The Tap: Monday, April 18, 2016

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

Review of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #13 of The Tap, which was published on April 23, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

• On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court began its final argument session of the current term with oral arguments in United States v. Texas, a case identified as one of Ballotpedia’s major cases. Twenty-six states are challenging implementation of a Department of Homeland Security expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). The expanded program, called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA), allows any parent of a son or daughter who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, and who meets additional criteria, to be lawfully present in the U.S. The district court estimated that 4.3 million of 11.3 million illegal aliens would be eligible to remain in the U.S. under DAPA.

• The Supreme Court announced its opinion in Welch v. United States vacating the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and remanding the case to that court. The case addressed a circuit split between the 7th and 11th circuits over the Supreme Court’s 2015 opinion in Johnson v. United States (135 S. Ct. 2551) as to whether the court’s ruling in the case can be applied retroactively to defendants whose convictions became final before the court’s opinion in Johnson was handed down. Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion for a seven-justice majority confirmed that the Johnson ruling created a new substantive rule of law that is retroactively applicable in cases on collateral review.

• The Supreme Court called for the views of the solicitor general (CVSG) in Howell v. Howell, a case under consideration for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of Arizona. The case concerns a split among state supreme courts as to whether those portions of military retirement pay that have been waived in favor of disability benefits can be excluded as divisible assets in divorce proceedings under the Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act (USFSPA). The court requests a CVSG when the United States is not a party to a case but the court wants the views of the U.S. government known in advance of either a case being granted certiorari and/or a scheduled oral argument.

• Donald Trump's national field director, Stuart Jolly, resigned his position on April 18, 2016, after the campaign hired Rick Wiley to be the national political director. According to CNN, "Jolly was a longtime loyalist to Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, and Jolly's departure shrinks the circle of loyal aides Lewandowski has around him as Paul Manafort, Trump's recent hire to manage the convention strategy, gains more clout in the Trump campaign." Jolly stated, "I left. I wasn't pushed, I wasn't shoved, I wasn't asked to leave."
  • Jolly’s resignation came after a weekend meeting led by Trump’s convention manager, Paul Manafort. According to Politico, Trump authorized a $20 million spending increase for May and June and then "told senior staffers at a Saturday meeting that he wants his recent hires Paul Manafort and Rick Wiley to take the reins in upcoming states." The report went on to say, "The moves are increasingly alienating staff loyal to the original team, headed by campaign manager Corey Lewandowski." According to CBS News, Lewnadowski had been "reduced to a role that amounts to body man and scheduler."

• Bernie Sanders called for a nationwide end to fracking in an op-ed in USA Today. “If we are serious about safe and clean drinking water and clean air, if we are serious about protecting the health of our children and families, and if we are serious about combating climate change, we need to phase out fracking nationwide,” wrote Sanders.

• Ted Cruz said that he had "zero interest whatsoever" in being Donald Trump’s running mate. He said the “simplest” reason for his disinterest was that if Trump won the Republican nomination, Hillary Clinton would win the general election.

• White House press secretary Josh Earnest indicated that President Barack Obama will likely veto the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act if it reaches his desk. Earnest said, “Given the long list of concerns I have expressed … it’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which the president would sign the bill as it's currently drafted. … It could put the United States and our taxpayers and our service members and our diplomats at significant risk if other countries were to adopt a similar law. The whole notion of sovereign immunity is at stake.” The legislation would allow victims of terrorist attacks to sue governments that sponsor terrorism. The specific purpose of the bill is to “allow Americans to sue the government of Saudi Arabia for any role officials played in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks,” according to The Hill. In response, Saudi officials said that “they would sell off $750 billion in U.S. assets if the bill became law.” Earnest said, “A country with a modern and large economy like Saudi Arabia would not benefit from a destabilized global financial market, and neither would the United States.”
  • President Obama has issued nine vetoes during his presidency. For a complete list of his vetoes, see: Barack Obama: Vetoed legislation
  • The bill, introduced by Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), has bipartisan support with 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats co-sponsoring the bill, as well as independent Senator Bernie Sanders (Vt.). However, Senate Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) have expressed concern that the bill “could expose the U.S. to legal attacks” and could harm U.S.-Saudi relations. Graham, who is a co-sponsor of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, placed a hold on the bill. He said, “I want to take this legislation that we pass, whatever it is, and apply it to ourselves and see if we could withstand this legislation. … I don’t want our country to be liable because of somebody in our consulate or embassy who has their own agenda, a rogue employee, an employee of the United States but they have their own agenda, they do something with some group somewhere. I want to make sure that the defense would be, ‘they didn’t act under (U.S.) authority.’”

• Senate Democrats sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran asking for the Senate Appropriations Committee to mark up the $1.9 billion supplemental funding request for the prevention and treatment of the mosquito-born Zika virus outbreak that researchers have confirmed causes severe birth defects. The $1.9 billion emergency request is being blocked by Republicans who “say the request is too broad and should instead go through Congress’ standard process for spending money,” according to The Dallas Morning News.

Local

• In California, both Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia (D) signed the Transform California pledge “to oppose any efforts to single out transgender or gender non-conforming Californians for discrimination or disrespect.” Transform California is a new organization formed via a partnership between Equality California and the Transgender Law Center. On April 15, 2016, the Los Angeles City Council held a unanimous vote to halt all business with Mississippi and North Carolina in response to laws they claim are discriminatory toward LGBT citizens. Los Angeles and Long Beach are the second-largest and the 36th-largest cities in the United States, respectively.
  • According to American City & County magazine, “over 20 cities, three counties and four states have banned official travel either to North Carolina or both North Carolina and Mississippi,” including New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco.
• FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to run for 22 school board seats across eight of New York’s largest school districts. The general election for these districts will be on May 17, 2016. In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering 642 school board elections across America's 1,000 largest school districts by student enrollment.
• On April 18, 2016, the Baltimore City Council approved a set of measures to reduce the power of the mayor related to control over city spending. Although Rawlings-Blake is expected to veto the bill, Governing magazine stated that the council will likely override her veto.

Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #12 of The Tap, which was published on April 18, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

• The U.S. Supreme Court begins its final argument session of the current term. The court will hear oral arguments in United States v. Texas on Monday, a case identified as one of Ballotpedia’s major cases for this court term. Twenty-six states are challenging implementation of a Department of Homeland Security expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). The expanded program, called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA), allows any parent of a son or daughter who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, and who meets additional criteria, to be lawfully present in the U.S. The district court estimated that 4.3 million of 11.3 million illegal aliens would be eligible to remain in the U.S. under DAPA.

Local

• FILING DEADLINE: Deadline to run for 22 school board seats across eight of New York’s largest school districts. The general election for these districts will be on May 17, 2016. In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering 642 school board elections across America's 1,000 largest school districts by student enrollment.