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Election safe harbor deadline passes, Biden plans to nominate retired Army general for defense secretary
Republican and Democratic national party committees raised $467 million between Oct. 15 and Nov. 23
U.S. Supreme Court releases January 2021 argument calendar

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Election safe harbor deadline passes, Biden plans to nominate retired Army general for defense secretary

Yesterday—Dec. 8—was what is known as the safe harbor deadline for the presidential election. According to federal law, if states have nominated electors in accordance with state law by this date, Congress cannot challenge their nomination. The Electoral College electors will cast their votes on Dec. 14.

While these election results procedures are ongoing, President-elect Biden announced he planned to nominate retired Army General Lloyd Austin to be secretary of defense. Austin will be Biden’s 10th Cabinet-rank nominee.

If he is confirmed, Congress would be required to waive the federal law that prohibits a commissioned military officer from becoming secretary of defense within seven years of leaving active duty. Previous defense secretaries George C. Marshall—under President Harry Truman (D)—and James Mattis—under President Donald Trump (R)—received such waivers. If the waiver is granted and the Senate confirms him, Austin would be the first Black secretary of defense in U.S. history.

Presidents Trump and Obama (D) nominated their choices for secretary of defense 23 and 27 days, respectively, after the election. The chart below compares the number of days it took Biden, Trump, and Obama to nominate various Cabinet and Cabinet-rank positions.

Comparison

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Republican and Democratic national party committees raised $467 million between Oct. 15 and Nov. 23

Although Nov. 3 was the general election day, fundraising reports continue to trickle in as the election cycle moves to a close. The most recent data reflects fundraising between October 15 and November 23. According to the Federal Election Commission, the six national party committees raised a combined $467 million during that period. This includes the two national party committees, the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee, as well as both parties’ Senate and House campaign committees.

In the 2020 campaign cycle, the three Republican committees raised $1.411 billion, and the three Democratic committees raised $1.074 billion. The table below lists the total amounts each national party committee raised this cycle:

Here’s how these numbers compare with those of past election cycles:

Republican committees
- 2020: $1.411 billion
- 2018: $669 million
- 2016: $633 million
Democratic committees
- 2020: $1.074 billion
- 2018: $609 million
- 2016: $746 million

Both parties raised more this cycle than they had in either of the two previous election cycles, with Democrats raising 76% more than in 2018 and 44% more than in 2016. Republicans more than doubled their fundraising from the previous two cycles, raising 110% more than in 2018 and 122% more than in 2016.

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U.S. Supreme Court releases January 2021 argument calendar

The U.S. Supreme Court released its January argument calendar Dec. 7, identifying when cases will be heard for oral argument next month. The court is scheduled to hear five hours of oral argument in seven cases between Jan. 11 and 19. SCOTUS is conducting proceedings via teleconference in accordance with public health guidance in response to COVID-19.

So far, the court has agreed to hear 46 cases during its 2020-2021 term. Twelve of those cases were originally scheduled for the 2019-2020 term but were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The schedule for January is as follows:

January 11, 2021

Albence v. Guzman Chavez

January 12, 2021

Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski

January 13, 2021

AMG Capital Management, LLC v. Federal Trade Commission (Consolidated with Federal Trade Commission v. Credit Bureau Center, LLC)

January 19, 2021

FCC v. Prometheus Radio Project (Consolidated with National Association of Broadcasters v. Prometheus Radio Project)
BP P.L.C. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore

In comparison, the court heard eight cases in January 2020 and 11 cases in January 2019.

SCOTUS cases

The 2020-2021 term began on Oct. 7, 2020. Since then, the court has heard 28 cases. By this date last year in the 2019-2020 session, the court had heard 31 cases by the end of December. In the 2018-2019 session, the court had heard 32 cases by the end of December.

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