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The Federal Tap: Who are the top U.S. House fundraisers of Q3?
From Ballotpedia
October 5, 2018Issue No. 133
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
This week, the FBI conducted a supplemental background investigation with respect to Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination. This followed a request for the investigation which was made late last week by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The investigation was completed Wednesday. On Thursday, senators received and reviewed the results of the investigation. A vote was held on Friday and the Senate voted 51-49 to end debate on the nomination and move forward with the final vote on whether to confirm Kavanaugh on Saturday. The Supreme Court will resume hearing arguments on Tuesday, October 9.
Sunday, September 30
U.S. and Canada agree on revised NAFTA deal
- The United States and Canada reached an agreement on a revised version of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Canada agreed to enter the deal struck by the U.S. and Mexico in August. The new agreement, titled the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), must be ratified by Congress before taking effect. Some of the provisions in the revised deal appear below:
- Automobiles: Seventy-five percent of the value of a vehicle would have to be produced in the United States or Mexico, an increase from 62.5 percent required by NAFTA.
- Sunset clause: The deal would have a 16-year lifespan with a review every six years.
- Dispute settlement: NAFTA’s Chapter 19, which includes a settlement system for anti-dumping disputes, would remain.
- Labor provisions: Members would have to follow the International Labor Organization labor rights standards. Among other provisions, the deal would require that 40 percent to 45 percent of automobile parts be made by workers earning at least $16 an hour. The deal would also protect the right to strike.
- Exchange-rate curbs: The deal would prevent members from artificially weakening their exchange rates.
- Dairy: The U.S. would have greater access to Canada’s dairy market.
- Pharmaceuticals: The patent life for biologic drugs would be 10 years instead of five.
- Steel and aluminum: Tariffs on steel and aluminum would remain. They would be addressed separately from the USMCA.
- As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump called NAFTA a disaster and said his administration would renegotiate the deal or end it.
- NAFTA, is an agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States to eliminate trade barriers and promote trade competition between the three nations. Provisions of the agreement include the elimination of trade duties on many goods, reductions in tariffs, intellectual property enforcement, and agreements for favorable treatment of investors from these three nations. NAFTA came into effect on January 1, 1994.
Monday, October 1
Cases with potential to impact the administrative state among first heard at opening of the U.S. Supreme Court term
- Oral arguments in Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service were heard on the opening day of the 2018-2019 U.S. Supreme Court term. Last heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the case involves the Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) designation of private land in Louisiana as critical habitat for the dusky gopher frog. Landowners are challenging the designation, which would require them to take a variety of actions including replacing existing trees with different species, halting timber management activities, and allowing the land to be managed and populated with frogs.
- The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling and applied Chevron deference (an administrative law principle that compels federal courts to defer to a federal agency's interpretation of an ambiguous or unclear statute) to yield to FWS' interpretation of the ESA and uphold the critical habitat designation.
- The U.S. Supreme Court's decision could impact judicial deference to agency interpretations of the statutes that they administer, including the Fifth Circuit's application of Chevron deference in the case. The court's decision could also define the limits of what constitutes discretionary agency actions, which are not subject to judicial review.
- The following day, the nondelegation doctrine made its return to the U.S. Supreme Court with Gundy v. United States. The case involves whether the Constitution allows Congress to empower the U.S. attorney general to apply the Sex Offender Notification and Registration Act (SORNA) retroactively (as was done to defendant Herman Gundy) without providing guidance about how to use that power. Not since 1935 has the Court ruled that a congressional action was unconstitutional on nondelegation grounds.
Tuesday, October 2
Chris Pappas releases first TV ad of NH-1 general election
- With five weeks remaining until the November 6 general election, Executive Councilor Chris Pappas (D) released the first TV campaign ad in New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District general election on Tuesday. The district is represented by retiring U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D) and has changed party hands five times between 2006 and 2016, alternating between Shea-Porter and Republican Frank Guinta. Donald Trump (R) carried the district by 1.6 points in the 2016 presidential election.
- Pappas faces former South Hampton police chief Eddie Edwards (R ) and Dan Belforti (L) in the race for this swing sweat.
- Pappas' campaign ad, set in his family's restaurant, features Pappas saying that workers "can't get ahead if they don't have access to job training, or if they're crushed by student loans." He says in the ad that his priority in Congress would be to "get our economy working for everyone."
- Edwards has not released an ad in the general election at this time. He has announced a series of roundtables and town halls to discuss opioid addiction and veterans issues through the first half of October.
