Issues

The legality and availability of abortion after Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health (2022) overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the question to states.

Whether cities and states should permit accessory dwelling units — backyard cottages, garage conversions, and basement apartments — by-right on existing single-family lots, as a modest path to add housing without changing neighborhood scale.

Whether universities and employers should consider race in admissions and hiring decisions — sharply restricted by Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023).

U.S. policy toward Afghanistan following the 2021 troop withdrawal and Taliban takeover, including counterterrorism, humanitarian aid, and Afghan partners.

Whether to require disclosure or watermarking of AI-generated media, regulate election deepfakes, and address non-consensual intimate deepfakes.

Whether the FTC and DOJ should pursue more aggressive merger reviews and revise the consumer-welfare standard that has guided antitrust enforcement for decades.

Whether and how to enforce antitrust laws against major tech, healthcare, and consumer-goods firms — the renewed "neo-Brandeisian" approach vs. the consumer-welfare standard.

Federal oil and gas leasing on Alaska's North Slope, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

U.S. weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, including conditioning sales on human-rights concerns and conduct in the Yemen war.

How the U.S. should regulate the development and deployment of advanced AI systems — federal frameworks, frontier-model oversight, sectoral rules, and AI safety.

How the U.S. processes asylum claims under the 1980 Refugee Act and Refugee Convention obligations — backlogs, standards, and proposed reforms.

Policies that register eligible citizens to vote whenever they interact with state agencies (DMV, Medicaid, etc.) unless they opt out, rather than requiring them to opt in.

Whether the U.S. Constitution should be amended to require the federal government to balance its budget annually, typically with exceptions for war or supermajority overrides.

The 14th Amendment guarantee of citizenship to nearly all persons born on U.S. soil, and proposals — by statute or executive action — to limit it.

Removing or restricting books from K-12 school libraries and curricula, often centered on sexually explicit content, depictions of race and history, or LGBTQ+ themes.

Federal investments in border infrastructure, personnel, and processing capacity, plus policy choices on parole, "remain in Mexico," and metering at ports of entry.

Funding for physical and virtual barriers along the U.S. southern border, including pedestrian fencing, vehicle barriers, surveillance systems, and supporting infrastructure.

Federal investments to deploy high-speed internet to unserved and underserved communities — primarily through the BEAD program — and broader policy on broadband access.

How strictly to cap the amounts individuals, PACs, and party committees may donate to federal candidates and party committees, balancing anti-corruption goals against free-speech and political-participation concerns.

Procedural protections — notice, evidence access, cross-examination, neutral decision-makers — for students accused of misconduct in university Title IX and student-conduct proceedings.

How investment gains are taxed — long-term rates of 0/15/20%, "stepped-up basis" at death, and proposals to tax unrealized gains for the ultra-wealthy.

Federal subsidies and standards for capturing CO2 from industrial sources or the atmosphere and storing it underground, including the 45Q tax credit.

A federal price on greenhouse-gas emissions — typically a tax per ton of CO2 — proposed as the most efficient way to reduce emissions.

Whether the share of investment profits paid to private-equity, hedge-fund, and venture-capital managers should be taxed as ordinary income rather than at lower capital-gains rates.

Whether to eliminate or significantly reduce cash bail — replacing it with risk-based release decisions — debated as criminal-justice equity vs. public-safety tool.

Publicly funded, independently operated K-12 schools that operate under a charter agreement with greater autonomy than traditional district schools in exchange for accountability for results.

Whether courts should defer to federal agencies' reasonable interpretations of ambiguous statutes — the longstanding Chevron doctrine — or independently determine the best reading, as the Supreme Court ruled in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo.

The federal tax credit for families with children — temporarily expanded in 2021 to $3,000-$3,600 per child fully refundable, with debate over making the expansion permanent.

Implementation of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, including grants to semiconductor manufacturers, R&D programs, and conditions attached to awards.

The 2010 Supreme Court decision that struck down restrictions on independent political expenditures by corporations and unions, and the campaign-finance debates that followed.

Police seizure of cash, vehicles, or property suspected of involvement in crime, often without a criminal conviction of the owner.

Federal tax credits and grants for renewable energy, EVs, batteries, and clean manufacturing — primarily through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Whether eligible citizens should be legally required to participate in elections, with modest penalties for unjustified non-voting — as practiced in Australia, Belgium, and several other democracies.

Whether members of Congress and senior staff should be allowed to trade individual stocks while in office, given access to non-public market-moving information.

