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The Federal Tap: Georgia’s Kelly Loeffler (R) becomes newest U.S. Senator

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January 11, 2020Issue No. 188

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Week in review
On tap next week

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Here's what happened in Federal politics last week.

Monday, January 6

Georgia's Kelly Loeffler (R) becomes newest U.S. Senator

  • Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) was sworn in to the U.S. Senate, becoming the 67th person to represent Georgia in that body. Loeffler is a businesswoman and co-owner of the Atlanta Dream WNBA team.
  • On Dec. 4, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) announced he would appoint Loeffler to succeed former Sen. Johnny Isakson, who resigned the seat on Dec. 31 due to health reasons. Isakson was first elected to the Senate in 2004 and was re-elected in 2010 and 2016.
  • Isakson’s resignation means that a special election will be held on Nov. 3, 2020, to fill the remaining two years of his Senate term. Loeffler has said she will run for a full term in that contest.
  • According to the U.S. Senate’s official website, Loeffler is the 202nd appointed senator since the adoption of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution in 1913. That amendment authorized the direct election of Senators and empowered state governors to appoint Senators in the event of a vacancy. Thirteen current U.S. Senators—eight Republicans and five Democrats—were originally appointed in this manner.

Yang leads Democratic presidential candidates in Ballotpedia pageviews for third straight week

  • Last week, Andrew Yang led all Democratic campaigns in pageviews. His campaign page was viewed 1,903 times, or 11.9% of pageviews for all Democratic campaigns. He was followed by Bernie Sanders with 11.6% of pageviews and Joe Biden with 10.2%. The top three Democratic presidential candidates in lifetime pageviews are Yang with 158,464, Pete Buttigieg with 149,758, and Biden with 141,560.
  • Cory Booker received the most pageviews this week relative to last week. His campaign page increased in pageviews by 72.4%. Two other candidates, Marianne Williamson and Elizabeth Warren, saw their pageviews increase by 70%.
  • As in previous weeks, every other Republican candidate led Donald Trump in pageviews. Trump received 1,072 pageviews, while Joe Walsh received 1,816, Bill Weld received 1,766, and Roque de la Fuente received 1,626.
  • Each week, we report the number of pageviews received by 2020 presidential campaigns on Ballotpedia. These numbers reflect the time investments of our community of thousands of readers who visit a Ballotpedia because they think the candidate is worth knowing more about, whether they believe the candidate has a strong chance of winning or is an unknown who warrants a closer look.

Tuesday, January 7

California's Hunter (R) announces resignation from U.S. House

  • Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) formally submitted his resignation from the House of Representatives to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and California Governor Gavin Newsom. His resignation takes effect January 13.
  • In December 2019, Hunter pleaded guilty to misuse of campaign funds and announced that he would resign after the holidays.
  • In August 2018, Hunter and his wife and former campaign manager, Margaret, were indicted on federal charges of wire fraud, falsifying records, campaign finance violations, and conspiracy. The indictment alleged that Hunter and his wife used $250,000 in campaign funds for personal use, including vacations, school tuition, and entertainment.
  • Hunter is expected to serve jail time for the violations and is scheduled for sentencing on March 17, 2020.
  • Gov. Newsom’s office announced that there will not be a special election for Hunter’s seat in 2020 on January 8. After Hunter's resignation takes effect, the partisan composition of the House of Representatives will be 232 Democrats, 197 Republicans, one independent, and five vacancies.

Friday, January 10

Filing period ends for congressional candidates in Kentucky

  • The statewide filing deadline passed to run for U.S. Congress in Kentucky. In Kentucky, prospective candidates filed for the following offices:
    • U.S. Senate (the incumbent, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R), filed for re-election)
    • U.S. House (six seats)
  • The primary is scheduled for May 19, and the general election is scheduled for November 3, 2020.
  • Kentucky’s statewide filing deadline was on the same date as Mississippi; these were the eighth and ninth deadlines to take place in the 2020 election cycle.
  • Kentucky has a divided government, and no political party holds a state government trifecta. A trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and majorities in both state legislative chambers.

Filing period ends for congressional candidates in Mississippi

  • The statewide filing deadline passed to run for U.S. Congress in Mississippi. In Mississippi, candidates filed for the following offices:
  • The primary is scheduled for March 10, and the general election is scheduled for November 3, 2020. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the primary, a primary runoff will be held on March 31.
  • Mississippi’s statewide filing deadline was on the same date as Kentucky; these were the eighth and ninth deadlines to take place in the 2020 election cycle. The next statewide filing deadline is on January 24 in Maryland.
  • Mississippi has a Republican trifecta. A state government trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and both state legislative chambers.

Congress is in session

The House will be in session January 13-16. The schedule for the Senate is not yet available. Click here to see the full calendar for the second session of the 116th Congress.

SCOTUS is in session

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in five cases this week. To learn about the current 2019-2020 term, click here.

