The civic glossary

Also: confirmation

The Senate's shared role in appointments and treaties: nominations need a Senate majority; treaties need two-thirds.

Article II's rule for filling federal offices: principal officers need Senate confirmation, while Congress may vest inferior officer appointments elsewhere.

How the Constitution is changed: proposal by two-thirds of both chambers or by a convention called by two-thirds of the states, then ratification by three-fourths of the states.

The first national framework, in force 1781 to 1789. Congress could not tax, could not regulate commerce, and needed unanimity to amend.

A legislative act that punishes a named person or group without a trial. Prohibited to both Congress and the states.

The first ten amendments, ratified in 1791. They were the price several states demanded for ratifying the Constitution at all.

Also: three branches

One of the three divisions of power the Constitution creates: legislative (Congress), executive (the President), and judicial (the courts).

The mechanisms letting each branch limit the others: the veto and override, confirmation, impeachment, judicial review, and the power of the purse.

A single provision within a longer legal text, usually named for what it does: the Commerce Clause, the Due Process Clause, the Take Care Clause.

Congress's power to regulate commerce 'among the several States', the constitutional basis for much of modern federal law.

Also: amendment, amend the Constitution

A formal change to the Constitution's text. Twenty-seven have been ratified. An amendment outranks every statute, regulation, and prior court decision.

A body assembled to write or revise a constitution. The 1787 Philadelphia convention wrote this one; an Article V convention has never been called.

A situation the constitutional order cannot resolve through its own procedures, usually because an actor defies a binding decision or the rules run out.

Article I, Section 10's bar on states passing laws impairing the obligation of contracts. Once a major limit on state power, now applied loosely.

Government in which political power comes from the people, exercised directly or through elected representatives. The American system is a representative democracy, and also a republic.

The guarantee that government cannot take life, liberty, or property without fair procedures, and, as courts read it, without adequate justification.

State legislatures set the times, places, and manner of congressional elections, but Congress may override those rules by law at any time.

The 1795 amendment barring federal suits against a state by citizens of another state, the textual anchor of modern state sovereign immunity.

Two provisions barring federal officials from taking payments or gifts from foreign states without congressional consent, and barring extra payments to the President.

Also: implied powers

The specific powers the Constitution lists for Congress, chiefly in Article I, Section 8. The federal government holds these listed powers, not a general power to legislate.

The Fourteenth Amendment's command that states not deny any person 'the equal protection of the laws', the constitutional engine of anti-discrimination law.

A law that criminalizes conduct after it happened, or increases the punishment retroactively. Forbidden to both Congress and the states.

Returning a person charged with a crime to the state or country where the charge is pending. Between states, the Constitution makes it obligatory.

The division of power between the national government and the states: each sovereign in its sphere, sharing the same territory and citizens.

The 1870 amendment barring denial of the vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, with enforcement power given to Congress.

The 1868 amendment guaranteeing birthright citizenship, due process, and equal protection against the states, and giving Congress power to enforce them.

Article IV's requirement that each state honor the public acts, records, and court judgments of the others. Why a judgment in one state can be enforced in another.

Article IV's promise that the United States will guarantee every state a republican form of government and protect it against invasion and domestic violence.

The court order requiring the government to justify a person's detention before a judge. The Constitution forbids suspending it except in rebellion or invasion.

Also: high crimes and misdemeanors, articles of impeachment

The House's formal accusation against a President, judge, or other civil officer, by majority vote. Removal requires a separate Senate trial and a two-thirds conviction.

The process by which most Bill of Rights protections were applied to state and local governments through the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.

Courts' power to strike down laws and executive acts that violate the Constitution, established by Marbury v. Madison (1803).

Also: elastic clause

Article I's closing power: Congress may make all laws 'necessary and proper' to carry its listed powers into execution. The basis for implied powers.

The 1920 amendment barring denial of the vote on account of sex, after a campaign of more than seventy years.

The enumeration of certain rights in the Constitution shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

The principle that Congress may not hand its legislative power to agencies. In practice courts require only an intelligible principle guiding the agency.

The principle that governmental authority comes from the people, who can alter or replace their government. The premise behind 'We the People'.

The Constitution's opening sentence, beginning 'We the People'. It states the document's purposes and grants no power on its own.

Article IV's rule that a state may not discriminate against citizens of other states in basic rights, such as earning a living or accessing its courts.

Also: ratify, ratified

Final approval that gives a measure legal force: states ratify constitutional amendments (3/4 required); the Senate consents to treaties (2/3).

The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, ratified 1865 to 1870: abolishing slavery, guaranteeing citizenship and equal protection, and protecting the vote.

The President's contested authority to fire executive officers without Senate approval. Its reach over 'independent' agencies is an active constitutional battleground.

Also: representative democracy

A government in which the people rule through elected representatives rather than by direct vote on every question. The Constitution guarantees each state one.

The Tenth Amendment's rule: powers not delegated to the federal government, nor forbidden to the states, are reserved to the states or the people.

The principle that everyone, including officials, is bound by law that is public, prospective, and applied through fair procedures.

The Constitution's division of federal power into legislative, executive, and judicial branches, each with tools to resist the others.

The 1913 amendment providing for direct popular election of senators, who had previously been chosen by state legislatures.

The 1913 amendment allowing Congress to tax income from any source without apportioning the tax among the states by population.

Supreme authority within a territory. In the American system it is divided: the federal government, the states, and tribal nations each hold some.

Members of Congress cannot be questioned in any other place for anything said or done in the legislative process. Legislative immunity, not personal immunity.

Congress's power to tax and spend for the general welfare. It funds programs Congress could not otherwise regulate directly, by attaching conditions to grants.

The amendments expanding the vote: Fifteenth (race), Nineteenth (sex), Twenty-Fourth (no poll tax), and Twenty-Sixth (age eighteen).

Also: preemption

Article VI's rule that the Constitution and valid federal law are 'the supreme Law of the Land', overriding conflicting state law.

Habeas corpus may not be suspended unless rebellion or invasion makes it necessary for public safety. The clause sits in Article I, among limits on Congress.

Article II's instruction that the President 'take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed', both a duty and a font of executive power.

Congress's authority to lay and collect taxes. Direct taxes had to be apportioned among the states until the Sixteenth Amendment allowed an income tax.

Also: anticommandeering

Powers not delegated to the federal government, nor prohibited to the states, are reserved to the states or to the people.

The founding legal document of the United States: a preamble, seven articles, and twenty-seven amendments. It outranks every other law in the country.

The 1865 amendment abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime, and giving Congress power to enforce the ban.

The President makes treaties by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, provided two-thirds of senators present concur.

The 1967 amendment covering presidential succession, vice presidential vacancies, and how a President may be declared unable to serve.

The 1951 amendment limiting a President to two elected terms, and to one if they served more than two years of someone else's.

The 1971 amendment setting the voting age at eighteen, ratified in about three months, the fastest in American history.

The 1961 amendment giving the District of Columbia electoral votes in presidential elections, capped at the number of the least populous state.

The opening sentences of Articles I, II, and III, each granting a branch its power. Their differing wording carries enormous interpretive weight.

The two-year meeting of the legislature between House elections, numbered sequentially since 1789 and divided into two annual sessions.

Also: filling the tree

The fixed set of amendment slots available to a pending Senate bill. Filling every slot, which only the leader can do, blocks anyone else from offering amendments.

The committee with subject-matter jurisdiction that creates and reauthorizes programs, as opposed to the appropriators who fund them.

Having two chambers. Congress is bicameral, and so is every state legislature except Nebraska's, which is unicameral.

A proposed law introduced in the House (H.R.) or Senate (S.). It only becomes law if both chambers pass identical text and the President signs it, or Congress overrides a veto.

Two unrelated customs share the name: the Senate Judiciary courtesy giving home-state senators a say over judicial nominees, and the House's rejection of a Senate revenue bill.

A congressional office helping an individual constituent deal with a federal agency: a delayed passport, a veterans' claim, a lost Social Security check.

An organized group of members, most importantly each party's full membership in a chamber, which elects its leaders and sets strategy.

Also: cost estimate

The Congressional Budget Office's nonpartisan estimate of what a bill would cost or save over ten years, and how many people it would affect.

A formal vote of disapproval by a chamber against one of its own members, or against another official. It carries no legal penalty.

Also: houses of Congress, both chambers

One of the two houses of a legislature. Congress has two: the House of Representatives and the Senate. A bill must pass both, in identical text.

The Senate's only procedure for ending debate over objection. Most legislation needs 60 votes; nominations need a simple majority.

Placing a newly enacted law into the right spots in the existing code, amending, replacing, or adding sections rather than standing alone.

A panel of members with jurisdiction over a subject area. Committees are where most legislation is examined, rewritten, and, most often, quietly dies.

A procedural device letting the entire House sit as one large committee, where a quorum is 100 instead of 218 and debate moves under faster rules.

Identical or near-identical text introduced in both chambers at once, so each can work on it in parallel instead of waiting for the other.

A measure (H.Con.Res. or S.Con.Res.) that both chambers pass but the President never signs. It settles Congress's internal business and carries no force of law.

Also: conference report, conferees

A temporary House-Senate panel that negotiates one compromise text when the chambers pass different versions of a measure.

