Welcome to the weekend! This week was filled with plenty of news surrounding federal politics. Don't forget you can read our full version of the Federal Tap online!

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Impeachment trial ends after Senate acquits President Trump of abuse of power, obstruction of Congress

• The U.S. Senate acquitted President Donald Trump (R) of abuse of power by a vote of 52-48 and obstruction of Congress by a vote of 53-47 on Wednesday.

• Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) was the only Republican to vote guilty on the abuse of power charge, becoming the first senator in U.S. history to vote to convict a president from his own party in an impeachment trial. The vote on obstruction of Congress ran along party lines.

• Trump is the third president in U.S. history to be impeached by the House. President Andrew Johnson was acquitted of violating the Tenure of Office Act in 1868 and President Bill Clinton was acquitted of perjury and obstruction of justice in 1999.

• For an overview of the U.S. Senate trial, click here.

Buttigieg, Sanders lead Iowa Democratic caucuses after results delayed by reporting issues; Trump wins Republican caucuses 

• President Donald Trump won the Republican caucus in Iowa, receiving 97.1% of the vote and 39 delegates. Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld received 1.3% of the vote and one delegate.

• The Iowa Democratic Party delayed releasing its caucus results due to reporting issues on election night. The state party's communications director, Mandy McClure, said in a statement, "We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report. This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.”

• The state party released results from 62% of precincts on Tuesday evening showing former Mayor Pete Buttigieg leading in state delegate equivalents and Sen. Bernie Sanders leading in the final raw vote.

• With 97 percent of precincts reporting, Buttigieg leads Sanders by 0.1% of state delegate equivalents, and Sanders leads in the final raw vote.

New Hampshire holds first presidential primary of 2020 cycle

• The first in the nation presidential primary will take place in New Hampshire on Tuesday. Twenty-four pledged delegates are at stake in the Democratic primary, and 22 are available in the Republican primary. 

• Of the nine contested Democratic primaries since 1976, five New Hampshire primary winners became the nominee.

• On the Republican side, winners in six of the eight contested primaries became the nominee.

Trump delivers his third State of the Union address

• President Donald Trump delivered his third State of the Union (SOTU) address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) invited him to make the address on December 20, 2019.

• The SOTU fulfills a Constitutional requirement that the President "give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."

• Presidents used to give their SOTU addresses to Congress in written form; in 1913, Woodrow Wilson became the first President to meet this requirement by speaking in person.

Mfume, Klacik win special primaries in Maryland’s 7th Congressional District

• Kweisi Mfume (D) and Kim Klacik (R) advanced from their parties’ primaries on Tuesday to the special general election for Maryland's 7th Congressional District on April 28, 2020. The winner of that election will serve the remainder of the late Congressman Elijah Cummings’ term in the 116th Congress. 

• On the Democratic side, Mfume won 43% of the vote to defeat 23 opponents, including Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, who earned 17%, and Jill Carter, who earned 16%.

• On the Republican side, Klacik won 41% of the vote to defeat seven opponents, including Elizabeth Matory, who earned 25%, and James Arnold, who earned 12%.

• A Democrat has represented the 7th Congressional District since 1953 when the seat was re-added to Maryland's district map after the 1950 census. In the 2018 general election, Cummings defeated Richmond Davis (R) 76% to 21%. The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+26, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 26 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Maryland's 7th Congressional District the 41st-most Democratic nationally.

• As of February 4, 2020, eight special elections had been called during the 116th Congress. Six of those were for seats in the U.S. House, and two were for seats in the U.S. Senate. From the 113th Congress to the 115th Congress, 40 special elections were held.

Democratic presidential candidates hold eighth primary debate

• The Democratic Party held its eighth presidential primary debate in Manchester, New Hampshire on Friday. Seven candidates participated: Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, and Andrew Yang.

• Yang was the only candidate on stage who did not participate in the Des Moines debate in January.

• Linsey Davis, David Muir, and George Stephanopoulos moderated the event, which took place at St. Anslem College.

• For an overview of the topics discussed, click here.

RNC outraises DNC for eighth consecutive month, Democratic House committee outraises Republican counterpart

• The Republican National Committee (RNC) has outraised its Democratic counterpart by more than two-to-one for an eighth consecutive month, while the Democratic House and Senate committees outraised their Republican counterparts, according to year-end 2019 campaign finance reports.

• The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) raised $7.3 million and spent $6.0 million last month, while the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) raised $7.0 million and spent $5.0 million. So far in the 2020 cycle, the NRSC has raised 7.3% more than the DSCC ($67.7 million to $62.9 million). The NRSC's 7.3% fundraising advantage is down from 8.7% in December and 8.8% in November.

• On the House side, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) raised $14.6 million and spent $5.1 million last month, while the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) raised $8.1 million and spent $5.7 million. So far in the 2020 cycle, the DCCC has raised 37.8% more than the NRCC. The DCCC's 37.8% fundraising advantage is up from 35.5% in December and 36.0% in November.

• At this point in the 2018 campaign cycle, Democrats led in both Senate and House fundraising, although their advantage in the House was smaller than in this cycle. The DSCC had raised 25.9% more than the NRSC ($54.4 million to $41.9 million), while the DCCC had raised 21.5% more than the NRCC ($105.5 million to $85.0 million).

• Republicans continue to lead in national committee fundraising, with the Republican National Committee (RNC) raising $26.5 million and spending $17.7 million while the Democratic National Committee (DNC) raised $8.7 million and spent $6.9 million. So far in the 2020 cycle, the RNC has raised 90.2% more than the DNC ($241.1 million to $91.2 million). The RNC's 90.2% fundraising advantage is up from 88.9% in December and 89.1% in November.

• At this point in the 2016 campaign cycle (the most recent presidential cycle) the RNC had a smaller 48.7% fundraising advantage over the DNC ($105.6 million to $64.3 million).

• So far in the 2020 cycle, the RNC, NRSC, and NRCC have raised 34.1% more than the DNC, DSCC, and DCCC ($394.0 million to $279.0 million). The Republican fundraising advantage is down from 34.6% in December and 34.2% in November.

• For more analysis and to view detailed fundraising figures, click here.

Filing period for congressional candidates ends in Indiana

• The major-party filing deadline to run for elected office in Indiana was on February 7, 2020. The filing deadline for independent and minor party candidates is June 30. In Indiana, prospective candidates could file for nine seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Two Democrats and seven Republicans currently hold the seats.

• The primary is scheduled for May 5, and the general election is scheduled for November 3, 2020.

• Indiana’s statewide filing deadline was the 12th to take place in the 2020 election cycle. The next statewide filing deadline is on February 18 in Pennsylvania. 

Congress is in session

Both the Senate and the House are in session next week. Click here to see the full calendar for the second session of the 116th Congress.

Where was the president last week?

• On Monday, Trump sat for the second part of an interview on the Fox News show Hannity.

• On Tuesday, Trump delivered his third State of the Union address.

• On Wednesday, Trump met with the Interim President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

• On Thursday, Trump attended the annual National Prayer Breakfast.

• On Friday, Trump spoke at the Republican Governors Association Finance Dinner.

Federal Judiciary

• 81 federal judicial vacancies

• 25 pending nominations

• 9 future federal judicial vacancies

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