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The Federal Tap: Last stint on the Hill: Another Congressman announces retirement

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November 3, 2017Issue No. 88

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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, October 30

Pelosi endorses Feinstein in California Senate race

Manafort and associate indicted in special counsel Mueller's Russia probe

  • On Friday, former Trump presidential campaign chair Paul Manafort was indicted under seal for allegedly laundering more than $18 million, as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related issues. The 12 counts against Manafort included being an unregistered agent of the government of Ukraine and making false statements. Manafort's associate, Rick Gates, was also indicted. None of the charges were reportedly related to 2016 campaign activity. On Monday, Manafort and Gates surrendered to Mueller.

George Papadopoulos, former Trump foreign policy adviser, pled guilty to making false statements to the FBI

  • George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser to the Trump presidential campaign, pled guilty to making false statements to the FBI, according to court documents unsealed on Monday. Papadopoulos falsely claimed that he had communicated with an unnamed overseas professor, who told him Russia had thousands of Clinton's emails, prior to Papadopoulos' work on the Trump campaign. He also downplayed his knowledge of the professor's connections to Russian government officials. Through the professor and another Russian national, Papadopoulos repeatedly tried to arrange meetings between Trump campaign officials and Russian government officials. He cooperated with the government following his arrest on July 27, 2017, according to the court records.

Tuesday, October 31

Trump calls for DHS to implement tougher vetting procedures after terrorist attack in NYC

  • Eight people were killed and 11 were injured when a terrorist drove his truck into a bike lane in Manhattan, New York City. According to a senior law enforcement officer, a note was found in the truck stating that the attack was done in the name of the Islamic State terrorist group. After the attack, Trump tweeted, “I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!” Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov is the suspect in the attack. He is a 29-year-old who moved from Uzbekistan to the United States in 2010. After crashing his truck into a school bus, witnesses reported that the suspect left his truck, yelled "Allahu Akbar," and displayed imitation firearms. He was then shot by a police officer. The suspect was taken to the hospital and is out of surgery. Trump also wrote in a series of tweets, “In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person. Law enforcement is following this closely. NOT IN THE U.S.A.! We must not allow ISIS to return, or enter, our country after defeating them in the Middle East and elsewhere. Enough! My thoughts, condolences and prayers to the victims and families of the New York City terrorist attack. God and your country are with you!”

Ward leads with 26 percent in hypothetical six-way AZ Senate Republican primary poll

  • In a Data Orbital poll of the Arizona Senate Republican primary, former state Sen. Kelli Ward topped a hypothetical six-candidate field featuring Reps. Martha McSally and David Schweikert, with 26 percent support. A plurality of voters—28 percent—were undecided. With incumbent Sen. Jeff Flake out of the race, several former and sitting members of Congress have reportedly been weighing a run, including McSally, Matt Salmon, and Paul Gosar. Club for Growth has already weighed in on these undeclared candidates, criticizing McSally and encouraging Salmon to run. Ward, the only candidate to have declared in this batch, has the backing of former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and Great America PAC.

Wednesday, November 1

Trump signs repeal of CFPB arbitration rule

  • President Donald Trump signed into law a joint resolution to nullify a rule submitted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regarding arbitration agreements. The CFPB’s rule would have prevented companies from including arbitration clauses in customer contracts that block customers from filing class-action lawsuits in the case of a dispute. It was set to go into effect in 2018. It passed the Senate on October 24, 2017, by a vote of 50-50, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote. It passed the House on July 25, 2017, by a vote of 231-190.

Moore expands lead over Jones to 17 points in Alabama Senate race

  • In a poll conducted on behalf of the Senate Leadership Fund, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore (R) leads former U.S. attorney Doug Jones (D) by 17 points, 56 percent to 39 percent, in the U.S. Senate special election in Alabama. Moore was also in Washington, D.C., meeting with Senate Republicans and holding a campaign fundraiser with Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) as the headliners.

Ward gets first congressional endorsement in Arizona Senate race

  • U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) endorsed former state Sen. Kelli Ward (R) in the U.S. Senate election in Arizona. He told reporters, "Today shows that conservatives are coalescing around the candidacy of Kelli Ward. I think the establishment fears her and will work overtime to oppose her candidacy." Ward also has the support of former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and the pro-Trump Great America PAC.

