Congress Tried to Force Warrants for Immigration Raids. Here’s Why It Failed.
Here is the part nobody explains clearly: ICE's longstanding training guidance stated that an administrative warrant "does NOT alone authorize a 4th amendment search of any kind." It also does…
Federal Workers in Shutdown Limbo: What Happens to Pay and Benefits
Approximately 260,000 Department of Homeland Security workers are either on the job without pay or sitting at home without pay. The first full missed paychecks will land in mid-March, right…
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An Independent Team to Decode Government
Our articles are referenced by trusted think tanks and publications including Brookings, CNN, Forbes, Fox News, Pew Research, Snopes, The Hill, and USA Today.
Your Money & Home
When AI Companies Reach Bank-Sized Valuations, Financial Regulators Take Notice
For comparison, America's largest bank JPMorgan Chase has a market valuation of approximately $836 billion. JPMorgan manages over $4 trillion…
If the Tariff Case Goes One Way, Billions in Collected Revenue Must Be Refunded
The Supreme Court will announce a decision within days that could force the federal government to refund approximately $130 billion…
If TSA Agents Walk Out, Can They Be Fired? What Federal Workers Risk in Shutdowns
On February 14, 2026, roughly 47,000 to 50,000 Transportation Security Administration agents reported to work at America's airports knowing their…
Your Health & Safety
Civil Rights History in Schools: What Federal Education Standards Require
When Reverend Jesse Jackson died in February 2026, the national conversation about his legacy collided with an uncomfortable reality: most…
Inside the Grand Jury: How Citizens Block Prosecutions Prosecutors Want
In fiscal year 2013, federal grand juries approved charges in 99.993 percent of cases—196,964 indictments out of 196,969 matters presented.…
Inside the Grand Jury: The Citizens Who Check Prosecutorial Power
The jury refused to charge them. What Grand Juries Are Supposed to Do The Constitution requires that before the federal…
Your Voice & Rights
How Jesse Jackson’s Presidential Campaigns Reshaped Voting Rights Enforcement
Jackson launched his first presidential campaign in 1983. The law existed. The federal government had tools to enforce it. What…
TSA Agents Must Work Unpaid During Shutdowns. Here’s What Labor Law Says.
This isn't some bureaucratic oversight or emergency improvisation. It's exactly what federal law allows. The legal framework permitting the government…
The Speech or Debate Clause: Why Prosecuting Lawmakers Is Nearly Impossible
Grand juries indict more than ninety percent of the time when federal prosecutors ask them to. This wasn't one of…
Your World
Section 702 Expires April 20. What Intelligence Agencies Lose If It Lapses.
Congress faces a deadline nine weeks away. What happens if nobody blinks and the authority lapses? Intelligence officials say the…
Why Congress Keeps Fighting Over the Same Surveillance Law Every Few Years
The Trump administration wants Congress to renew Section 702—a surveillance law that lets intelligence agencies collect Americans' communications without a…
Data Centers Need Massive Power. Here’s Who Decides If They Get It.
Microsoft's stock plummeted in early 2026 after the company revealed an $80 billion backlog of customer orders it cannot fulfill.…
The Environmental Reviews Required Before Building a Massive Data Center
Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are preparing to spend nearly $700 billion on artificial intelligence data centers in 2026. Most of…
Trending Federal Guidance
USPS Package Size Limits
Whether you're shipping products nationwide as a small business owner or sending gifts to loved ones, choosing the right packaging and mailing option can save you time, money, and stress.…
Understanding Your Passport Costs: A Clear Guide to Fees
Getting a U.S. passport is your ticket to international travel, but understanding the associated costs…
Understanding the Social Security Earnings Limit
You can receive Social Security retirement or survivor benefits while still employed. However, if you…
USPS Media Mail Rules and Restrictions
Media Mail is an economy shipping service provided by the USPS specifically for sending media…
Exempt vs. Non-Exempt Employees: Understanding Your Rights Under the FLSA
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the cornerstone of federal wage and hour law…
Other Top Federal Guidance
Step-by-Step Guide for Applying for Social Security Benefits
Navigating Social Security benefits doesn't have to be complicated. This guide breaks down the application process for Retirement, Disability, and…
What the U.S. Department of State Does
The State Department is the lead U.S. foreign affairs agency, responsible for representing America on the world stage. From negotiating…
How USPS Stays Afloat: Funding Facts (Simplified)
Unlike many government agencies, the United States Postal Service (USPS) does not receive direct taxpayer funding for operating expenses. Government…
Title IX: What You Need to Know About Sex Discrimination in Schools
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was designed to prohibit discrimination based on sex in educational programs and…
Student Loan Consolidation: Free Federal Program Pros & Cons
A Direct Consolidation Loan is a program offered by the U.S. Department of Education that lets you combine one or…
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The Legal Architecture That Makes Federal Agencies ‘Independent’
Congress didn't declare federal agencies "independent" and hope for the best. Over more than a century, lawmakers wrote specific rules into law—rules about firing officials, boards with overlapping terms, funding…
Trump Order Targets Independent Agencies: What the Fed, FEC, and CFPB Could Lose
On February 18, 2025, President Trump signed an order that requires agencies that Congress deliberately set up to operate independently—the Federal Reserve, the Federal Election Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection…
Why Congress Created Agencies the President Can’t Fire—And Whether That Still Holds
On February 18, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order that attempts to bring agencies that Congress set up to be independent from the president—the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the…
When the White House Blocks Your Agency’s Rule: Legal Options for Fighting Back
On February 18, 2025, President Trump signed an order that requires independent regulatory agencies—the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and others Congress…
How Emergency Economic Powers Work—And What Counts as an Emergency
By late 2025, small business owners across America were paying more than $16 billion monthly in levies imposed under a law most Americans have never heard of. Tristan Wright makes…
The Federal Process for Designating New Civil Rights Historic Sites
The death of Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson on February 17, 2026, at age 84 set off an immediate scramble among preservationists. Not the usual scramble—the kind where historians debate legacy…
The Supreme Court’s Opinion Schedule: Who Decides What Gets Released When
Most Americans will learn about Supreme Court decisions through news headlines, probably while scrolling their phones. What they won't see is the months of invisible maneuvering that determined why these…
When SCOTUS Rules, Federal Agencies Have 30 Days to Respond. Here’s What Happens.
On February 20, the justices are expected to release opinions in cases involving Trump's tariff authority and Louisiana's congressional redistricting. Both rulings will trigger immediate implementation challenges and put federal…
Speech or Debate Clause: The Constitutional Shield for Congressional Speech
On February 10, 2026, twenty-three ordinary citizens sitting in a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. did something that a former federal judge had never witnessed in nearly twenty years on…
The Sedition Law Prosecutors Tried to Use Against Democratic Lawmakers
In 2010, federal grand juries refused only 11 of 162,000 proposed indictments. That's about 0.007 percent—roughly one in fifteen thousand. The system is designed to make indictments routine. So on…
What Safeguards Exist Against Weaponizing Criminal Law for Politics
A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. did something this week that almost never happens: they refused to indict. The target was six Democratic members of Congress. The charge prosecutors…