Will Trump sign the first ever repeal of an agency guidance document?

May 15, 2018

More statewide primary elections tonight! Check back here for results   Congress votes to repeal an agency guidance document for the first time For the first time ever, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn an agency guidance document last Tuesday. The U.S. Senate had already approved the measure the previous month.  The resolution addresses a guidance document issued in 2013 by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a federal agency that regulates financial institutions. The document advised indirect auto lenders on how to comply with some of the laws and regulations administered by the CFPB. If President Donald Trump (R) signs the resolution into law, the bulletin will become invalid, and the CFPB will not be able to issue similar requirements in the future. It would also be the first time that the CRA was used to overturn a guidance document rather than a rule issued through the rulemaking procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act. As of yesterday, Trump had not taken action on the resolution. He is expected to sign it. See a detailed guide to the resolution→             SCOTUS: States allowed to decide if sports betting is legal The Supreme Court has struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), a federal law that prohibited states from legalizing sports betting, on the grounds that the law violated the anti-commandeering doctrine.  Writing for a six-justice majority in an opinion released yesterday, Justice Samuel Alito ruled that PASPA "unequivocally dictates what a state legislature may and may not do," unconstitutionally infringing on states' sovereignty. The ruling resolves two consolidated cases, Christie v. NCAA and New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association v. NCAA,  in which New Jersey had argued that Congress had unconstitutionally commandeered New Jersey into enforcing federal programs by requiring New Jersey to adhere to PASPA's gambling restrictions. The court has now issued decisions in 40 of the 69 cases it heard this term. The court typically issues all of its opinions by the end of June. Get the full debrief on Christie v. NCAA→   How many state legislative seats only have one major party candidate? 3,316 seats up are for election in November 2018, in 26 states where filing deadlines have passed. 1,089 (32.9 percent) of those seats will be won automatically because only one party is fielding a candidate.   Of those 1,089 seats, 612 will automatically go to Democrats and 477 will automatically go to Republicans.  The state with the highest percent of unopposed Democrats is New Mexico, where 24 of 70 (34.3 percent) races don't have a Republican candidate. Idaho has the highest percentage of Republican victories, with 45 of 105 (42.9 percent) races only having Republican candidates.  The state with the fewest number of seats where one party running is North Carolina, where three of the 170 (1.2 percent) seats up for election have a race featuring candidates from only one party. Learn more about competitiveness in state legislative elections→