Articles by Eleanor Stratton

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

There is no “Right to Know” Amendment. No sentence in the Constitution that promises citizens a window into the files of the federal government. That said, American law does recognize limited access rights in certain settings, and many states have their own “right to know” language in...

Cloture: How the Senate Ends a Filibuster

In the Senate, debate is not just talk. It is leverage. A determined minority can slow a bill down, tie it up, and sometimes quietly kill it without ever mustering the votes to defeat it outright. That maneuver is what most people mean when they say filibuster , even though modern filibusters often...

House GOP Pushes New DHS Funding Plan as Shutdown Drags On

A government shutdown is often described like a weather event, something that simply arrives and then passes. But constitutionally, it is not weather. It is a choice. And this week, the choice hardened into a familiar shape: the House and Senate moving in opposite directions, each insisting the...

Pro-Hamas Grads and the Civics Vacuum

In some campus settings, you can imagine a familiar scene even without a headline attached. A commencement ceremony tends to follow its set rhythms: speeches about gratitude, gowns that never fit quite right, and a symbolic handoff from student to citizen. In some disputes, an additional layer...

No Kings Protests and the Celebrity Megaphone

Americans do not need celebrities to tell them what a monarchy is. We wrote our national origin story by rejecting one. But when famous voices show up at mass rallies, they do something the Constitution cannot do by itself. They make a civics argument loud enough to compete with everything else in...

Pam Bondi, Citizenship, and the Constitution

Pam Bondi recently argued that “Being a citizen in our country is a privilege. It’s not a right.” She made the remark while discussing denaturalization, the legal process for taking citizenship away from someone who became an American through naturalization. That sentence sounds like a...

Jayapal Floats ‘Reparations’ for Illegal Migrants

When Americans hear the word reparations , they usually think of historic wrongdoing and a national attempt to make amends. That framing matters, because it quietly answers a prior question: who, exactly, is owed what by whom? At a March 27 “shadow hearing” focused on immigration enforcement,...

MAGA Lawmaker Calls for Thune Ouster

Amid shutdown turmoil, a MAGA lawmaker is calling for Sen. John Thune to be ousted from leadership.

MAGA Lawmaker Demands Thune Ouster Amid Shutdown Chaos

Washington talks about shutdowns like they are weather. Storm clouds. Looming deadlines. Last-minute rescues. But shutdowns are not acts of God. They are choices. And right now, one headline framed around “shutdown chaos” is doing the work of a warning flare: a MAGA lawmaker is demanding John...

Baltimore Turns Cold on Musk Inc.

Baltimore has spent the last decade absorbing a basic rule of local power: even when a billionaire shows up with a big promise, City Hall still decides what flies. This week made that point twice. First came a burst of interest in a no-cost tunnel concept around the Ravens’ stadium, tied to early...

House GOP Blocks Senate Bill to Pay Airport Screeners

When most Americans think about a government shutdown, they picture locked museum doors and darkened office buildings. But this week’s standoff is playing out in a place you can’t avoid if you need to travel: the airport security line. On Friday, House Republican leaders refused to take up a...

Verizon Waives Late Fees for Federal Workers During DHS Shutdown

A government shutdown is usually described in the language of “appropriations,” “continuing resolutions,” and “funding gaps.” But the lived reality is far less abstract: missed paychecks, late rent, and everyday bills that do not pause just because Congress did. In that gap, private...

Idaho Makes the Firing Squad the Default

July 1 is a turning point in how Idaho intends to carry out death sentences. The state is elevating the firing squad from a backup plan to the first option . Until now, Idaho law put lethal injection at the top and the firing squad behind it. Beginning July 1, Idaho flips that order and becomes the...

Will TSA Workers Be Paid During a Shutdown?

When the federal government shuts down, the question travelers ask is usually practical: Will airport security still run? The question TSA employees ask is more personal: Will I get a paycheck while I keep showing up? Shutdowns are not just political theater. They are what happens when Congress...

All 27 Constitutional Amendments, Explained Simply

The Constitution was built to last, but it was never meant to stay frozen. The 27 amendments are the official updates, each one a snapshot of a national argument: what freedom means, who counts as a citizen, and how power should be restrained. This guide explains every amendment in plain English....

Your Constitutional Rights at a Protest

You do not need a law degree to attend a protest. But you do need to understand one uncomfortable truth: the First Amendment can protect a lot of protest speech and expressive conduct, but it does not turn every tactic into a constitutional right. The Constitution gives you real leverage against...

Does the First Amendment Protect You on Social Media?

You posted a political take. It got removed. Your account got flagged, throttled (downranked or given less reach), or suspended. Then comes the sentence everyone reaches for like a constitutional shield: “That’s a First Amendment violation.” Sometimes it is. Most of the time, it is not . But...

The Presidential Veto Explained

The Constitution gives Congress the power to write laws, but it gives the President a powerful brake: the veto. That brake is not a royal “no.” It is a forced second look. Article I, Section 7 builds a simple system that turns legislation into a conversation between branches, and then hands the...

Recess Appointments Explained

Presidents nominate. The Senate confirms. That is the civics class version of appointments in the federal government. Then real life happens. Senators go home. Agencies keep running. Courts still hear cases. And the Constitution quietly hands the president a temporary workaround: the recess...

The State of the Union Address

You can spot the State of the Union in two places at once: in the Constitution, and in the political theater of modern America. One is a single sentence in Article II, Section 3. The other is a televised ritual with applause lines, invited guests, real-time media fact-checking, and a second speech...