The Tap: Thursday, January 12, 2017

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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 #48 of The Tap, which was published on January 14, 2017. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

Obamacare Repeal

• The Senate passed a budget resolution to begin rolling back the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, by a vote of 51-48. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the only Republican who voted against the budget resolution because he said that it increases the federal debt. Paul added, “I won’t vote for a terrible budget just to repeal Obamacare. … If I have to weigh the two problems, I actually think the debt is a more important problem than Obamacare.”
  • See also: 115th Congress on healthcare, 2017-2018

Ben Carson Confirmation Hearing

• Retired neurosurgeon and former 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson appeared before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for a hearing on his nomination to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Prior to the hearing, what we knew about Carson’s stances on housing policy came primarily from a July 2015 op-ed that he wrote in which he criticized a HUD rule that laid out guidelines to ensure communities’ compliance with the Fair Housing Act of 1968. In that piece, he said, “These government-engineered attempts to legislate racial equality create consequences that often make matters worse.”

• At his confirmation hearing on Thursday, Carson discussed a range of topics, including housing regulations, public assistance programs, fair housing, and connections between housing and health. On the latter issue, he said, “There is a strong connection between housing and health, which is of course my background. … I am passionate about health as you may have guessed, and where one lives should not cause health problems.” Read more about Carson’s confirmation hearing here.

• The Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee has 12 Republicans and 11 Democrats and is chaired by Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). The highest-ranking Democrat on the committee is Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio).

Mike Pompeo Confirmation Hearing

• The Senate Committee on Intelligence held a hearing for Kansas Republican Mike Pompeo, Trump’s nominee for CIA director. Pompeo, who entered Congress in the Republican wave of 2010, has spoken out critically against the Iran Nuclear Deal and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Pompeo has also voiced support for NSA data collection programs.

• The Senate Intelligence Committee pressed Pompeo on issues such as recent reports of Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election, government surveillance, and the use of torture and enhanced interrogation techniques. Pompeo also spoke, in his opening statements, about how he views his role as the next CIA director in light of his career in Congress. He said, “having been a Member of the House Intelligence Committee and an overseer of our nation’s intelligence enterprise, I understand full well that my job, if confirmed, will be to change roles from policymaker to information provider. … My job will be to stay clearly on the side of intelligence collection and objective analysis of our national security challenges.” Read more about Pompeo’s hearing here.

• The Senate Intelligence Committee has 10 Republicans and nine Democrats and is chaired by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) The committee’s highest ranking Democrat is Sen. Mark Warner (Va.).

The Presidential Medal of Freedom

• President Barack Obama awarded Vice President Joe Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his lifetime of public service, marking the last time Obama would present the nation's highest civilian honor. Biden received the surprise award with distinction, a rare additional honor given only to Pope John Paul II, former President Ronald Reagan, and retired Gen. Colin Powell in the previous three administrations.

Cuban Migrant Policy

• In a further attempt to normalize relations between the U.S. and Cuba, President Barack Obama ended the “wet-foot, dry-foot” policy that allowed “Cuban émigrés who reach U.S. soil without visas to stay in the country and apply for a green card after one year.” Under the policy, those who were caught before reaching the U.S. were sent back to Cuba. Obama said, “By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries. The Cuban government has agreed to accept the return of Cuban nationals who have been ordered removed, just as it has been accepting the return of migrants interdicted at sea.” Cubans attempting to enter the U.S. illegally will now be subject to deportation.

Federal Coal Policy

• Judge John Preston Bailey of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must evaluate how federal air quality regulations under the Clean Air Act might affect employment at power plants and coal mines. Bailey argued that the EPA is required by federal law to analyze the economic impact of air quality regulations issued under the Clean Air Act. Bailey rejected a request from outgoing EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, who argued that it would take up to two years for the EPA to establish a method for evaluating the economic impact of the air quality regulations. In response, Bailey argued that McCarthy's request was insufficient and unacceptable. Bailey ruled that the EPA must identify power plants and facilities that could close or could see reduced employment due to federal air quality regulations by July 1, 2017. In addition, Bailey ruled that the EPA must produce documentation by December 31, 2017, on how it will evaluate employment shifts at power plants and coal facilities due to the enforcement of the Clean Air Act. Given the presidential inauguration on January 20, 2017, the judge's directives to the EPA will be taken up by President-elect Donald Trump's (R) administration. For more information on Trump and environmental regulations, click here.

• Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department’s inspector general, announced that he was opening an investigation into how FBI Director James Comey handled public disclosures about Hillary Clinton's private email server investigation following requests for an inquiry from members of Congress and the public. Comey's July 2016 press conference, where he called Clinton's conduct "extremely careless," and the letter he submitted to Congress in October 2016 about potentially new information in the investigation will be reviewed.

State

Special Elections

• Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder launched the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC). The NDRC’s goal is to help Democrats win posts in coming election cycles that will allow them to have a bigger say in the redistricting that occurs following the 2020 census. “Those who control state governments draw the lines that shape Congress for the next decade. Fixing this redistricting problem will involve not just focusing on the lines, but focusing on the larger effort to win back governance,” Holder said in a statement. Holder said that the committee will focus efforts on the gubernatorial race in Virginia and, should they still occur, the state legislative special elections in North Carolina this year.

Local

Baltimore PD Reaches Agreement with Dept. of Justice

• In Maryland, the Baltimore Police Department reached a consent decree agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding its law enforcement practices. The agreement, which could be used to bring the police department to court in the event of a violation, was developed following a federal investigation into the city that found multiple instances of the city failing to respect the constitutional rights of residents. The investigation began in 2015 after the death of Freddie Gray, who was in police custody at the time. The decree mandates a number of practices by police officers in the city, including the use of de-escalation tactics and changes to city policies involving sexual assault investigations, prisoner transport, and mental illness distress calls. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch stated, “The reforms in this consent decree will help ensure effective and constitutional policing, restore the community’s trust in law enforcement and advance public and officer safety.” Now that an agreement has been reached, it will undergo a public comment hearing and a review by a federal judge before it is made official. Baltimore is the largest city in Maryland and the 26th-largest city in the U.S. by population.

Preview of the day

There were no items for this day in issue #47 of The Tap, which was published on January 7, 2017. See the "Review of the day" tab for more information.