On the Ballot

Dr. Elaine Kamarck, the founding director at the Brookings Institution and key leader of the Clinton-era National Performance Review, revisits the push to make government more efficient. She discusses the parallels between her work in the '90s and the current efforts surrounding the Department of Government Efficiency. The conversation highlights the complexities of federal budget management, the symbolic hurdles of reform, and the critical need for strategic communication and cooperation among government employees to achieve meaningful change.

On this episode: The budget reconciliation process occurs if Congress passes a budget resolution for the fiscal year that gives reconciliation instructions. It’s used to override the filibuster and expedite the approval of a package of legislation in Congress that changes spending, revenues, or the debt limit — making it an ideal tool for the Trump administration to advance their agenda. These bills require a simple majority (51 votes) instead of the three-fifths majority (60 votes) usually needed in the Senate to bring bills to a vote and approve them.  Here’s a breakdown of how it works, where it originated, and how it’s been used in recent years in packages like 2018’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act or 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act.  Visit our portal for an in-depth look at the process: https://ballotpedia.org/Budget_reconciliation_in_U.S._Congres Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: Every year, state lawmakers consider thousands of bills that would change how Americans vote and how officials administer elections. Most states — 44  — have already started their legislatives sessions and are hard at work crafting legislation. Over the past 3 years, 35% of ALL election administration bills were introduced by mid-February. We thought it’d be a great time to preview what we’re looking out for this year when it comes to election-related legislation and take a break from all of the presidential and federal news that’ll unfold this week.  Read our end-of-year report from December previewing what to look out for this year: https://ballotpedia.org/State_of_Election_Administration_Legislation_2024_Year-End_Report:Looking_ahead  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: When the Congressional Review Act was signed into law in 1996 by Bill Clinton, it gave Congress a way to hit pause on federal agency rules they believe have gone too far or otherwise aren’t achieving the desired effect. Here’s how it works: Congress gets a window of time to review any new rule, where both chambers have a chance to pass what’s called a ‘joint resolution of disapproval.’ Then—if the president signs off—that rule is overturned. And maybe the most interesting part of the process is that the agency whose rule has been overturned can’t issue a similar rule again in the future. The tool’s only been used to repeal 20 rules in its nearly 30 year history, most of which in the last few years — and most heavily by Donald Trump during his first term. The incoming administration sees it as a key to advancing their agenda and rolling back regulations, so we figured now would be a great time to talk a little more about its history, original intention, and the big role it might play over the next few months.  Check out our CRA page for an overview: https://ballotpedia.org/Congressional_Review_Act  Explore Biden’s use of the CRA: https://ballotpedia.org/Uses_of_the_Congressional_Review_Act_during_the_Biden_administration  How Trump used it his 1st term: https://ballotpedia.org/Uses_of_the_Congressional_Review_Act_during_the_Trump_administration  Federal changes following the CRA in ‘96: https://ballotpedia.org/Federal_agency_rules_repealed_under_the_Congressional_Review_Act Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: Donald Trump returns to the White House next week hoping to hit the ground running, eager to enact his agenda as quickly as possible. A primary tool in his arsenal are executive orders, which enable him to change course on policy simply with  a stroke of his pen. Estimates of the volume of executive action we can expect from Trump have been all over the place, with some claiming it could be over a hundred and others theorizing it’ll all come in one sweeping order.  You might not know that executive orders are one of three different types of executive actions (along with presidential memoranda and presidential proclamations) the president has at their disposal, each with their own purposes and levels of influence — meaning that the type of action plays a big role in whether or not it has any teeth.  Ellen Morrissey — Ballotpedia staff writer covering the presidency — joins the show to  explain the key differences between types of executive actions, dig into the history of how they’ve been used, highlight the track records of recent presidents, and weigh in on the strategy behind how an administration moves in their first 60 days in power.  Follow along with Trump’s executive actions here, which will be updated as they become available: https://ballotpedia.org/Donald_Trump%27s_executive_orders_and_actions,_2025  More on the transition process: https://ballotpedia.org/What_happens_during_Donald_Trump%27s_presidential_transition_process,_2024-  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode:This number might be a little hard to believe, but did you know that there are more than 500,000 elected officials in the United States? Less than 1% of them are at the federal level…which means that there are a TON of local officials being elected every year, and 2025 will be no different. Learn more about our local election work as we expand our coverage to 26 states  Learn more about the uncontested elections on our radar this year: https://ballotpedia.org/Analysis_of_uncontested_elections,_2025  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: If you live in one of the 26 states where citizens can put laws directly on the ballot, you’ve probably seen ballot measures pop up during elections—deciding everything from property taxes and abortion rights to marijuana legalization and ranked-choice voting. But have you ever wondered where this process came from? Or how it became such a powerful — and sometimes controversial — tool in American politics?  