Also: delegation

All the members of Congress from one state, taken together: its two senators and all of its representatives, of whichever parties.

Also: congressional districts

The geographic area a single U.S. Representative is elected from. There are 435, redrawn after each census so they hold nearly equal populations.

The daily published account of floor proceedings in both chambers, including debate, votes, and material members insert without ever speaking it aloud.

Also: CRS

Congress's own nonpartisan research arm, inside the Library of Congress. Its reports explain law and policy without taking a side, and are now public.

A person who lives in the district or state an official represents. Being one is what gives you a claim on that office's help.

The sanction for defying a congressional subpoena. Three routes exist: criminal referral to the Justice Department, a civil suit, and the long-dormant inherent contempt power.

A letter circulated to every member of a chamber, usually asking them to cosponsor a bill, sign onto a letter, or vote a certain way.

Also: resident commissioner

A non-voting House member representing a territory or the District of Columbia. They serve and vote in committee, but not on final passage.

A House maneuver that forces a bill out of a committee that refuses to act, if 218 members, a majority, sign on publicly.

A standing headcount: members rise to be counted for and against. The totals are announced, but who stood where is still not recorded.

Also: congressionally directed spending, community project funding

A provision directing money to a specific project, place, or recipient. Now called congressionally directed spending and required to be disclosed with a sponsor's name.

The sentence that turns text into law: 'Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled'.

Also: ping-pong, amendments between the houses

An amendment adopted by one chamber and prepared in its official form, sent to the other chamber for concurrence. The ping-pong stage of lawmaking.

The official, final text of a measure as passed by one chamber, certified before it is sent to the other chamber.

The single final text passed identically by both chambers, printed on parchment, signed by chamber officers, and presented to the President.

Removal of a sitting member by their own chamber, requiring a two-thirds vote. The only way Congress can remove one of its members.

Extended debate used to block a Senate vote. Because most measures need 60 votes to cut off debate, a determined minority can stop legislation that has majority support.

Also: floor amendments

A proposed change to a measure offered during floor debate rather than in committee.

A member's right to send official mail to constituents at government expense, using a signature in place of a stamp. Regulated, and barred close to elections.

On-topic. House rules require amendments to be germane to the bill; the Senate mostly does not, which is how unrelated riders appear.

The rule that an amendment must relate to the bill it amends. Strict in the House, largely absent in the Senate, which is why Senate bills collect unrelated riders.

A legislature that cannot pass what majorities in it want, usually because a supermajority threshold, divided chambers, or divided party control blocks it.

A committee session for taking testimony: on a bill, on oversight of an agency, on a nomination, or as part of an investigation.

The wooden box at the front of the House chamber where representatives physically drop new bills to introduce them.

A committee with members from both chambers. Most are permanent and analytical, such as the Joint Committee on Taxation, and do not report legislation.

A measure (H.J.Res. or S.J.Res.) that travels the same path as a bill and has the same force of law. Also the only vehicle for proposing a constitutional amendment.

Also: lame duck

A session held after the November election but before the new Congress is sworn in, when members who lost or retired are still voting.

Also: legislator

Any elected member of a legislature: a member of Congress, a state legislator, a city council member. Legislator means the same thing.

Also: calendar

The list of measures reported out of committee and eligible for floor action. Being on the calendar is not a promise of a vote.

The period from when a chamber convenes until it adjourns, which can span many calendar days if it only recesses in between.

The paper trail behind a statute: committee reports, hearings, floor debate, and earlier versions. Courts sometimes use it to read an ambiguous text.

Also: legislative branch, lawmaking body

The body that makes law. At the federal level it is Congress; every state has its own, and every city and county has a council or board that does the same job locally.

The floor leader of the chamber's larger party. In the Senate this is the most powerful office in the body; in the House it ranks below the Speaker.

A committee session where members amend a measure line by line and vote on whether to report it to the full chamber.

The elected floor leader of the chamber's smaller party: chief negotiator, spokesperson, and the person who decides where the minority spends its limited procedural leverage.

The House minority's last shot before final passage: a motion to send the bill back to committee, sometimes with instructions to change it.

A motion to set something aside permanently. It is not debatable and needs only a simple majority, so it is the fastest way to kill an amendment without voting on it directly.

Legislation with a hard deadline and unacceptable consequences for failing: spending bills, the debt limit, the defense authorization, farm and aviation bills.

Changing Senate practice by majority vote instead of the two-thirds a formal rules change needs, by overruling the chair on what the rules mean.

A single giant bill packaging many separate measures, often all annual spending bills, into one take-it-or-leave-it vote.

Article I, Section 7: all bills for raising revenue must start in the House. The Senate may amend them freely, including by replacing the entire text.

Also: veto override, override of a veto

Congress enacting a measure over the President's veto, which takes a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate.

Congress's review of how the executive branch carries out the laws it passed: hearings, document demands, investigations, and the spending power behind them.

An informal agreement between two members on opposite sides that one will abstain when the other cannot be present, so the absence changes no outcome.

The nonpartisan expert who advises the chair on what chamber rules and precedents allow. In the Senate, the referee for what may ride on a reconciliation bill.

If Congress adjourns during the President's 10-day window so the bill cannot be returned, presidential inaction kills it instead of enacting it, and there is nothing to override.

A member's formal objection that something before the chamber violates its rules. If sustained, the offending provision or motion falls without a vote on the merits.

Also: president pro tem

The Senate's presiding officer when the Vice President is absent, which is nearly always. By custom the longest-serving senator of the majority party, and third in the line of succession.

The House motion that cuts off debate and forces an immediate vote. A simple majority is enough, which is why the House has no filibuster.

Legislation that applies to one named person or entity rather than the public at large, most often in immigration or claims against the government.

A near-empty session lasting seconds, held every few days so the chamber never technically adjourns. Used to block recess appointments.

What a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.

The minimum number of members who must be present for a chamber to do business: a majority, 218 in a full House and 51 in a full Senate.

A roll call to establish whether enough members are present. In the Senate it is usually a stalling device, a way to pause the floor without adjourning.

The senior member of the minority party on a committee, the counterpart to the chair. Usually becomes chair if the party wins the majority.

Also: recess, district work period

A break in proceedings that does not end the legislative day. District work periods are the modern name for the long ones, when members go home.

Also: referred to committee

The assignment of a newly introduced measure to the committee (or committees) with jurisdiction over its subject.

Also: enact, enactment

Cancelling an existing law. It takes the same process the law took: passage by both chambers and the President's signature, or an override.

Also: committee report

A committee's formal approval sending a measure to the full chamber, usually with a written report explaining it.

An unrelated provision attached to a bill likely to pass, often a must-pass spending bill, to carry it into law.

Also: recorded vote

A recorded vote in which every member's yea or nay is public. The alternative, a voice vote, records only the outcome.

The House committee that writes the terms of debate, the 'rule', for each major bill: how long debate runs and which amendments are allowed.

Also: special committee

A committee created for a specific purpose or period, usually to investigate something, rather than to hold permanent jurisdiction over a subject.

Also: hold, holds

A senator's private notice to their leader that they will object to taking up a bill or nomination. Not in the rules, but powerful because Senate business runs on unanimous consent.

Rank by length of continuous service. It shapes committee assignments, subcommittee chairs, and office space, though party leaders can override it.

A measure (H.Res. or S.Res.) that one chamber passes alone, governing its own rules, honors, or internal procedure. It is not law and never leaves that chamber.

Adjournment without a day, ending a session of Congress with no scheduled return. Latin, pronounced roughly SY-nee DY-ee.

The first official publication of a new law: a single pamphlet issued right after enactment, before it appears in the Statutes at Large or the Code.

The presiding officer of the House, elected by the whole chamber, and second in the line of presidential succession. In practice the leader of the majority party.

Also: closed rule, open rule, structured rule

The House resolution setting the terms of debate on a bill: how long, which amendments are in order, and what points of order are waived. Open, structured, or closed.

Also: cosponsor, cosponsors

The member of Congress who introduces a measure. Members who formally add their support afterward are cosponsors.

A permanent committee with fixed jurisdiction that continues from one Congress to the next, such as Judiciary, Armed Services, or Ways and Means.

Also: statutory

A law passed by a legislature and signed into effect. Distinct from a regulation, which an agency writes, and from a court decision, which interprets both.

The official chronological record of every law Congress has enacted, printed exactly as passed. The legal authority when it conflicts with the U.S. Code.

A smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.

Also: two-thirds, three-fifths vote

Any threshold above half: three-fifths for Senate cloture, two-thirds to override a veto or convict on impeachment, three-fourths of states to ratify an amendment.

A House fast track for uncontroversial bills: 40 minutes of debate, no amendments, and a two-thirds vote to pass.

The chamber itself, where the full body debates and votes. Floor action is what happens after committee, and is the only place a measure can pass.

Doing business by universal agreement instead of votes. Most Senate floor action happens this way, which is why a single objecting senator has real power.

Also: U.S. Code, USC

The subject-organized compilation of general and permanent federal law, arranged in titles. Where a statute lives after enactment, as opposed to how it was passed.

The President's refusal to sign a measure, returning it to Congress with objections. Congress can override with two-thirds of both chambers.

