Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey

The Federal Tap: Trump and Sanders lead Q1 presidential fundraising; Harris, O'Rourke, and Buttigieg round out top five in total individual contributions

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search

April 20, 2019Issue No. 157

The Tap Graphic-750x191px.png

Week in review
On tap next week

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Here's what happened in Federal politics last week.

Monday, April 15

Trump and Sanders lead Q1 presidential fundraising; Harris, O'Rourke, and Buttigieg round out top five in total individual contributions

  • The deadline to file first quarter financial reports with the FEC passed April 15 and President Donald Trump (R) leads the pack with $30.3 million in receipts. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) follow with $20.7 million, $16.5 million, and $13.2 million, respectively.
  • Not all candidates posting eight-figure sums received large-scale support from individual donors. Warren and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) both transferred roughly $10 million raised from their previous Senate campaigns to their presidential campaigns. Former U.S. Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) contributed more than $11 million to his own campaign.
  • Individual contributions account for $7.3 million of Trump’s total receipts, placing him behind three Democrats in that category: Sanders received $18.2 million in individual contributions, Harris $12.0 million, and former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) $9.4 million. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg rounded out the Top 5 with $7.1 million.

Tuesday, April 16

President Trump issues second veto of his presidency

  • President Donald Trump (R) vetoed a Congressional resolution directing the removal of U.S. troops from Yemen. It was his second veto since taking office.
  • The measure, which had been proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), passed 54-46 in the Senate, with seven Republicans joining Democrats to vote in favor. It passed the House 247-175 with 16 Republicans in favor. It would require 67 votes in the Senate and 290 in the House to override the President’s veto.
  • This marked the second veto of Trump’s presidency. The first was issued on March 15, 2019, of a resolution overriding his declaration of a national emergency on the border with Mexico.
  • At this point in their first terms, both Barack Obama (D) and Bill Clinton (D) had issued two vetoes. George H.W. Bush (R) had issued 20 vetoes while Ronald Reagan (R) had issued 16. George W. Bush (R) did not issue any vetoes until his second term.
  • Barack Obama (D) and George W. Bush (R) each issued 12 vetoes over the course of their two terms—the least of any president since World War II. The record for number of vetoes issued is 635, held by Franklin D. Roosevelt (D).
  • In U.S. history, 2,576 vetoes have been issued and 111 of those have been overridden by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress. Seven presidents issued no vetoes during their time in office. The most recent was James Garfield (R), who served until his assassination in 1881.

Wednesday, April 17

SCOTUS hears arguments in six cases this week

  • The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on April 15, April 16, and April 17. As of publication, the court has agreed to hear 75 cases. Click here to read more about SCOTUS' current October 2018 term.
  • April 15:
    • In Iancu v. Brunetti, Erik Brunetti tried to register his clothing brand's trademark "FUCT," but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied the application. Brunetti appealed the decision and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that preventing him from trademarking "FUCT" violated his First Amendment rights. Title 15 of the United States Code Section 1052(a) (15 U.S.C. § 1052(a)) says a trademark application shall be refused if it "comprises immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter."
The issue: Whether Section 1052(a)'s prohibition on the federal registration of "immoral" or "scandalous" marks is facially invalid under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.
    • In Emulex Corp. v. Varjabedian, Avago Technologies Wireless Manufacturing, Inc. agreed to pay $8.00 per share for outstanding Emulex Corp. stock in a May 2015 merger. Goldman Sachs concluded the offer was fair but believed $8.00 per share was below average compared to similar mergers. After the merger, some Emulex shareholders brought a class-action lawsuit against Emulex and Avago, alleging the companies violated Section 14(e) of the Securities Exchange Act. The district court dismissed the lawsuit. On appeal, the 9th Circuit reversed part of the district court's ruling.
The issue: Whether the 9th Circuit correctly held, in express disagreement with five other courts of appeals, that Section 14(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 supports an inferred private right of action based on a negligent misstatement or omission made in connection with a tender offer.
  • April 16
    • In Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton, Brian Newton worked for Parker Drilling Management Services ("Parker") on a drilling platform fixed on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). He worked 14-day shifts and regularly worked for 12 hours each day. Newton alleged he ate for 15 to 30 minutes during his shifts without clocking out and that Parker did not provide 30-minute meal periods for every five hours worked. After Parker terminated his employment, Newton sued in a state court for wage and hour violations under California law. Parker removed the case to U.S. District Court, which dismissed Newton's claims. Newton appealed to the 9th Circuit, which vacated the district court's findings, holding that the district court erred in dismissing the claims.
The issue: Whether the 5th Circuit's or 9th Circuit's interpretation of the application of state law to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act is correct.
    • North Carolina Department of Revenue v. The Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust concerns taxing trusts and state residency. In 1992, Joseph Lee Rice III established a trust in New York for the benefit of his descendants. In 2002, the trust was divided into three sub-trusts, including the Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust ("the Trust"), which benefited Rice's daughter Kimberley Rice Kaestner, then a North Carolina resident.
In 2009, Trust representatives filed a claim for a refund of taxes paid to the North Carolina Department of Revenue between 2005 and 2008. The department denied the request. The representatives then sued in state court. The state court ruled the state statute enabling the department of revenue to collect taxes from the trust was unconstitutional. The state appellate and supreme courts upheld the lower state court's decision.
According to Oyez, the "Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires 'minimum contacts' connecting a state and the property it seeks to tax."
The issue: Whether the due process clause prohibits states from taxing trusts based on trust beneficiaries’ in-state residency.