Proposals to cap the number of terms a member of Congress can serve, typically requiring a constitutional amendment after U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton (1995).

Whether publicly traded companies should be required by the SEC or other regulators to disclose to shareholders the full extent of their political contributions and trade-association payments used for political activity.

The headline U.S. federal corporate income-tax rate, currently 21% after the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act dropped it from 35%, plus debates over the global minimum tax.

How the U.S. should regulate digital assets — securities-law treatment, consumer protection, anti-money-laundering, stablecoin oversight, and CBDC questions.

How the IRS and Congress should treat cryptocurrencies for capital-gains reporting, exchange-information reporting, staking rewards, and routine small transactions.

U.S. policy toward Cuba, including the trade embargo, travel restrictions, the State Sponsors of Terrorism list, and diplomatic normalization.

The legal status of people brought to the U.S. as children without authorization — protected from deportation by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) but with no permanent legal status.

Political spending whose original donors are not publicly disclosed — typically routed through 501(c)(4) "social welfare" nonprofits or shell LLCs that contribute to Super PACs.

Whether the federal government and states should impose capital punishment — the U.S. is the only Western democracy that retains it, with 27 states authorizing it as of 2024.

Enforcement of the ADA and related laws, employment protections, accessible housing and transit, education for students with disabilities, and home- and community-based services.

Whether the identities and aggregate contributions of "bundlers" — individuals who solicit and pool donations from many other donors — should be publicly disclosed beyond the limited categories that current law covers.

Whether and how universities, employers, and government agencies should implement DEI programs — debated as anti-discrimination tools vs. ideological / discriminatory practices.

The Diversity Immigrant Visa program — commonly called the green-card lottery — which allocates a fixed number of immigrant visas annually to applicants from countries with low recent immigration to the U.S.

Whether voters should have to present documentary proof of citizenship — such as a passport or birth certificate — when registering to vote, beyond the attestation under penalty of perjury required by federal law.

Whether possession of small amounts of drugs should be a civil rather than criminal offense, and broader harm-reduction approaches to substance use.

Whether states should expand in-person early-voting windows to make voting more accessible or restrict them to control costs and reduce administrative complexity.

Whether to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit — particularly for workers without qualifying children — and to raise income thresholds and phaseout points.

Federal versus state authority over election infrastructure cybersecurity, including CISA support, voting-system standards, and post-2020 disputes.

Whether federal Election Day should be a national holiday so that more voters — especially hourly and shift workers — can participate without conflicting work obligations.

The constitutional mechanism that elects the President via state-allocated electors rather than direct national popular vote.

Federal and state policies setting EV-sales targets or phasing out internal-combustion vehicles, alongside emissions standards and consumer incentives.

Whether law enforcement should have legal access to encrypted communications and devices — the long-running "going dark" / "backdoor" / "lawful access" debate.

How environmental burdens — pollution, toxic sites, climate impacts — are distributed across communities, and how to address disproportionate exposure.

The scope of EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and other statutes — narrowed by recent Supreme Court major-questions and Chevron-overturning decisions.

The federal tax on transfers of wealth at death, with an exemption above which estates pay 40% — currently exempting estates under ~$13.6M for individuals.

Whether to require all U.S. employers to use the federal E-Verify system to confirm new hires' work authorization, currently mandatory only for federal contractors and in some states.

The use of executive orders, memoranda, and rule-making to make policy without congressional legislation — and the question of when that crosses constitutional bounds.

Government and law-enforcement use of facial recognition technology, including bans, warrant requirements, accuracy standards, and bias concerns.

Whether to revive an FCC requirement that broadcasters present contrasting views on controversial public issues — repealed in 1987 and credited (or blamed) for the rise of partisan talk radio.

The trade-off between getting promising new drugs to patients quickly and ensuring rigorous evidence of safety and efficacy before approval.

Whether and how the U.S. should enact comprehensive federal privacy legislation — currently a patchwork of state laws (CCPA, others) and sectoral federal rules (HIPAA, GLBA, COPPA).

How the Constitution's "high crimes and misdemeanors" standard should be interpreted and whether the impeachment process, as practiced, can still function as a meaningful check on the executive and judiciary.

Federal use of subsidies, grants, and tax credits to target strategic industries like semiconductors, batteries, and clean energy — a return of large-scale industrial policy.

Whether to remove cannabis from federal Schedule I, reschedule it, or fully legalize it — given that most states have legalized medical or adult use.

