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The Federal Tap: The peach state is ripe for Tuesday’s runoffs

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July 20, 2018Issue No. 122

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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.

Saturday, July 14

California Democratic Party endorses de Leon over Feinstein in California Senate race

  • The California Democratic Party endorsed state Sen. Kevin de Leon (D) for the U.S. Senate in California over incumbent Dianne Feinstein (D). De Leon has spent months reaching out to more than 300 members of the party’s executive board to earn their endorsement, while Feinstein called for neutrality in the race, the Sacramento Bee reported.
  • In the top-two primary, de León received major endorsements from the Service Employees International Union of California, California Nurses Association, and California Labor Federation AFL-CIO but struggled to match Feinstein’s multimillion dollar campaign. He reported nearly $700,000 in cash on hand to Feinstein’s $7 million in May.
  • Feinstein, who won her 2012 re-election bid by 25 points, has support from national and state party figures, including former President Barack Obama (D), former Vice President Joe Biden (D), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Gov. Jerry Brown (D).

Constitution Party convention cancelled in South Dakota

  • Members of the Constitution Party in South Dakota were expected to hold their state party convention on July 14. The convention was cancelled over confusion of who was the state party chairperson. The convention has been rescheduled for August 14. At the convention in August, party members will nominate statewide and legislative candidates for the November general election ballot. Candidates will be nominated for the following offices: U.S. House, state executive offices, and the state legislature.
    • Democrats held their state convention from June 15 to June 16. Republicans held their state convention from June 20 to June 23. Libertarians held their convention on June 9.

Monday, July 16

Trump meets with Putin in Helsinki

  • President Donald Trump (R) met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, for a formal one-on-one meeting, the first such meeting between the two. According to Trump, discussion topics included allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, nuclear proliferation, denuclearization of North Korea, and terrorism.
    • Prior to the meeting's start, as the two posed for photos before the press, Trump said, "I think we have great opportunities together as two countries that, frankly, we have not been getting along very well for the last number of years. But I think we will end up having an extraordinary relationship. I hope so." Putin said, "We have been in continual contact by telephone since the last time [we met], and obviously the time has come to have a business-like conversation because there is so much happening in the world that we need to talk about."
    • The one-on-one meeting, which was scheduled to last for 90 minutes, concluded after approximately two hours. During the meeting, Trump and Putin were accompanied only by translators. At the meeting's end, the two were joined by aides for a bilateral meeting and working lunch scheduled to last for two hours. Accompanying Trump were Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Council member Fiona Hill, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman, National Security Adviser John Bolton, Chief of Staff John Kelly, and translator Marina Gross.
    • At the conclusion of the one-on-one meeting and the working lunch, Trump and Putin fielded questions from reporters at a joint press conference. Trump's statements on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election prompted criticism from members of Congress.
    • On July 19, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump's press secretary, announced that plans were being made for a second meeting between President Donald Trump (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the fall in Washington, D.C.
    • For complete coverage, including a summary of Trump's and Putin's statements and reactions from members of Congress, see this article.

U.S. Treasury Dept., IRS announce new donor disclosure guidelines for tax-exempt nonprofits

  • The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service announced that tax-exempt nonprofit groups described under section 501(c) of the nation's tax code would no longer be required to disclose the names and addresses of their donors on tax documents. The policy change did not apply to reporting requirements for 501(c)(3) groups, which remained unchanged. Groups covered by the policy change included 501(c)(4) organizations, such as Americans for Prosperity, Organizing for Action, the National Rifle Association, and Planned Parenthood. The policy change took immediate effect.
    • In a press release, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said, "Americans shouldn't be required to send the IRS information that it doesn't need to effectively enforce our tax laws, and the IRS simply does not need tax returns with donor names and addresses to do its job in this area. It is important to emphasize that this change will in no way limit transparency. The same information about tax-exempt organizations that was previously available to the public will continue to be available, while private taxpayer information will be better protected."
    • Democrats criticized the decision, arguing that it could make it easier for foreign entities to influence U.S. elections by making undisclosed donations to politically active nonprofit groups. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said, "When you have dark money, you have an avenue for foreign influence that by definition you cannot police. And why, in this world in which every red light is blinking, according to our own [director of national intelligence) about Russian interference, why would we want to expand this avenue, not narrow it?"