* April 17

    • In United States v. Davis, a jury found defendants Maurice Lamont Davis and Andre Levon Glover guilty of illegally carrying a firearm while committing a crime of violence and of illegally using or carrying a firearm to aid and abet conspiracy to commit a crime of violence. The defendants challenged their sentences, which the 5th Circuit denied.
After the defendants petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review, SCOTUS remanded the case to the 5th Circuit. The 5th Circuit vacated its decision about the count to aid and abet conspiracy, holding it rests on a clause with a "crime of violence" definition that could be considered unconstitutionally vague. The government appealed the vacating of that decision to SCOTUS.
A section of U.S. law (18 U.S.C. § 924(c)) has both an “elements clause” and a “residual clause" which define offenses as crimes of violence differently.
The issue: Whether the subsection-specific definition of “crime of violence” in 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(B), which applies only in the limited context of a federal criminal prosecution for possessing, using, or carrying a firearm in connection with acts comprising such a crime, is unconstitutionally vague.
    • McDonough v. Smith concerns 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the statute of limitations for fabrication-of-evidence claims.
Edward McDonough, an election official in New York, was indicted on 74 felony counts of ballot forgery. Special district attorney Youel Smith prosecuted McDonough. A first trial ended in a mistrial. McDonough was acquitted in a second trial in 2012. McDonough filed a lawsuit in 2015 under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming Smith fabricated evidence and used it against him in the previous trials. The Northern District of New York ruled McDonough filed the lawsuit too late because the statute of limitations had run out. The 2nd Circuit upheld the district court's ruling, disagreeing with past decisions the 3rd Circuit, 9th Circuit, and 10th Circuit made in other cases.
The issue: Whether the statute of limitations for a Section 1983 claim based on fabrication of evidence in criminal proceedings begins to run when those proceedings terminate in the defendant's favor (as the majority of circuits has held) or whether it begins to run when the defendant becomes aware of the tainted evidence and its improper use (as the Second Circuit held).

NextGen America volunteers working in PA-12 special election

  • The Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported that volunteers from NextGen America, a group led by Tom Steyer, were working on getting students at Penn State University registered to vote in the May 21 special election for Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District. Reporter John Micek noted that the work by the group may be to set the stage for 2020 rather than generate a win in the special election.
  • College professor Marc Friedenberg (D) and state Rep. Fred Keller (R) are running in the special election. The vacancy occurred following the resignation of former Rep. Tom Marino (R) on January 23, 2019, who left Congress to take a job in the private sector. Marino beat Friedenberg by 32 points in November 2018.
  • This will be the first special election held for the 116th Congress. There are three others currently scheduled: one for the U.S. Senate in Arizona and two for the U.S. House in North Carolina. From the 113th Congress to the 115th Congress, a total of 40 special elections were held.

Club for Growth PAC endorses in NC-3 primary

  • Club for Growth PAC announced its endorsement of Celeste Cairns in the Republican primary for North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District. It is the second national endorsement made in the GOP field that features 17 total candidates. Susan B. Anthony List endorsed Joan Perry earlier this month. Among the 17 Republican candidates are six elected officials and six candidates who have backgrounds in politics or notable endorsements. Six Democrats and two Libertarian Party candidates are also running for the seat.
  • Primary elections will take place on April 30, 2019. If no candidate receives more than 30 percent of the vote, a runoff election will be held on July 9, 2019. The general election will be held on September 10 if there is a runoff but will be held on July 9 otherwise.
  • The election will fill the vacancy left by Walter Jones (R), who died on February 10, 2019. Jones, who was first elected in 1994, did not face a general election challenger in 2018, and he won re-election in 2016, 2014, and 2012 by about 30 percentage points each year. In the 2016 presidential election, the district voted for Donald Trump (R) over Hillary Clinton (D) by more than 23 percentage points.

Congress is out of session

Neither the Senate nor the House will be in session next week. Click here to see the full calendar for the first session of the 116th Congress.

SCOTUS is in session

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in seven cases from April 22-24. 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.

Early voting begins in NC-09 special election

  • Early primary voting begins in the North Carolina 9th Congressional District special election. Dan McCready (D)-a Marine veteran, businessman, and 2016 nominee-is running for the seat again. He is unopposed in the Democratic primary. Ten candidates are running for the Republican nomination, making it the largest primary field in the district since 2012. The primary takes place on May 14.
  • McCready raised $1.6 million in the first quarter of 2019, tripling what the Republican candidates raised in total during that period. State Sen. Dan Bishop (R) raised $387,000. Former Mecklenburg County Commissioner Matthew Ridenhour (R), realtor Leigh Brown (R), and Union County Commissioner Stony Rushing (R) raised between $35,000 and $65,000.
  • Brown received a boost from the National Association of Realtors, which spent more than $400,000 on an ad supporting her campaign.
  • The general election is scheduled for September 10, 2019. If a primary runoff election is necessary, it will be held on September 10, 2019, and the general election will be moved to November 5, 2019.

Where was the president last week?

  • On Monday, Trump participated in a round table discussion on the economy and tax reform in Burnsville, Minnesota.
  • On Tuesday, Trump participated in the swearing-in of the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
  • On Wednesday, Trump took part in an Opportunity Zone conference with state, local, tribal, and community leaders.
  • On Thursday, Trump delivered remarks at the Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride.
  • On Friday, Trump went to the Trump International Golf Club.

Federal Judiciary

  • 148 federal judicial vacancies
  • 64 pending nominations
  • 15 future federal judicial vacancies


About

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

Back to top • More articles

Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Federal_Tap:_Trump_and_Sanders_lead_Q1_presidential_fundraising;_Harris,_O%27Rourke,_and_Buttigieg_round_out_top_five_in_total_individual_contributions&oldid=8441836"