#you are a local news station for a locality that does not have congressional representation. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

statetalks · 3 years

Text

How Many Republicans Are In The Senate Currently

Filed Candidates By Political Party

Republicans on track to keep U.S. Senate majority

As of September 7, 2020, 519 candidates were filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for U.S. Senate in 2020. Of those, 402â199 Democrats and 203 Republicansâwere from one of the two major political parties. In 2018, 527 candidates filed with the FEC to run for U.S. Senate, including 137 Democrats and 240 Republicans.

The following chart shows the number of filed candidates by political party.

Easy Races Tough Races

In Arizona, Democrat Mark Kelly has held strong, sustained leads in the polls for months over Republican Sen. Martha McSally.;

He’s an astronaut and husband of former lawmaker Gabrielle;Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in 2011 and became a gun-control activist.

In Maine, Trump has all but longtime incumbent Susan Collins. She appeared unbeatable until recently, winning;her last race, in 2014, by 37 points.

5 ways a Joe Biden presidency will affect Canada

She’s now trailing in the polls to the speaker of Maine’s legislature, Sara Gideon. Coleman said Collins is being pulled apart by the polarized politics of our time.

Collins frequently enrages Democrats and moderates by voting with Trump. Yet she also infuriates Trump allies; a research project by the news website Axios found that Collins is actually the No. 1 most likely of all congressional Republicans to condemn Trump in a controversy.;

“She’s really tried to walk the line of being a moderate in the Trump era. And that’s just very hard,” Coleman said.

Are Senators Chosen By Popular Vote

Beginning with the 1914 general election, all U.S. senators have been chosen by direct popular election. The Seventeenth Amendment also provided for the appointment of senators to fill vacancies. There have been many landmark contests, such as the election of Hiram Revels, the first African American senator, in 1870.

Recommended Reading: How Many Log Cabin Republicans Are There

List Of Current Members Of The Us Congress

Features of Congress Background United States House of Representatives elections, 2022 Analysis Lifetime voting records Net worth of United States Senators and Representatives Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives National Journal vote ratings

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the United States of America’s federal government. It consists of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives, with members chosen through direct election.

Congress has 535 voting members. The Senate has 100 voting officials, and the House has 435 voting officials, along with five delegates and one resident commissioner.

to find your representatives with Ballotpedia’s “Who represents me?” tool.

Us Senate Representation Is Deeply Undemocratic And Cannot Be Changed

Few, if any, other democracies have anything this undemocratic built into their systems.

The U.S. Senate, as you know, is currently divided 50-50 along party lines, thanks to the impressive double win in Georgia, and counting the two technically independent senators as Democrats, since they caucus with the Democrats.

But, according to the calculation of Ian Millhiser, writing for Vox, if you add up the population of states and assign half to each of their two senators, the Democratic half of the Senate represents 41,549,808 more people than the Republican half.

Millhisers piece is named after that fact: Americas anti-democratic Senate, in one number.

41.5 million. Thats a lot of people, more than 10 percent of the population . You might think that in a democracy, the party that held that much of an advantage might end up with a solid majority in the Senate, rather than have just barely eked out a 50-50 tie in a body that, taken together, represents the whole country.

Republicans have not won the majority of the votes cast in all Senate races in any election cycle for a long time. Nonetheless, Republicans held majority control of the Senate after the elections of 2014, and 2016 and 2018 and still, after the 2020 races, held 50 of the 100 seats.

GOP does better in lower population states

Works to the detriment of Democratic power

Its deeply undemocratic. Nothing can become federal law without passing the Senate.

Smaller states had to be reassured

Read Also: How Do Republicans Feel About Climate Change

List Of Current United States Senators By Age

This is a list of current U.S. Senators sorted by age. The United States Constitution requires Senators to be at least 30 years of age. Age does not determine seniority in the Senate.

As of August 29, 2021, 5 senators are in their 80s, 18 are in their 70s, 32 are in their 60s, 30 are in their 50s, 14 are in their 40s, and 1 is in his 30s.

The median age of currently serving Senators is 700921436488000000067;years, 339;days.

The median age of taking office for currently serving Senators is 51 years, 75 days.

The median length of their Senate terms to date is 700839925440000000012;years, 238;days.

Rank

United States Senate Elections 2020

U.S. Senate Elections by State U.S. House Elections

Elections to the U.S. Senate were held on . A total of 33 of the 100 seats were up for regular election.

