. What do the state investigators accuse Leslie Dowless of doing to alter the election? They believe he directed a coordinated scheme to unlawfully collect, falsely witness, and otherwise tamper with absentee ballots.3. What amendment gave Mr. Dowless the right to refuse to testify to the investigators? The 5th amendment because of no self-incrimination.4. What power does the state have to solve this problematic election? the board is able to call a new election if the basic fairness of the election was tainted. It doesn’t matter whether the number of votes in dispute would have been enough to swing the outcome.5. What did Mr. Dowless do to absentee ballots in order to help the Republican candidate? Dowless had used absentee ballot request forms for prior elections to “pre-fill” forms for the 2018 election and sent out workers to find the voters so they could sign the forms and request a ballot. 6. What is the makeup of the state election board and how does that ensure fairness? it is made up of three Democrats and two Republicans — had reconvened after Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper named new members amid an unrelated legal dispute.7. What did the group do with incomplete and unsealed absentee ballots? if the ballots were left unsealed and there were elections left blank, she would fill in some of the empty offices8. Why is there no danger of prosecution for Mark Harris, the Republican candidate? His name was never written in, not getting him any votes, and they repeatedly said that he had no idea about the plan.

1. What powers does the National Emergencies Act of 1976 give POTUS ? "Trump can only use specific powers Congress has already codified by law, and he has to say which powers he’s using. The act doesn’t define what counts as an emergency."
2. What congressional power in the constitution is Trump trying to get around by declaring this? He hopes to get around their decision to not fund the wall.
3. How would Congress pass a joint resolution disputing the emergency? "Both chambers of Congress would need to approve the resolution by a simple majority (that’s 51 votes in the Senate and 218 votes in the House)." but "Because of his expected veto, stopping the declaration this way would require a veto-proof majority, which consists of a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate."
4. What action can the president take in response to the joint resolution? He could veto the bill they present to him.

5. Why would landowners potentially sue the president to stop the wall? They don't want any land to be taken from them in order for the wall to be built.6. What happened to the eminent domain lawsuits filed against President Bush? It was "reported that 334 eminent domain lawsuits were filed in South Texas under the Bush administration, and 60 to 70 of them are still pending."7. Why would the ACLU sue the president to stop the wall? He admitted that there is no national emergency that he is just impatient, so they want to sue because it is a blatant illegal declaration. 
8. How could states serve as a check on presidential power? If a states federal funds are activated then the states could resist and take Trump to court.

Exploratory Committees, Explained - Vox.com

1. What are the two reasons for a person to form an exploratory committee, according to this article? 

1. "This person is (almost) definitely running for president.

1. They want to raise some money and get their campaign together before they formally announce they are a candidate."

2. What do the candidates do during the "exploratory phase"? They raise a ton of mone start polling and traveling, and they begin to hire staff. 
3. What do candidates have to do with the bureaucracy to make their exploratory committee official? They need to file a statement of candidacy to the FEC and put exploratory in your campaign title.
4. Why did Elizabeth Warren's exploratory committee hire staff in Iowa? It is an important early state on the primary calendar.
5. What is the most important task of the exploratory committee for the candidate? Raising money is the most important thing they do so the candidate can begin to build their financial foundation of their campaign.
6. Why are Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders less likely to use an exploratory committee? They are already very well known do not need the "glide path."

State of the Union Address, Annotated - New York Times

1. What issues does President Trump identify as bipartisan (both parties support them) issues? The issues are "to defend American jobs and demand fair trade for American workers.
To rebuild and revitalize our nation’s infrastructure, to reduce the price of health care and prescription drugs, to create an immigration system that is safe, lawful, modern, and secure and to pursue a foreign policy that puts America’s interests first. "
2. Which amazing NASA bureaucrat was honored during the speech?! Buzz Aldrin was honored. 
3. What economic achievements did President Trump focus on early in his speech? The creation of 5.3 million jobs, wages are rising, and nearly 5 million Americans have been lifted off of food stamps.
4. What impact has the Trump administration had on the regulatory agencies? "Companies are coming back to our country in large numbers thanks to our historic reductions in taxes and regulations."
5. Which of the president's judicial powers does Trump mention using in the past year? He commuted Alice Johnson's sentence for a non-violent drug offense.
6. What policy proposal does Trump focus on?  In what ways does he justify the need for this policy? " a commonsense proposal to end the crisis on the Southern Border." and he justifies this by saying border agents would agree in its helpfulness and that El Paso has experienced much lower crime rates after having a barrier in place.
7. What achievement of women in government does Trump recognize? He recognizes the fact that this is the most women that have ever been in Congress and in the workforce.
8. What trade policies has Trump changed since he's been in office? " imposed tariffs on $250 billion dollars of Chinese goods — and now our Treasury is receiving billions and billions of dollars."
9. What policy proposals does Trump talk about that would impact health care in the US? We "should be to lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs — and to protect patients with pre-existing conditions."
10. What foreign policy proposals does Trump discuss? He discusses the American embassy in Jerusalem and pushing the political negotiations with Afghanistan.
11. What nation does Trump identify as the number one national security threat to the US? Russia is the beiggest threat as they have broken treaties endlessly.
12. Why does the crowd sing Happy Birthday?! Judah Samet, a Pittsburgh massacre and Nazi concentration camp survivor, was celebrating his 81st birthday at the State of the Union.