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The Federal Tap: Five minutes to get caught up on the tax bill

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December 1, 2017Issue No. 91

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Week in review
On tap next week

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Here's what happened in federal politics last week. To see what happened in state and local politics, click here.

Monday, November 27

Rep. Bob Brady (D-Pa.) reportedly under investigation for campaign finance fraud

  • According to an approved search warrant application submitted to a federal district court in Pennsylvania on November 1, U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D-Pa.) is under investigation by the FBI for campaign finance fraud. In the application, FBI Special Agent Jonathan Szeliga said that he had probable cause to believe that Brady, along with his 2012 primary rival, Jimmie Moore (D), and three other staffers and political consultants, had conspired to conceal payments to Moore, in exchange for his withdrawal from the 2012 U.S. House race.
    • Carolyn Cavaness, a former aide to Moore named in the alleged conspiracy, pleaded guilty in July to making false statements to the Federal Election Commission about the payments. She said that she had been instructed by Moore to create a company to funnel the money from Brady. In September, Moore also pleaded guilty to making false statements in his campaign filings.
    • Political consultants Kenneth Smukler and Donald “D.A.” Jones, who were also named in the search warrant application, pleaded not guilty in October to charges related to the alleged campaign fraud. Their trial is scheduled to begin on December 12, 2017.
    • An attorney for Brady denied that Brady was a target of the investigation, according to a CBS News report last week.
    • See also: Pennsylvania's 1st Congressional District election, 2018

Trump will not campaign for Moore in Alabama Senate special election

  • President Donald Trump (R) will not campaign for former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore (R) before the December 12 special election for the U.S. Senate seat in Alabama, according to a White House official on Monday. Trump still gave a boost to Moore online by tweeting criticism of Moore's rival, former U.S. attorney Doug Jones (D), on Sunday. "The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY. Jones would be a disaster!" Trump wrote.

Tuesday, November 28

Trump-nominated judge upholds administration decision to appoint Mulvaney as acting director of CFPB

  • Late Tuesday, Judge Timothy J. Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied a motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to concurrently assume the role of acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The motion for a temporary restraining order was filed by Leandra English, the deputy director of the CFPB, who claimed that when the director, Richard Cordray, resigned on November 24, that the law that created the CFPB, the Dodd-Frank Act, gave her the authority to serve as the CFPB's acting director until the Senate confirmed Cordray's successor. President Trump announced that Mulvaney would serve as acting director of CFPB, citing Trump's authority under a different law, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA). In his order denying English's motion, Kelly noted the significant constitutional questions raised in English's petition, but denied the motion on Kelly's determination that English was unlikely to succeed on the merits of her claim. English's attorney, Deepak Gupta, appeared to indicate that English would appeal Judge Kelly's decision, noting "I think everyone understands this court is not the final stop, this judge does not have the final word on what happens in this controversy." Though Judge Kelly's decision on the temporary restraining order cannot be appealed, Gupta acknowledged that he may move for a preliminary injunction, which could be appealed if Judge Kelly denied the injunction. In lieu of an appeal and injunction, Mulvaney is the acting director of the CFPB.

Polls finds close race between McSally and Ward in AZ Senate Republican primary

Jones gets boost in Alabama Senate special election from Highway 31

North Korea fires ballistic missile with trajectory that could possibly hit Washington, D.C.

  • North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that experts said had the trajectory to hit Washington, D.C. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said that the missile “went higher, frankly, than any previous shot they've taken. … The bottom line is it is a continued effort to build a ballistic missile threat that endangers world peace, regional peace and certainly the United States.”
    • Melissa Hanham, a senior research associate at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, Calif., said that the missile trajectory could put Washington, D.C., within range of a North Korean missile strike.
    • David Wright, a physicist and co-director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, agreed with Hanham, but he added that if the missile had a heavier nuclear warhead, it would not be able to reach Washington, D.C.

Pelosi and Schumer skip meeting with Trump on government funding deal

  • Before a scheduled meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), President Donald Trump wrote in a tweet, "Meeting with 'Chuck and Nancy' today about keeping government open and working. Problem is they want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE Taxes. I don’t see a deal!" In response, Schumer and Pelosi decided to skip the meeting. They said in a statement, “If the President, who already said earlier this year that ‘our country needs a good shutdown,’ isn’t interested in addressing the difficult year end agenda we’ll work with those Republicans who are, as we did in April.” After they skipped the meeting, Trump said that Schumer and Pelosi were “all talk” and “no action. ... Now it’s even worse. Now it’s not even talk. Now they’re not even showing up to the meeting. He also said that if the government shuts down, he "would absolutely blame the Democrats."
    • Congress must pass legislation to fund the government by Friday, December 8, 2017, when the current funding deal expires. Read more about the funding negotiations here.

