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If you feel like a lot has happened this week, you're not alone. We've put together the top stories for you. If you want to keep reading, find our full version of The Federal Tap below.
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Nine states postpone presidential or congressional primary elections
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Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) postponed the state’s primary election from May 5, 2020, to June 2, 2020. The North Carolina Board of Elections also announced it was postponing the Republican primary for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District from May 12, 2020, to June 23, 2020.
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On Thursday, Governor Ned Lamont (D) announced the postponement of Connecticut's presidential preference primary, originally scheduled for April 28, 2020, to June 2, 2020.
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To date, seven states have postponed their presidential preference primaries in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Trump signs legislation in response to coronavirus outbreak
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On Wednesday, President Donald Trump (R) signed into law H.R. 6201, a coronavirus relief bill passed earlier that day by the U.S. Senate on a 90-8 vote. The U.S. House passed the bill earlier in the week by a 363-40 vote. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) said the legislation includes free coronavirus testing, two weeks of paid sick leave, and paid
family and medical leave. Both chambers of Congress are expected to begin work in the coming days on a third coronavirus relief bill that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said should include direct payments to individuals.
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On March 17, the White House announced that the United States and Canada agreed to mutually close the border to non-essential traffic. Trump said that the closure would not apply to U.S. citizens, legal residents and their families, or to commercial goods.
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Also on March 17, Mnuchin announced that the deadline on payment for federal taxes was extended 90 days for all payments up to $1 million. The normal deadline for tax payments is April 15. Entities filing corporate taxes were given the extension on payments of up to $10 million. Any taxes paid between the original deadline and the extended deadline will not accrue interest or penalties.
Biden wins three presidential primaries, Trump clinches Republican nomination
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Three states—Arizona, Florida, and Illinois—held presidential primaries on Tuesday. Former Vice President Joe Biden won all three Democratic primaries and ended the night with at least 281 of the 441 pledged delegates available. Sen. Bernie Sanders is projected to receive at least 140 pledged delegates.
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Ohio was originally scheduled to hold its primary on Tuesday, but Gov. Mike DeWine (R) announced that polls in Ohio would be closed. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose postponed in-person voting to June 2, 2020, due to public health concerns with the coronavirus pandemic.
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President Donald Trump won Tuesday’s Republican presidential primaries in Florida and Illinois. With these results, Trump crossed the delegate threshold necessary to clinch the Republican nomination—1,276 delegates.
U.S. Supreme Court postpones oral arguments for March, closes indefinitely
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On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it was postponing the 11 hours of oral arguments originally scheduled during its March sitting. In a press release, the court said the delay was "in keeping with public health precautions recommended in response to COVID-19." The court has heard arguments in 59 of the 73 cases it accepted to hear this term. As of February 26, the court had issued decisions in 12 cases and dismissed one case without a decision this term.
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The court had previously announced on March 12 that it was closing to the public indefinitely, beginning at 4:30 p.m. that day. The court posted on its website, "Out of concern for the health and safety of the public and Supreme Court employees, the Supreme Court Building will be closed to the public from 4:30 p.m. on March 12, 2020, until further notice." The court noted it planned to hold a private conference of the justices on March 20 and release orders from the conference on March 23.
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The court last postponed arguments in October 1918 in response to the Spanish flu epidemic. In August 1793 and 1798, the court shortened its argument calendars in response to yellow fever outbreaks.
Two members of Congress test positive for coronavirus
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U.S. Reps Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and Ben McAdams (D-Utah) both tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. The lawmakers both began experiencing symptoms on Saturday. Multiple members of Congress, including U.S. Reps. Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.), Steve Scalise (R-La.), Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), and Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), all announced self-quarantines in response to the news.
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Diaz-Blart and McAdams are the first congressional lawmakers to contract the virus. Before their diagnosis, at least fifteen other U.S. lawmakers announced quarantines due to various exposure risks. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) recently completed a ten-day self-quarantine which began on March 9, 2020.
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At this point, two members of the Executive Branch, Director of the Office of Management and Budget and special envoy to Northern Ireland Mick Mulvaney and White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham have self-quarantined. President Donald Trump (R) announced a negative test result on March 14.
U.S. Rep. Lipinski loses primary in Illinois, 11 congressional incumbents advance without primary challengers
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Illinois held statewide major party primaries on March 17. All 18 U.S. House districts were on the ballot, along with the Class II U.S. Senate seat currently held by Dick Durbin (D). The general election is scheduled for November 3.
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Eighteen incumbents filed for re-election; Illinois’ 15th Congressional District incumbent John Shimkus (R) was the only federal officeholder in Illinois who did not file for re-election.
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All incumbents on the primary ballot advanced to the general election, except for 3rd District incumbent Dan Lipinski (D). Lipinski lost to challenger Marie Newman in the Democratic primary.
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Two seats had no candidates on either the Democratic or Republican primary ballot. In the 8th District, no Republicans filed for the ballot, and in the 18th District, no Democrats filed for the ballot. All other seats saw at least one candidate from the Democratic or Republican parties in the primary.
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Eleven incumbents were unopposed in the primary and advanced automatically to the general. No Republican incumbents faced challengers. In addition to Lipinski, the following incumbents faced primary opposition: Bobby Rush (D-1), Robin Kelly (D-2), Mike Quigley (D-5), Danny K. Davis (D-7), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-8), and Bill Foster (D-11).