President Trump calls for ending Diversity Lottery program

  • Following the terrorist attack in New York City, President Donald Trump (R) called for ending the Diversity Lottery program. While speaking to reporters, President Trump stated, "I am today starting the process of terminating the diversity lottery program. I'm going to ask Congress to immediately initiate work to get rid of this program."
  • The Diversity Lottery issues visas to nationals of countries from where few immigrants have come to the United States in the past. About 50,000 diversity immigrant visas are made available each year. The program is referred to as a lottery because individuals are randomly selected from a group of registrants to apply for a visa. Those selected for visas enter the country as lawful permanent residents, or Green Card holders, and may live and work in the country on a permanent basis.
  • Read more about the Diversity Lottery process and the countries eligible for the program in 2017.

Thursday, November 2

Republican tax bill released

  • The GOP released its tax bill, which proposes “the biggest transformation of the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years,” according to The Wall Street Journal. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said that the committee will begin marking up the bill next week. President Donald Trump said that he would like to have the bill on his desk for signature by Thanksgiving. The details of the plan appear below.
    • Permanent cut of the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent
    • Repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax
    • Repeal of deduction for student-loan interest
    • Reduction of tax brackets from seven to three: 12, 25, and 35 percent. Individuals earning less than $24,000, and married couples less than $48,000, would pay no income tax. In addition, those earning more than $1 million would pay 39.6 percent.
    • 10 percent global minimum tax on foreign subsidiaries
    • Expansion of the standard deduction, from $12,700 to $24,000 for married couples and from $6,530 to $12,000 for individuals
    • Doubling of estate tax exemptions until 2024, at which point it will be repealed
    • Child tax credit of $1,600, and $300 per person credit for filers and non-child dependents, expiring after five years
    • Limiting home interest deduction to loans up to $500,000, down from the current $1 million
    • Elimination of the medical expense deduction
    • Limiting state and local tax deductions to property tax deductions capped at $10,000
  • Some elements of the tax bill, including the proposed cap on the mortgage-interest deduction on new home sales, the repeal of state and local tax deductions, and the tax rate on multinational companies’ accumulated offshore earnings, have been met with opposition. In response to the opposition, Brady said, “Are there some areas where we’ve asked people to bring solutions? Yeah.” He added that a revised version of the bill might be released on Monday in time for the bill’s markup.

Robert Mercer to sell shares in Breitbart, step down from hedge fund

  • Robert Mercer, a hedge fund manager and major financial backer of conservative website Breitbart, announced he would step down from his hedge fund and sell his shares in Breitbart to his daughters. Mercer, who hasn't spoken publicly about his political views, said that press scrutiny of his political giving contributed to his decision. He also distanced himself from Breitbart's CEO Steve Bannon, saying he did not share all of Bannon's political views, and said he had severed all ties with Breitbart's former tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos.

Clovis withdraws nomination for USDA's top scientific post

  • Sam Clovis, the White House liaison to the USDA, withdrew his name from consideration to be the USDA's undersecretary for research, education and economics, the department's top scientific post. This week, reports surfaced that he had encouraged a Trump campaign aide, George Papadopoulos, in efforts to work with Russian officials during the presidential election. Clovis' nomination also faced opposition from Democrats, who cited his lack of scientific training and previous remarks while a conservative radio host to claim that he was not qualified for the position. Prior to working at the USDA, Clovis was a co-chair of Trump's presidential campaign. He has also been a tenured professor of economics at Morningside College, hosted a conservative radio show, and was a tea party activist.

Rep. Lamar Smith announces retirement

  • On Thursday, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) announced that he would not seek re-election to the U.S. House in 2018. Smith joins 28 other members of the U.S. House, 18 Republicans and 10 Democrats, who have already announced either upcoming retirements or runs for other offices in 2018. Smith said in a statement, “For several reasons, this seems like a good time to pass on the privilege of representing the 21st District to someone else. At the end of this Congress, I will have completed my six-year term as Chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee. I have one new grandchild and a second arriving soon!! And I hope to find other ways to stay involved in politics.”

Congress is in session

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

SCOTUS is IN session

The U.S. Supreme Court reconvenes for the second week of its two-week argument sitting for November on Monday, November 5. The court is expected to hear arguments in two cases next week. Last week, the court heard arguments in four cases: Ayestas v. Davis, Wilson v. Sellers, U.S. Bank Nat’l Assn. v. Village at Lakeridge, and Artis v. D.C. To learn more about this term, read our overview.

Fact Checks

Did Evan Jenkins support Hillary Clinton and cap-and-trade?