Wednesday, November 29

Senate votes to begin debate on tax bill

  • The Senate voted to begin debate on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by a vote of 52-48, along party lines. The vote allowed for 20 hours of additional debate on the tax bill followed by a vote-a-rama. During a vote-a-rama, any senator can force a vote on any amendment. Before the vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) asked senators who were uncertain about some parts of the bill to vote to begin debate. He said, “I encourage any member who thinks that we need to fix the problems of our outdated tax code to vote to proceed to the legislation. I urge them to vote for the motion to proceed and offer their amendments. ...The bottom line is this: we must vote to begin debate.” All Republicans voted to begin debate.

SCOTUS hears arguments on cell phone privacy

  • The U.S. Supreme Court concluded the first week of its two-week argument sitting for December by hearing arguments in Carpenter v. United States, an appeal of a judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Based on information obtained from a suspect's cell phone, which was surrendered to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by the suspect, the FBI arrested Timothy Ivory Carpenter and Timothy Michael Sanders. The information from the cell phone provided the FBI's basis to petition for judicial orders under the Stored Communications Act (SCA) to obtain call and cell phone location data held by Carpenter's and Sanders' cellular service providers. The SCA did not require the government to show probable cause or to obtain a warrant in order to obtain the data. The FBI received the orders and arrested Carpenter and Sanders, in part, on the basis of the location data provided by the cell phone providers. Carpenter and Sanders moved to suppress the data before trial, which a federal district court denied. Both were convicted of multiple federal charges. A three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit upheld the convictions, holding that the use of the cell phone location data did not constitute a search under the Fourth Amendment and, as such, no warrant was required in order to use the data. The case has been seen by many as an important case for digital privacy rights.

Senate Health Committee holds confirmation hearing for Azar

  • The Senate Health Committee held a confirmation hearing for Alex Azar, President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services (HHS). During the hearing, Azar was asked about drug pricing and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.
    • On drug pricing: Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) asked Azar about Eli Lilly’s decision to raise the price of insulin while he was head of the company. Azar said that “increases have been significant for all drug prices.” Azar also said that “the system needs to get fixed.” According to The Hill, Azar "specifically mentioned that the list prices of drugs needs to be lowered and also put the onus on insurers in terms of covering insulin, so the out of pocket cost for insulin is low for consumers."
    • On the ACA: “If I’m confirmed as secretary, my job is to faithfully implement the programs as passed by Congress, whatever they are, and that would include, if the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land and remains such, to implement it as faithfully as possible.”
    • Azar is likely to be confirmed as the next HHS secretary. He only needs 50 votes in the Senate to win confirmation with Vice President Pence breaking a tie. No Democrats are expected to vote for Azar.

Thursday, November 30

Fourth consecutive poll has Moore back on top in Alabama Senate special election

  • A new poll from JMC Analytics has former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore (R) leading former U.S. attorney Doug Jones (D) by five points in the Alabama Senate special election, 48 percent to 34 percent. This is a turnabout from the four-point lead Jones held roughly two weeks ago in the last JMC survey following allegations of sexual misconduct and assault against Moore.

The week after sexual misconduct allegations surfaced, Barton has announced he will not seek re-election in 2018

Friday, December 1

Flynn pleads guilty to making false statements to the FBI

  • Former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to one felony count of making false statements to the FBI about conversations he had with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December 2016. According to Politico, "Flynn admitted that he told agents that he had not asked Kislyak to avoid escalating tensions over sanctions imposed by former President Barack Obama, and he also told agents he had not asked Kislyak to delay or defeat a pending resolution at the UN Security Council, both of which proved to be false, according to court documents." Flynn agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation as part of the plea agreement. He will remain free, but the charges that he faces carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
    • In response to Flynn’s plea, White House attorney Ty Cobb said in a statement, “Today, Michael Flynn, a former National Security Advisor at the White House for 25 days during the Trump Administration, and a former Obama administration official, entered a guilty plea to a single count of making a false statement to the FBI. The false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in his resignation in February of this year. Nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn. The conclusion of this phase of the Special Counsel's work demonstrates again that the Special Counsel is moving with all deliberate speed and clears the way for a prompt and reasonable conclusion.”
    • Flynn resigned from his position as national security advisor on February 13, 2017, amid reports that he did not provide Vice President Mike Pence with accurate information about a conversation that he had with a Kislyak concerning sanctions against the country.