A vote decided by which side sounds louder. No individual positions are recorded, so no member can be held to a position afterward.

The party leader responsible for counting votes and keeping members in line before a floor vote.

The constitutional right of one-fifth of those present to force every member's vote onto the public record. The mechanism behind every roll call you can look up.

Someone temporarily filling a Senate-confirmed job that is vacant. The Federal Vacancies Reform Act limits who may serve, and for how long.

A President and the officials they appoint, taken together, over one term. Also the ordinary work of running a program, as in public administration.

Also: ALJ

A hearing officer inside an agency who decides individual cases under that agency's statutes: benefits claims, licensing disputes, enforcement actions.

Also: apa

The 1946 law that sets the ground rules for agency action: how rules are made, how hearings run, and when courts can strike agency decisions.

An agency deciding a specific case rather than writing a general rule: whether this claim is paid, this license is granted, this company broke this regulation.

Also: appointee

Placing someone in an office rather than electing them. Federal appointments to principal offices require Senate confirmation; many others do not.

The head of the Justice Department and the government's chief lawyer: supervises federal prosecutions, represents the United States, and advises the President on law.

A subdivision inside a department with its own mission and, usually, its own statute: the FBI inside Justice, the Census Bureau inside Commerce.

Also: red tape

The permanent administrative apparatus of government: agencies, offices, and career staff organized by rule and hierarchy rather than by election.

The President's senior advisory body: the Vice President and the heads of the 15 executive departments, plus officials the President elevates to cabinet rank.

The head of an executive department, nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The Attorney General heads Justice under a different title.

Also: merit system, career civil servant

The career federal workforce, hired by merit and protected from being fired for political reasons. About 2 million people, the vast majority of the executive branch.

Also: pardon, commutation, reprieve, amnesty

The President's power to forgive or reduce federal punishment: a pardon erases the conviction's penalties, a commutation shortens the sentence, a reprieve delays it.

Also: CFR, eCFR

The subject-organized compilation of all federal regulations currently in force, in 50 titles. The regulatory counterpart to the U.S. Code.

Also: commissioner

A multi-member body that governs by vote instead of by a single head, usually with fixed staggered terms and a cap on how many members share a party.

Meeting what a law or regulation requires, and being able to show it: reports, records, audits, certifications.

Also: cra, resolution of disapproval

A 1996 law letting Congress cancel a new agency rule by joint resolution within roughly 60 legislative days, with no Senate filibuster.

Also: VA

The department that provides health care, disability compensation, education benefits, and burial services to military veterans. Second largest by employment.

A Cabinet officer in the line of succession kept away from an event where the President, Vice President, and congressional leadership gather.

The public file for one rulemaking: the proposal, every comment received, the supporting analyses, and the final rule. Posted at regulations.gov.

When a law or rule actually starts to apply, which is often well after it is enacted or published. Not the same as the date it passed.

Making people comply with a law: investigations, penalties, lawsuits, and prosecutions. Deciding what to enforce is itself a policy decision.

The formal delivery of a passed bill to the President, which starts the ten-day constitutional clock for signature, veto, or becoming law unsigned.

An umbrella phrase for anything a President does without new legislation: orders, memoranda, proclamations, enforcement priorities, and agency guidance.

An international commitment a President makes without a Senate treaty vote. Most U.S. agreements abroad take this form, and a later President can undo one.

The branch that carries out the law: the President, the Cabinet departments, the agencies, and the roughly two million civilian employees who do the work.

One of the 15 top-level agencies whose heads form the Cabinet, from State and Treasury through Homeland Security. Each is created by statute.

Also: EOP, White House Office

The President's own staff agencies, including the White House Office, OMB, the National Security Council, and the Council of Economic Advisers.

A written, numbered presidential directive to the executive branch, published in the Federal Register. It has legal force only as far as the Constitution or a statute backs it.

A President's claimed right to withhold certain communications from Congress or the courts, so advisers can speak candidly. It is not absolute and is not in the Constitution.

Also: FACA

An outside group giving formal advice to an agency. The Federal Advisory Committee Act requires balance, public meetings, and public records.

The federal government's daily journal, publishing executive orders, proposed and final rules, and official notices since 1936.

The completed regulation an agency publishes after considering comments. It has the force of law once effective and is codified in the Code of Federal Regulations.

Also: at-will removal, inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance

A statute allowing an official to be fired only for stated reasons, such as inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance. The legal basis of agency independence.

Also: GAO

Congress's audit and investigation arm. It reviews how federal money is spent, rules on impoundment questions, and decides bid protests.

Also: subregulatory guidance

An agency statement explaining how it reads or will enforce a rule. It is not supposed to bind anyone, but in practice regulated parties treat it as if it does.

The 1939 law limiting partisan political activity by federal employees, so the public workforce cannot be turned into a campaign operation.

Also: deferral

A President declining to spend money Congress appropriated. Sharply limited since 1974: withholding now requires notifying Congress, and permanent cancellation requires its approval.

An agency structured to operate at arm's length from the President, often run by a bipartisan commission whose members serve fixed terms.

Also: IG

An independent watchdog inside a federal agency, auditing and investigating waste, fraud, and abuse, and reporting to both the agency head and Congress.

A rule that takes effect immediately, with comments collected afterward. Allowed only when an agency shows good cause that ordinary notice and comment is impracticable.

A temporary official halt to an activity: a pause on evictions, on new leases, on enforcement of a rule.

Also: emergency declaration

A formal declaration that unlocks standby powers Congress has already written into statute. Roughly 150 statutory authorities can be switched on this way.

Appointing relatives to positions you control. A federal statute bars a public official from appointing a relative to an agency they oversee.

Also: nominee, nominate

The President's formal proposal of a person for an office that requires Senate confirmation. The nominee holds no authority until confirmed and sworn in.

The core rulemaking procedure: an agency publishes a proposed rule, anyone may comment, and the final rule must respond to the significant comments received.

Also: OMB, OIRA

The President's budget and regulatory control center. It writes the President's budget request, apportions appropriated funds, and reviews significant agency rules.

Also: spoils system

Handing out government jobs and contracts as political rewards. The spoils system was its nineteenth-century form, ended for most federal jobs in 1883.

Also: PAS position, Schedule C

Someone chosen by the President to run or advise an agency, serving at the President's pleasure. Roughly 4,000 positions, about 1,200 requiring Senate confirmation.

A presidential directive like an executive order but unnumbered, and not always published in the Federal Register.

The President's refusal to sign a bill, returning it to Congress with objections. Congress can override with two-thirds of both chambers.

A presidential announcement directed at the public rather than the executive branch. Most are ceremonial; some (tariffs, national monuments, emergencies) carry real legal force.

Land owned by the federal government, about a quarter of the country, managed by agencies including the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and Park Service.

What a government has decided to do about a problem, expressed through statutes, regulations, budgets, and enforcement choices taken together.

A temporary appointment the President can make without Senate confirmation while the Senate is in recess; it expires at the end of the next session.

Also: rule, regulations

A binding rule written by a federal agency under authority Congress gave it. It has the force of law, but it is not a statute and can be changed without Congress.

When an agency comes to serve the industry it regulates rather than the public, through information, staffing, and sustained attention from the regulated side.

OMB's check on significant agency rules before publication, including a cost-benefit analysis. Established by executive order, not by statute.

Also: notice of proposed rulemaking, nprm, proposed rule

The legal process agencies must follow to issue binding regulations: publish a proposal, take public comment, respond, then publish a final rule.

A written statement the President issues when signing a bill, sometimes announcing how, or whether, the administration will enforce particular provisions.

The official who represents the United States in the Supreme Court and decides which cases the government will appeal. Sometimes called the tenth Justice.

A prosecutor appointed to handle a matter where the Justice Department has a conflict. Independent day to day, but still removable by the Attorney General.

Terms that expire in different years, so no single election or appointment round can replace a whole body at once.

The President's constitutionally required report to Congress on the state of the union, delivered since 1913 as an annual speech to a joint session.

A clause ending a law or authority on a set date unless Congress renews it. Used to force periodic review of powers granted in a hurry.

The chief federal prosecutor for one of the 94 judicial districts, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

The government's semiannual list of regulations each agency plans to propose or finalize. The closest thing to advance notice of what is coming.

Also: USPS

An independent establishment of the executive branch, run by a Board of Governors, funded by postage rather than appropriations, with a constitutional footing.

A formal statement, usually a Statement of Administration Policy, warning that the President's advisers will recommend a veto if a bill passes as written.

First in the line of succession, President of the Senate with a tie-breaking vote, and whatever else the President delegates. The job's power is almost entirely informal.

Permission from an agency to depart from a normal requirement, granted where a statute allows it. Common in Medicaid, education, and immigration.

An employee who reports wrongdoing through protected channels. Federal law shields many from retaliation, but the protections vary sharply by sector.

Also: declaration under penalty of perjury

A written statement sworn to be true, used where live testimony is not required: warrant applications, motions, provisional ballot challenges.

Also: Chevron deference

How much weight a court gives an agency's own reading of the law it administers. The Supreme Court ended Chevron deference in 2024.

Also: amicus curiae

A 'friend of the court' filing from a non-party, a state, industry group, scholar, or the federal government, urging a particular outcome or offering expertise.