WHAT'S ON TAP NEXT WEEK

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

Monday, January 13

Supreme Court begins January sitting, will hear five cases

  • The U.S. Supreme Court will hear five cases this week. Click here to read more about SCOTUS' current term.
  • January 13
    • In Lucky Brand Dungarees v. Marcel Fashion Group, apparel companies Marcel Fashion Group, Inc. ("Marcel") and Lucky Brand Dungarees, Inc. ("Lucky Brand") filed several lawsuits for trademark infringement. In 2011, Marcel sued Lucky Brand a third time for trademark infringement. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled a previous lawsuit barred Marcel from suing Lucky Brand. On appeal, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision.
    • On remand, Lucky Brand moved to dismiss the suit, arguing a previous legal settlement agreement barred Marcel from suing Lucky Brand. The district court agreed, dismissing the case. Marcel appealed to the 2nd Circuit, which vacated the Southern District of New York's ruling and remanded the case. Lucky Brand appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing the 2nd Circuit's decision conflicted with decisions from other circuit courts on similar issues.
    • The issue: Whether, when a plaintiff asserts new claims, federal preclusion principles can bar a defendant from raising defenses that were not actually litigated and resolved in any prior case between the parties.
    • In Thole v. U.S. Bank, James Thole and Sherry Smith sued U.S. Bank over U.S. Bank's management of a defined benefit pension plan. Thole and Smith alleged the bank violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and engaged in prohibited transactions, causing the plan to become underfunded.
    • U.S. Bank sought to dismiss the case, arguing the plaintiffs did not have the legal right to sue and the statute of limitations had run out on the ERISA claims. The district court dismissed in part and granted in part U.S. Bank's motion. In 2014, the plan became overfunded. The district court dismissed the case as moot. Thole and Smith appealed to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the district court's ruling.
    • The plaintiffs then petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case, arguing the 8th Circuit's ruling conflicted with other circuit court decisions.
    • The issues: (1) May an ERISA plan participant or beneficiary seek injunctive relief against fiduciary misconduct under 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(3) without demonstrating individual financial loss or the imminent risk thereof? (2) May an ERISA plan participant or beneficiary seek restoration of plan losses caused by fiduciary breach under 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(2) without demonstrating individual financial loss or the imminent risk thereof? (3) Whether petitioners have demonstrated Article III standing.
    • 29 U.S.C. 1132(a) deals with civil enforcement and says civil action can be brought by a participant or beneficiary to recover benefits, enforce or clarify rights, or ask for "appropriate relief."
  • January 14
    • In Kelly v. United States, William Baroni and Bridget Kelly were convicted of fraud from federally funded programs, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, and conspiracy against civil rights. Baroni and Kelly allegedly participated in a scheme to reduce local traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge, which spans Fort Lee, New Jersey, and New York City, to punish Fort Lee's mayor for refusing to endorse Gov. Chris Christie's (R) 2013 re-election bid. The alleged scheme became known as "Bridgegate."
    • Baroni and Kelly appealed their convictions to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. The 3rd Circuit affirmed the fraud convictions but reversed and vacated the civil rights convictions.
    • Kelly appealed the 3rd Circuit's ruling with the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing the 3rd Circuit conflicted with U.S. Supreme Court precedent and decisions from other circuit courts.
    • The issue: Does a public official "defraud" the government of its property by advancing a "public policy reason" for an official decision that is not her subjective "real reason" for making the decision?
    • Romag Fasteners v. Fossil concerns federal trademark law. Romag Fasteners, Inc., sued Fossil for patent and trademark infringement in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. A jury found Fossil guilty of unintentional patent and trademark infringement. The jury decided Fossil should pay more than $6.8 million in profits to Romag. In a separate trial, the district court ruled Romag was not entitled to receive profits because Fossil's infringement was unintentional.
    • On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling.
    • Romag appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the court to clarify a circuit court split on requiring proof of willful infringement for rewarding profits.
    • The issue: Whether, under section 35 of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a), willful infringement is a prerequisite for an award of an infringer's profits for a violation of section 43(a), id. § 1125(a). The Lanham Act provides for a national system of trademark registration and trademark protection for federally registered marks.
  • January 15
    • In Babb v. Wilkie, Dr. Noris Babb, a pharmacist working at the VA Medical Center in Bay Pines, Florida, sued the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) secretary, alleging age and gender discrimination and a hostile work environment. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida rejected Babb's claims, granting summary judgment to the VA secretary.
    • On appeal, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court's ruling on Babb's gender discrimination claim and affirmed the district court's ruling on Babb's age discrimination and hostile-work-environment claims. The court remanded the case.
    • Babb petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review, arguing the 11th Circuit's decision disadvantaged federal employees bringing discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967.
    • The issue: Whether the federal-sector provision of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, which provides that personnel actions affecting agency employees aged 40 years or older shall be made free from any "discrimination based on age," 29 U.S.C. §633a(a), requires a plaintiff to prove that age was a but-for cause of the challenged personnel action.

Tuesday, January 14

Six Democratic presidential candidates to debate in Iowa

  • Six Democrats will participate in the seventh presidential primary debate: Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, and Elizabeth Warren.
  • Andrew Yang is the only candidate who participated in the Dec. 19 debate who did not qualify for this event.
  • The debate will take place at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. CNN and The Des Moines Register are hosting the event with Wolf Blitzer, Abby Phillip, and Brianne Pfannenstiel moderating.
  • Each candidate had to receive 5% support or more in at least four national or early state polls or 7% support or more in at least two single state polls to meet the debate’s polling threshold. The four early states are Iowa (Feb. 3), New Hampshire (Feb. 11), Nevada (Feb. 22), and South Carolina (Feb. 29).
  • Candidates also had to meet a fundraising threshold with 225,000 unique donors and a minimum of 1,000 donors in at least 20 states.

Where was the president last week?

  • On Monday, Trump participated in a credentialing ceremony for newly appointed ambassadors to Washington, D.C.
  • On Tuesday, Trump met with the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic.
  • On Wednesday, Trump delivered remarks to address the Iranian missile attack on U.S. bases in Iraq.
  • On Thursday, Trump spoke at a Keep America Great rally in Toledo, OH.
  • On Friday, Trump met with the secretary of state and participated in a Fox News interview.

Federal Judiciary

  • 81 federal judicial vacancies
  • 16 pending nominations
  • 12 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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