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The Federal Tap: Threat assessment pinpoints China/Russia cooperation
From Ballotpedia
February 2, 2019Issue No. 146
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
Monday, January 28
Under new federal rule, employers no longer required to submit privacy-violating info about employees to OSHA
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor, published a rule protecting worker privacy by keeping sensitive details about workers’ injuries away from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. Companies will still have to keep detailed records of employee injuries and illnesses, but will only have to submit summary data to the agency.
- OSHA said the new rule was a deregulatory action following President Trump’s Executive Order 13771, which requires agencies to eliminate two old regulations for each new regulation. Under regulations set during the Obama administration, some employers had to submit detailed information to OSHA about employee illnesses and injuries every year.
Tuesday, January 29
Senate Judiciary Committee delays vote on nominees
- The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee delayed a vote on 46 nominees—44 judicial nominees, William Barr's attorney general nomination, and one nominee for the U.S. Marshals Service—until February 7. A one-week delay is customary when the opposing party has questions about a nominee.
- Two of the committee's 12 Republican members—Chairman Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa)—attended the meeting, which Democratic committee members used to express opposition to Barr's nomination and concern over the judicial nomination process.
- Ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she was concerned over the speed of the approval process. "One of this committee’s most important responsibilities is to review and evaluate the president’s nominees for lifetime appointments. I hope this committee recommits to moving well-qualified consensus nominees," she said.
- Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Christopher Coons (D-Del.) called on the committee to return to the process of only holding hearings for nominees who received approval—also known as blue slips—from both home-state senators. Feinstein agreed, saying blue slips would encourage the Trump administration to work with legislators. According to Bloomberg News, Graham said he would uphold the blue slip tradition for district court judges but was undecided on using the method for circuit court judges.
- Republican lawmakers expressed frustration with the speed of the judicial nomination process. Earlier in January, Senate Republicans began discussing a decrease in debate time in the full Senate from 30 hours to eight hours. They are also considering limiting post-cloture debate to two hours. According to The Hill, the proposal would not apply to nominees for the Supreme Court, circuit courts, or most Cabinet positions. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said, "I think we’ve all been very patient. But when somebody refuses to allow us to proceed … and then a nominee gets an overwhelming vote, that’s a pretty good indication of game playing. And there’s no place for that."
Flake and Garcetti announce they are not running for president
- Former Sen. Jeff Flake (R) announced that he will not run for president in 2020. He is joining CBS News as a contributor, instead. “I have always said that I do hope that there is a Republican who challenges the president in the primary. I still hope that somebody does, but that somebody won't be me. I will not be a candidate,” Flake said. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) also announced that he will not run for president. “It may be out of vogue today, but I kind of believe that whenever possible, you should finish the job that you set out to do,” Garcetti said.
- For more information about the 2020 presidential election, including candidate announcements, party politics, super PAC activity, and campaign staff transitions, subscribe to Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing. It provides a curated account of the most important news in the 2020 presidential election every weekday.
U.S. intel officials cite cooperation between China and Russia as top security threat
- U.S. intelligence officials delivered their annual assessment of global threats to national security to Congress, identifying cooperation between China and Russia as their top concern.
- During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Wray, and Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel said that cyber warfare, weapons of mass destruction, and terrorism pose the biggest threats to the U.S.
- The threat assessment report focused on the relationship between China and Russia and stated that the two countries “are more aligned than at any point since the mid-1950s, and the relationship is likely to strengthen in the coming year as some of their interests and threat perceptions converge, particularly regarding perceived US unilateralism and interventionism and Western promotion of democratic values and human rights.” Intelligence officials said that they expect Russia and China to continue trying to interfere in U.S. elections. They also warned that China is capable of launching cyberattacks that could disable critical U.S. infrastructure.
- Intelligence officials warned members of Congress about the ongoing threats posed by chemical weapons and terrorism. They found that “North Korea, Russia, Syria, and ISIS have used chemical weapons on the battlefield or in assassination operations during the past two years.” Additionally, they identified Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia as hotspots for terrorism, and they said that ISIS would continue to pose a global threat despite losing territorial ground in Syria.
Wednesday, January 30
Biden leads Politico/Morning Consult national poll of Democratic voters
- In a Politico/Morning Consult poll of 685 Democratic voters, former Vice President Joe Biden (D) led the primary field of both declared and likely presidential candidates with 33 percent support. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) followed with 15 percent and 10 percent support, respectively. The poll also found that 57 percent of Democrats would be more likely to back a candidate who supported Medicare for All. The margin of error for the poll was 4 percentage points.
Thursday, January 31
North Carolina gets new state board of elections; NC-09 investigation still pending
- Gov. Roy Cooper (D) appointed three Democrats and two Republicans to the new state Board of Elections: Stella Anderson (D), David Black (R), Jeff Carmon III (D), Bob Cordle (D), and Ken Raymond (R). The investigation into alleged election fraud in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District is ongoing. Four board votes are required to order a new election, and three votes are required to certify the current returns that have Mark Harris (R) leading Dan McCready (D) by 905 votes.
Congress is in/out of session
The Senate will be in session Monday through Friday. The House will be in session Tuesday through Friday. Click here to see the full calendar for the first session of the 116th Congress.
SCOTUS is in/out of session
The Supreme Court will not hear arguments this week. The court will be back on February 19. To learn more about this term, read our review.
WHAT'S ON TAP NEXT WEEK
Tuesday, February 5
Trump to deliver second State of the Union speech; Democrats to give response
- President Trump was invited by Nancy Pelosi (D) to deliver his State of the Union address on February 5. The president was originally invited to deliver the address on January 29, but he announced on January 23 that the address would be delayed until after the federal government shutdown had ended.
- Democrats will be offering a response to the address the same evening, which will be delivered by Stacey Abrams. The former Georgia gubernatorial candidate will give the response first, and will be followed by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who will deliver the response in Spanish. The tradition of the other party responding to the State of the Union dates to 1966, when Republicans Everett Dirksen and Gerald Ford appeared on television and offered a response to Lyndon Johnson’s address.
- In case of an attack, one member of the presidential line of succession will be selected as the designated survivor and taken to a secure, undisclosed location rather than attending the address. The individual is not announced until a few hours before the address, but it is usually a Cabinet member. The designated survivor for last year’s State of the Union was Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
Where was the president last week?
- On Monday, President Donald Trump had lunch with Vice President Mike Pence.
- On Thursday, Trump met with China's vice premier at the White House.
- On Friday, Trump held a meeting to discuss human trafficking on the southern border. He then had lunch with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In the afternoon, Trump and first lady Melania Trump flew to Mar-a-Lago.
Federal Judiciary
- 146 federal judicial vacancies
- 56 pending nominations
- 20 future federal judicial vacancies
Ballotpedia in the News
- After the 2016 elections, Ballotpedia identified the 206 counties that voted for Trump after voting for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. We named them pivot counties and have since kept an eye on these recent bellwethers. We aren’t the only ones. We noticed Ballotpedia’s term pop up on C-SPAN recently. Click here for the clip.
About
The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.
