Editorial and Accuracy Standards Across the Federal Authority Network
The Federal Authority Network publishes reference-grade civic and governmental information across 9 member sites covering the full structure of United States federal power. Maintaining consistent accuracy across that breadth requires explicit standards that govern how claims are sourced, how member sites differentiate their coverage, and where editorial boundaries are drawn. This page defines those standards, explains how they operate in practice, and describes the decision rules that govern borderline content and jurisdictional overlap between member properties.
Definition and scope
Editorial standards in this network refer to the documented rules that determine what claims may be published, how those claims must be attributed, and how conflicts between sources are resolved. The network's primary commitment is to factual accuracy grounded in named public sources — federal statutes, official agency publications, congressional records, and judicial opinions — rather than synthesized commentary or unattributed assertions.
The network's home index provides the highest-level map of how these standards apply across all member properties. At the member level, each site is assigned a specific institutional domain: for example, Congressional Authority focuses on the structure, powers, and procedural rules of the House and Senate as defined in Article I of the Constitution and in the standing rules of each chamber. Presidential Authority covers the executive branch's enumerated and implied powers, executive orders, and the administrative apparatus that supports the presidency.
Scope is constrained in two directions. First, no member site publishes predictive content ("the bill will pass") or opinion framed as fact. Second, claims about pending legislation, active litigation, or unresolved regulatory proceedings are marked as unresolved rather than resolved until an authoritative record exists.
How it works
The accuracy framework operates through a four-layer verification model applied before any substantive claim is published:
- Source identification — Every factual claim must trace to a named public body, statute, official report, or court record. Unnamed sources and paraphrased summaries without attribution are rejected at this stage.
- Source classification — Primary sources (the U.S. Constitution, federal statutes codified in the United States Code, published Federal Register entries, Supreme Court slip opinions) carry higher weight than secondary sources (Congressional Research Service reports, GAO analyses). Secondary sources may be used to explain primary sources but not to replace them.
- Jurisdictional assignment — Claims are routed to the member site whose defined scope covers that branch or function. Legislation Authority handles the mechanics of how bills are introduced, amended, and enacted under the procedures codified in Title 1 of the United States Code and the Rules of the House of Representatives. Elections Authority covers the statutory and constitutional framework governing federal elections, including provisions in the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. § 20901 et seq.) and related Federal Election Commission guidance.
- Conflict resolution — When two authoritative sources conflict, the more recent official publication controls unless the earlier source represents constitutional text or a settled Supreme Court holding, which takes precedence over subsequent agency interpretation.
The editorial and accuracy standards page on this site is the canonical reference point for any dispute about which rule applies in ambiguous cases.
Common scenarios
Three categories of content decisions arise with the highest frequency across the network.
Party and political content — Democrat Authority and GOP Authority cover the organizational structure, platform documents, and procedural rules of the two major parties. Third Party Authority extends that coverage to parties outside the two-party system that have achieved ballot access in at least 1 state. In all three cases, editorial standards require that platform claims be attributed to the official platform document published by the party itself, not to media characterizations of that platform. Attribution must cite the specific document title and publication year.
Judicial coverage — National Judicial Authority covers federal court structure, jurisdiction, and landmark decisions. Accuracy standards here require that case holdings be quoted from the official slip opinion or the bound United States Reports, not from press summaries. The date of decision must accompany every case citation.
Senatorial-specific content — Senatorial Authority addresses the Senate's unique constitutional functions, including its role in treaty ratification under Article II, Section 2, and its standing rules on cloture, which under Senate Rule XXII require 60 votes to invoke. This numerical threshold is a constitutional-adjacent procedural fact drawn directly from the published Senate rules, and it illustrates the type of specific, attributable figure the network requires throughout.
Decision boundaries
A comparison of two content categories illustrates where editorial lines fall.
| Content type | Publishable | Not publishable |
|---|---|---|
| Statutory text | Yes — with U.S.C. citation | No — without citation |
| Agency interpretation | Yes — citing the specific Federal Register notice | No — paraphrased without attribution |
| Electoral outcomes | Yes — citing certified official results | No — projections or uncertified counts |
| Party platform positions | Yes — citing official platform document | No — attributed to media characterization |
| Pending litigation outcomes | No — unresolved | N/A |
Decision authority for borderline content rests with the accuracy standards defined on this page rather than with individual member site editors. When a claim falls within the scope of multiple member sites — for example, a Supreme Court ruling on an election law statute — the three-branches network alignment page defines which site takes primary responsibility and which sites may cross-reference. The network coverage map provides a schematic view of how member site jurisdictions are bounded to prevent both gaps and duplication.
Content that cannot meet the source identification requirement in Layer 1 of the verification model is not published in qualified form. It is either withheld until a named source becomes available, or it is restated as a structural fact ("the penalty ceiling is set by statute") that does not assert a specific figure without traceable support.