Those elected to the U.S. Senate in the 33 regular elections on November 3, 2020, began their six-year terms on January 3, 2021.

Special elections were also held to fill vacancies that occurred in the 116th Congress, including 2020 special U.S. Senate elections in Arizona for the seat that John McCain won in 2016 and in Georgia for the seat that Johnny Isakson won in 2016.

Twelve seats held by Democrats and 23 seats held by Republicans were up for election in 2020. Heading into the election, Republicans had a majority with 53 seats. Democrats needed a net gain of four seats, or three in addition to winning the presidential election, to take control of the chamber. The vice president casts tie-breaking votes in the Senate.

On this page, you will find:

Information on historical wave elections

Don’t Miss: How Many Registered Republicans In Texas

How Is Senate Majority Chosen

The Senate Republican and Democratic floor leaders are elected by the members of their party in the Senate at the beginning of each Congress. Depending on which party is in power, one serves as majority leader and the other as minority leader. The leaders serve as spokespersons for their partys positions on issues.

Effect Of Republican Retirements

Republicans keep control of the House and Senate

Indeed, 2020 was actually a Democratic-leaning year, with Biden winning the national popular vote by 4.5 percentage points. So theres a good chance that states will be at least a bit redder in 2022 than they were in 2020.

That could make these retirements less of a blow to Republicans than they first appear. Whats more, by announcing their retirements so early, Burr, Toomey and Portman are giving the GOP as much time as possible to recruit potential candidates, shape the field of candidates in a strategic way in the invisible primary and raise more money for the open-seat campaign. And in Ohio specifically, Republicans still look like heavy favorites. Even in the Democratic-leaning environment of 2020, Trump won Ohio by 8 percentage points, implying that its true partisan lean is probably even more Republican-leaning. Ohio is simply not the quintessential swing state it once was; dating back to the 2014 election cycle, Democrats have won just one out of 14 statewide contests in Ohio and that was a popular incumbent running in a blue-wave election year .

Nathaniel Rakich and Geoffrey Skelley, FiveThirtyEight

Don’t Miss: Which Republicans Will Vote To Impeach

Many Republicans Mobilizing Against Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

The bipartisan group of senators who crafted the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is preparing to take a victory lap as the Senate moves toward passing the bill in the coming days.

But a large number of Republicans are mobilizing against the bill that includes $1.2 trillion of spending and $550 billion in new spending on hard infrastructure projects, such as rail, ports, electric vehicle charging stations, and broadband.

Right after the group of bipartisan senators introduced the bills text on Sunday night, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee gave a long floor speech in opposition to the legislation, arguing that the Constitution does not give Congress to go out and spend money on anything that we deem appropriate and that the price tag is too high.

Shame on us for making poor and middle-class Americans poorer so that we can bring praise and adulation to ourselves and more money to a small handful of wealthy, well-connected interests in America, Lee said.

Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said that he would vote against the bill, sharing an article that called it an epic binge of green subsidies and more handouts for states and localities.

Several Republicans in the House are also stating their opposition to the bill.

No one should support something that will serve as a trojan horse for the Democrats reconciliation package, which the White House wants to use to pass massive amnesty, the RSC memo read.

Washington Examiner Videos

Join Govtracks Advisory Community

Were looking to learn more about who uses GovTrack and what features you find helpful or think could be improved. If you can, please take a few minutes to help us improve GovTrack for users like you.

Start by telling us more about yourself:

We hope to make GovTrack more useful to policy professionals like you. Please sign up for our advisory group to be a part of making GovTrack a better tool for what you do.

Young Americans have historically been the least involved in politics, despite the huge consequences policies can have on them. By joining our advisory group, you can help us make GovTrack more useful and engaging to young voters like you.

Our mission is to empower every American with the tools to understand and impact Congress. We hope that with your input we can make GovTrack more accessible to minority and disadvantaged communities who we may currently struggle to reach. Please join our advisory group to let us know what more we can do.

We love educating Americans about how their government works too! Please help us make GovTrack better address the needs of educators by joining our advisory group.

Would you like to join our advisory group to work with us on the future of GovTrack?

Email address where we can reach you:

Thank you for joining the GovTrack Advisory Community! Well be in touch.

Recommended Reading: What Percentage Of Republicans Support Trump

About The House Of Representatives

The United States is also divided into 435 congressional districts with a population of about 750,000 each. Each district elects a representative to the House of Representatives for a two-year term.