- The first general election debate of the race is scheduled for October 10.
Wednesday, October 3
U.S. ends 1955 Treaty of Amity with Iran; will not comply with U.N. court’s ruling
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the United States was officially terminating the 1955 Treaty of Amity with Iran. The announcement came after the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a court that rules on disputes between United Nations members, ordered the U.S. to lift some sanctions against Iran that would affect imports of humanitarian goods and civil aviation safety.
- Iran said that the U.S. violated the treaty by reimposing sanctions on the country after withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal. The 1955 Treaty of Amity was an agreement between the U.S. and Iran to maintain an economic and diplomatic relationship. The U.S. cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 1979 after the Iranian revolution, so it is unclear what practical impact ending the treaty will have.
- Speaking about the ICJ's ruling, Pompeo said that sanctions would not impact humanitarian goods and services or civilian aviation safety. He also commented on the ICJ’s lack of jurisdiction, saying that the administration was “disappointed the court failed to recognize it has no jurisdiction.” The ICJ “has no power to enforce its decisions. Since the 1980s, Washington has submitted to the court’s jurisdiction only on a case-by-case basis. U.S. courts have also ruled that the ICJ’s rulings aren’t domestically binding on American authorities,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
- The ICJ’s ruling came a month before the U.S. will reimpose additional sanctions on Iran that were lifted under the 2015 nuclear accord.
Three new polls in U.S. Senate race in New Jersey
- Fairleigh Dickinson University and Quinnipiac University both released polls on October 3. The Fairleigh Dickinson poll showed incumbent Sen. Bob Menendez (D) leading former biopharmaceutical executive Bob Hugin (R) 43 to 37 percent with a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.
- The Quinnipiac poll found Menendez leading by a wider margin, 53 to 42 percent with a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points.
- On October 1 Stockton University released a poll showing the race about even, with Menendez receiving 45 percent support to Hugin's 43 percent support with a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.
- New Jersey hasn’t elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972.
Friday, October 5
The top U.S. House fundraisers of Q3 so far
- Campaign finance reports for the third quarter are not due to the Federal Election Commission until October 15, but some campaigns have released their numbers early. The following U.S. House candidates reported raising $2 million or more in the past three months:
- Danny O’Connor (D), OH-12: $6 million
- Andrew Janz (D), CA-22: $4.3 million
- Amy McGrath (D), KY-06: $3.6 million
- Josh Harder (D), CA-10: $3.5 million
- Sharice Davids (D), KS-03: $2.7 million
- Sean Casten (D), IL-06: $2.6 million
- Elissa Slotkin (D), MI-08: $2.6 million
- Mike Levin (D), CA-49: $2.2 million
- Tom Malinowski (D), NJ-07: $2.2 million
- Kathleen Williams (D), MT-AL: $2.1 million
- Mikie Sherrill (D), NJ-02: $2 million
Congress is in session
The Senate will be in session Tuesday through Friday. The House will not be in session. The lower chamber will reconvene on November 13, 2018.
SCOTUS is in session
The Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday and Wednesday. To learn more about this term, read our review.
WHAT'S ON TAP NEXT WEEK
Tuesday, October 9
Supreme Court will resume hearing arguments
- The Supreme Court will resume hearing arguments on October 9. The court will hear arguments in three cases related to the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). The ACCA imposes longer sentences and applies to felons who possess a firearm and who also have at least three prior convictions for a violent felony or serious drug offense. Two of the three cases (U.S. v. Stitt and U.S. v. Sims) were consolidated because they ask the court to consider whether charges of burglary of a nonpermanent structure should be considered as violent for purposes of the ACCA. In Stokeling v. U.S., the question presented is whether previous convictions classified as violent should actually be considered such, which would determine eligibility to be sentenced under the ACCA.
Where was the president last week?
- On Monday, President Donald Trump held a campaign rally in Tennessee in for Rep. Marsha Blackburn's Senate bid.
- On Tuesday, Trump spoke at the National Electrical Contractors Association convention in Philadelphia, Pa. He also held a campaign rally in Mississippi for Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.
- On Wednesday, Trump had lunch with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and met with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley at the White House.
- On Thursday, Trump held a campaign rally in Minnesota for Jim Hagedorn's House bid.
Federal Judiciary
- 143 federal judicial vacancies
- 72 pending nominations
- 26 future federal judicial vacancies
About
The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.