The federal floor for hourly wages — $7.25 since 2009, the longest stretch without an increase since the law was enacted — and proposals to raise it to $15-17.

How the Department of Labor should set the salary threshold below which white-collar workers are automatically entitled to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The U.S. central bank's structure, dual mandate (price stability + maximum employment), and ongoing debates over its political independence and scope.

Whether the United States should adopt a federal value-added tax — a broad consumption tax levied at each stage of production — used by nearly every other developed country.

State laws that strip voting rights from people convicted of felonies — from automatic restoration on release to permanent disenfranchisement — affect about 4.6 million U.S. citizens.

A small tax levied on stock, bond, and derivatives trades — proposed as both a revenue source and a brake on short-term speculation and high-frequency trading.

How the U.S. should structure foreign aid (~$60B/year, ~1% of federal budget) — bilateral, multilateral, humanitarian, development, security assistance.

How rigorously to enforce the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires those representing foreign principals in political or quasi-political activities to disclose their relationships to the U.S. government.

Whether the federal government should continue offering oil, gas, and coal leases on federal lands and offshore waters — and at what royalty rates.

Proposals — public and private — to reduce the standard workweek from five days to four, often at full pay, sometimes paired with overtime-law changes.

How public universities should balance First Amendment protections, anti-discrimination obligations, and academic freedom amid ideological-diversity and harassment debates.

The practice of drawing electoral district boundaries to advantage one political party or group, and the reforms that aim to constrain it.

Whether ride-share, delivery, and other platform workers should be classified as employees (with full labor protections) or independent contractors (with flexibility but fewer benefits).

How federal authorities — NSA, FBI, DHS — surveil U.S. persons under FISA Section 702, geofence warrants, third-party doctrine, and other authorities.

How the United States should set caps for, allocate, and oversee the H-1B specialty-occupation visa used heavily by technology, healthcare, and research employers.

Federal and state laws that enhance penalties for crimes motivated by bias against protected characteristics — race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability.

How federal, state, and private sources fund colleges and universities — including Pell grants, research funding, endowment taxation, and free-college proposals.

How cities, states, and the federal government should address homelessness — Housing First vs. treatment-first, encampment policy, and the response to Grants Pass v. Johnson (2024).

The constitutional and statutory protections immigrants have during enforcement encounters, detention, and removal proceedings — and how they differ from citizen protections.

Whether new market-rate housing developments should be required (or incentivized) to set aside a share of units as below-market affordable housing, and how to design such requirements without suppressing overall supply.

Whether districts for Congress and state legislatures should be drawn by independent commissions rather than by the legislatures whose members are being elected from those districts.

Whether statutory protections for federal inspectors general should be strengthened to prevent politically motivated dismissal by the executive and preserve their independent oversight of agency conduct.

The U.S. relationship with the International Criminal Court (ICC), including non-membership, cooperation on specific cases, and concerns over jurisdiction.

U.S. policy on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), including the 2018 withdrawal, sanctions, and options for renewed nuclear diplomacy.

Whether to enact a federal "shield law" protecting journalists from being compelled to reveal confidential sources — building on shield laws in 49 states.

Whether juries should be told they have the power to acquit a defendant they believe technically violated a law, when they consider the law itself or its application unjust.

How the justice system should handle minors who commit crimes, including transfer to adult court, sentencing limits, and raise-the-age laws.

What students should be taught — including reading methods, math curricula, history framing, race and gender content, and parent-rights laws.

The practice of giving preferences in selective college admissions to applicants who are children — and sometimes other relatives — of alumni.

How many immigrants the U.S. should admit annually, and through what categories — family-based, employment-based, diversity, refugee — debated in the context of demographic and labor-market trends.

Federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, and other settings.

Proposals to tighten lobbying disclosure, lengthen revolving-door cooling-off periods, and reduce the influence of paid advocacy on legislation and rulemaking.

The collapse of local newspapers, the spread of news deserts, and policy responses such as journalism tax credits, philanthropic support, and platform-publisher compensation rules.

Whether the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit — the largest federal subsidy for affordable-rental housing — is a cost-effective tool worth expanding, or a complex and inefficient mechanism that should be reformed or replaced with direct rental assistance.

The rules governing voting by mail — universal mail ballots, no-excuse absentee, ballot return options, and signature verification — and how they affect turnout, security, and access.

Federal and state laws requiring minimum prison terms for specified offenses, removing judicial discretion — debated as a deterrent vs. driver of mass incarceration.

Proposals for large-scale interior immigration enforcement aimed at removing a significant share of the estimated unauthorized population residing in the United States.

