Chris Micheli

Can Donald Trump Serve a Third Term?  By Chris Micheli Since this question keeps getting raised, let’s take a quick look at whether Donald Trump can serve more than 8 years in office. The 22 nd Amendment to the United States Constitution (which was ratified by the states in 1951 after former President FDR was elected 4 times, and the only one to serve more than 2 terms) provides in full: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once.” The likely argument of Trump and his supporters hinges on a single word: “elected.” Their argument is basically, if he were elected as Vice President, he could “serve” again upon the removal, death, resignation, or inability of the President to serve. That would allow him to serve a third or more terms...

Number of Lobbying Firms in California  By Chris Micheli Based upon data compiled by CalMatters, since 2015, there has been a modest growth in the number of registered Lobbying Firms. Under the Political Reform Act of 1974, there are three main entities that are required to register and make quarterly disclosures with the Secretary of State: Lobbyists; Lobbying Firms; and, Lobbyist Employers. We have previously looked at the substantial growth in the number of registered lobbyists based upon data compiled by CalMatters. The following chart shows the 2-year Legislative Session and the number of registered Lobbying Firms during each of those sessions:   Legislative Session Number of Registered Lobbying Firms Change in Number of Lobbying Firms Since 2015 2015-16 433 n/a 2017-18 480 + 47 2019-20 471 + 38 (9 fewer than last session) 202...