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Ballotpedia's Weekly Transition Tracker - April 2, 2021
From Ballotpedia
 Welcome to Ballotpedia's Weekly Transition TrackerApril 2, 2021
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- There were no committee hearings scheduled this week. The Senate stands adjourned until April 12 for a full session.
Judicial Nominations
- Biden announced his first 11 judicial nominees on Tuesday for federal circuit and district court seats and the Superior Court for the District of Columbia.
- The White House said in a statement, “This group also includes groundbreaking nominees, including three African American women chosen for Circuit Court vacancies, as well as candidates who, if confirmed, would be the first Muslim American federal judge in U.S. history, the first AAPI woman to ever serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of D.C., and the first woman of color to ever serve as a federal judge for the District of Maryland.”
- The 11 judicial nominees are listed below:
- Ketanji Brown Jackson for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to fill the seat left vacant by Merrick Garland
- Tiffany Cunningham for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- Candace Jackson-Akiwumi for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- Deborah Boardman for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
- Lydia Griggsby for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
- Julien Neals for the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
- Florence Pan for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- Zahid Quraishi for the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
- Regina Rodriguez for the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
- Margaret Strickland for the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico
- Rupa Ranga Puttagunta for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia
Other News
- Biden nominated Gayle Manchin to co-chair the Appalachian Regional Commission. Manchin, who previously served as West Virginia’s secretary of education and arts, is the wife of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.).
- Biden invited Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and 38 other world leaders to a climate summit on April 22-23.
- Biden called on governors and mayors to reinstate mask mandates. He also said 90% of American adults would be eligible for a coronavirus vaccine by April 19. For more information about state level mask requirements, click here.
- The White House announced additional plans on Tuesday to combat anti-Asian violence and bias, including expanding the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, establishing a COVID-19 Equity Task Force committee on anti-Asian bias, and creating a cross-agency initiative at the Department of Justice.
- Biden unveiled the details of his American Jobs Plan on Wednesday. The $2 trillion proposal would eliminate lead pipes and service lines in drinking water systems, rebuild 20,000 miles of road, repair economically significant bridges, and double federal funding for public transit, among other initiatives. Project spending would take place over eight years and be funded by increasing the corporate tax rate from 21% 28% and changing how multinational corporations are taxed.
- A group of Republicans launched The Coalition to Protect American Workers on Tuesday to combat Biden’s tax policy. The group plans to spend $50 million on its campaign.
- Thirteen states, led by Republican attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, and West Virginia, sued the Biden administration on Wednesday regarding a provision in the American Rescue Plan Act that prohibits states from using federal aid to offset tax cuts. The other states involved in the lawsuit are Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement regarding this issue last week, “Nothing in the Act prevents States from enacting a broad variety of tax cuts. It simply provides that funding received under the Act may not be used to offset a reduction in net tax revenue resulting from certain changes in state law.”
- Biden issued several proclamations on Wednesday acknowledging monthly awareness programs related to the justice system, cancer, organ donation, child abuse prevention, sexual assault prevention, financial education, transgender visibility, and labor organizing.
- NPR reported that the Biden administration was considering revamping the asylum system to process cases more quickly. Under this plan, some asylum cases from the southern border would be processed by the Department of Homeland Security rather than the Department of Justice.
- The Biden administration ended Trump-era restrictions on transgender servicemembers. Troops will be allowed to serve under their self-identified gender and receive medical treatments related to transitioning.
- Biden convened his first in-person Cabinet meeting on Thursday. The meeting focused on the American Jobs Plan and the federal response to COVID-19. Shalanda Young, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, will attend the meeting along with other confirmed Cabinet members.
- During the Cabinet meeting, Biden assigned five members—Pete Buttigieg (Transportation), Jennifer Granholm (Energy), Marcia Fudge (Housing and Urban Development), Marty Walsh (Labor), and Gina Raimondo (Commerce)—to help represent him in public and congressional relations on the American Jobs Plan.
- Biden requested that Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona prepare a memo on presidential legal authority to cancel student debt. The Department of Justice will also be involved in its preparation.