The ACA option allowing states to expand Medicaid to adults earning up to 138% of the federal poverty line, with the federal government paying 90% of the cost.

State laws allowing terminally ill, mentally competent adults to request a physician-prescribed medication to end their own lives, sometimes called physician-assisted dying.

Whether and how to reform Medicare Advantage — the privately-administered Medicare program — addressing concerns about upcoding, marketing practices, prior authorization, and taxpayer cost.

A single-payer national health insurance program that would replace private and most public insurance with one government plan covering all Americans.

How to respond to behavioral-health emergencies — through 988, mobile crisis teams, co-responder models, or traditional police — and how to fund the underlying mental-health system.

Whether insurance plans cover mental health and substance-use disorder care on the same terms as physical health care, as required by the 2008 Mental Health Parity Act.

EPA standards limiting methane leaks and venting from oil and gas operations, given methane's outsized short-term climate impact.

How much the U.S. should spend on defense ($800B+/year, ~3.4% of GDP) and on what — strategic competition, force structure, modernization, and procurement reform.

How government, platforms, and civil society should respond to false or misleading information online — particularly around elections, health, and foreign influence operations.

The federal income-tax deduction for home-mortgage interest, costing roughly $25-50B/year and disproportionately benefiting higher-income homeowners.

The total federal debt — over $34 trillion — and debates over whether deficits matter, what level is sustainable, and how to address it.

Whether the U.S. should reaffirm, expand, restructure, or step back from NATO and other treaty alliances (Japan, South Korea, Philippines, AUKUS).

Whether broadband internet providers should be regulated as common carriers under Title II, prohibiting blocking, throttling, or paid prioritization of traffic.

The conflict between residents who resist new development near their homes (NIMBY — "not in my backyard") and a growing pro-housing movement that argues abundant new supply is the only durable answer to housing affordability (YIMBY — "yes in my backyard").

Search warrants that authorize police to enter without first announcing themselves, used to prevent destruction of evidence or surprise armed suspects.

Whether long-term noncitizen residents — including green-card holders and others paying local taxes — should be allowed to vote in municipal or school-board elections, even while federal voting remains restricted to citizens.

Whether the Federal Trade Commission and Congress should ban or sharply restrict non-compete clauses that bar workers from joining competitors after leaving a job.

Election rules that let voters of any party affiliation cast primary ballots, or that send the top several finishers (regardless of party) to the general election.

U.S. policy toward North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, including sanctions, diplomacy, alliance commitments, and denuclearization goals.

Whether and how to expand nuclear power — extending existing plants' lives, building advanced small modular reactors, and addressing waste storage.

Federal leasing of offshore oil and gas tracts on the Outer Continental Shelf, weighing energy production against spill risk and climate impact.

A federal tax incentive that allows investors to defer or reduce capital-gains tax on investments in designated low-income census tracts, created by the 2017 tax law.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's authority to set workplace safety standards, conduct inspections, and impose penalties — and whether its scope should expand or contract.

Federal proposals to provide paid leave for new parents, family caregivers, and serious-illness recovery — the U.S. is the only OECD nation without national paid parental leave.

How the federal government and CDC should be structured to prevent, detect, and respond to future pandemics, drawing lessons from COVID-19.

Whether to expand the federal Pell Grant program — increasing maximum awards, indexing them to inflation, and extending eligibility to short-term workforce programs and incarcerated students.

Whether and how to streamline federal environmental permitting under NEPA, the Clean Water Act, and ESA — needed for clean-energy buildout but resisted as environmental rollback.

Federal approval and permitting of major oil and gas pipelines, including Keystone XL, Mountain Valley, and Dakota Access, and the broader debate over fossil-fuel infrastructure.

Mandates requiring officers to wear body-worn cameras, and policies on when footage must be recorded, released to the public, and retained.

How to structure police budgets, training, oversight, and alternative-response programs after the 2020 protests over George Floyd's killing.

Whether to allow legal importation of prescription drugs from Canada, Europe, and other regulated markets where prices are typically lower than in the United States.

Whether and how the federal government — through Medicare and otherwise — should negotiate prescription drug prices with manufacturers.

The Article II power letting the President grant clemency for federal offenses, and proposals to constrain it after high-profile uses.

Whether the federal government and states should contract with private companies (CoreCivic, GEO Group) to run prisons and immigration-detention facilities.

Whether the federal government should continue funding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) — which supports PBS, NPR, and local public stations — at $500M+/year.