As in the Senate, the day-to-day activities of the House are controlled by the majority party. Here is a count of representatives by party:

Also Check: Why Did Democrats And Republicans Switch

Republicans Secure Half Of Total Us Senate Seats

WASHINGTON U.S. Republican Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska won reelection Wednesday, assuring Republicans of at least 50 seats in the 100-member Senate for the next two years, while leaving control of the chamber uncertain until two runoff elections are held in Georgia in early January.

After slow vote-counting in the northwestern-most state of the U.S. after the November 3 election, news media concluded that Sullivan had an insurmountable lead over Al Gross, an orthopedic surgeon who ran as an independent candidate with Democratic support. The contest was called with Sullivan, a conservative, ahead by 20 percentage points.

With Republicans assured of at least half the Senate seats, attention now turns to the two January 5 runoff elections in the southern state of Georgia.

Two conservative Republican lawmakers Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler now hold the two seats, but both failed in separate contests last week to win a majority, forcing them into the runoffs.

Perdue faces Democrat Jon Ossoff, an investigative journalist who narrowly lost a 2017 race for a seat in the House of Representatives before trying to oust Perdue from the Senate seat he has held since 2015.

Loeffler, who was appointed to her Senate seat in early 2020, is facing Raphael Warnock, a progressive Democrat who is senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

You May Like: How Many Seats Do The Republicans Control In The Senate

Govtrackus Is Taking A New Focus On Civic Education

Help us develop the tools to bring real-time legislative data into the classroom.

If youve visited a bill page on GovTrack.us recently, you may have noticed a new study guide tab located just below the bill title. This is part of a new project to develop better tools for bringing real-time legislative data into the classroom. We hope to enable educators to build lesson plans centered around any bill or vote in Congress, even those as recent as yesterday.

Were looking for feedback from educators about how GovTrack can be used and improved for your classroom. If you teach United States government and would like to speak with us about bringing legislative data into your classroom, please reach out!

Overlap With Other Forms Of Denial

Ultimately, the findings of this analysis show thatdespite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contraryclimate denial remains alive and well in the United States Congress, and its impacts are already costing lives. Furthermore, dangerous denial within Congress is not limited to climate change alone. By this analysis, 82 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and six U.S. senators are both climate deniers and members of the sedition caucusthose who denied the certified results of the 2020 general election and therefore supported President Trumps violent attempt to overturn these democratic results.*** There is also significant overlap between elected officials who deny climate science and elected officials who deny the reality of the pandemic that has sickened millions and claimed the lives of more than half a million Americans in the past year. In fact, as this analysis was being written, one congressman-elect and another congressman who had both cast doubt on the science around climate change died from COVID-19.

Members 1st: January 6, 2015 December 18, 20152nd: January 4, 2016; January 3, 2017

Read Also: Are There More Registered Republicans Or Democrats

Democrats Got Millions More Votes So How Did Republicans Win The Senate

Senate electoral process means although Democrats received more overall votes for the Senate than Republicans, that does not translate to more seats

Follow live updates on US politics

The 2018 midterm elections brought significant gains for Democrats, who retook the House of Representatives and snatched several governorships from the grip of Republicans.

But some were left questioning why Democrats suffered a series of setbacks that prevented the party from picking up even more seats and, perhaps most consequentially, left the US Senate in Republican hands.

Among the most eye-catching was a statistic showing Democrats led Republicans by more than 12 million votes in Senate races, and yet still suffered losses on the night and failed to win a majority of seats in the chamber.

Constitutional experts said the discrepancy between votes cast and seats won was the result of misplaced ire that ignored the Senate electoral process.

Because each state gets two senators, irrespective of population, states such as Wyoming have as many seats as California, despite the latter having more than 60 times the population. The smaller states also tend to be the more rural, and rural areas traditionally favor Republicans.

This year, because Democrats were defending more seats, including California, they received more overall votes for the Senate than Republicans, but that does not translate to more seats.

The rise of minority rule in America is now unmistakable

Senators Committees And Other Legislative Groups

Democrats win House, Republicans keep Senate

The Senates 63 members represent districts from across New York State. Senators belong to a single conference and one or more political parties.

Weve made it easy to filter senators by party, committee, and the other legislative groups in which they gather to consider the merits of proposed legislation and to better understand complex legislative issues.