The defendant's formal written response to a complaint, admitting or denying each allegation and raising any defenses.

A request that a higher court review a lower court's decision for legal error. Appeals courts review the law; they do not retry the facts.

The power to review a lower court's decision rather than hear a case fresh. Congress sets its shape for the federal courts, including the Supreme Court's.

Also: hard look review

The standard for striking down agency action under the APA: a rule falls if the agency failed to consider the important factors or explain its reasoning.

The first court appearance on a charge: the defendant is told the accusation, advised of rights, enters a plea, and conditions of release are set.

Taking someone into custody on probable cause that they committed a crime. An arrest is not a charge, and a charge is not a conviction.

Also: life tenure

A judge appointed by the President, confirmed by the Senate, holding office during good behavior with salary that cannot be reduced. Removable only by impeachment.

Also: counsel, lawyer

A lawyer licensed to practice in a jurisdiction and to represent someone else in court. Counsel means the same thing in most legal usage.

The conditions for releasing an accused person before trial, which may include money. The Eighth Amendment bars excessive bail but does not guarantee release.

A unit of each federal district court handling debt relief and reorganization: Chapter 7 liquidation, Chapter 11 business reorganization, Chapter 13 repayment plans.

The standard for a criminal conviction: the evidence must leave no reasonable doubt of guilt. The highest burden American law imposes.

The written argument a party files, setting out the facts, the law, and why the court should rule its way. The main vehicle of appellate persuasion.

Who must convince the factfinder, and how thoroughly. The party carrying it loses if the evidence is evenly balanced.

The shared arrangement in which law clerks from participating chambers write one memo per certiorari petition, circulated to all of them.

Also: writ of certiorari, cert petition, cert

The Supreme Court's discretionary review. Losing parties petition for a 'writ of cert'; four justices must agree to hear the case.

The administrative head of a federal district or circuit court. The role goes by seniority and age rules, not by appointment or election.

Also: associate justice

The head of the Supreme Court and of the federal judiciary. One vote of nine on cases, but control of the conference and of who writes the majority opinion.

One of the thirteen regions of the federal appellate system. Saying a case is in the Ninth Circuit names both the court and the states it covers.

Two or more federal appeals courts reading the same federal law differently, so it means different things in different regions. The strongest reason for Supreme Court review.

Also: criminal case, civil law, criminal law

A lawsuit between parties over rights, money, or conduct, decided by a preponderance of the evidence. A criminal case is the government prosecuting an offense.

One lawsuit brought on behalf of everyone similarly injured. A judge must certify the class, and the judgment binds absent members who do not opt out.

The document that begins a civil lawsuit: who the parties are, what happened, which law was broken, and what the plaintiff wants the court to do.

Also: concurrence

An opinion by a judge who agrees with the outcome but not entirely with the reasoning. Not binding, but sometimes more influential than the majority.

A settlement entered as a court order, so a judge can enforce it. Used for police reform, environmental cleanup, and antitrust remedies.

The sanction for disobeying a court order or disrupting proceedings. Civil contempt coerces compliance; criminal contempt punishes past defiance.

Also: circuit court

The intermediate federal appellate court. Thirteen circuits review district court decisions in three-judge panels, on the record, without new evidence.

The party being sued in a civil case, or charged in a criminal one. In criminal cases the defendant is presumed innocent until the government proves otherwise.

Sworn out-of-court testimony taken by the opposing lawyer and recorded by a court reporter. The transcript can be used at trial to contradict a witness.

Statements in a judicial opinion that are not necessary to the decision. Later courts may find them persuasive but are not bound by them.

The pretrial phase where each side must hand over relevant evidence and answer the other's questions. It is where most cases are actually won, lost, or settled.

Also: dissent

An opinion by a judge who would decide the case the other way. It does not bind anyone, but it preserves the argument and sometimes wins later.

The federal trial court. There are 94 districts, at least one per state, where cases are filed, evidence is heard, and juries sit.

The official chronological list of everything filed and ordered in a case. Also the whole set of cases before a court.

Also: shadow docket

The Supreme Court's stream of urgent orders decided without full briefing or argument, often quickly and sometimes without stated reasons.

All active judges of an appeals court rehearing a case together, rather than the usual three-judge panel. Used for exceptionally important questions or to fix panel conflicts.

Anything offered to prove or disprove a fact at trial: testimony, documents, records, physical objects. What counts is governed by rules, not by relevance alone.

Evidence obtained by violating the Constitution generally cannot be used against the defendant. The remedy that gives the Fourth Amendment practical teeth.

The requirement that you use an agency's own appeal process before going to court. Skipping it usually gets a case dismissed.

Also: misdemeanor

A serious crime, defined federally as one punishable by more than a year of imprisonment. Misdemeanors carry a year or less.

A panel of citizens that decides whether there is probable cause to charge someone with a serious federal crime. It hears only the prosecution's side, in secret.

The part of a decision that resolves the case and binds future courts: the legal rule applied to these facts. Everything else is dicta.

The formal criminal charge returned by a grand jury. It is an accusation, not a finding of guilt, and it says nothing about whether the case will succeed.

A court order requiring someone to do, or stop doing, something. Violating one is contempt of court.

Filing in a place where the assignment rules make a particular judge likely, in order to pick the decisionmaker rather than just the courthouse.

The rules governing judges' conduct, financial disclosure, gifts, and outside activity. Binding on lower federal judges through the Judicial Conference.

Also: judicial branch, the courts

The branch of government made up of the courts and judges. The federal judiciary is the Supreme Court plus the courts Congress created beneath it.

A court's legal authority to hear a case: over the subject matter, the parties, and the territory.

Trial by a panel of citizens rather than a judge alone. Guaranteed in serious criminal cases by the Sixth Amendment and in many civil cases by the Seventh.

Whether a question is the kind of thing courts may decide at all. Standing, ripeness, mootness, and the political question doctrine are its branches.

Also: litigation, suit

A dispute brought to court for decision. Litigation is the process of conducting one, from complaint through discovery, trial, and appeal.

Also: strict scrutiny, rational basis, intermediate scrutiny

The tiers courts use to test government action against the Constitution: rational basis, intermediate scrutiny, and strict scrutiny. The tier usually decides the case.

The view that constitutional meaning legitimately develops with changing conditions and understandings, rather than being fixed at ratification.

A federal judicial officer appointed by district judges to eight-year terms, handling warrants, pretrial matters, and, with the parties' consent, entire civil trials.

The rule that an agency needs clear congressional authorization before deciding a question of vast economic or political significance.

A writ ordering a government official or lower court to perform a duty the law leaves them no discretion about. Granted only in extraordinary cases.

The warning police must give before questioning someone in custody: the right to remain silent, that statements can be used in court, and the right to counsel.

A case becomes moot when there is no longer a live dispute to decide, so a court can no longer hear it. Courts dismiss moot cases rather than issue advisory opinions.

A request to end a case before any evidence is gathered, on the ground that the complaint fails as a matter of law even if every fact in it is true.

Also: universal injunction

An order barring the government from enforcing a policy against anyone, not just the parties who sued. Contested across the political spectrum.

Also: majority opinion

A court's written explanation of its decision. The majority opinion sets precedent; concurrences agree with the result for different reasons; dissents disagree.

The hearing where judges question each side's lawyer. Usually short, rarely decisive on its own, and the only part of appellate work the public sees.

The power to hear a case first, as a trial court, rather than on review. The Supreme Court's original jurisdiction is small and set by the Constitution itself.

An approach to constitutional interpretation that asks what the text meant to the public when it was adopted, and treats that meaning as fixed.

Also: probation, supervised release

Supervised release from prison before a sentence ends. Probation is supervision imposed instead of incarceration. The federal system abolished parole in 1987.

An unsigned opinion issued in the name of the whole court. Often short and used for straightforward cases, but sometimes for the most contested ones.

Lying under oath about something material, in court, in a deposition, or before Congress. A federal felony, and notoriously hard to prove.

Also: respondent, appellant, appellee

The party asking a higher court to review a decision. The other side is the respondent. In the Supreme Court, the petitioner filed the cert petition.

The party who starts a civil lawsuit by filing a complaint. In a criminal case the equivalent role is filled by the government, called the prosecution.

An agreement to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or for a lighter sentence, in exchange for giving up the trial. It resolves the overwhelming majority of cases.

The rule that some constitutional questions belong to Congress or the President and are not for courts to answer, no matter who is injured.

Also: binding precedent

A prior decision that guides or controls later cases. Courts must follow decisions of the courts above them; 'stare decisis' is the practice of standing by what was decided.

An order barring or requiring conduct for the life of a lawsuit, granted after a hearing and based on a preview of who is likely to win.

The usual civil standard: more likely true than not, anything past a bare fifty percent. Far lower than the criminal standard.

The starting point of every criminal case: the defendant is treated as innocent, and the government must prove otherwise. Being charged is not evidence.

Representing yourself in court without a lawyer. A right in most proceedings, and a serious disadvantage in nearly all of them.

The standard for an arrest, a search warrant, or an indictment: enough facts for a reasonable person to believe a crime occurred or evidence will be found.

