The 2018 midterm elections are over, with a lot of interesting results. Some of the races still do not have a confirmed winner because voting was so close. Some facts:
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/2018-midterm-elections-results-polls-us-races-live-updates-today-2018-11-06/
There were some remarkable winners among women, women of color, and other minorities gaining office: the youngest woman elected at age 29, 2 Muslim women elected, 2 Native American women elected, and a number of first women governors, some of them also minorities, in several states.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/11/06/election-results-2018-women-minority-candidates-history-firsts/1912048002/
After this week's election, there will be some changes in our local, state, and national government. Let's brush up on who does what at the federal level:
What is the President's Cabinet?
It is a group of people who head up different departments and advise the president as to the status of those departments. But, did you know that in theory, these department heads could take over (succeed) if the president and others were removed or died in office? Below you see all the different department heads, and the order in which they could possibly become president.
What is the order of presidential succession?
The Cabinet is crucial to the presidential line of succession that determines the order in which officials succeed to the presidency following the death or resignation of the President. The Vice President tops the order, followed by the Speaker of the House, then the President pro tempore of the Senate. The Cabinet officers succeed to the presidency in the following order: (from https://www.dummies.com/education/politics-government/what-is-the-presidents-cabinet/)- Secretary of State, Department of State
- Secretary of the Treasury, Department of the Treasury
- Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense
- Attorney General, Department of Justice
- Secretary of the Interior, Department of the Interior
- Secretary of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture
- Secretary of Commerce, Department of Commerce
- Secretary of Labor, Department of Labor
- Secretary of Health & Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services
- Secretary of Housing & Development, Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Secretary of Transportation, Department of Transportation
- Secretary of Energy, Department of Energy
- Secretary of Education, Department of Education
- Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs
- Secretary of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security
The House of Representatives now has a Democrat majority, so the Speaker of the House will change to a Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, who was Speaker of the House from 2007 to 2011. She is a representative from California (San Francisco) and, by the way, she was the first woman Speaker of the House. Here is the role the Speaker plays:
The Speaker of the House exercises duties as a Member of Congress, as presiding officer of the House of Representatives, and as leader of the majority political party in the House.These responsibilities include voting on legislation, administrative duties such as maintaining order within the House chamber, and other tasks such as appointing special committees
-from Government For Dummies,
The day after the election, our Attorney General stepped down at the request of the president. There is an acting AG at present. What is the role of Attorney General?
The Attorney General of the United States is the main legal advisor to the federal government. This person provides legal advice to the various department heads, deals with litigation against the government, and also can be involved in death penalty court cases.
Here is an in-depth explanation from Free Dictionary/Legal
The attorney general is head of the u.s. justice department and chief law officer of the federal government. He or she represents the United States in legal matters generally and gives advice and opinions to the president and to other heads of executive departments as requested. In cases of exceptional gravity or special importance, the attorney general may appear in person before the U.S. Supreme Court to represent the interests of the government.
As head of the Justice Department, the attorney general is charged with enforcing federal laws, furnishing legal counsel in federal cases, construing the laws under which other executive departments act, supervising federal penal institutions, and investigating violations of federal laws. The attorney general also supervises and directs the activities of the U.S. attorneys and u.s. marshals in the various judicial districts. (U.S. attorneys prosecute all offenses against the United States and prosecute or defend for the government all civil actions, suits, or proceedings in which the United States is concerned; U.S. marshals execute all lawful writs, processes, and orders issued under authority of the United States.) The Attorney General, then, represents the government, and is not the President's personal legal counsel.
The branches of government and what they do, the concept of the Constitution, the first 10 Amendments:
It's our government. We need to know how it runs and who does what.
