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Senate to vote on Barrett’s nomination to Supreme Court

• The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on Monday, Oct. 26. Should a majority of senators vote in favor of Barrett’s confirmation, she will be seated as the 115th justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
  
  
• The Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor of advancing Barrett’s nomination on Oct. 22. All 12 Republicans on the committee voted in favor, while all 10 Democrats abstained. The vote followed four days of confirmation hearings during which committee members had the opportunity to question Judge Barrett directly and to hear witness testimony surrounding her confirmation.
  
  
• President Donald Trump (R) nominated Barrett to the Court last month to fill the vacancy opened by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ginsburg, who was nominated to the nine-member court by President Bill Clinton (D) in 1993, was one of four justices appointed by a Democratic president at the time of her death.
  
  
• Barrett is President Trump’s third nominee to the Court; he earlier nominated Neil Gorsuch to fill the vacancy opened by the death of Antonin Scalia in 2016 and Brett Kavanaugh to fill the vacancy opened by Anthony Kennedy’s retirement in 2018. 
  
  
• Should the Senate vote to confirm Barrett, Trump would be the first president since Ronald Reagan (R) to appoint three members to the Supreme Court and the first since Herbert Hoover (R) to do so in his first term.

Trump, Biden discuss coronavirus, immigration in final presidential debate

• President Donald Trump (R) and former Vice President Joe Biden (D) met in Nashville, Tennessee, for the final presidential debate. NBC News’ Kristen Welker moderated the event. The candidates discussed the coronavirus pandemic, election interference, foreign conflicts of interest, China, North Korea, healthcare, economic stimulus, immigration, race, and climate change.
  
  
• Trump spoke for 41.3 minutes, while Biden spoke for 37.9 minutes. Here are highlights for each presidential candidate:
• Trump said a coronavirus vaccine would be available sooner than what his officials projected. He said schools and businesses needed to reopen. Trump said Biden failed to address immigration and criminal justice reform while he was vice president. He also said that Biden and his family received money from foreign countries. Trump said his tax and regulatory policy would help rebuild the economy. He said success would unify the country.
  
  
• Biden said Trump did not take responsibility for the 220,000 deaths caused by the coronavirus in the United States or have a plan to safely reopen the economy and schools. He said his healthcare plan, Bidencare, would be Obamacare with a public option. Biden said Trump’s family separation policy violated the nation’s values. Biden called climate change an existential threat. He said the country needed to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy over time.

Senate confirms Newman to federal district court judgeship

• The U.S. Senate confirmed Michael Newman to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio by a 67-30 vote. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts.
  
  
• After Newman receives his federal judicial commission and takes his judicial oath, the eight-member court will have five Republican-appointed judges and three Democrat-appointed judges. Newman will join three other judges appointed by President Trump (R).
  
  
• The U.S. Senate has confirmed 219 of President Trump’s Article III judicial nominees—two Supreme Court justices, 53 appellate court judges, 162 district court judges, and two U.S. Court of International Trade judges—since January 2017.
  
  
• Newman was a federal magistrate judge for the Southern District of Ohio from 2011 to 2020. Before that, he worked in private practice and as a law clerk to the Southern District of Ohio's Magistrate Judge Jack Sherman and to U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit Judge Nathaniel Jones. Newman earned his bachelor of fine arts degree from New York University in 1982 and his J.D., cum laude, from American University's Washington College of Law in 1989.

DNC outraises RNC for second consecutive month

• The Democratic National Committee (DNC) outraised the Republican National Committee (RNC) last month, its second consecutive month leading in fundraising, according to October 2020 campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission Tuesday.
  
  
• The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) raised $43.8 million and spent $54.7 million last month, while the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) raised $32.7 million and spent $23.7 million. So far in the 2020 cycle, the DSCC has raised 4.2% more than the NRSC ($209.0 million to $200.3 million). The DSCC's 4.2% fundraising advantage is up from a 1.5% fundraising disadvantage it had relative to the NRSC in September and a 7.3% fundraising disadvantage it reported as of August.
  
  
• On the House side, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) raised $29.5 million and spent $69.7 million, while the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) raised $23.1 million and spent $38.8 million. So far in the cycle, the DCCC has raised 26.1% more than the NRCC ($278.3 million to $214.1 million). The DCCC's 26.1% advantage is down from 26.3% in September and 26.2% in August.
  