A government-funded lawyer for criminal defendants who cannot afford one. Required by the Constitution, and chronically underfunded in much of the country.

A defense shielding government officials from damages suits unless they violated clearly established law. Central to litigation over police conduct.

A lower standard than probable cause: specific facts suggesting criminal activity, enough for a brief investigative stop and a pat-down for weapons.

A judge stepping aside from a case because of a conflict or an appearance of bias. Federal law requires it where impartiality might reasonably be questioned.

An appellate court sending a case back down for further proceedings consistent with its ruling.

The requirement that a dispute be concrete enough to decide now. Courts refuse cases built on harms that may never happen.

It takes four of the nine Justices to grant certiorari, not a majority. A minority can force the Court to hear a case the other five would rather avoid.

Also: decision, judgment

A court's decision on a question before it. A ruling on a motion decides one issue; a judgment decides the case; an opinion explains the reasoning.

The Reconstruction-era statute letting people sue state and local officials in federal court for violating their constitutional rights.

Semi-retirement for a federal judge who meets an age and service threshold. They keep the office and a reduced caseload, and their seat opens for a new appointment.

A grid of recommended federal sentence ranges based on the offense and the defendant's history. Advisory since 2005, but still the starting point.

An agreement resolving a lawsuit without a judgment. Most civil cases end this way, often with no admission of wrongdoing and sometimes under seal.

The rule that a government cannot be sued without its consent. Congress has waived much of the federal government's immunity by statute.

Also: de novo review, abuse of discretion, clear error

How much deference an appellate court gives the decision below. De novo means fresh; clear error and abuse of discretion mean the lower court usually wins.

The requirement that a plaintiff show a concrete, particularized injury, caused by the defendant, that a court can redress. No injury, no case.

The principle that courts follow their own earlier decisions. Latin for 'to stand by things decided'. It is a strong presumption, not an absolute rule.

A deadline for bringing a case, running from when the harm occurred or was discovered. Miss it and the claim is barred no matter how strong it is.

A court order pausing enforcement of a ruling or a policy while an appeal proceeds. It decides nothing about who is ultimately right.

A legally enforceable command to appear and testify, or to produce documents. Courts, grand juries, and congressional committees can all issue one.

A ruling that no trial is needed because the material facts are not genuinely disputed and one side wins on the law as a matter of course.

Also: SCOTUS

The only court the Constitution itself creates. Nine Justices, life tenure, and near-total control over which cases they hear.

The official summary printed at the front of a Supreme Court opinion. Helpful, but expressly not part of the opinion and not law.

Also: TRO

A very short emergency order stopping something immediately, sometimes granted without hearing the other side, and lasting only until a fuller hearing.

How long someone holds an office and under what protection. Federal judges hold theirs during good behavior, which in practice means for life.

Also: witness, testify

Statements made under oath by a witness, in court, in a deposition, or before a congressional committee. Lying in it is perjury.

An approach to reading statutes that looks to the ordinary public meaning of the words enacted, rather than to legislative purpose or history.

Also: damages, negligence, liability

A civil wrong that injures someone, giving them a claim for damages: negligence, defamation, product defects, trespass.

Which court, among those with jurisdiction, is the proper place for a case. Jurisdiction is about power; venue is about location and convenience.

Also: acquittal, hung jury, mistrial

The jury's finding of fact at the end of a trial: guilty or not guilty in a criminal case, liable or not liable in a civil one.

Jury selection: questioning prospective jurors to find bias. Each side may strike some for cause and a limited number without giving a reason.

A judge's written authorization to search a place or arrest a person, issued on probable cause and describing specifically what may be searched or seized.

A court's written command that something be done. Certiorari, habeas corpus, and mandamus are the three most consequential in public law.

Also: mail ballot, vote by mail

A ballot voted outside a polling place and returned by mail or drop-off. Some states require an excuse, most no longer do.

The once-a-decade division of the House's 435 seats among the states by census population. Redistricting is the states then drawing the district lines.

Elected by an entire jurisdiction rather than by district. Several states have a single at-large House seat, and many city councils are elected this way.

The legal requirements to get a candidate's name printed on the ballot: filing deadlines, fees, and petition signatures set by each state.

Also: swing state

A state where both parties have a realistic chance, so campaigns concentrate money, visits, and organizing there. Also called a swing state.

Collecting many individual contributions and delivering them together, so the bundler gets credit for a total far larger than any one legal limit.

The legal entity that raises and spends money for a candidate. It must register with the FEC, keep records, and file public disclosure reports.

The requirement that committees report who gave, how much, and what was spent. The foundation of every public accounting of money in politics.

Someone seeking an office. Federally, a person becomes a candidate in law once they raise or spend more than a threshold amount, which triggers reporting.

The official post-election accounting: reconciling ballots cast against voters checked in, resolving provisionals, and producing the final tallies.

The constitutionally required count of every person living in the United States, taken every ten years. It drives House seats, electoral votes, and federal funding.

The official act of finalizing election results: local canvass, state certificate, and, for President, the congressional count on January 6.

The documented trail showing who handled ballots and equipment, when, and under what seal. What makes an audit or recount meaningful.

The 2010 decision holding that the government may not ban independent political spending by corporations and unions, treating such spending as protected speech.

The people an elected official represents, defined by geography: a congressional district, a state, a county, a ward.

The House choosing the President when no candidate wins 270 electoral votes, with each state delegation casting a single vote.

The legal cap on how much a person or group may give directly to a federal candidate, party, or PAC. Indexed for inflation and set per election.

Also: delegate, delegates, superdelegate

A person chosen to represent voters at a party's nominating convention, pledged by primary or caucus results under rules the party itself writes.

Political spending by groups that are not required to disclose their donors, typically nonprofits organized under section 501(c)(4).

One party holds the presidency and another controls at least one chamber of Congress. Common in the modern era, and the usual condition for serious oversight.

In-person voting at an official site before election day. Available in most states, with the window and locations set by state law.

The small federal agency that tests and certifies voting systems, maintains the federal registration form, and distributes election funds to the states.

The state or local officer responsible for running elections: registering voters, printing ballots, staffing precincts, counting, and certifying results.

A broadcast ad that names a federal candidate within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election, whether or not it says to vote for anyone.

Also: elector, electors, electoral votes

The 538 state-appointed electors who formally elect the President. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes; all but two states award theirs winner-take-all.

Also: ECRA

The 2022 law rewriting how Congress counts electoral votes: the Vice President's role is ministerial, and objections need one-fifth of each chamber.

Also: mandate

The claim that an election result authorizes a particular policy agenda. It is an argument about interpretation, not a legal status.

Everyone eligible to vote in a given election. Not the same as the people who register, and not the same as the people who actually turn out.

A survey of voters as they leave polling places, used to describe who voted and why. Increasingly unreliable as more people vote before election day.

A presidential elector who votes for someone other than the candidate they were pledged to. States may now bind and replace them.

Also: FEC

The agency that administers and enforces federal campaign finance law. Six commissioners, no more than three from one party, so four votes are needed to act.

State laws removing the right to vote after a felony conviction. Rules range from never losing it to losing it permanently without individual restoration.

The binding November election among the parties' nominees (and independents). Federal law fixes it on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

Drawing district lines to favor a party, an incumbent, or a group. Named for an 1812 Massachusetts map whose district resembled a salamander.

Also: soft money

Contributions given directly to candidates and parties under federal limits and disclosure rules. Soft money is the unlimited kind, banned federally since 2002.

Also: HAVA

The 2002 law passed after the 2000 Florida recount. It funded new voting equipment, created the Election Assistance Commission, and required provisional ballots.

The start of the presidential term at noon on January 20, when the President-elect takes the constitutionally prescribed oath.

The measurable edge a sitting officeholder has: name recognition, casework, franked mail, fundraising access, and often a district drawn around them.

Also: open seat

The current holder of an office. Incumbents seeking reelection win far more often than not, name recognition, fundraising, and the office itself all help.

Spending that expressly supports or opposes a candidate but is made without coordinating with them. Unlimited in amount, and reported to the FEC.

Also: presidential succession

Who acts as President if the office is vacant: Vice President, Speaker, Senate president pro tempore, then the Cabinet in order of each department's creation.

Also: plurality, simple majority, absolute majority

More than half. A plurality is only the largest share, which can be far less than half when more than two candidates run.

A district where a racial or language minority makes up a majority of voters, drawn so that group can elect a candidate of its choice.

The range around a poll's result that reflects random sampling error alone. It says nothing about bias, weighting choices, or who refused to answer.

Also: midterms

The federal election held at the midpoint of a presidential term: the whole House, about a third of the Senate, but no presidential race.

A party's quadrennial meeting where delegates formally nominate its presidential ticket and adopt the platform.

An agreement among states to award their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner. It takes effect only if states holding 270 electoral votes join.

Also: NVRA

The 1993 law, known as motor voter, requiring states to offer voter registration at driver licensing and public assistance offices and to accept a federal mail form.

A party meeting where members gather in person to choose delegates, instead of casting a secret ballot in a primary.

Also: malapportionment

The rule that legislative districts must hold nearly equal populations, so a vote in one district carries roughly the same weight as a vote in another.

Also: closed primary, semi-closed primary

A primary any registered voter may vote in, regardless of party registration. A closed primary is limited to that party's registered members.