Congress is in session

The Senate and House will be in session Monday through Friday.

SCOTUS is in session

The U.S. Supreme Court will continue its December sitting next week with arguments beginning on Monday, December 4. To date, the court has agreed to hear arguments in 49 cases; of those 49 cases, the court has heard arguments in 22 cases. Last week, the court heard arguments in five cases: Oil States Energy Services v. Greene’s Energy Group, SAS Institute v. Matal, Cyan v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund, Digital Realty Trust v. Somers, and Carpenter v. United States. To learn more about this term, read our overview.

WHAT'S ON TAP NEXT WEEK

Here's what is happening in federal politics this week. To see what happened in state and local politics, click here.

Monday, December 4

Illinois filing deadline

  • Candidates running for Congress in Illinois must file by today, marking the first filing deadline for the 2018 midterm elections. Long-time incumbent Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D) of Illinois’ 4th Congressional District announced on November 28 that he would not seek re-election in 2018, giving potential contenders in that race just a week’s notice to file for the open seat. All 18 U.S. House seats in Illinois are up for election in 2018.

Tuesday, December 5

Bannon to campaign for Moore in Alabama Senate race

  • Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon will campaign for former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore (R) in Fairhope, Alabama. "I look forward to standing with Judge Moore and all of the Alabama deplorables in the fight to elect him to the United States Senate, and send shockwaves to the political and media elites,” Bannon said. While the White House announced this week that President Donald Trump will not stump for Moore in Alabama, he is now scheduled to hold a campaign event 20 miles away in Pensacola, Florida, four days before the Alabama Senate special election on December 12.

SCOTUS to hear appeal of baker’s refusal to bake wedding cake for same-sex couple

  • The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in one of most highly anticipated cases of the upcoming term: Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The case comes on an appeal of a judgment of the Colorado Court of Appeals. Prior to their out-of-state nuptials, Charlie Craig and David Mullins solicited a Colorado business, Masterpiece Cakeshop, to design and make a wedding cake. The owner, Jack C. Phillips, refused, citing religious objections to same-sex weddings, but offered to design and bake any other baked good the couple requested. The couple filed discrimination charges under Colorado's Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA), which prohibits businesses and other places of public accommodation from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission issued a cease-and-desist order to Masterpiece Cakeshop, which the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld over Phillips' allegations that both the order and CADA violated his First Amendment freedoms of expression and religious exercise. The case has generated significant public attention. Adam Liptak of The New York Times interviewed Phillips, Craig, and Mullins in advance of oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court. SCOTUSBlog, a blog dedicated to the U.S. Supreme Court, conducted a legal symposium on the case. The U.S. Department of Justice filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Phillips. A decision in the case is expected by June of next year.

Friday, December 8

Deadline to pass government funding bill

  • Congress must pass legislation to fund the government by Friday, December 8, 2017, when the current funding deal expires. In order to avoid a government shutdown, Congress must pass a long-term funding bill, a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government at current levels until a final deal can be reached, or a one-week stopgap funding measure to keep the government open temporarily. Read more here.

Where was the president last week?

  • On Monday, President Donald Trump had lunch with members of the Senate Finance Committee. He hosted an event honoring the Native American code talkers. He also met with Defense Secretary James Mattis.
  • On Tuesday, Trump attended Republican senators' weekly policy lunch. Trump also met with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to discuss a plan to keep the federal government open. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) chose not to attend.
  • On Wednesday, Trump delivered a speech on tax reform in St. Charles, Missouri.
  • On Thursday, Trump met with Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al Khalifa at the White House. In the evening, Trump and first lady Melania Trump participated in the National Park Service's 95th annual National Christmas Tree Lighting.
  • On Friday, Trump met with the Prime Minister of Libya at the White House.

Federal Judiciary

  • 142 judicial vacancies in life-term, Article III judicial positions
  • 41 pending nominations to life-term, Article III judicial positions
  • 17 future vacancies to life-term, Article III judicial positions


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The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.

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