Federal judge orders temporary halt to deportation of reunited migrant families

  • Federal Judge Dana Sabraw ordered a temporary halt to the deportation of families reunited under his June 26, ruling, in which he ordered that children who had been separated from parents crossing the border illegally must be returned to their families. Sabraw made the order at the request of the ACLU, which argued that it was necessary due to "persistent and increasing rumors — which [federal officials] have refused to deny — that mass deportations may be carried out imminently and immediately upon reunification." Sabraw gave federal officials one week to file a response in opposition.
    • On July 12, federal officials announced that 57 of 102 children under 5 years of age had been reunited with their families. They also noted that another 46 children were not eligible for reunification (e.g., because their parents hadn't cleared background checks, had criminal records, or had been deported). Sabraw previously ruled that all children needed to be reunited with their families by July 10.
    • Sabraw's July 16 order is the most recent in a series of events taking place in response to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump (R) last month directing the Department of Homeland Security to keep detained families together. For more complete information, see this article.

Federal appeals court finds FHFA structure unconstitutional

  • A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held in Collins v. Mnuchin that the structure of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees the government-sponsored mortgage security corporations Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is unconstitutional because it is led by a single director who is only removable by the president for cause. The decision echoes a June 2018 ruling by a federal judge in New York, which held that the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)—also headed by a single director who can only be removed for cause—was unconstitutional.
  • In Collins v. Mnuchin, a group of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders presented the following complaints:
    • A 2012 dividend agreement between the FHFA and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which rendered their shares valueless, exceeded the statutory authority of the FHFA and the Treasury Department.
    • The FHFA is unconstitutionally structured because it is headed by a single director who is only removable for cause and it does not depend on congressional appropriations.
  • In a split per curiam decision, the Fifth Circuit panel made up of Chief Judge Carl Stewart and Judges Catharina Haynes and Don Willett found that the structure of the FHFA is unconstitutional and violates the separation of powers because the agency’s director is too insulated from presidential control. The court struck the language from the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 that only allows the president to dismiss the FHFA director for good cause. Though the panel found the FHFA structure unconstitutional, they upheld the statutory authority of FHFA and Treasury Department to enter into the dividend agreement.
  • Brian Barnes, the attorney for the shareholders, stated that he expects that the FHFA will either request that the Fifth Circuit rehear the case or appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. The FHFA and the Treasury Department have yet to comment on the case.

Rhode Island independent filing deadline

  • The filing deadline passed for independent candidates to return nomination papers if they wish to run in Rhode Island’s statewide elections in 2018. This year, Ballotpedia is covering elections for one U.S. Senate seat, two U.S. House seats, governor and four additional state executive positions, all 38 state Senate seats, and all 75 state House seats. The primary election will be held on September 12, 2018, and the general election will be held on November 6, 2018.

South Carolina independent filing deadline

  • The filing deadline passed for independent candidates to submit petitions to run in South Carolina’s statewide general elections in 2018. This year, Ballotpedia is covering the election of seven U.S. House seats, governor and seven additional state executive positions, all 124 state house seats, and the election of 20 school board members across four school districts. The election will be held on November 6, 2018.

Tuesday, July 17

Alabama primary runoff review

Gosar overlooks House colleague and endorses Ward in Arizona Senate race

  • U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, endorsed former state Sen. Kelli Ward (R) over his U.S. House colleague Martha McSally (R) for U.S. Senate in Arizona. He said in a statement, "We cannot afford another establishment patsy who promises one thing and votes differently."
  • This is not Ward's first congressional endorsement. She also has support from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Reps. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.).
  • On McSally's side is the Mitch McConnell-linked Senate Leadership Fund, which spent five figures on an online campaign against Ward in 2017 and could become involved in the primary again to help secure McSally's victory.