Also: bipartisan, nonpartisan

Belonging to or acting on behalf of a political party. Bipartisan means both major parties; nonpartisan means the office or body is not organized by party at all.

The policy document a party adopts at its convention. It binds no one legally, but it records what the party says it stands for.

Also: PAC, leadership PAC

A committee that raises money from individuals and gives to candidates within federal limits. Corporations and unions may run one funded by voluntary donations.

A private organization that nominates candidates under a shared label. Parties are not government bodies, but law gives them a formal role in ballots and primaries.

Also: literacy test, grandfather clause

A fee charged as a condition of voting. Banned in federal elections by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment in 1964 and in state elections by the Supreme Court in 1966.

Also: election observer

An observer designated by a party, campaign, or ballot committee to watch procedures at a polling place or count. They may observe, not interfere.

A temporary local official who checks in voters, issues ballots, and closes out the precinct. Usually paid a small stipend and trained by the county.

Also: precinct

The location where voters in a precinct cast ballots in person on election day, staffed by trained poll workers and open to authorized observers.

Also: primaries

The state-run election in which each party's voters choose its nominee for the general election. Rules (open, closed, top-two) vary by state.

A ballot cast when a voter's eligibility is in question. It is set aside, and counted only if officials later confirm the voter was eligible.

Government money for campaigns, usually matching small donations, in exchange for accepting spending limits. The federal presidential system is now effectively unused.

Also: instant-runoff voting, RCV

Voters rank candidates in order of preference. Last-place candidates are eliminated and their ballots transferred until someone has a majority.

Recounting ballots in a close race. Some states trigger one automatically at a set margin; others require a candidate request, sometimes with a deposit.

Redrawing legislative district lines, normally after each decennial census, so districts hold roughly equal population.

A body other than the legislature that draws district maps. Some are fully independent of legislators, others are bipartisan panels or backups.

Also: post-election audit

A statistical hand count of a sample of paper ballots, large enough to give strong confidence that the reported winner actually won.

A second round between the top finishers when no one clears the required threshold, usually a majority, in the first round.

A district or state where one party reliably wins, so the real contest is the primary rather than the general election.

Also: class 1, class 2, class 3

The Senate's three staggered cohorts. One class (about a third of seats) is up every two years, so the Senate never turns over all at once.

Also: ballot curing

Comparing the signature on a mail ballot envelope to the one on file. A mismatch can set the ballot aside, usually with a chance to fix it.

An off-schedule election to fill a vacancy. House vacancies require one; Senate vacancies are usually filled by gubernatorial appointment until one is held.

Also: straight-ticket voting

Voting for candidates of different parties on the same ballot. Straight-ticket voting is the opposite, and some states offer a single mark to do it.

When a minor candidate draws enough votes from a similar major candidate to change who wins, under plurality rules.

Also: the franchise, right to vote

The right to vote. The Constitution never granted it in general terms; it added prohibitions on specific grounds for denying it, one amendment at a time.

A committee that may raise and spend unlimited money to support or oppose candidates, so long as it does not coordinate with them. Donors are disclosed.

Only the presidency is term-limited federally: two elected terms (Twenty-Second Amendment). Members of Congress can serve unlimited terms; states cannot change that.

The fixed period an elected official serves before facing voters again: 2 years for the House, 6 for the Senate, 4 for the President.

Any party other than the two major ones. American election rules make them structurally hard to sustain, though they shape outcomes and agendas.

Also: jungle primary, top-four primary

A single primary open to all candidates and all voters, where the two highest finishers advance to the general election regardless of party.

State requirements to show identification when voting. Rules range from no requirement, through signature or non-photo options, to strict photo ID.

Also: register to vote

The process of getting onto the list of eligible voters in your jurisdiction. Required in every state except North Dakota, with deadlines that vary widely.

Also: list maintenance, purge

The routine work of updating the registration list: removing people who died or moved, and correcting records. Also called list maintenance, and often disputed.

The share of eligible people who voted. Which denominator is used, registered voters or the voting-eligible population, changes the number substantially.

Also: VRA, preclearance

The 1965 law banning racial discrimination in voting. Section 2 forbids practices that deny or dilute the vote; Section 5 preclearance is dormant after 2013.

The equipment and software used to mark, cast, and count ballots. Most American voters now use a system that produces a paper record.

A vote for someone not printed on the ballot. Most states count them only for candidates who filed as declared write-ins in advance.

Programs that consider race, sex, or other characteristics to expand opportunity. Race-conscious college admissions were held unconstitutional in 2023.

Also: ADA

The 1990 law barring disability discrimination in employment, public services, and public accommodations, and requiring reasonable accommodation and access.

Also: refugee

Protection for someone already in the United States who fears persecution at home based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or social group.

The Fourteenth Amendment's rule that all persons born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens, regardless of their parents' status.

Full membership in the national political community: the right to vote in federal elections, hold most federal offices, carry a U.S. passport, and never be deported.

Government seizure of property alleged to be connected to a crime, through a case against the property itself, often without charging the owner.

Also: civil liberties

Protections against discrimination and guarantees of equal participation, usually enforced by statute. Civil liberties are freedoms from government interference.

The landmark statute barring discrimination in public accommodations, federally funded programs, and employment, enforced through several titles.

The set of protections courts have drawn from several amendments covering personal decisions and freedom from surveillance. Not a single named right.

A false statement of fact that damages someone's reputation. Public officials and public figures must also prove the speaker knew it was false or recklessly disregarded the truth.

Also: disparate treatment

A neutral policy that falls much more heavily on a protected group. Some statutes forbid it; the Constitution generally requires proof of discriminatory intent.

No one may be tried twice for the same offense by the same government. It does not bar a civil suit, or charges by a different sovereign for the same conduct.

Bars excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments. Its standards have been read to develop with evolving standards of decency.

Government may not establish a religion or favor one over another, or over nonbelief. The other half of the First Amendment's religion protections.

The 1968 law barring discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or family status.

Bundles five protections: grand jury indictment, no double jeopardy, no compelled self-incrimination, due process, and no taking of property without just compensation.

Protects religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition against government interference. It restrains government, not private companies or employers.

Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures and requires warrants to be based on probable cause and to describe specifically what will be searched.

Protects the practice of religion from government interference. Neutral, generally applicable laws normally apply, but laws targeting religion face strict scrutiny.

The right to gather peaceably, including to protest. Government may impose neutral rules on time, place, and manner, but not on the message.

The government generally may not punish or restrict expression because of its message. A few narrow categories, like true threats and incitement, fall outside protection.

The right to publish without government licensing or censorship. It protects the act of publishing, not a class of professionals.

State and local laws enforcing racial segregation from the end of Reconstruction into the 1960s, upheld for decades under the separate but equal doctrine.

Also: green card

Someone authorized to live and work in the United States permanently, holding a green card. Not a citizen: cannot vote federally and can be removed.

The process by which a lawful permanent resident becomes a citizen: residency, good moral character, English and civics tests, and an oath of allegiance.

The promise to support and defend the Constitution, required of every federal and state officeholder by Article VI. The President's wording is set by Article II.

Government blocking expression before it happens, rather than punishing it afterward. It carries the heaviest presumption of unconstitutionality in First Amendment law.

The law governing how federal agencies collect, keep, and share records about individuals, and giving people the right to see and correct their own records.

Government property traditionally open to expression, such as streets, sidewalks, and parks. Speech restrictions there face the strictest review.

Denying loans, insurance, or services to neighborhoods because of their racial composition. Federal maps did it explicitly from the 1930s; it is now unlawful.

Article VI's rule that no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification for any federal office or public trust.

Also: deportation

The immigration court process for deporting someone. It is civil, not criminal, so there is no right to a government-provided lawyer.

No person may be compelled to be a witness against themselves in a criminal case. The basis of the right to remain silent and of taking the Fifth.

The constitutional right to be tried without unreasonable delay, backed federally by the Speedy Trial Act's specific deadlines.

A criminal defendant's right to a lawyer, provided at public expense if they cannot afford one, in any case that could result in imprisonment.

The right to ask government for redress of grievances: contacting officials, filing complaints and lawsuits, testifying, and organizing others to do the same.

Protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, held incorporated against the states in 2010. Regulation is analyzed against historical tradition.

Preserves the right to a jury in federal civil cases where the amount in controversy exceeds twenty dollars, and limits reexamination of jury findings.

The criminal trial rights: a speedy and public trial, an impartial local jury, notice of the charges, confrontation of witnesses, compulsory process, and counsel.

The doctrine that the Due Process Clauses protect certain fundamental liberties from government interference, not just guarantee fair procedures.

A basis for government classification that triggers heightened equal protection review: race, national origin, and religion get the strictest scrutiny.

Also: eminent domain

Private property may not be taken for public use without just compensation. The constitutional basis and limit of eminent domain.

A grant that lets prosecutors or Congress compel testimony despite the Fifth Amendment, by promising the testimony will not be used against the witness.

Government may regulate when, where, and how speech happens, if the rule ignores content, serves a significant interest, and leaves other channels open.

The 1972 law barring sex discrimination in education programs that receive federal money. Best known for athletics, but far broader in reach.