- Citing the Civil Rights Act, the Department of Transportation paused the expansion of the I-45 highway near Houston following concerns it would displace a majority Black and Hispanic community.
Transition in Context: Schumer’s Legislative Agenda
Before Congress entered recess for two weeks, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) outlined the upcoming Democratic legislative agenda:
- A bill to address hate crimes against Asian Americans and improve the review of and response to COVID-19-related hate crimes.
- A voting rights, campaign finance, and ethics bill. The House passed a version of this bill—HR 1—by a 220-210 vote with no Republican support.
- A bill to expand background checks on gun purchases.
- The Equality Act, which would prohibit discrimination against individuals based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
- The John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would build on the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Schumer also said the Senate would consider infrastructure and immigration bills in the coming months.
Transition in Context: Judicial Nominations During First Year in Office
The president of the United States nominates judges to the Supreme Court, courts of appeals, and district courts. While there are no specific requirements for nominees, the Senate must confirm them to serve.
President Ronald Reagan (R) made the most appointments through his first year in office with 41. President Barack Obama (D) made the fewest with 13.
The following chart shows the number of appointments each president, between 1981 and 2021, made in his first year in office and cumulatively through his fourth year.
Transition in Context: Presidential Approval Ratings
The following chart compares the presidential approval ratings of Presidents Donald Trump (R) and Joe Biden (D) on a week-over-week basis. This number is taken from the 30-day average of polls conducted by a select list of polling organizations and outlets. Click here to read the list of polling organizations used.
Biden's approval rating for the ninth week of his term was 53.2%, up 0.2 percentage points from the week before. President Trump's approval rating at the same point in his term was 44.6%, about the same as the week before.
Transition in Context: Congressional Approval Rating
The following chart compares congressional approval ratings during the administrations of Presidents Donald Trump (R) and Joe Biden (D) on a week-over-week basis.
Congress' approval rating during the ninth week of President Biden's term was 26.5%, about the same as the week before. At the same point in President Trump's term, Congress' approval rating was 20.4%, down 1.7 percentage points from the week before.
Transition in Context: In Their Words...
Here’s what Democratic and Republican leaders have said about the American Jobs Plan, Biden’s $2.2 trillion infrastructure proposal.
- “Addressing infrastructure, climate and environmental justice together, and creating millions of good paying jobs, is just the right combination to meet head on the challenges that America now faces. Every community, large and small, rural, suburban and urban will benefit from this robust American Jobs Plan. This will not only make clean energy and clean transportation affordable, it will create millions of new jobs with good wages, which always occurs when we invest in infrastructure and manufacturing as we will be doing here.” – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)
- “This proposal appears to use ‘infrastructure’ as a Trojan horse for the largest set of tax hikes in a generation. These sweeping tax hikes would kill jobs and hold down wages at the worst possible time, as Americans try to dig out from the pandemic. But don’t worry, coastal elites — House Democrats are demanding a special SALT carve-out that would cut taxes for wealthy people in blue states.” – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
- “[I]f we’re looking at ideals and what we think is the actual investment that can create tens of millions of good union jobs in this country, that can shore up our health care, our infrastructure, our housing, and doing it in a way that draws down our carbon emissions to help us get in line with IPCC standards, we’re talking about realistically $10 trillion over ten years. And I know that may be an eye-popping figure for some people, but we need to understand that we are in a devastating economic moment.” – Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)
- “President Biden proposes steep new taxes on businesses which will hurt working families and last more than a decade. This is the wrong approach, and will only undermine our economy at a time when we are beginning to recover.” – Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio)
What We’re Reading
- Business Insider: Biden is splitting with Obama on the economy and the proof is in their stimulus plans
- The New York Times: Biden’s Lesson From Past Green Stimulus Failures: Go Even Bigger
- Politico: Fault lines form on Biden’s massive infrastructure plan
- RealClearPolitics: Addressing Migrant Surge May Be Harris' Crucible
- Roll Call: GOP response puts Biden infrastructure plan on road to reconciliation
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