  • West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Rep. Evan Jenkins are running in the Republican primary on May 8, 2018, for the chance to challenge Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in the Senate election next November. Morrisey's campaign claimed in a press release that Jenkins has a "liberal record of supporting Hillary Clinton and voting for cap-and-trade." Ballotpedia requested evidence for the claim from the Morrisey campaign, but that evidence did not substantiate the claim. The Morrisey campaign’s evidence of Jenkins’ record of supporting Clinton was a news article that noted the attendance of then-state Sen. Jenkins at a 2007 Clinton campaign event, six years before he switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. A spokeswoman also provided a voter registration document indicating that Jenkins voted in the Democratic primary in 2008, but the document does not indicate his choice of candidate. The campaign's press release cited Jenkins’ vote in favor of a renewable portfolio standard for West Virginia but did not provide evidence that he supported a cap-and-trade program, nor did Ballotpedia find evidence of such a vote.
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.

President Donald Trump began his 12-day, five-country trip on Friday with a visit to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He will arrive in Japan on Sunday. He will then travel to the Republic of Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster said that the president’s goals for the trip are to strengthen “international resolve to denuclearize North Korea,” promote a “free and open Indo-Pacific Region,” and seek “fair and reciprocal trade.”

Sunday, November 5

Trump visits Japan

  • Trump will travel to Japan to meet with American and Japanese service members. He will also participate in bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Monday, November 6

SCOTUS begins second week of November sitting

  • The U.S. Supreme Court begins the second week of its two-week November argument sitting on Monday and the court will hear arguments in two cases this week. To date, the court has agreed to hear arguments in 46 cases; of these, the court has heard arguments in 15 cases. The cases the court will hear are:

Tuesday, November 7

Election Day in Utah’s 3rd Congressional District

  • Provo City Mayor John Curtis (R) faces Dr. Kathie Allen (D) in the special election to fill Jason Chaffetz’s seat in Utah’s 3rd Congressional District. Four other candidates appear on the ballot: Joe Buchman, Jason Christensen, Sean Whalen, and Jim Bennett. This will be the sixth special election to the U.S. House in 2017 and the first special election for a U.S. House seat in Utah since 1930. The district was ranked by The Cook Political Report as the 16th most Republican congressional district in the country, and Republicans have won the seat in every general election between 1998 and 2017 with a margin of victory of at least 25 percent.

Trump visits the Republic of Korea

  • Trump will visit the Republic of Korea and will participate in a bilateral meeting with President Moon Jae-in. He will also meet with American and South Korean service members and speak at the National Assembly.

Wednesday, November 8

Trump visits China

  • Trump will travel to Beijing, China, for bilateral, commercial, and cultural events. He will also meet with President Xi Jinping.

Thursday, November 9

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee holds confirmation hearing for Nielsen

  • The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Kirstjen Nielsen, President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of homeland security. She was formally nominated for the position on October 12, 2017. Nielsen is White House chief of staff John Kelly's principal deputy chief of staff. She was also Kelly's top aide when he served as DHS secretary.

Friday, November 10

Trump visits Danang, Vietnam

  • Trump will travel to Danang, Vietnam, and participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting and deliver a speech at the APEC CEO Summit.

Where was the president last week?

  • On Monday, President Donald Trump had separate meetings with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis. He had lunch with Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. In the evening, Trump and first lady Melania Trump held a Halloween event at the White House.
  • On Tuesday, Trump attended a meeting on tax reform with leaders of businesses and trade associations. He attended a legislative foreign policy lunch. He also met with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
  • On Wednesday, Trump held a Cabinet meeting at the White House. He signed the National Veterans and Military Families Month Proclamation. He had lunch with Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Secretary of Defense James Mattis. He then met with Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel. He also signed HJ Res 111, which nullified a rule submitted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regarding arbitration agreements.
  • On Thursday, Trump met with GOP senators at the White House. Later in the day, he met with House Republican leaders and Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee. Trump then nominated Jerome H. Powell to chair the Federal Reserve.
  • On Friday, Trump visited Hawaii. He received a briefing from the U.S. Pacific Command and toured the USS Arizona Memorial.

Federal Judiciary

  • 140 judicial vacancies in life-term, Article III judicial positions
  • 46 pending nominations to life-term, Article III judicial positions
  • 16 future vacancies to life-term, Article III judicial positions
  • This week, we noted:
    • Five new Article III confirmations
    • One new Article III nomination


About

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

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