The employment discrimination provision of the Civil Rights Act, barring discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Permission to travel to a U.S. port of entry and request admission. Immigrant visas lead to permanent residence; nonimmigrant visas are for temporary stays.

The law of competition: rules against monopolizing a market, fixing prices, or merging in ways that substantially lessen competition.

Also: appropriations, power of the purse

A law permitting federal agencies to spend money. The Constitution forbids any spending without one, Congress's 'power of the purse'.

The committee in each chamber that writes the annual spending bills. Its twelve subcommittees each own one bill and one slice of the government.

A law creating a program and setting its rules and spending ceilings. Separate from the appropriation that actually funds it.

Also: general obligation bond

A ballot question asking voters to let a government borrow for capital projects, repaid over decades, usually from property taxes.

Also: outlays, obligation

The legal permission to commit federal money. Outlays are the money actually going out the door, which can happen years later.

The projection of spending and revenue under current law, against which every proposal's cost is measured. Change the baseline and you change every number.

Also: reconciliation

Congress's annual fiscal blueprint: total spending and revenue targets. It never goes to the President and never becomes law, but it can unlock reconciliation.

The Senate rule stripping provisions from a reconciliation bill that are not primarily budgetary. It is why reconciliation cannot carry most policy changes.

Also: cr, stopgap

A stopgap law funding the government at existing levels when the annual appropriations bills are not done by October 1.

Also: COLA

An automatic increase in benefits or wages tied to a price index. Social Security's annual COLA is the largest example in federal law.

Also: debt ceiling, extraordinary measures

The statutory cap on total federal borrowing. Raising it does not authorize new spending; it lets Treasury pay for spending Congress already enacted.

The gap in a single year between what the government spends and what it collects. A surplus is the reverse. Debt is the accumulation of past deficits.

The roughly one-quarter of federal spending Congress sets each year through appropriations bills: defense, transportation, national parks, most agency operations.

Estimating a bill's budget effect while accounting for how it might change the size of the economy, not just individual behavior.

A tax on a specific good or activity, such as gasoline, alcohol, tobacco, or airline tickets. Often dedicated to a related trust fund.

Also: block grant, categorical grant

Federal money given to states, localities, tribes, or organizations for a purpose. Categorical grants are narrow; block grants are broad and capped.

Also: the Fed, FOMC

The central bank of the United States. It sets interest rate policy, supervises banks, and operates payment systems, independently of the annual budget process.

Also: receipts

What the government collects: mostly individual income taxes and payroll taxes, plus corporate income taxes, excise taxes, tariffs, and fees.

A date when several tax increases or spending cuts take effect at once because temporary provisions expire together.

The federal budget year: October 1 through September 30, numbered by the year it ends. FY2027 begins October 1, 2026.

Also: furlough, antideficiency act

The lapse in operations when appropriations expire: agencies must halt non-excepted work and furlough employees until funding resumes.

Also: GDP

The total value of goods and services produced in the country in a period. The standard yardstick for the size of the economy, and the denominator for debt comparisons.

A tax on what you earn, applied in brackets at progressive rates. Enabled at the federal level by the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913.

Also: Consumer Price Index, CPI

A general rise in prices, which reduces what a dollar buys. Usually measured by the Consumer Price Index or the personal consumption expenditures index.

The physical systems public money builds and maintains: roads, bridges, transit, water, power, broadband. Mostly built by states with federal funds.

Also: JCT

The nonpartisan committee that estimates the revenue effect of every tax bill. For taxes it does what CBO does for spending.

Also: entitlements

Spending that flows automatically under permanent law, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, without annual votes. About two-thirds of the budget.

The rate applied to your next dollar of income, not to all of it. The effective rate, what you actually pay overall, is always lower.

A benefit available only to people below an income or asset threshold. Social Security and Medicare are not means-tested; Medicaid and food assistance are.

Joint federal and state health coverage for people with low incomes. States run their programs within federal rules, so eligibility differs by state.

Federal health insurance for people 65 and older and for some younger people with disabilities. Four parts: hospital, medical, private plans, and drugs.

Also: fiscal policy

Central bank action on interest rates and the money supply to influence inflation and employment. Distinct from fiscal policy, which is taxing and spending.

The total the federal government owes. Debt held by the public is money borrowed from investors; intragovernmental debt is owed to trust funds like Social Security.

Also: PAYGO

Budget rules requiring new mandatory spending or tax cuts to be offset, so they do not add to the deficit. Enforced by automatic cuts if violated.

Taxes on wages that fund Social Security and Medicare, split between employee and employer. Social Security's portion applies only up to an annual wage cap.

Spending directed to a member's home district mainly for local benefit. The neutral term is congressionally directed spending; the judgment is in the label.

A tax taking a larger share of income as income rises. A regressive tax takes a larger share from lower incomes; a proportional tax takes the same share from all.

The government's valuation of a property for tax purposes, set by a local assessor and appealable by the owner.

Also: millage, mill rate

A local tax on the assessed value of real estate. The main funding source for public schools, and the reason school funding varies by neighborhood.

A significant, broad decline in economic activity lasting more than a few months. Dated in the United States by a private committee, not by a government agency.

A tax that takes a larger share of income from people who earn less, even when everyone pays the same rate. Sales and excise taxes are the standard examples.

The twelve annual bills funding federal agencies. Congress has enacted all twelve on time only a handful of times since the modern process began in 1977.

A proposal to cancel previously appropriated money. The President may propose one and withhold the funds for 45 days; only Congress can make it permanent.

A percentage tax on retail purchases, levied by states and many localities. There is no federal sales tax.

Automatic across-the-board spending cuts triggered when Congress breaches a budget limit. Designed to be painful enough that nobody lets it happen.

The federal retirement, survivors, and disability insurance program, funded by payroll taxes and paid as an entitlement under permanent law.

Government money or a tax break that lowers the cost of an activity: crop payments, insurance credits, energy incentives, student aid.

Funding enacted outside the regular annual cycle, usually for disasters, war, or a crisis that could not be anticipated.

A tax on imported goods, paid to the government by the importer. It raises revenue and shields domestic producers, and it raises prices for buyers.

Revenue the government gives up through deductions, credits, exclusions, and preferential rates. Economically a spending program run through the tax code.

The bills, notes, and bonds the government sells to borrow money. Their interest rates set a baseline for borrowing costs across the economy.

A federal accounting mechanism dedicating specific revenues to specific programs, such as Social Security, Medicare Part A, and the Highway Trust Fund.

The share of the labor force without a job and actively looking. People who stopped looking are not counted, which is why the rate can fall for bad reasons.

A federal requirement imposed on states, localities, or the private sector without the money to carry it out.

Also: initiative

A law or constitutional amendment placed on the ballot by citizen petition, letting voters enact it directly. Available in about half the states.

The elected legislative body of a municipality: passes ordinances, adopts the budget, sets tax rates, and approves major contracts and land use decisions.

A locality's long-range blueprint for growth, land use, transportation, and infrastructure. Zoning is supposed to implement it.

Also: city manager

A form of city government where an elected council sets policy and hires a professional manager to run operations. The most common form in mid-sized American cities.

The main administrative subdivision of most states, running courts, jails, elections, property records, and often health and social services.

The elected governing board of a county, which sets the county budget and property tax rate and oversees county departments.

The default principle that local governments have only the powers the state expressly grants, plus those necessarily implied. Doubts are resolved against the locality.

The elected local prosecutor who decides which state criminal charges to bring, and on what terms cases resolve. One of the most consequential local offices.

A tribal nation the United States acknowledges as a sovereign with a government-to-government relationship, entitling it to certain programs and protections.

A state's chief executive: proposes the budget, signs or vetoes bills, appoints agency heads and often judges, and commands the state National Guard.

State authority letting a local government act without specific permission for each power, as long as it does not conflict with state law.

The legal term for lands where tribal and federal jurisdiction generally displaces state authority: reservations, dependent communities, and allotments.

A binding agreement between states, often needing congressional consent. Used for river management, transit authorities, and cross-border licensing.

The second-ranking state executive, first in line if the governor leaves office. In many states elected separately, so the two can be from different parties.

The power to strike individual provisions from a bill while signing the rest. Most governors have it; the President does not.

A city's chief elected officer. In a strong-mayor city they run the administration; in a council-manager city the role is largely ceremonial and legislative.

A city's founding document, setting its form of government, offices, and powers. Amending one usually requires a vote of the city's residents.

Also: city government

An incorporated local government: a city, town, village, or borough, created under state law with a charter and defined powers.

State military forces that can also be called into federal service. Normally commanded by the governor, and federalized by the President under specific statutes.

Also: sunshine law

State laws requiring public bodies to meet in public, post agendas in advance, and keep minutes. Often called sunshine laws.

A law passed by a local government. It binds within that jurisdiction and must be consistent with state and federal law.

The general authority of states to legislate for public health, safety, morals, and welfare. It is the constitutional basis for most state and local law.

State counterparts to the federal FOIA, giving anyone the right to request government records, subject to listed exemptions and fees.

A vote to remove an elected official before their term ends, triggered by petition. Available for state officials in about twenty states and widely at the local level.

A vote on a measure referred to the ballot: either by the legislature for approval, or by citizen petition to overturn a law already passed.

