A New Jersey grand jury indicted the senior senator from New Jersey on Wednesday. Democrat Bob Menendez is the subject of an ongoing federal investigation regarding whether he improperly advocated on behalf of a private business. If Menendez were to step down, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie would appoint someone to take his place, which would likely widen the Republican majority in the Senate.

Menendez was re-elected in 2012 and ran unopposed in the state's closed partisan primary.

California is now in its fourth year of a dire drought, with no sign of relief in the future. Almost the entire state - 98 percent - is suffering from the drought, in the form of strained drinking water, increased risks of fires, and little to no snowfall. 

“This historic drought demands unprecedented actions,” Governor Jerry Brown said on Wednesday.

The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that doctors and health care providers cannot sue to force a state to raise reimbursement rates for Medicaid services. NPR reports that the 5-4 decision comes as a heavy blow to those who provide these services as many doctors and health care companies say stagnant rates are so low that they are losing money on Medicaid patients.

Gerrymandering. Acrimonious partisan rhetoric. High-dollar campaign financing. Systematic barriers to full participation by minor political parties. Bipartisan support for international trade agreements, perpetual war, and the national security state.

In fairness, one of the birther's champions, multi-time presidential contender Donald Trump, has turned his birther ire to U.S.

Common Sense Action (CSA), a grassroots network of college students who are working to formulate methods through which Generation Y may traverse the many onerous political and economic challenges that they will likely inherit in the coming years, is conjoining with Run for America (RFA), a nonprofit political advocacy group with a similar mission, to form

The latest report from the California secretary of state shows that another 400,000 voters have registered "No Party Preference," while Republican and Democratic registration has dropped by 300,000 voters. Nonpartisan voters now account for 23 percent of registered voters, just 5 percentage points less than those registered with the Republican Party.

Read the full report here.

CALIFORNIA -- Political parties continue to challenge California's nonpartisan, top-two primary, with a claim that the top-two system unconstitutionally prevents third parties from having access to the general election. The latest challenge is on appeal to California's Supreme Court.

The defense is very simple and has been upheld in an unanimous decision by the California Court of Appeal:

On Monday, Washington Governor Jay Inslee banned the use of state money to travel to Indiana.