Government programs that match small donations, provide grants to qualifying candidates, or otherwise reduce candidates' dependence on private fundraising.

How federal subsidized-housing programs — public housing, Section 8 vouchers, LIHTC — should be funded and structured to serve low-income renters.

How federal public lands should be managed — designation of national monuments and wilderness, multiple-use balancing, and state-versus-federal control.

A government-run health insurance plan offered alongside private plans on the ACA marketplace — designed to compete with private insurers and expand coverage.

Whether Puerto Rico — a U.S. territory of 3.2 million American citizens — should become a state, gain independence, enter free association, or retain commonwealth status.

The judicially created doctrine that shields government officials — especially police — from civil-rights lawsuits unless they violated "clearly established" law.

Voters rank candidates in order of preference; if no candidate wins outright, the lowest-ranked candidate is eliminated and their votes redistributed until one candidate has a majority.

How broadly the president's constitutional power to make recess appointments should extend — and whether modern Senate practices have effectively eliminated meaningful recesses, making the power moot or available for circumvention.

The annual presidential ceiling on U.S. refugee admissions and the scope of the federal program that resettles vetted refugees in cooperation with nonprofit partners.

Whether the federal government should impose a binding annual cap on the total cost of new regulations issued by executive-branch agencies — sometimes called a "regulatory budget."

How First Amendment Free Exercise and Establishment Clause rights, plus statutory protections (RFRA, RLUIPA), apply to conflicts between religious practice and other legal obligations.

Government caps on annual rent increases, debated as a tool against displacement and for tenant stability vs. a supply-distorting price ceiling.

Whether the federal government or states should provide material redress to descendants of enslaved Americans and victims of subsequent racial discrimination.

Laws requiring manufacturers to provide consumers and independent shops the manuals, parts, and tools needed to repair electronics, vehicles, and farm equipment.

Laws allowing terminally ill patients to access experimental treatments that have passed initial safety trials but have not received final FDA approval.

State laws (in 27 states) that prohibit unions from requiring covered workers to pay union dues or fees, even if they benefit from collective bargaining.

Whether voters should be allowed to register and cast a ballot on the same day at the polls, rather than registering days or weeks in advance of an election.

Whether state and local law enforcement should cooperate with federal immigration authorities — declining to honor ICE detainers, opting out of 287(g) agreements, or actively cooperating.

Policies that let public funds follow students to private schools, charter schools, or homeschool — vouchers, education savings accounts, and tax-credit scholarships.

The role of prayer, religious expression, chaplains, and religious content in public schools, particularly after Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (2022).

Programs that provide public funds — through vouchers, education savings accounts, or tax-credit scholarships — for families to use at private or religious schools.

Voters score each candidate independently on a numeric scale (often 0–5); the candidate with the highest total or average score wins.

How federal and state firearm regulation interacts with the Second Amendment after Heller (2008) and Bruen (2022) — debated through universal background checks, assault-weapons bans, red-flag laws, and concealed-carry rules.

The 1996 federal law that shields online platforms from liability for user-generated content and for "good-faith" content moderation — central to debates over social-media regulation.

Public registries of people convicted of sex offenses, including residency restrictions, registration duration, and which offenses qualify.

Whether shareholders of publicly traded companies should have a binding or advisory vote on the company's political contributions and lobbying expenditures, similar to "say-on-pay" votes on executive compensation.

Whether cities and states should end exclusive single-family zoning — allowing duplexes, triplexes, or small multifamily buildings on parcels currently restricted to detached single-family homes.

Public-financing programs that multiply small individual donations (e.g. 6-to-1 or 8-to-1) to qualifying candidates who cap large contributions and meet eligibility thresholds.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps), serving roughly 42 million Americans, and debates over benefit levels, work requirements, and eligibility.

Whether and how to regulate the algorithmic feeds and recommendation systems of major platforms — debated as drivers of polarization, mental-health harms, and election manipulation.

Whether to raise or eliminate the wage cap above which earnings are exempt from Social Security payroll taxes, a frequent proposal for shoring up the program.

How to address Social Security's projected long-term shortfall — the trust fund is projected to be depleted in the 2030s, after which scheduled benefits would be cut by ~20%.

The use of long-term isolation in U.S. prisons and jails, and whether to set limits on duration, conditions, and the populations it can apply to.

The role of standardized tests in K-12 accountability, school evaluation, and college admissions, including state assessments, the SAT/ACT, and alternatives.