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The following are results from races Ballotpedia followed closely:
Biden, Sanders debate coronavirus pandemic and healthcare
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Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders met in their first head-to-dead Democratic presidential primary debate. Originally scheduled to take place in Phoenix, Arizona, the debate was moved to Washington, D.C., due to public health concerns with the coronavirus.
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Biden and Sanders discussed the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare, the economy, climate change, and foreign policy. Both candidates spoke for approximately 46 minutes.
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No date, location, or other details have been released about the 12th and final Democratic primary debate.
Candidate filing period for congressional races ends in Colorado, Maine, and Utah
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The filing deadlines to run for elected office in Maine, Colorado, and Utah have passed. Maine’s filing deadline was March 16, Colorado’s was March 17, and Utah’s was March 19.
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In Maine, prospective candidates filed for the following federal offices:
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In Colorado, prospective candidates filed for the following federal offices:
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In Utah, prospective candidates filed for the following federal offices:
- U.S. House (4 seats)
- Note: Federal candidates may be nominated through party conventions that have been postponed or canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ballotpedia will post a complete list of candidates who have qualified for the ballot once it is published by the Lieutenant Governor’s Office.
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The primary in Maine is scheduled for June 9, 2020, while the primary in both Colorado and Utah is scheduled for June 30. The general election in all three states is scheduled for November 3, 2020.
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Maine, Colorado, and Utah’s statewide filing deadlines are the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th to take place in the 2020 election cycle. The next statewide filing deadline is on March 26, 2020, in Virginia.
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Maine and Colorado have Democratic state government trifectas, while Utah has a Republican state government trifecta. A trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and majorities in both state legislative chambers.
Democratic voter turnout in pivot counties down versus 2016 in Illinois, up in Florida
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Of the three states that held presidential primaries on Tuesday, two contained Pivot Counties: Florida and Illinois. Pivot Counties are the 206 counties that voted for President Barack Obama in both 2008 and 2012 and President Trump in 2016.
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Ballotpedia has been looking at the change in Democratic raw voter turnout from 2016 to 2020 in Pivot Counties across the country.
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Democratic voter turnout in Florida increased in its four Pivot Counties by 3.7%, slightly outpacing the statewide increase in Democratic turnout of 1.6%. Florida’s turnout was buoyed by more than 1.1 million Democratic ballots cast early or by mail.
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In Illinois, Democratic voter turnout decreased 23.0% across 10 of the state’s Pivot Counties. Results were not available for one Pivot County. Statewide Democratic turnout decreased 24.9%, marking the largest drop in Democratic turnout from 2016 to 2020 in a state so far.
Candidate filing period for congressional races to end in Virginia
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The statewide filing deadline to run for elected office in Virginia is on March 26, 2020. For prospective candidates seeking to run for a congressional office, Virginia is holding elections for one U.S. Senate seat and 11 U.S. House seats.
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The Class II Senate seat currently held by Mark Warner (D) is up for election.
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All 11 of Virginia’s U.S. House district seats are up for election. The incumbent for each district is:
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District 1: Rob Wittman (R)
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District 2: Elaine Luria (D)
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District 3: Bobby Scott (D)
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District 4: Donald McEachin (D)
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District 5: Denver Riggleman (R)
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District 6: Ben Cline (R)
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District 7: Abigail Spanberger (D)
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District 8: Don Beyer (D)
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District 9: Morgan Griffith (R)
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District 10: Jennifer Wexton (D)
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District 11: Gerald Connolly (D)
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The primary is scheduled for June 9, and the general election is scheduled for November 3, 2020.
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Virginia’s statewide filing deadline is the 26th to take place in the 2020 election cycle. The next statewide filing deadline is on March 30 in New Jersey.
Biden leads Democratic presidential candidates in pageviews for second consecutive week
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Last week, Joe Biden led all Democratic campaigns in pageviews. His campaign page was viewed 7,230 times, equaling 45.6% of pageviews for all Democratic campaigns this week. He was followed by Bernie Sanders with 5,820 pageviews (36.7%) and Tulsi Gabbard with 2,810 (17.7%). Biden leads in
lifetime pageviews with 207,573, followed by Sanders with 194,115, and Gabbard with 116,601.
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All three candidates received fewer pageviews this week relative to last week. Sanders received 74.9% fewer pageviews, Biden received 72.9% fewer pageviews, and Gabbard received 67.7% fewer pageviews.
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Donald Trump received the most pageviews of the three Republican candidates for the first time. Trump received 7,412 pageviews, while Roque De La Fuente received 3,040 and Bill Weld received 3,028.
Congress is in session
Both the House and Senate will be 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?
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On Monday, Trump participated in a teleconference with G7 Leaders and a separate teleconference with governors to respond to and prepare for COVID-19.
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On Tuesday, Trump held conference calls with restaurant executives, tourism industry executives, and supply retailers and wholesalers on COVID-19 response.
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On Wednesday, Trump held conference calls with airline executives, physicians, and nurses about COVID-19 response.
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On Thursday, Trump visited the Federal Emergency Management Agency Headquarters and participated in a teleconference with governors on partnership to prepare, mitigate, and respond to COVID-19.
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On Friday, Trump had lunch with the secretary of state and participated in a phone call with small business owners on COVID-19 response.
Federal Judiciary
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