Senator has new policy idea

Idea is drafted into a Bill

Bill undergoes committee process

Senate and Assembly pass bill

Bill is signed by Governor

Recommended Reading: Why Do Republicans Still Back Trump

Arguments For Expanding The Number Of House Members

Advocates;for increasing the number of seats in the House say such a move would increase the quality of representation by reducing the number of constituents each lawmaker represents. Each House member now represents about 710,000 people.

The group ThirtyThousand.org argues that the framers of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights never intended for the population of each congressional district to exceed 50,000 or 60,000. âThe principle of proportionally equitable representation has been abandoned,â the group argues.

Another argument for increasing the size of the House is that is would diminish the influence of lobbyists. That line of reasoning assumes that lawmakers would be more closely connected to their constituents and therefore less likely to listen to special interests.

Why Are There 438 House Of Representative Members

On this date, the House passed the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929, fixing the number of Representatives at 435. The U.S. Constitution called for at least one Representative per state and that no more than one for every 30,000 persons. Thus, the size of a states House delegation depended on its population.

Read Also: Who Are The 10 Republicans Who Voted For Impeachment

Recommended Reading: Why Republicans Do Not Like Obamacare

source https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-republicans-are-in-the-senate-currently/

0 notes

patriotsnet · 3 years

Text

How Many Republicans Are In The Senate Currently

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-republicans-are-in-the-senate-currently/

How Many Republicans Are In The Senate Currently

Filed Candidates By Political Party

Republicans on track to keep U.S. Senate majority

As of September 7, 2020, 519 candidates were filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for U.S. Senate in 2020. Of those, 402��199 Democrats and 203 Republicansâwere from one of the two major political parties. In 2018, 527 candidates filed with the FEC to run for U.S. Senate, including 137 Democrats and 240 Republicans.

The following chart shows the number of filed candidates by political party.

Easy Races Tough Races

In Arizona, Democrat Mark Kelly has held strong, sustained leads in the polls for months over Republican Sen. Martha McSally.;

He’s an astronaut and husband of former lawmaker Gabrielle;Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in 2011 and became a gun-control activist.

In Maine, Trump has all but longtime incumbent Susan Collins. She appeared unbeatable until recently, winning;her last race, in 2014, by 37 points.

5 ways a Joe Biden presidency will affect Canada

She’s now trailing in the polls to the speaker of Maine’s legislature, Sara Gideon. Coleman said Collins is being pulled apart by the polarized politics of our time.

“She’s really tried to walk the line of being a moderate in the Trump era. And that’s just very hard,” Coleman said.

Are Senators Chosen By Popular Vote

Recommended Reading: How Many Log Cabin Republicans Are There

List Of Current Members Of The Us Congress

Congress has 535 voting members. The Senate has 100 voting officials, and the House has 435 voting officials, along with five delegates and one resident commissioner.

to find your representatives with Ballotpedia’s “Who represents me?” tool.

Us Senate Representation Is Deeply Undemocratic And Cannot Be Changed

Few, if any, other democracies have anything this undemocratic built into their systems.

Millhisers piece is named after that fact: Americas anti-democratic Senate, in one number.

GOP does better in lower population states

Works to the detriment of Democratic power

Its deeply undemocratic. Nothing can become federal law without passing the Senate.

Smaller states had to be reassured

Read Also: How Do Republicans Feel About Climate Change

List Of Current United States Senators By Age

This is a list of current U.S. Senators sorted by age. The United States Constitution requires Senators to be at least 30 years of age. Age does not determine seniority in the Senate.

As of August 29, 2021, 5 senators are in their 80s, 18 are in their 70s, 32 are in their 60s, 30 are in their 50s, 14 are in their 40s, and 1 is in his 30s.

The median age of currently serving Senators is 700921436488000000067;years, 339;days.

The median age of taking office for currently serving Senators is 51 years, 75 days.

The median length of their Senate terms to date is 700839925440000000012;years, 238;days.

Rank

United States Senate Elections 2020

U.S. Senate Elections by State U.S. House Elections

Elections to the U.S. Senate were held on . A total of 33 of the 100 seats were up for regular election.

Those elected to the U.S. Senate in the 33 regular elections on November 3, 2020, began their six-year terms on January 3, 2021.