Whether inherited assets should keep their stepped-up cost basis at the owner's death — erasing unrealized capital gains — or whether those gains should be taxed at transfer.

Whether and how the federal government should cancel some or all of the $1.7 trillion in outstanding federal student loan debt.

Independent-expenditure-only committees that may raise unlimited funds from individuals, corporations, and unions to advocate for or against candidates, but cannot coordinate with campaigns.

Whether Congress should expand the Supreme Court beyond its current nine seats to alter its ideological balance or to address structural problems with the confirmation process.

Proposals to change the size of the Supreme Court, impose term limits, or restructure judicial selection — debated intensely after high-profile decisions on abortion, guns, and administrative law.

Whether Supreme Court justices should serve fixed terms — most commonly proposed as staggered 18-year terms with regular vacancies — rather than life tenure, to regularize appointments and reduce the stakes of any single seat.

How the U.S. should manage strategic competition with China, including its commitments to Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act and "strategic ambiguity."

Taxes on imports — a tool used for revenue, industrial protection, and geopolitical leverage, but with consumer-cost and retaliation trade-offs.

Whether teacher salaries, benefits, working conditions, and professional autonomy adequately recruit and retain a high-quality teaching workforce.

The pattern of officials moving between government roles and the industries they regulate, raising concerns about regulatory capture and post-employment conflicts of interest.

The Senate procedure that effectively requires 60 votes to end debate on most legislation, giving a minority of senators veto power over most bills.

Mandatory long or life sentences after a third felony conviction, designed to incapacitate repeat offenders but criticized for disproportionate sentences.

Whether the U.S. should ban or force divestiture of apps controlled by adversary-nation companies, with TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance the central case.

Whether to eliminate the lower federal minimum wage for tipped workers and require employers to pay the full standard minimum before tips.

How the federal sex-discrimination law applied to schools receiving federal funds is interpreted and enforced, especially around sexual misconduct, gender identity, and athletics.

How to regulate cigarettes, menthol products, flavored vapes, and other nicotine-delivery devices to reduce harm without driving adults to more dangerous alternatives or black markets.

How the U.S. should structure trade and investment with China — tariffs, export controls on advanced technology, investment screening, and the future of permanent normal trade relations.

Eligibility rules for transgender athletes — particularly transgender women and girls — in scholastic, collegiate, and Olympic sports.

Anti-discrimination protections, healthcare access (including for minors), identity-document policies, and other legal questions affecting transgender Americans.

U.S. financial contributions to the United Nations and specialized agencies, and the case for reforms in budgets, peacekeeping, and Security Council structure.

How federal labor law (NLRA, Taft-Hartley) governs union organizing, collective bargaining, and labor disputes — and proposals like the PRO Act to strengthen worker rights.

A regular, unconditional cash payment to every adult citizen — proposed variously as poverty relief, automation insurance, and replacement for fragmented welfare programs.

Federal or state proposals to provide free, voluntary, high-quality preschool to all 3- and 4-year-olds.

How the U.S. should reduce greenhouse-gas emissions — through subsidies, regulation, carbon pricing, or some mix — and what national-level commitments to make.

How the U.S. should structure military aid, diplomatic support, settlement policy, and humanitarian assistance regarding Israel and the Palestinian territories.

How much military and economic aid the U.S. should provide Ukraine in its defense against Russia's 2022 invasion, and what conditions or end-state to pursue.

Government and institutional requirements that individuals receive specified vaccines as a condition of school attendance, employment, or military service.

U.S. policy toward Venezuela, including sanctions on its oil sector, recognition questions, response to disputed elections, and migration pressures.

Whether and what kind of identification a voter must present at the polls — a perennial flashpoint between fraud-prevention and access-protection arguments.

How aggressively states should remove inactive or potentially ineligible voters from registration rolls, balancing roll hygiene against the risk of removing eligible voters who then face barriers at the polls.

Federal proposals (notably the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act) to restore preclearance and other VRA protections weakened by Shelby County v. Holder (2013).

Whether the District of Columbia's ~700,000 residents — who pay federal taxes and serve in the military but lack voting representation in Congress — should be admitted as a state.

How U.S. water — especially in the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin and Western states — is allocated under prior-appropriation doctrine and interstate compacts.

An annual tax on net worth above a threshold (typically tens of millions), proposed as a way to address concentration of wealth and fund public investments.

Whether to relax restrictive single-family-only zoning, parking minimums, and height limits to allow more housing — the "YIMBY" movement vs. neighborhood-preservation defenders.