Gallup poll: Plurality of Americans want Kavanaugh confirmed

  • A Gallup poll released on July 17 reported that 41 percent of Americans want the U.S. Senate to vote for the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, 37 percent want it to vote against the confirmation, and 22 percent had no opinion. Participants were asked the question: "Would you like to see the Senate vote in favor of Brett Kavanaugh serving on the Supreme Court, or not?" The poll was conducted from July 10-15, 2018, and results were based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,296 adults aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The margin of error was plus or minus three percentage points.

Wednesday, July 18

Nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit withdrawn

  • Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced the withdrawal of the nomination of Ryan Bounds to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on July 19, 2018. Bounds would have been the 24th circuit court judge and the 45th Article III federal judge nominated by President Donald Trump (R) to be confirmed. Since his inauguration, Trump has nominated 133 judges to the federal bench.
  • Bounds was nominated by President Donald Trump (R) on September 7, 2017, to the seat on the Ninth Circuit vacated by Diarmuid O'Scannlain. The American Bar Association rated Bounds Unanimously Qualified for the nomination. Hearings on Bounds' nomination were held before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 9, 2018, and his nomination was reported out of committee on June 7, 2018, by a 11-10 vote.
  • Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) announced that he needed more information before he could support Bounds' nomination, saying, "The information that I had was insufficient for me to be a 'yes' vote, and therefore I was looking for more information that I had not yet been provided with." Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said he supported Scott's decision and indicated that he would also vote against the nominee.
  • Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) disagreed with Bounds' withdrawal, saying he "is eminently qualified." U.S Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) also said Bounds "didn't deserve this outcome."

Federal appeals court upholds injunction against memo banning most transgender individuals from serving in the military

  • The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected a request by the Trump administration to remove a district court judge's injunction against the administration's March 23, 2018, memorandum policy barring most transgender individuals from serving in the military. On April 16, 2018, Judge Marsha Pechman, of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, had ordered that an injunction she ordered against the administration's August 25, 2017, policy be maintained, finding that the March 23, 2018, memorandum did not differ substantially from the August 25, 2017, memorandum, which instructed the U.S. Department of Defense to prevent transgender individuals from enlisting in the military.
  • In its ruling, the Ninth Circuit wrote, "Appellants ask this court to stay the preliminary injunction, pending the outcome of the appeal, in order to implement a new policy. Accordingly, a stay of the preliminary injunction would upend, rather than preserve, the status quo. Therefore, we deny the motion for a stay[.]" At the time of the Ninth Circuit's ruling, the case was expected to go to trial in federal district court in April 2019.

House approves resolution demonstrating support for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

  • The United States House of Representatives approved H. Res. 990, a resolution voicing support for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and criticizing calls for the agency's abolition. A similar measure failed to clear the United States Senate on the same day.
  • The resolution, which required a two-thirds majority in order to pass, cleared the House by a vote of 244 to 35. All but one Republican (Rep. Justin Amash, Mich.) voted in favor of the resolution, while 34 Democrats voted against it. The remaining 133 Democrats voted present. Sixteen members did not vote: eight Democrats and eight Republicans.
    • Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), who voted in favor of the resolution, said, "Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents keep American communities and families safe. They defend against gang violence, drug trafficking, terrorism, and other dangerous criminals. It is their duty to faithfully execute the laws as they are written, and they put their lives on the line every day to fulfill that mission." Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who voted present, said, "I'm voting 'present' on this resolution because it's a sham and a distraction. It's an outrageous attempt to hide the continued suffering of children behind the partisans' attack on Democrats."
    • Sen Steven Daines (R-Mont.) asked that the resolution be approved by unanimous consent, saying, "It is outrageous. It is irresponsible to call for abolishing one of our country's most critical security measures. Abolishing ICE would give terrorists, gang members, drug dealers and other criminals a field day." Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) objected, saying, "This moment hardly seems the time for the Senate to engage in debating rhetorical phrases or praise for the Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency when that agency, better known as ICE, is deeply mired in the scandal of separating children from their parents."

