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The Federal Tap: Reviewing the week: U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida dies
From Ballotpedia
April 10, 2021Issue No. 248
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
Monday, April 5
Supreme Court issues ruling on copyright law, accepts additional case for next term
- The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) accepted one case to its merits docket for the 2021-2022 term and issued an opinion in one case that was argued during the current term.
- SCOTUS issued an opinion in Google LLC v. Oracle America Inc. In a 6-2 vote, the court reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's ruling and remanded the case for further proceedings, holding that Google's use of Oracle’s computer programming code constituted a fair use under copyright law. Justice Stephen Breyer delivered the majority opinion of the court. Justice Clarence Thomas filed a dissenting opinion, joined by Justice Samuel Alito.
- Justice Amy Coney Barrett took no part in the consideration or decision of the case since she had not joined the court at the time of the case’s oral argument. With this ruling, all cases that were argued during the 2020 term’s October sitting have been decided. To date, the court has issued opinions in 26 cases this term. Five cases were decided without argument.
- The court accepted Brown v. Davenport for argument next term, which concerns the standard necessary to grant federal habeas relief to a person held in state custody. U.S. federal courts can use writs of habeas corpus to determine if a state's detention of a prisoner is valid. The case originated from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. To date, the court has accepted 10 cases for argument during the upcoming term.
Tuesday, April 6
U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida dies at 84
- U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) died from pancreatic cancer on April 6. He was first elected to Florida’s 23rd Congressional District in 1992 and represented it until it was redistricted as District 20 in 2012. Hastings was first elected from the 20th District in 2012. In last year’s general election, Hastings defeated Greg Musselwhite (R), 79% to 21%.
- Before being elected to Congress, Hastings was a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida from 1979 until 1989. In 1989, the U.S. Senate tried Hastings on 17 counts of perjury and bribery, finding him guilty on eight counts. The Senate voted to remove Hastings from that judgeship, but he was not disqualified from holding office in the future.
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will set a date for a special election to fill this vacancy. As of April 6, five special elections to the 117th Congress have been scheduled in the following districts:
- Louisiana’s 2nd and 5th Districts,
- New Mexico’s 1st District,
- Texas’ 6th District, and
- Ohio’s 11th District.
- After Hastings’ death, the current partisan breakdown of the U.S. House is 218 Democrats, 211 Republicans, and six vacancies.
- President Joe Biden (D) announced on April 6 that he had set an April 19 deadline for all states to make all adults eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine. He made the announcement in a speech marking the 150 millionth COVID-19 vaccine shot.
- Biden’s previous target for states to open vaccines to all adults had been May 1, which he first set on March 11. To read more about vaccine distribution, click here.
Thursday, April 8
Ballotpedia’s polling index shows presidential approval at 54%, congressional approval at 26%
- Ballotpedia’s polling index showed President Joe Biden (D) at 54% approval and 41% disapproval as of April 8. His approval rating is up one point from this time last month.
- Biden’s current approval rating is the highest he’s received during his tenure. Biden was last at 54% approval on March 24. The lowest approval rating he has received is 51% on March 29.
- Congressional approval is at 26% and disapproval is at 52%, according to our index. Approval is down one point from this time last month.
- The highest approval rating the 117th Congress has received is 29%, last seen on Feb. 22. The lowest approval rating it has received is 20%, last seen on March 3.
- At this time during the tenure of former President Donald Trump, presidential approval was at 41% and congressional approval was at 12%. To see more comparisons between Biden and Trump administration polling, click here.
President Biden announces nominee for ATF director, executive actions on gun violence
- President Joe Biden (D) announced on April 8 that he would nominate David Chipman to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Chipman is an explosives expert and former ATF agent. The White House said in a statement, “As a father, public servant, gun owner, and decorated law enforcement professional Chipman has spent his life serving the public, combating violent crime, and striving to make our nation and our communities safer every day.”
- Biden also announced several executive actions he planned to take to address gun violence, including the review of policy on unregistered firearms assembled at home, which the White House called ghost guns; the regulation of pistol-stabilizing braces; model legislation for red flag laws; community violence interventions; and an annual report on firearms trafficking.
Congress is in session
Both the House and Senate are in session next week. Click here to see the full calendar for the first session of the 117th Congress.
SCOTUS is out of session
The Supreme Court will not hear oral arguments next week. To learn about the 2020-2021 term, click here.
WHAT'S ON TAP NEXT WEEK
Saturday, April 10
Early voting begins in runoff in Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District
- Voters can begin casting ballots in the runoff election in Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District between Troy Carter (D) and Karen Peterson (D) on April 10. The early voting period will run until April 17 (except Sunday) from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. The election will be held on April 24.
- Carter and Peterson received the most votes in the primary election held on March 20, with Carter receiving 36% of the vote and Peterson receiving 23%. Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system where all candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent 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.
- Both Carter and Peterson emphasized their experience and careers as lawmakers. "Throughout my career, I’ve remained laser-focused on the simple ways to improve people’s day-to-day lives – like guaranteeing access to COVID-19 19 vaccine, equality pay for women, criminal justice reform, and fighting for a living wage," said Carter. Peterson said "After Katrina hit, I told the truth, held people accountable, and fought to help our families and our businesses rebuild. And that’s what I’ll do in Congress to lead us out of this pandemic."
- The special election will fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Cedric Richmond (D). On November 17, 2020, then-President-elect Joe Biden (D) announced that Richmond would join his administration as a senior adviser to the president and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Neither of these positions requires Senate confirmation.
Where was the president last week?
- On Monday, Biden returned to Washington, D.C., from Camp David, Maryland.
- On Tuesday, Biden toured the Virginia Theological Seminary’s vaccination site in Alexandria, Virginia.
- On Wednesday through Friday, Biden remained in Washington, D.C.
Federal Judiciary
- 77 federal judicial vacancies
- 0 pending nominations
- 23 future federal judicial vacancies
About
The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.
