Lydia Williams's Government Blog

1. How much has Trump spent advertising on Facebook about the impeachment process? Trump has spent about $1.6 million on Facebook posts addressing impeachment. 2. Which voters is he targeting his ads towards? He is trying to rile up his base.  His campaign is using Facebook ads as a way to reinforce the narrative cycle from the White House, Republican lawmakers, and conservative media that impeachment is a political plot against the president by Democrats.  3. What are the ads about? His ads, don’t deal with the substance of the allegations and instead push conspiracies. They are a way for the president’s reelection campaign to build voter lists, streamline in potential volunteers and donors, and keep public opinion from swinging too far out of Trump’s favor.  4. How much did political groups spend on advertising on Facebook in the 2018 elections? Political groups spent $284 million on advertising on Facebook in the 2018 elections. 5. What percentage of Trump'...

1. What changed about Virginia's government in last week's elections? The Democrats took control of both the House and the Senate in Virginia. 2. What would the Equal Rights Amendment proposed in 1972 do? The ERA, an amendment that guarantees equal rights regardless of sex, passed Congress on a bipartisan basis in 1972 and requires 38 states to ratify it in order to become part of the Constitution. 3. How many states ratified the amendment when it was originally proposed?  What states have ratified it recently? 35 states ratified it quickly. However, i t took 40 years for a 36th state — Nevada — to ratify the ERA in 2017, and then Illinois became the 37th state in 2018.  4. According to the constitution, why is it necessary to have a 38th state ratify the amendment? It required 38 states so that it will be in the clear majority. 5. What stipulation for its ratification did Congress add to the proposal in the 1970s? The amendment gained momentum in the 1960s and ’70s,...

1. Why is the Liberty and Justice Celebration dinner important to candidates? The dinner is historically the largest gathering of voters in Iowa. It  marked the beginning of a final push to the caucuses at a moment when support for a number of candidates has seen major shifts. It also allowed for some candidates to solidify their momentum or gain more supporters. 2. What percentage of voters still consider themselves undecided?  What percentage of voters are currently certain of their choice in candidates? 29 percent of voters are considering themselves undecided on who to choose. And only about 20 percent of voters are currently certain of their choice in candidates. 3. Which candidates are seeing an increase in support? Which candidates are seeing a decrease in support? Buttigieg has seen a large increase in support in recent Iowa polling. Biden has seen a decrease in support. 4. What message does Pete Buttigieg use to try to stand out to voters? Buttigieg gave an add...

1.  After the impeachment process, how did Clinton's relationship with the public and his party change? Clinton's support from the public and his party did not decrease. 2. What are differences between the investigations that led to the Clinton impeachment and the potential Trump impeachment? Today, the Democrats are building a case against the president in real time, which makes it harder to predict where the public will ultimately land. Clinton's case  hinged on the findings in Starr’s report. 3. What trends in public opinion about impeachment occurred in the lead up to the formal announcement of impeachment by the House against President Clinton? Impeaching Clinton was never popular. His opposition to being impeached decreased leading up to the formal announcement of impeachment by the House, but it was still greater than the support from the impeachment.  4. What was the effect of the impeachment on the 1998 midterm elections for the Republicans? The Republi...

1. What is the most basic finding of the polls that have been released in the last week? There has been an uptick in the support for impeachment. 2. What did YouGov and the Economist find that most Americans feel about the president's actions? They found that 52 percent of Americans said that it is inappropriate for the president to request a foreign government open an investigation into a potenti al political opponent.  3. What did that same poll find about American attitudes toward the president if he withheld funding to the Ukraine? In that same poll, 62 percent of Americans said that it is inappropriate for the president to threaten withholding foreign aid to a country if it refuses to "take an action which personally benefits the President."  4. What change in attitudes did the Quinnipiac poll find? In the Quinnipiac poll, 54 percent of Americans thought Trump had “attempted to derail or obstruct the investigation into the Russian interferenc...

1. What is Nancy Pelosi's role in Congress? Nancy Pelosi's role in Congress is the Speaker of the House. 2. What is President Trump alleged to have done? President Trump is alleged to have attempted to have Ukraine interfere in the 2020 presidential election. He engaged in improper conversation with foreign leaders. 3. What is Nancy Pelosi's goal, since she does not want to impeach the president? Nancy Pelosi's goal is to pass a law that would work on governing the power of future presidents rather than focusing on impeaching Trump. 4. What does Pelosi say has harmed Congress's ability to investigate the Executive Branch? Pelosi says that the executive branch's lack of cooperation has harmed Congress's ability to investigate. 5. How did the Director of National Intelligence (who works for the president) violate the law? The Director of National Intelligence declined to relay the whistleblower's complaint to Congress, therefore violating the ...

1. How much of the House must agree to impeach a judge? How much of the Senate must agree to remove a judge? The majority of the House must agree to impeach a judge and a two-thirds supermajority of the Senate must agree to remove a judge from office. 2. Has this process ever been used before for the Supreme Court?  How many times?  There has only been one case where the process of impeachment has been used for the Supreme Court. However, they were only impeached, not removed. 3. Where in the Constitution does it set up the impeachment process? In Article II, Section IV of the Constitution provides for the removal of "the President, Vice President, and all civil Officers of the United State... on Impeachment for and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." 4. What are the reasons for the impeachments of the 5 most recent judicial impeachments? Harry Claiborne was impeached and then removed from office in 1986 for falsifying income tax re...