On this page, you will find:

Information on historical wave elections

Don’t Miss: How Many Registered Republicans In Texas

How Is Senate Majority Chosen

Effect Of Republican Retirements

Republicans keep control of the House and Senate

Nathaniel Rakich and Geoffrey Skelley, FiveThirtyEight

Don’t Miss: Which Republicans Will Vote To Impeach

Many Republicans Mobilizing Against Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

The bipartisan group of senators who crafted the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is preparing to take a victory lap as the Senate moves toward passing the bill in the coming days.

Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said that he would vote against the bill, sharing an article that called it an epic binge of green subsidies and more handouts for states and localities.

Several Republicans in the House are also stating their opposition to the bill.

No one should support something that will serve as a trojan horse for the Democrats reconciliation package, which the White House wants to use to pass massive amnesty, the RSC memo read.

Washington Examiner Videos

Join Govtracks Advisory Community

Were looking to learn more about who uses GovTrack and what features you find helpful or think could be improved. If you can, please take a few minutes to help us improve GovTrack for users like you.

Start by telling us more about yourself:

We hope to make GovTrack more useful to policy professionals like you. Please sign up for our advisory group to be a part of making GovTrack a better tool for what you do.

We love educating Americans about how their government works too! Please help us make GovTrack better address the needs of educators by joining our advisory group.

Would you like to join our advisory group to work with us on the future of GovTrack?

Email address where we can reach you:

Thank you for joining the GovTrack Advisory Community! Well be in touch.

Recommended Reading: What Percentage Of Republicans Support Trump

About The House Of Representatives

The United States is also divided into 435 congressional districts with a population of about 750,000 each. Each district elects a representative to the House of Representatives for a two-year term.

As in the Senate, the day-to-day activities of the House are controlled by the majority party. Here is a count of representatives by party:

Also Check: Why Did Democrats And Republicans Switch

Republicans Secure Half Of Total Us Senate Seats

With Republicans assured of at least half the Senate seats, attention now turns to the two January 5 runoff elections in the southern state of Georgia.

Two conservative Republican lawmakers Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler now hold the two seats, but both failed in separate contests last week to win a majority, forcing them into the runoffs.

Loeffler, who was appointed to her Senate seat in early 2020, is facing Raphael Warnock, a progressive Democrat who is senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

You May Like: How Many Seats Do The Republicans Control In The Senate

Govtrackus Is Taking A New Focus On Civic Education

Help us develop the tools to bring real-time legislative data into the classroom.

Overlap With Other Forms Of Denial

Members 1st: January 6, 2015 December 18, 20152nd: January 4, 2016; January 3, 2017

Read Also: Are There More Registered Republicans Or Democrats

Democrats Got Millions More Votes So How Did Republicans Win The Senate

Senate electoral process means although Democrats received more overall votes for the Senate than Republicans, that does not translate to more seats

Follow live updates on US politics

The 2018 midterm elections brought significant gains for Democrats, who retook the House of Representatives and snatched several governorships from the grip of Republicans.

Constitutional experts said the discrepancy between votes cast and seats won was the result of misplaced ire that ignored the Senate electoral process.

This year, because Democrats were defending more seats, including California, they received more overall votes for the Senate than Republicans, but that does not translate to more seats.

The rise of minority rule in America is now unmistakable

Senators Committees And Other Legislative Groups

Democrats win House, Republicans keep Senate

The Senates 63 members represent districts from across New York State. Senators belong to a single conference and one or more political parties.

Senator has new policy idea

Idea is drafted into a Bill

Bill undergoes committee process

Senate and Assembly pass bill

Bill is signed by Governor

Recommended Reading: Why Do Republicans Still Back Trump

Arguments For Expanding The Number Of House Members

Why Are There 438 House Of Representative Members

Read Also: Who Are The 10 Republicans Who Voted For Impeachment

Recommended Reading: Why Republicans Do Not Like Obamacare

0 notes

nedsecondline · 7 years

Text

Census director’s resignation could affect control of Congress after 2020

By Jay L. Zagorsky The Conversation

John H. Thompson, the director of the U.S. Census Bureau, just resignedamid a funding fight over the 2020 Census.

Since it comes at the same time that the president fired the director of the FBI, why should anyone care about the resignation of just another Washington “bean counter”?

Who’s he? Census Bureau

This bean counter, whose name is likely unfamiliar to the vast majority of Americans, is actually one of the most important people in determining whether Democrats or Republicans control Congress. The census has a significant impact on political representation and how federal money is distributed. Moreover, how hard the director fights for more funding helps determine the accuracy of the census.