The elected or appointed body governing a public school district: hires the superintendent, adopts the budget and curriculum policy, and sets the tax levy in many states.

The state officer who typically runs elections, maintains business registrations, and keeps official state records. Not to be confused with the federal Secretary of State.

An elected county law enforcement officer who typically runs the jail, serves court papers, and polices unincorporated areas.

A limited-purpose local government: water, fire, transit, library, hospital, mosquito control. There are tens of thousands, and most people cannot name their own.

A legislative session outside the regular calendar, called by the governor or by the legislature itself, usually limited to specific subjects.

A state's chief legal officer, elected in most states. Represents the state in court, issues legal opinions, and enforces consumer protection law.

Each state's own founding document. They are longer, more detailed, and far easier to amend than the federal Constitution, and they can grant broader rights.

Also: general assembly, unicameral

The lawmaking body of a state. All are bicameral except Nebraska's, which is unicameral and formally nonpartisan.

A state law overriding local ordinances on a subject, sometimes barring localities from regulating it at all.

The inherent authority of federally recognized tribal nations to govern themselves: their own governments, courts, laws, and citizenship rules.

Land under U.S. sovereignty that is not a state: Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Local rules dividing land into districts and setting what may be built where: use, height, density, setbacks, and parking.

Also: quid pro quo

Giving or taking something of value in exchange for an official act. One of the two offenses the Constitution names by name as grounds for impeachment.

What citizenship legally requires as against what it invites. Only a few things are compulsory: obeying the law, paying taxes, jury service, and draft registration where it applies.

Deliberately breaking a law to protest it, openly and accepting the legal consequences. Protected as expression only up to the point of the violation itself.

A personal or financial stake that could improperly influence an official's decision. Handled by disclosure, recusal, divestment, or a waiver.

Using public office for private gain. Only some of it is criminal; much of what the word covers is legal conduct the disclosure rules exist to expose.

A formal allegation that an official violated conduct rules, filed with the body that oversees them: a chamber ethics committee, an inspector general, or a state commission.

Required public reporting of assets, income, debts, and transactions by senior officials, members of Congress, and judges.

Also: FOIA

The 1966 law giving anyone the right to request federal agency records, subject to nine exemptions. No reason for the request is required.

The principle that public business should be visible: open meetings, published records, disclosed money, and data anyone can inspect.

Also: astroturfing

Organizing ordinary people to contact officials themselves. Astroturf is the imitation: a campaign made to look grassroots while funded and run from the top.

Also: advocacy group

An organized group seeking to influence policy: a trade association, a union, an advocacy nonprofit, a professional society, a neighborhood association.

The obligation to serve on a jury when summoned. It is one of the few compulsory duties of citizenship, alongside taxes and, for some, registering for the draft.

Communicating with officials to influence legislation or regulation. Protected petitioning activity, and regulated through registration and disclosure rather than limits.

Also: LDA

The 1995 law requiring paid lobbyists to register and report quarterly: who they work for, what issues they worked on, and how much was spent.

Government information published in machine-readable form for anyone to use, without a request and without restrictions on reuse.

The general commitment that public business happens in public: open meetings, published records, disclosed money, and data anyone can use.

A formal written request to government, whether to qualify a ballot measure, ask an agency for a rule, or state a grievance. Signing one is protected activity.

Public expression of dissent. Protected by the First Amendment on public streets and parks, subject to neutral rules on time, place, and manner.

The formal chance to tell a government body what you think before it decides: on a proposed federal rule, a local rezoning, or an agenda item at a council meeting.

A meeting a government body must hold, and notice in advance, before taking certain actions: adopting a budget, changing zoning, or raising a tax rate.

Movement between government service and the industries a person regulated or lobbied. Restricted by cooling-off periods rather than prohibited.

Becoming a candidate: meeting the office's eligibility requirements, filing by the deadline, qualifying for the ballot, and complying with campaign finance rules.

An open meeting where an elected official takes questions from constituents. Not a formal proceeding, and the official controls the format.

Any body whose job is scrutinizing government: an inspector general, the GAO, the press, or a nonprofit that files records requests and lawsuits.

The President's personal representative to a foreign government or international organization, nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

Also: AUMF

A statute authorizing military action without a formal declaration of war. The 2001 AUMF has been cited for operations in many countries over two decades.

Information restricted because disclosure would damage national security, marked Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret, with additional compartments above that.

The President's constitutional role at the head of the armed forces. It governs how force is used, while Congress holds the power to declare war and to fund it.

Activity intended to influence conditions abroad where the U.S. role is meant to stay unacknowledged. It requires a written presidential finding and notice to Congress.

Congress's formal act declaring war, used eleven times in five conflicts and not since 1942. Modern conflicts run on authorizations instead.

The lead agency for foreign policy: diplomacy, embassies and consulates, visas, treaty negotiation, and assistance to Americans abroad.

Managing relations between states through negotiation rather than force: embassies, envoys, talks, and the agreements they produce.

Protection from arrest and prosecution for accredited diplomats, under the Vienna Convention. It can be waived by the sending state, and diplomats can be expelled.

U.S. assistance to other countries: development, health, humanitarian relief, and security assistance. Under one percent of the federal budget.

Also: FISA court

The 1978 law governing surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes, and the secret court that reviews applications for it.

How the United States deals with other countries: diplomacy, treaties and agreements, trade, aid, sanctions, and the use of force. Shared between branches.

The eight members of Congress briefed on the most sensitive intelligence: the leaders of both chambers and the chairs and ranking members of the intelligence committees.

Government monitoring of communications, location, and records. Governed by a patchwork of the Fourth Amendment, FISA, and the wiretap and stored communications statutes.

Information collected and analyzed for government decisionmakers, and the agencies that do it. Distinct from law enforcement, though the FBI does both.

The eighteen federal agencies that collect and analyze intelligence, coordinated by the Director of National Intelligence.

Also: NDAA

The annual bill setting defense policy and authorizing programs. It authorizes but does not appropriate: the money comes in a separate defense appropriations bill.

Also: NSC

The President's forum for coordinating foreign policy and defense, created in 1947. Its staff, led by the national security adviser, is not Senate-confirmed.

The 1878 law barring use of the federal Army and Air Force for domestic law enforcement, unless Congress or the Constitution authorizes it.

Economic penalties imposed on countries, entities, or individuals: asset freezes, trade bans, and financial restrictions, mostly administered by Treasury.

An authorization allowing access to classified information after a background investigation. Access also requires a need to know for the specific material.

The system requiring nearly all men aged eighteen to twenty-five to register for a potential draft. Registration is required; no one has been drafted since 1973.

Also: trade promotion authority

A negotiated deal lowering trade barriers between countries. Most U.S. agreements are approved by ordinary majorities in both chambers, not as treaties.

A binding international agreement the President negotiates and the Senate approves by two-thirds. Once ratified, it is part of the supreme law of the land.

The 1973 law requiring the President to report the introduction of forces into hostilities within 48 hours and to withdraw them within 60 days absent authorization.

Naming where information came from. On the record means the source can be named; on background and off the record place limits agreed in advance.

A systematic slant in what gets covered, how it is framed, or which sources are trusted. Distinct from an error, and distinct from taking a position openly.

Also: op-ed

An opinion piece stating a publication's institutional position, produced separately from its news reporting. An op-ed is an outside writer's argument.

Verifying a specific factual claim against primary evidence and publishing the result, including what the evidence does and does not settle.

Also: FCC

The agency regulating radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. It licenses broadcasters and administers spectrum, but does not regulate newspapers or most online speech.

Unauthorized disclosure of government information to the press. Publishing one is generally protected; being the source of one can be a crime.

A short reader submission a publication may print. Still one of the most accessible ways to put an argument in front of a local audience and local officials.

The practice of evaluating information: who made it, from what evidence, with what interest, and what an independent record says.

Also: disinformation

False or misleading information spread without intent to deceive. Disinformation is the same content spread deliberately, usually to advance an interest.

A document a government body creates or keeps as the authoritative account of what it did: a roll call, a docket entry, a certified result, a published rule.

Also: polling

A survey estimating what a population thinks, from a sample. Its usefulness depends on who was asked, how, and how the answers were weighted.

Also: briefing

A scheduled session where an official takes questions from reporters. What is said is the institution's position, on the record unless stated otherwise.

The official who speaks for an office or agency to the press. Statements from a press secretary are the institution's public position, not neutral description.

The original record itself: the bill text, the roll call, the court opinion, the filing, the transcript. Everything else describes it secondhand.

Communication designed to shape opinion in favor of a cause, typically by selection and emphasis rather than by outright falsehood.

An account describing or analyzing a primary source: a news story, a summary, an explainer, a research report. Useful, but one step removed.

The 1996 provision saying online services are not treated as the publisher of what users post, and are not liable for good-faith moderation decisions.

A law protecting journalists from being compelled to identify confidential sources. Most states have one; there is no general federal statute.

Also: deepfake

Audio, images, or video generated or altered by software to depict something that did not happen. Increasingly cheap, and increasingly hard to detect by eye.

A verbatim written record of what was said: a hearing, an oral argument, a trial, a briefing. The primary source behind most quotes.