  
• At this point in the 2018 campaign cycle, Republicans led in Senate fundraising, while Democrats led in House fundraising. The NRSC had raised 4.9% more than the DSCC ($114.3 million to $108.8 million), while the DCCC had raised 33.5% more than the NRCC ($228.6 million to $163.0 million).
  
  
• Last month, the RNC raised $71.8 million and spent $108.6 million, while the DNC raised $76.0 million and spent $62.8 million. So far in the 2020 cycle, the RNC has raised 51.5% more than the DNC ($604.5 million to $357.0 million). The RNC's 51.5% fundraising advantage is down from 61.9% in September and 78.6% in August.
  
  
• At this point in the 2016 campaign cycle (the most recent presidential cycle), the RNC had a smaller 19.6% fundraising advantage over the DNC ($270.7 million to $222.5 million).
  
  
• So far in the 2020 campaign cycle, the RNC, NRSC, and NRCC have raised 18.7% more than the DNC, DSCC, and DCCC ($1.019 billion versus $844.3 million). Republicans' 18.7% fundraising advantage is down from 24.8% in September and 32.6% in August.

Presidential fundraising in September: Biden raises $281 million, Trump $81 million

• Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) outraised President Donald Trump (R) by $200 million according to campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
  
  
• The Biden campaign raised $281 million in September, a percentage difference of 110% from the Trump campaign's $81 million. Biden's campaign spent $285 million to Trump's $139 million.
  
  
• As of September 30, the Biden campaign had $114 million more in cash on hand than the Trump campaign ($177 million to $63 million), marking the second consecutive month that the Biden campaign has held a cash advantage over the Trump campaign. Biden also leads Trump in overall fundraising, cumulatively raising $822 million to Trump's $557 million.
  
  
• Both Biden and Trump increased their receipts from August to September: $212 million to $281 million for Biden and $62 million to $81 million for Trump.

Supreme Court accepts three new cases for current term

• On Oct. 19, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) agreed to hear three new cases during its 2020-2021 term. These cases are Lange v. California, which came to the court on a writ of certiorari to the California First District Court of Appeal, and Wolf v. Innovation Law Lab and Trump v. Sierra Club, both of which came on writs of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. As of Oct. 19, SCOTUS had agreed to hear 41 cases during its 2020-2021 term. Dates for the cases’ oral arguments have not yet been set.
  
  
• Lange v. California concerns the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The issue facing the court is whether the pursuit of a person whom a police officer has probable cause to believe has committed a misdemeanor categorically qualifies as an exigent circumstance sufficient to allow the officer to enter a home without a warrant.
  
  
• Wolf v. Innovation Law Lab concerns the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the remain in Mexico policy, implemented by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in January 2019. The issues the court will address are:
• 1. Whether the Department of Homeland Security policy known as MPP is a lawful implementation of the statutory authority conferred by 8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(2)(C)
• 2. Whether MPP is consistent with any applicable and enforceable non-refoulement obligations
• 3. Whether MPP is exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act requirement of notice-and-comment rulemaking
• 4. Whether the district court’s universal preliminary injunction is impermissibly overbroad
  
  
• Trump v. Sierra Club concerns funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The issues facing the court are:
• 1. Whether the Sierra Club has a cognizable cause of action to challenge the acting secretary's transfer of funds under Section 8005
• 2. Whether the acting secretary exceeded his authority under Section 8005 by transferring the funds
  
  
• These three cases are among 12 that have not yet been scheduled for oral argument during the court’s 2020-2021 term. SCOTUS began hearing cases for the term at the beginning of October, with 10 cases argued during its October sitting. Eight cases are scheduled for its November sitting, and 11 cases are scheduled for its December sitting.

Is Congress in session?

• Congress is not 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 hosted Make America Great Again rallies in Prescott and Tucson, Arizona. 
• On Tuesday, Trump hosted a Make America Great Again Rally in Erie, Pennsylvania. 
• On Wednesday, Trump hosted a Make America Great Again Rally in Gastonia, North Carolina. 
• On Thursday, Trump participated in a roundtable with supporters and debated former Vice President Joe Biden in Nashville, Tennessee.  
• On Friday, Trump hosted Make America Great Again rallies in The Villages and Pensacola, Florida.

What's the latest with the federal judiciary?

• 64 federal judicial vacancies
• 40 pending nominations
• 4 future federal judicial vacancies

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