As someone who has spent decades deeply involved in surveys, I understand the importance of ensuring an accurate count of the population. Without it, every fact about this nation’s population – from the percent of women giving birth to the percent of elderly people dying – is suspect.

Why we have a census

The primary source of United States demographic data is the population census, which is done in the spring of all years that are evenly divisible by 10.

The U.S. Constitution provides the legal basis for conducting a census in Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3, later superseded by the 14th Amendment:

“Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.”

The first census was conducted in 1790, a year after the inauguration of President George Washington. The law establishing it required that marshals visit every household and send the “aggregate amount of each description of persons” for every district to the president. The data were to be used to distribute seats fairly in the House.

Today, the census’ goal more broadly is to collect information about all people residing in the country, including noncitizens.

But it’s used for many purposes beyond a state’s congressional representation. It determines how the federal government distributes billions of dollars in aid. It also controls the number of Electoral College votes each state receives. This means the census has a big part to play in who is elected president in close elections.

At the state and local level, the census is used for zoning, planning and situating public services. The census is even important for businesses, since it provides the raw data needed for planning, marketing, production and distribution decisions.

This was the form mailed to every address in 2010. Ross D. Franklin/AP Photo

How the census works

The census does all these things by trying to track down every single person in the country and tally how many live in the U.S. on April 1 of the year in question.

The bureau maintains the country’s most accurate and complete mailing list, called the Master Address File. This file contains records for every single home, apartment, dormitory and other type of residence in the country. But, while this count of residences is very accurate, it doesn’t tell the Census Bureau who lives where.

To find out, the bureau sends a detailed form to every address on its list. It asks residents to fill it in and mail it back. This is where most of the census results come from.

If a form isn’t returned, the Census Bureau attempts to reach the occupants of an address through telephone calls and face-to-face visits. That task has become more complicated, as more Americans have switched from landlines – which are tied to a physical address – to unattached mobile phones. This has increased the cost of tracking down people who don’t fill out the forms.

Additionally, in large urban areas, census staff and homeless advocates tally the number of individuals living on the streets. Census staff even go to mobile home parks, campgrounds and boat marinas to ensure that people who are traveling are included in the tally. With help from the military, the census also counts U.S. citizens stationed overseas or on active duty ships.

The Census Bureau has a harder time counting the homeless. Eric Risberg/AP Photo

Tallying the costs

The census goes to extraordinary lengths, particularly in more recent surveys, to provide a complete picture of the entire population – not just those who are conveniently reachable. This extraordinary effort costs money.

Census costs have soared over time, a problem made worse as more Americans have stopped answering surveys and toss spam-like mail into the trash without opening it. In the last census, in 2010, 74 percent of Americans mailed back a completed form.

In 1970, the census cost about US$1.3 billion, after adjusting for inflation. That figure tripled to $12.5 billion in the 2010 census. This massive undertaking – which involved more than 600,000 temporary workers – put the U.S. population at 308,745,538.

Congress wants the 2020 Census to cost no more than the last one. Yet the bureau estimated in 2011 that it would likely cost $22 billion to $30 billion. Even just factoring in inflation means spending at least $15 billion for the 2020 census.

The funding dispute that may have led to Thompson’s resignation was over the extra money needed ahead of the census. Congress agreed to give the Census Bureau $1.47 billion for fiscal year 2017, 10 percent less than President Barack Obama’s request. The current White House proposal is just $1.5 billion for 2018, far less than what is needed, according to critics.

In addition, the bureau is over budget by 50 percent in its effort to transition to a new electronic data collection system, which if fully funded could eventually lead to less costly yet still accurate censuses.

Former Census Bureau Director Robert Groves explains the 2010 results, showing how important the census is to representation. Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo

Why it matters

Census funding has a direct link to how much political power more marginalized members of society have.

Since congressional seats in the House are distributed by population, our country’s intense political polarization means small differences in representation can matter quite a bit.

A census done quickly and on the cheap will tend to count easy-to-find people at the expense of those in the cracks. A very thorough census, on the other hand, picks up people who are undercounted in the first pass because they didn’t fill out their forms.

The size of the undercount has political implications. Kenneth Prewitt, director of Census Bureau during the 2000 count, cites a memo written in 1997 by the chairman of the Republican National Committee that states adjusting for the undercount “could provide Democrats the crucial edge needed to prevail in close contests.”

