Update 1/6/2014 3:15 PM PT: Final vote on Janet Yellen's confirmation: 56 Yes to 26 No

Update 1/6/2014 3:00 PM PT: The vote to confirm Janet Yellen as the new chair of the Federal Reserve began at approximately 2:30. The vote has reached a simple majority. Final vote to come.

Update 1/6/2014 2:15 PM PT: Rand Paul's Facebook page announced that his flight to DC was delayed. He will not be in chamber for the vote.

What he pointed to was an interactive map that displayed ethnically color-coded dots for each household based on 2010 census data. Many urban centers of population are diverse as a whole, but within the cities are distinguishable communities grouped by ethnicity.

Numerous polls have revealed that there is widespread ignorance when it comes to politics. In 2012, a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that less than half of those surveyed knew where the upcoming primary would be held, and only 53 percent knew that former presidential candidate Mitt Romney served as the governor of Massachusetts.

To help us ring in the New Year, we asked our community of independent-minded voters on Facebook to suggest one New Year's resolution for Congress.

United Van Lines (UVL) is one of the largest moving companies in the United States. Each year since 1977, UVL has issued a study of interstate migration patterns. This study reports the share of outbound shipments in total interstate shipments for UVL for each of the 48 “Lower United States” (e.g. all states but Alaska and Hawaii). We include this data in State Data Lab, along with a wide variety of other economic, demographic, and government financial data.

The year 2013 marked the driest year recorded in California history. December is typically a wet month in the state, but the Summer-like Winter in 2013 was both a blessing and a curse. A serious debate on the state's water future is imperative.

Mark Frohnmayer is spearheading an initiative in Oregon to completely reform the electoral system in the state.

Some people began the year with their own resolutions for 2014, personal achievements to strive for, but often fall at the wayside. For some, these resolutions are often the same -- lose weight, pick up a book, travel more -- but a goal is only worth something if there are real efforts to pursue it.

With the signing of the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act, changes will affect how the military handles cases of military sexual trauma. While 2013 saw a number of stories that blew the lid off of the ongoing sexual assault crisis within the military, the problem is nothing new and even though these changes are good news, more still needs to be done according to experts and defense department brass.