Jonathan Zhang's AP U.S. Government Blog

1. What is the most basic finding of the polls that have been released in the last week? There has been elevated support for impeachment, but the results are not strong enough to show that the population as a whole wants Trump impeached. 2. What did YouGov and the Economist find that most Americans feel about the president's actions? Although impeachment is not favored by a majority, the majority do think that Trump has done wrongdoing in colluding with Ukraine. 3. What did that same poll find about American attitudes toward the president if he withheld funding to the Ukraine? 62% believed it was out of order to withhold aid for the reasons the President stated in the calls (the political favors). 4. What change in attitudes did the Quinnipiac poll find? After the Mueller report, people definitely believed that Trump did something wrong, but only 29% wanted to actually impeach him. Now, that number went up 5%. 5. What is important about the time frame in which the poll was cond...

1. What is Nancy Pelosi's role in Congress? She is the Speaker of the House, which is in line for the presidency after the VP and is the head of the HOR. 2. What is President Trump alleged to have done? Trump is alleged to have tried to have Ukraine interfere in the 2020 presidential election (he was said to have been communicating with a foreign leader). 3. What is Nancy Pelosi's goal, since she does not want to impeach the president? She wants to more clearly define why a President should be impeached. In this case, she wants impeachment if any President is doing any wrongdoing. She wants this to apply to future presidents mainly. 4. What does Pelosi say has harmed Congress's ability to investigate the Executive Branch? The Senate is controlled by the Republicans, which block legislation that limits the President. Also, the President has been noncooperative with information and has flaunted their "executive privilege."  5. How did the Director of National In...

1. How much of the House must agree to impeach a judge? How much of the Senate must agree to remove a judge? A majority of the House must decide to impeach, while 2/3 of the Senate can convict the official. 2. Has this process ever been used before for the Supreme Court?  How many times?  Yes, it can apply to SCOTUS officials. 13 judges have been impeached, while 8 have been removed from their positions. 3. Where in the Constitution does it set up the impeachment process? Article II, Section 4 (Executive Branch article) 4. What are the reasons for the impeachments of the 5 most recent judicial impeachments? clear, criminal wrongdoing (falsifying income tax returns, bribes and perjury) 5. Why does the current makeup of the Senate make it unlikely that Supreme Court justices Kavanaugh or Thomas would be removed if impeached today? Both of these officials have massive support in the Senate, so it is hard for them to actually become removed from office unless ...

1. What was the Iowa Democratic Party's plan for changes to this year's Iowa Caucus? They wanted to use a phone system for tele-caucusing, as well as still having the physical caucus. 2. Why has the Democratic National Committee decided to recommend rejecting these plans? They believe that the virtual caucus can be hacked. Politicians and committee members alike were averse to this idea and rejected it due to the lack of security that the DNC could guarantee. 3. Why had the Iowa Democratic Party recommended these changes? The Iowa Democratic Party had received complaints in the past that voters who were not able to attend the caucus were disadvantaged. The DNC wanted them to make it more accessible (without specifying how). 4. Why is it so important that Iowa is the first contest?  How do they influence the nomination process? The first caucuses reveal the stronger candidates, and weaker candidates are set on the backburner. Usually, candidates are eliminated from pos...

1. How much of the US population lives in a state or district with access to legal marijuana? More than 25% 2. Where in the US were the first places to make marijuana fully legal? Colorado and Washington 3. In the states where marijuana is legal, what differences might there be state to state?  And how are Vermont and DC different? Different limits on the amount of cannabis a person can have or the amount a foreigner can have. DC and Vermont both don't allow sales, but DC allows "gifting" of marijuana products (such as decals and juices) 4. What is the difference between marijuana legalization and marijuana decriminalization? Legalization removes all regulations on marijuana which permits growing and selling, while decriminalization allows for possession of small amounts without any jail time or major fines. 5. Why does the ACLU argue that marijuana prohibition is bad for the government? Marijuana possession uses a lot of police resources in terms of arresting an...