Presidential Power / Congressional Power / Foreign Policy Note: Trump has not sought authorisation for military action in Iran, and that Democrats in Congress are using the 1973 War Powers Act to force these votes: wapo.st/4cSbUaS

Elections, Voting rights, midterms, Trump Administration (The Save America Act):

2. Parliament - legislative process, backbenchers, executive, and Judicial Reform www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Two important examples for UK politics in Parliament yesterday. 1: Constitutional Reform / Parliament www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

GOP divisions over Iran: wapo.st/4rPQBvw

Congress v Executive on War Powers (Constitution & Parties too) wapo.st/4aR1XcP

Pressure Groups / Constitution / War powers - executive and congress: www.aclu.org/news/civil-l...

Presidential Power - Trump bypassing Congress - useful examples: www.axios.com/2026/03/02/t...

Gorton & Denton byelection - UK elections, parties: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Election 2028 - Primary underway? wapo.st/46ZaLuK

US Supreme Court - a defeat for Trump (note the result: 6-3, with two Trump appointees - Gorsuch and Coney Barrett joining Roberts and the Liberals): www.reuters.com/world/us/wit...

UK Supreme Court 2 of 2: www.theguardian.com/law/2026/feb...

It's been a half-term of big court decisions - firstly off the UK 1 of 2: edition.cnn.com/2026/02/13/u...

British politics - parliament (also of interest to History students): (NB - remember there was a second Parliament Act in 1949 which cut the time the Commons has to wait to overturn the Lords from 2 years to 1 - they had to use the first Parliament Act to pass it) www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Interesting on the NRA's view of the Trump administration's response to the latest shooting in Minnesota (and useful for understanding the NRA). www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Interesting on midterms, checks and balances and partisanship: wapo.st/4aVlucB

Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) following a pattern of GOP politicians coming out as anti-Trump after they announce that they will not be seeking re-election. Interesting insight into what they really think? wapo.st/3YAtSqz

Supreme Court 2025/26: wapo.st/3Nj9rfk

MIdterms - presidential power / elections / federalism: wapo.st/3YCkrqx

More on the House vote on ACA - not the highest profile news story, but a very useful example for parties, policy, workings of Congress (note discharge petition, executive power & midterms: Note: 2 articles both free to access (second post links to another) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Congress v Executive, GOP beginning to split against Trump? Important read: This link should work without a subscription. wapo.st/49uM4ab

2 of 2: Executive Power / Foreign policy & Congress (NB - important context - the Trump administration did inform some Congressional GOP members in advance of strikes on Iran in June - but was criticised for only briefing selected members of Congress) www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

1 of 2: President C-in-C powers, Foreign Policy apnews.com/article/trum...

House of Lords - role, power, party balance www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

Court / Race + Rights - ongoing example wapo.st/4rZY77B

Presidential Power: Executive Orders wapo.st/4j1Kdhd

Presidential power v Congress (also relevant to the court who seem likely to decide)

Interesting on MAGA support and the midterms - possibly more useful for Y12 than Y13. wapo.st/44tphK5

House of Lords: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Oversight example: www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...

Discharge process - great example: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

US shutdown, as predicted on Friday, is nearing its end: Read these articles: www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c0... 2. Democrat Divisions www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 3. Who are the 8 Democrats - look them up and think about the different reasons they may have for their vote thehill.com/homenews/sen...

Parliamentary Scrutiny - an example of scrutiny of ministers / departments (Home Office and Justice Department): www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

UK update - parties (Liberal Democrats) and Electoral Reform: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

UK update: Caerphilly by-election (good for Plaid Cymru, very bad for Labour, also disappointing for Reform): www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Final update: Election week. State / local elections are not in our syllabus, but midterms are and so worth looking at the state of play: Key points: the House could change hands, it'll be close. The Senate is unlikely to- most likely change is bigger GOP majority. www.270towin.com/2026-senate-...

US Shutdown latest: (NB despite the Democrats' victories on Tuesday there are signs of movement towards an agreement - as the consequences of carrying on for much longer could be too great to bear) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Gerrymandering - the redrawing of congressional districts has received a lot of attention - especially with the California vote on Prop 50 this week. Here is some context (see image and two linked articles in subsequent posts)

Shutdown - ongoing - an explainer of the key issue between the parties (healthcare) - read to the end. (For Y13s studying Congress - not the recent comments of Marjorie Taylor Greene on this). wapo.st/4q2mcd0

Shutdown - latest / update: (NB some useful tabs above this piece on the AP site which outline - updates / what happens next / potential effects and shutdown history) apnews.com/article/trum...

Trump / Immigration / Federal Power over states / cities (2 of 2) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Trump / Immigration / Federal Power v States / Cities (1 of 2) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Presidential Power / Supreme Court www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

US Shutdown (3 of 3): How do US politics students use it: Keep following developments closely & consider how this relates to: - the effectiveness of checks and balances - the relative power and effectiveness of the branches - federalism (remember state legislatures are not shutdown) - parties

US Shutdown (2 of 3): What happens next? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

US Shutdown (1 of 3): Explainer www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Trump + Freedom of expression / Media Independence / Example of influence of a single Senator www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Presidential Power / Congress' Power to Declare War / US Foreign policy (from WaPo's 5 minute fix):

Constitutional expert on ECHR and Human Rights in British Constitution / Elective dictatorship: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Cabinet Reshuffle: www.ft.com/content/9cc3...