If you’ve been following Ballotpedia for a while, you’ll know that ballot measures are our bread and butter – pretty much what started it all here for us.  The initiative process has its roots in a time of upheaval, over a century ago, when the balance of power in the U.S. was shifting in dramatic ways. Big business was booming, railroads and corporations were gaining immense influence, and many Americans felt that their government no longer worked for them. From these frustrations, a radical idea emerged: What if citizens didn’t have to wait for politicians to act? What if they could draft proposals for their own laws, gather support from their neighbors, and force them onto the ballot? On this episode, we’ll welcome four experts for a special deep dive into the history and modern debate around citizen initiated ballot measures. Our guests include:  John Matsusaka from the University of Southern California – making his second appearance on the show and we’re excited to have him back – to walk us through some of that early history and to highlight how the initiative process has evolved from those early days over the course of the 20th century. (STARTS AT 4:00) Maybe our most frequent guest, Ballotpedia’s own Ryan Byrne, who will guide us through the highs and lows of ballot measure usage over time. He’ll tease out the forces that determine why some initiatives succeed while others fail, share some of our analysis from the last several years, and explain the strategies campaigns use to qualify initiatives for the ballot today. (STARTS AT 31:56) Dane Waters, an advocate for direct democracy and a founder of The Initiative & Referendum Institute. He’s spent decades advocating for and analyzing citizen lawmaking, both in the U.S. and around the world. We thought he’d be the perfect person to help bring us inside the process, from the grassroots to the global scale. (STARTS AT 46:04) And finally, Dan Smith from the University of Florida, who’ll help us connect this historical journey to what’s happening right now. Dan will peel back the curtain on the political tug-of-war between legislatures and citizens over ballot measures. Are these tools still a way to give power back to the people? Or have they become battlegrounds for special interests (STARTS AT 1:02:22) You’ll notice that some of our guest’s answers overlap a bit – for example, we asked each of them questions what topics and issues they think could dominate the landscape over the next several years, or whether more states could adopt the initiative process in the future – but we think that’s all part of what we do best here at On the Ballot: Arming you all kinds of data, anecdotes, and perspectives so you can make up your own mind.  Learn more about the initiative process: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballot_initiative  See which states do, and don’t, currently have the tool at their disposal: https://ballotpedia.org/States_with_initiative_or_referendum Explore thousands of measures for yourself: https://ballotpedia.org/History_of_initiative_and_referendum_in_the_U.S.  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: It might come as a bit of a surprise that between 2018 and 2023, over half of the elections that took place were uncontested, meaning that there was one, or even zero, candidates vying for seats in those races. That figure this year was closer to 70% – the highest we’ve seen since we began collecting data on local elections in 2018. Winning an election is obviously a whole lot easier if you’re not running against anybody, and the implications of where and how this plays raises important questions about why folks aren’t running for office, what effect it has on local politics, and what, if anything, could be done to reverse the trend.  Explore our in-depth analysis: https://ballotpedia.org/Analysis_of_uncontested_elections,_2024  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: As incoming president Donald Trump looks to staff his incoming administration, several of his top appointments are leaving behind active roles as elected representatives – like Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, and Elise Stefanik, a member of the House from New York.  Here’s what happens to those seats, and how procedures differ among different levels of government and across different states. Learn more about how the process works for: House: https://ballotpedia.org/Filling_vacancies_in_the_U.S._House_of_Representatives  Senate: https://ballotpedia.org/Filling_vacancies_in_the_U.S._Senate  Governorships:https://ballotpedia.org/How_gubernatorial_vacancies_are_filled  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: Split-ticket voting, also known as ticket splitting, occurs when voters choose candidates from different parties in a single election — voting Republican Donald Trump for president and Democratic congressional candidates, for example. In today’s partisan political landscape, many outlets and pundits did not expect there to be significant levels of split ticket voting this cycle. Though as the dust settles nearly a month after the election, ticket splitting looks to have played a big role in some of the tightest races.  Kyle Kondik — managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics — joins the show long with Ballotpedia managing editor Cory Eucalittlo to pore over the data and highlight the biggest surprises and trends to keep an eye out for in ‘26.  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.