The Federal Tap: Four U.S. representatives announce 2022 retirements

March 27, 2021Issue No. 246

Week in review

On tap next week

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Here's what happened in Federal politics last week.

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• Saturday
• Sunday
• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Thursday
• Friday

Saturday, March 20

Two Congressional special elections take place in Louisiana

• Louisiana held two special primary elections for its 2nd and 5th Congressional Districts on Saturday, March 20. The special election in the 2nd district filled the vacancy left by Cedric Richmond (D) after then President-elect Joe Biden (D) appointed Richmond as a senior adviser to the president and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement on Nov. 17, 2020. The special election in the 5th district filled the vacancy left by Luke Letlow (R), who died before being seated in the 117th Congress from complications related to COVID-19.
• Louisiana elections use the Louisiana majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate does, the top-two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
• Troy Carter (D) and Karen Peterson (D) received the most votes in the special primary election for Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District. Carter received 36% of the vote and Peterson received 23%. As the top-two candidates in the primary, Carter and Peterson will advance to the general runoff election held on April 24, 2021.
• Julia Letlow (R) won the special primary election for Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District. Letlow received 65% of the vote, followed by Candy Christophe (D) with 27% of the vote. Since Letlow received more than 50% of the vote, she will represent the district and a runoff election will not be held.

Monday, March 22

SCOTUS grants review in two cases for its 2021-2022 term

• On March 22, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted two cases for review during its 2021-2022 term. With the addition of these two cases, the court has agreed to hear 10 cases during the term, which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 4, 2021.
  • United States v. Tsarnaev concerns the death penalty conviction of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted of committing acts of domestic terrorism at the 2013 Boston Marathon. The questions presented to the court are: “1. Whether the court of appeals erred in concluding that respondent’s capital sentences must be vacated on the ground that the district court, during its 21-day voir dire, did not ask each prospective juror for a specific accounting of the pretrial media coverage that he or she had read, heard, or seen about respondent’s case; 2. Whether the district court committed reversible error at the penalty phase of respondent's trial by excluding evidence that respondent's older brother was allegedly involved in different crimes two years before the offenses for which respondent was convicted.” Tsarnaev originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit.
  • Servotronics, Inc. v. Rolls-Royce PLC concerns whether a private commercial arbitral tribunal is a foreign or international tribunal within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. §1782(a). The question presented to the court is, “Whether the discretion granted to district courts in 28 U.S.C. §1782(a) to render assistance in gathering evidence for use in 'a foreign or international tribunal' encompasses private commercial arbitral tribunals, as the Fourth and Sixth Circuits have held, or excludes such tribunals without expressing an exclusionary intent, as the Second, Fifth, and, in the case below, the Seventh Circuit, have held.” Servotronics originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.
• The Supreme Court is currently hearing oral arguments as part of its 2020-2021 term. Its March sitting began on March 22 and will conclude on March 31, with the court hearing six hours of oral argument during that period. As of March 25, the court had agreed to hear 63 cases during its 2020-2021 term. Of those, 12 were originally scheduled for the 2019-2020 term but were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Also as of March 25, the court had issued opinions in 21 cases this term. Four cases were decided without argument.

Supreme Court begins March sitting

• This week, SCOTUS began its March argument session. The court heard three hours of oral argument remotely in three cases and provided audio livestreams, continuing its safety protocols implemented at the start of the term in accordance with public health guidance related to COVID-19.
• The cases argued this week:
  • March 22: Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid came to the court from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The case concerns the regulations governing labor union organizers' access to employees at worksites.
  • March 23: United States v. Cooley originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and concerns the scope of law enforcement officers' search-and-seizure authority.
  • March 24: Caniglia v. Strom concerns the scope of police officers' authority for search and seizure and as community caretakers. The case originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit.
• Next week, SCOTUS will hear three hours of oral argument in four cases. After the March sitting, the court is scheduled to hear arguments in 14 cases in its April sitting. One case that was originally scheduled for April, Terry v. United States, has been postponed until the May sitting. To read more about the change, click here.

Senate confirms Walsh as secretary of labor by 68-29 vote

• The Senate confirmed Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as secretary of labor on March 22 by a vote of 68-29. All 29 votes against his nomination came from Republicans. Kim Janey, a member of the Boston City Council, became the acting mayor of Boston.
• Twenty-one of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees have been confirmed. Two positions remain unfilled. Eric Lander, Biden’s nominee for director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, has not had a confirmation hearing. Biden has also not named a replacement candidate for director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Thursday, March 25

Supreme Court releases opinions

• On March 25, the U.S. Supreme Court issued opinions in the following cases:
  • Consolidated cases Ford Motor Company v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court and Ford Motor Company v. Bandemer originated from the Montana and Minnesota Supreme Courts, respectively, and concerned state court jurisdiction related to the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause.
    • In an 8-0 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the state courts’ rulings, holding that the connection between the plaintiffs’ liability claims in the two cases and Ford’s activities in both states allowed the state courts to have jurisdiction in the cases. Justice Elena Kagan delivered the majority opinion of the court, her first of the term. Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch filed concurring opinions. Justice Clarence Thomas joined in Gorsuch’s concurrence. Justice Amy Coney Barrett took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. Click here to read more about the outcome of these cases.
  • Torres v. Madrid concerned a claim of excessive force against police officers and whether the use of physical force to restrain a person constitutes a seizure under the Fourth Amendment. The case originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.
    • In a 5-3 opinion, the court vacated the 10th Circuit's judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings, ruling that using physical force on an individual with the intent to restrain is a seizure, even if the individual does not submit and is not subdued. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the majority opinion of the court, his second of the term. Justice Neil Gorsuch filed a dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. Justice Amy Coney Barrett took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. Click here for more information about the ruling.
• To date, the court has issued opinions in 21 cases this term. Four cases were decided without argument.

Friday, March 26

Four U.S. representatives announce 2022 retirements

• This week, four members of the U.S. House—three Republicans and one Democrat—announced that they would not run for re-election in 2022. This brings the total number of congressional retirements in 2020 to 10: five members of each chamber. The partisan breakdown of those retiring is eight Republicans and two Democrats.
• Representatives Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) and Filemon Vela (D-Texas) announced they were retiring from public office. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) announced he would leave the House to run for U.S. Senate in 2022, while Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) announced he would leave the House to challenge Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R).
• In 2020, 40 members of Congress—29 Republicans, 10 Democrats, and one Libertarian—did not run for re-election. In the last two midterm years, 2018 and 2014, 55 and 48 members of Congress, respectively, did not run for re-election.

Congress is out of session

Both the House and Senate are out of session next week. Click here to see the full calendar for the first session of the 117th Congress.

SCOTUS is in session

The Supreme Court will hear three hours of oral arguments next week. To learn about the 2020-2021 term, click here.

WHAT'S ON TAP NEXT WEEK

Here's what is happening in Federal politics this week.

• Skip to:
• Saturday
• Sunday
• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Thursday
• Friday

Where was the president last week?

• On Monday, Biden remained in Washington, D.C.
• On Tuesday, Biden delivered remarks at the James Cancer Hospital Solove Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio.
• On Wednesday, Biden remained in Washington, D.C.
• On Thursday, Biden remained in Washington, D.C.
• On Friday, Biden departed for Wilmington, Delaware.

Federal Judiciary

• 72 federal judicial vacancies
• 0 pending nominations
• 28 future federal judicial vacancies

About

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

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