The official report of the last census said that blacks and Hispanics – who tend to favor Democrats – were undercounted by about 2 percent. As the report explained, this happens “because ethnic and racial minorities disproportionately live in hard-to-count circumstances.” Meanwhile, some whites were counted more than once.

Yet this was a huge improvement over 1990, when 4.4 percent of blacks were undercounted. In other words, all that extra money the government poured into the 2000 and 2010 censuses paid off in more accuracy.

What can you do?

So why does it matter who the director is? Thompson, who became director in 2013 and had been with the bureau for more than 30 years, was pushing for more funding to do a better census.

With Congress and the White House currently focused on slashing budgets, I believe the chances are high that the president will appoint and Republican senators will confirm a replacement who is happy to spend less money on a census that undercounts people who will likely vote for their political foes.

There’s something simple you can do to make sure you’re represented – which, as a matter of fact, will save the government money as well. In less than three years, the Census Bureau will begin sending out its forms in the hopes of reaching every person residing in the U.S. You can reduce government costs and ensure you have appropriate representation in Congress by simply filling out and returning the form promptly, and helping others to do the same.

As the Founding Fathers understood, the basis of democracy is fair representation. An accurate census ensures we stay true to that original goal.

Jay L. Zagorsky is an economist and research scientist at The Ohio State University.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.

#OddBox

0 notes

touristguidebuzz · 8 years

Text

How Government Officials Fly — From the President to Your Local Representative

With all attention on Washington, D.C. in light of the recent swearing-in of Donald Trump as the 45th president, we thought it’d be an interesting time to explore how government officials fly around the country and the world. The following information was gathered from congressional staffers, a congressional scheduler, a Navy admiral’s aide, my own experience as a government traveler for eight years and the rules and regulations from Congress and the Department of Defense governing official travel.

President and Vice President

Air Force One, the presidential plane, in flight. Image courtesy of BrianEKushner via Getty Images.

It’s widely known that any time the president flies, it’s either aboard a Sikorsky VH-3D or VH-60N helicopter designated Marine One, or on a converted Boeing 747 designated Air Force One. These titles refer to the call sign of any aircraft the president is currently flying and do not refer to the tail number. Wherever the president travels on Air Force One, there’s a detachment with an Air Force C-5 following that has a Marine One helicopter packed in the cargo bay. This is so the president can utilize the helicopter for short trips in a foreign country or as a contingency plan.

When President Obama left the inauguration ceremony on January 20, he flew a Sikorsky VH-3D designated Executive One. It lifted him to Joint Base Andrews, where he boarded the presidential 747 designated SAM (Special Air Mission) 38000, referring to the tail number, for his departure flight to Palm Springs.

A helicopter designated Marine One transports the president on short trips. Image courtesy of Raymond Boyd via Getty Images.

Whenever traveling in the National Capitol Region, the vice president is authorized to fly the same special “white top” helicopters the president utilizes, and they are designated Marine Two. When traveling elsewhere, the VP will usually utilize a C-32 jet, which is a modified Boeing 757 from the Presidential Airlift Group (PAG) stationed at Joint Base Andrews.

All presidential and vice presidential travel is coordinated through the White House Military Office (WHMO) located in the executive buildings next to the White House.

Congress

To save taxpayers’ money, most government officials travel in economy.

In 1996, the Committee on House Administration created the Members Representational Allowance (MRA), which is a single pot of money to allow members to operate their DC and district offices and support members in their official and representational duties. From this allowance, congressmen and women must use funds to travel on official business, as they may not accept money or in-kind services for official business. Appropriations for FY16 totaled roughly $500 million, of which about 4% was spent on official travel by all of the congressional offices.

The vast majority of Congressional members and their staff fly commercially in coach between Washington, D.C. and their districts. Although rules still allow for members to fly in first class or charter a plane, the majority want to appear to be good stewards of taxpayer money. In 2015, the Coach-Only Airfare for Capitol Hill (COACH) Act was introduced by Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, but was not allowed to be brought to vote by committee.

Given that members’ time is rather valuable, a staffer told me that one senator will tell staffers to book him refundable seats on the 6pm, 7pm and 8pm flights back to his district each Thursday so he can have a more flexible schedule.

