On February 12, 2026, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reversed its 2009 Endangerment Finding, which had allowed the agency to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is a devastating decision as GHG emissions are the leading cause of climate change. 

Throughout the first year of the 119th Congress, the League of Women Voters did advocacy work around legislation with significant implications for both our democracy and the people within it. This blog looks back at five of the most consequential legislative battles of 2025, as well as their implications for our country and the League’s 2026 advocacy work. 

With the 2024 election in the rearview and critical midterms approaching, we took a look at the power of women at the ballot box using data from the US Census.

Women play a central role in that participation. As voters, organizers, community leaders, and advocates, women shape how democracy responds to the realities families and communities face every day.

When women vote, organize, and engage in public life, they influence the direction of policies that affect millions of people nationwide.

Since its founding, the people of the District have not enjoyed the same rights as other Americans. As a result, Washingtonians are expected to bear the burdens and duties of citizenship and obedience to the laws while having no say in their creation, a major inequity in a republic that purports to stand for liberty and justice for all.   

This blog will examine the background of this inequality and feature the voices of LWVDC members and District residents who are currently undergoing illegitimate occupation by National Guard troops because of their lack of statehood.  

After listing Louisiana v. Callais for reargument in the Fall 2025, term, the Supreme Court is set to test the constitutionality of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. This will have massive ramifications for election law.

Independent agencies are key to maintaining stability during transitions between administrations. Their employees possess critical institutional knowledge that benefits the American people. Additionally, the independence of federal agencies provides an important check on presidential power. 

Since the second Trump Administration began, an estimated 199,000 civil servants have left the federal workforce. This has had a major impact on independent agencies, or government agencies that are within the executive branch, but whose leadership cannot be removed at will by the president, unlike cabinet secretaries. 

In moments of political uncertainty, concepts like the Insurrection Act or “martial law” can feel abstract – until they don’t. Given the current administration’s recent federal deployment of the National Guard in California and federal takeover of Washington DC, many are wondering: what is martial law? Does the president have the right to use military force in our cities? Are we on the brink of something more dangerous?  

Student voters are increasingly powerful — boasting some 40 million eligible voters. However, students face a hidden threat to their right to vote: “Use It or Lose It” voter roll purging laws. 

All 50 states, plus Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico, have their own supreme courts. How do they work?