Thursday, July 19

Fundraising in Texas Senate race crosses $40 million

  • The U.S. Senate race in Texas is the first to see fundraising cross the $40 million threshold, making it the most expensive Senate race in the country, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In the second quarter of 2018, U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) raised $14 million to Sen. Ted Cruz (R)’s $10.4 million. Altogether, the candidates have raised more than $46 million.

Independent candidate filing deadline in Michigan

  • Independent candidates had to file an affidavit of identity and a qualifying petition. Ballotpedia is covering 262 seats during the Michigan general election. These include positions at the federal and state levels as well as Wayne County. The filing deadline for partisan candidates was on April 24, 2018. The primary is on August 7, and the general election is on November 6, 2018.

Trump nominee for IRS commissioner clears Senate committee

  • The United States Senate Committee on Finance voted 14 to 13 to approve the nomination of Charles Rettig as IRS commissioner. The vote split along party lines, with all Republicans voting to approve and all Democrats voting against approval. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chair of the committee, said, "I thank Mr. Rettig for his willingness to serve, and I am confident that because of his many years of experience with the tax system, if confirmed, Mr. Rettig will lead the agency with integrity." Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), ranking member of the committee, explaining his vote against Rettig, said, "The Trump administration has taken a qualified nominee and dumped him right into the middle of a dark money political firestorm of their own creation." Wyden was alluding to an announcement made by the U.S. Department of the Treasury (of which the IRS is a division) that it would no longer require some politically active nonprofit groups to disclose their donors to tax authorities. Rettig must be confirmed by the United States Senate as a whole before assuming office.

Friday, July 20

Candidate filing deadline in Louisiana

  • The filing deadline for candidates running for election in Louisiana was on Friday, July 20. The general election is on November 6, 2018. In Louisiana, all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, run in the general election. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the general election, he or she wins outright. If no candidate reaches that threshold, a runoff election will be held between the top two vote-getters on December 8

Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez Campaign in KS-03

  • Bernie Sanders (I) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) appeared in Kansas City at a campaign rally for Brent Welder (D), a candidate in the Democratic primary for Kansas’ 3rd Congressional district. Following Ocasio-Cortez’s high profile victory in New York’s 14th Congressional District, Welder’s campaign has received significant national media attention regarding her endorsement and has garnered support and small money donations from progressives around the country.

Congress is in session

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

SCOTUS is out of session

The Supreme Court has finished its argument scheduled for the term. To learn more about this term, read our review.

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.

Tuesday, July 24

Georgia primary runoff preview

  • Georgia is holding primary runoffs, which are for races where no candidate received a majority of the vote in the primary. The winners of the runoff will advance to the November general election.
    • Races on the ballot include Democratic runoffs for the sixth and seventh congressional districts; Republican runoffs for governor, lieutenant governor, and secretary of state; a Democratic race for superintendent of public instruction; and eight state house runoffs. Ballotpedia is also covering primary runoff races in DeKalb and Fulton counties, as well as school district runoffs in Henry, Muscogee, and Savannah-Chatham counties.
    • The major Democratic runoffs are in metro Atlanta congressional districts the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting in November. Lucy McBath, an activist and advocate for stricter gun laws, and businessman Kevin Abel are competing to face U.S. Rep. Karen Handel (R) in the 6th District. Georgia State professor Carolyn Bourdeaux and businessman David Kim are running to challenge U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall (R) in the 7th District. EMILY’s List endorsed McBath in the 6th and Bourdeaux in the 7th. Abel and Kim are both largely self-funding their campaigns and say they will oppose Nancy Pelosi as House Democratic leader if elected.


Where was the president last week?

  • On Monday, President Donald Trump (R) met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.
  • On Tuesday, Trump met with members of Congress at the White House.
  • On Wednesday, Trump met with the Cabinet at the White House. He also sat down for an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Jeff Glor at the White House.
  • On Thursday, Trump met with Secretary of Defense James Mattis and had lunch with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In the East Room of the White House, he gave a speech about vocational training for U.S. workers.
  • On Friday, Trump and first lady Melania Trump left to spend the weekend in Bedminster, N.J.

Federal Judiciary

  • 146 federal judicial vacancies
  • 85 pending nominations
  • 31 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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