The MRA is not the only means of funding congressmen and their travels. Foreign governments, the Department of Defense and their own campaign funds can pay for travel based on the purpose of each trip. For example, if the Navy League is bringing representatives to the shipyard to look at a new ship under construction, it very well may be funding the travel. All travel is subject to the House and Senate Ethics Committee and their respective rules.

One very solid perk of being a congressman is the free, premium parking at both Dulles and Reagan National Airport next to the terminals, as well as head-of-the-line privileges for security lines. That even beats TSA PreCheck.

Government Civilians and Military

For anyone wearing a uniform or a civilian in the government service (GS), a 1,548-page travel document called the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR) is the proverbial travel bible. The document runs through almost every possible travel scenario, and specifically lays out what a person of any rank or pay grade can and cannot do when it comes to official travel.

In layman’s terms, for the majority of domestic routes there is a contracted carrier between certain city pairs. You have to fly that carrier with a (usually) significantly discounted fare, and you have to buy an economy-class ticket using your government-issued Citibank card (which earns no points or rewards). For international routes, as long as a US-flagged carrier sells tickets for the route (either if the flight is operated on its own metal or it’s a codeshare agreement), you must book with the US airline.

A great example of this scenario is JetBlue winning the contract for official government travel to Bahrain over United Airlines, which had held that contract for a long time. JetBlue obviously doesn’t fly to the Middle East, but codeshare partner Emirates does. All government civilians and military flying to the Middle East on official travel from the US will now most likely be on an Emirates flight.

Flying in paid business class as military or as a GS is almost impossible, with a few exceptions like noted medical conditions and the rare instance where the cheapest economy ticket is more expensive than business class. Paid business-class tickets require written approval prior to booking.

High-Ranking Military and Civilians

High-ranking officials frequently travel via Gulfstream C-37A. Image courtesy of John Davies.

Just because a military officer has become a general or admiral — or a civilian leader has entered the Senior Executive Service (SES) — does not mean the red carpet is always rolled out for them when it comes to air travel. The majority of admirals I’ve traveled with are right next to me in economy, though they can usually choose premium economy seats for free since they’re always on the road and have earned elite status.

Once they become very high-ranking — to the level of a three- or four-star flag officer or an assistant secretary of a cabinet level position — due to the value of their time, private military travel may be approved. The US Navy operates a fleet of C-37As, which are modified Gulfstream V models, that routinely carry the Chief of Naval Operations and other three- or four-star fleet admirals.

All travel at this level is highly scrutinized, with even admirals and generals requiring Secretary of Defense approval for use of these assets. The vast majority of these officials prefer to avoid unwanted limelight and happily sit on commercial aircraft in economy.

Frequent Flyer Miles and Benefits

Both in the Congressional travel rules and the JTR, the ability to earn and utilize frequent flyer miles and benefits is specifically stated as being acceptable. You can accept upgrades, use miles for upgrades, select premium seats and enjoy lounge access as long as it’s at no cost to the government. For many carriers, government fares book into full Y fares because of the flexibility required by government travelers and the government’s desire to avoid paying change and cancellation fees. This often equates to mega miles on some routes and carriers and easily upgradeable fares. The one exception is military fares on American Airlines, which are not upgrade-eligible.

However, there’s a big caveat to the great perks of full Y fares for those of us who love miles but travel courtesy of the government. That’s the inability to pick the airline you want to fly. Either General Services Administration (GSA) city-pair contracts or the cheapest price dictate the carrier you fly for any route. Short of flying the same route over and over (and even then, the contracted carrier can change), it’s difficult to be loyal to a single carrier and earn significant mileage or status.

Bottom Line

Four-star admiral and current Chief of Naval Operations John M. Richardson. Image courtesy of Yoshikazu Tsuno via Getty Images.

The most common reason that senior DOD officials are relieved of their duties continues to be travel fraud. Members of Congress can also quickly find themselves with the wrong kind of attention if it becomes known that they spend taxpayer money frivolously on travel. Admittedly, the rules for government travel have become so complex that it’s often hard to know if what you’re doing is within the JTR — especially when traveling internationally.

Over the years, I’ve been impressed with how most senior-ranking officials avoid wasting taxpayer money on luxury for themselves. Unless you’re a four-star admiral, the president or vice president, don’t count on the government giving you a first-class travel experience.

Have you ever seen a government official on your flight?

Featured image courtesy of Justin Sullivan via Getty Images.

0 notes