Civics Articles

On April 22, 2021, for the second consecutive year, the US House of Representatives voted 216-208 to make Washington, DC, the nation's 51st state. Though the symbolically titled H.R. 51 bill is identical to the one passed on June 26, 2020, the legislation was never put to the vote in the then Republican-controlled Senate. However, this time around, the bill — which has the support of both President Joe Biden and Democratic Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer — will get a hearing in the upper house of Congress....

On January 13, 2021, the US House of Representatives voted to impeach former president Donald Trump for the second time. However, the verdict did not result in Mr. Trump's conviction or removal from office. It will also not prevent the former US leader from running for public office again. Those measures can only be taken if the US Senate, which began its trial on February 9, 2021, also votes in favor of the impeachment. Here is how we got here and what to expect next....

Just before noon (EST) on January 20, 2021, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. placed his hand on a 127-year-old family Bible, which has followed his entire career, and took the Presidential oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America." The inauguration ceremony of America's 46th President came just moments after Kamala D. Harris took her oath of office and became the first woman and first person of color to hold the country's second-highest office....

On Wednesday, January 13, 2021, members of the US House of Representatives voted (232-197) to impeach President Donald Trump for the second time in four years. The single article of impeachment charged the US leader with "incitement of insurrection" against the United States government on January 6, 2021. Here is how we got to this unprecedented moment and what to expect next....

After almost a week of painstaking ballot counting, Joseph R. Biden Jr. was elected president of the United States on Saturday, November 7, 2020. The Associated Press — which bases its determination on freelance local reporters who accumulate vote counts from clerks in every county of the 50 states — announced that the former vice president had secured 290 electoral college votes, 20 more than the 270 needed to be selected the country's president....

On October 26, 2020, the US Senate voted 52-48 to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett as the 115th Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. The 48-year-old, who was nominated for the lifetime appointment by President Trump on September 26, 2020, will fill the vacancy left behind by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died from complications of pancreatic cancer on September 18, 2020....

On Tuesday, November 3, 2020, Americans will decide whether President Donald Trump or Democratic-nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden will lead the country for the next four years. While voter turnout is expected to be amongst the highest in over a century, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a record number of voters to mail their ballots. Experts believe this could delay the outcome of the election by several days, or even weeks....

Supreme Court Justice and feminist icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at her home in Washington, DC, on September 18, 2020, from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer. The 87-year-old, who was appointed to the nation's highest court by President Bill Clinton in 1993, was the longest sitting Supreme Court Justice. She was also only the second woman, after Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, to serve in this position....

On August 11, 2020, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden made history by announcing California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate for the upcoming election. Harris, who is the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, is the first African American woman on a major party ticket and only the fourth woman in US history to run for vice president. She is also the first person of Asian descent to appear on a presidential ticket....