Coming off a week-long recess and without any significant legislative victories this year, the pressure is on the Senate this week to pass the FY 2018 budget resolution, S.Con.Res. 25, which provides reconciliation instructions for fundamental tax reform. The House passed its own version of the FY 2018 budget, H.Con.Res. 71, on October 5 by a vote of 219 to 206.

On March 16, the Office of Management and Budget released the President’s proposal for a budget for the fiscal year of 2018. In summation, the President’s budget increased funding for all military related departments and entitlements programs and cut everything else. However, among some of his more controversial cuts was the decision to eliminate funding for the “arts.” Funding for programs such as the National Public Radio (NPR), the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), and other “cultural programs” that having received support from the Federal government has been eliminated.

Yesterday, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit officially ruled that the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is unconstitutional, a criticism that has been leveled at the agency since its creation in 2010. The court found that so much unaccountable power was concentrated in the person of the director of the CFPB that it could not pass constitutional muster. Under the court’s ruling, the director now will be removable at will by the president, just like the head of any other agency. This represents an important blow for the system of separation of powers enshrined in the US Constitution.

Dysfunction:

In the majority opinion for the unanimous Court in Riley v. California (2014), Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the Founders fought.” This “go get a warrant” sentiment is echoed again and again in more recent cases involving cell phone privacy. By taking a closer look at how exactly a search warrant works, it becomes increasingly clear that this protection is needed now more than ever as we enter the digital age.

Airport Fed Up with TSA The Constitution of United States of America, Section 1: All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives ...