What's On Tap This Week

Biden inaugurated as nation’s 46th president

• Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Jan. 20. Former Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) was sworn in as the 49th vice president of the United States by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Harris is the first woman and first person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president.
• Due to security concerns stemming from the breach of the U.S. Capitol, up to 25,000 National Guard members were stationed in Washington, D.C. The National Mall was closed to the general public, and there was no public parade from the Capitol to the White House.
• Under the 20th Amendment, the terms of former President Donald Trump (R) and formerVice President Mike Pence (R) ended at noon. Trump declined to participate in the inauguration and departed from the White House in the morning for Palm Beach, Florida. The last president to skip his successor's inauguration for political reasons was Andrew Johnson in 1869.

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Senate confirms Lloyd Austin as secretary of defense

• The Senate confirmed retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as secretary of defense on Jan. 22 by a vote of 93-2. He will be the first Black secretary leading the Department of Defense. Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) were the only votes against confirmation.
• Both the House and Senate approved a waiver on Jan. 21 allowing Austin to serve in that role since federal law prohibits former service members from becoming secretary of defense for seven years after they leave active duty. Austin retired from the military in 2016. The House approved the waiver by a vote of 326-78 and the Senate by a vote of 69-27. This was the third time Congress approved such a waiver, following Gens. Jim Mattis and George Marshall.

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Senate confirms Avril Haines as director of national intelligence

• The Senate confirmed Avril Haines for director of national intelligence on Jan. 20 by a vote of 84-10. She is the first woman to serve in this position and the first of President Joe Biden’s (D) Cabinet nominees to be confirmed. She was sworn in on Jan. 21.
• Ten Republicans opposed her confirmation: Ted Cruz (Texas), Josh Hawley (Mo.), Joni Ernst (Iowa), Mike Lee (Utah), Roger Marshall (Kan.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), Rand Paul (Ky.), James Risch (Idaho), and Mike Braun (Ind.).

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Harris presides over swearing-in of Ossoff, Warnock, Padilla to the U.S. Senate

• Vice President Kamala Harris (D) swore in new Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) to the U.S. Senate on Jan. 20. The U.S. Senate now has 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and two independent Senators who caucus with the Democrats. As vice president, Harris casts votes in case of a tie.
• Ossoff and Warnock won Georgia’s regular and special general runoffs, respectively, on Jan. 5. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) appointed Padilla to Harris’ Senate seat on Dec. 22. 
• There were three previous occasions when the Senate was evenly split. 
  • The Senate was split 50-50 as a result of the 2000 elections for a five-month period from January to June. 
  • The Senate was evenly split, 48 to 48, during five separate periods in 1953 and 1954. Partisan control of the chamber changed nine times from 1953 to 1955 as nine senators died and one resigned.
  • The Democratic and Republican caucuses in the Senate each had 38 members in 1881.

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Trump issues 74 pardons, 70 commutations on last day of term

• President Donald Trump (R) issued 74 pardons and 70 commutations just before his term concluded on Jan. 20. Among those pardoned included former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon, former U.S. Reps. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) and Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.), and the rappers Lil' Wayne and Kodak Black.
• These pardons and commutations brought the total for Trump's term to 143 pardons and 94 commutations. Trump issued the fewest pardons of any president since George H.W. Bush (R) (the most recent one-term president) but issued more per year than either Barack Obama (D) or George W. Bush (R).
• Since the fiscal year 1902, when Teddy Roosevelt (R) was in office, presidents have issued a total of 14,333 pardons and 6,641 commutations. Of those, Democratic presidents issued 8,393 pardons and 4,103 commutations, while Republican presidents issued 5,940 pardons and 2,538 commutations.

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Candidate filing period ends for two U.S. House special elections in Louisiana

• The candidate filing period ended on Jan. 22 for special elections in two U.S. House districts in Louisiana. Both elections will be held on Mar. 20.
• The special election for Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District will fill the vacancy left by Cedric Richmond (D), who joined the Biden administration as senior adviser to the president and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
• The special election for Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District will fill the vacancy left by Luke Letlow (R), who died on Dec. 29 from complications related to COVID-19.
• Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation. If necessary, a general election will be held on Apr. 24, 2021.

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Georgia certifies runoff election results

• Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) certified the results of the state’s Jan. 5 runoff elections on Jan. 19. Raffensperger’s certification finalized the vote totals in all 159 Georgia counties.
• In the runoff for the regularly-scheduled U.S. Senate election between incumbent David Perdue (R) and Jon Ossoff (D), the final vote totals were 2,269,923 votes (50.61%) for Ossoff and 2,214,979 votes (49.39%) for Perdue.
• In the special election runoff between incumbent Kelly Loeffler (R) and Raphael Warnock (D), Warnock received 2,289,113 votes (51.04%) to Loeffler’s 2,195,841 (48.96%).
• Ossoff and Warnock are the first Democrats to win election to the U.S. Senate from Georgia since Zell Miller (D) won a special election in 2000. Ossoff will serve a full six-year term expiring in 2027, while Warnock will serve the two remaining years of the term Johnny Isakson (R) was first elected to in 2016.

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Harris resigns from U.S. Senate ahead of swearing-in as vice president

• Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) resigned from the U.S. Senate on Jan. 18, two days before being sworn in as vice president. 
• Harris was elected as one of California’s two senators on Nov. 8, 2016. Prior to becoming a senator, Harris served as the attorney general of California from 2011 to 2017.
• California is one of 37 states to fill U.S. Senate vacancies by gubernatorial appointment. The appointee will serve until the next statewide general election is held; the winner in that election will serve the remainder of the former senator’s term. 
• Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) appointed Alex Padilla (D) to Harris’ Senate seat on Dec. 22. Padilla served as California’s secretary of state from 2015 until his resignation on Jan. 18. 

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Three U.S. House members test positive for coronavirus

• On Jan. 21, Rep. Ronald Wright (R-Texas) announced he tested positive for COVID-19. 
• On Jan. 19, Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) announced he tested positive for COVID-19.
• On Jan. 16, Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) announced he tested positive for COVID-19. 

 

Congress is in session
Both the House and Senate are in session next week. Click here to see the full calendar for the second session of the 117th Congress.

 

Where was the President last week?	Federal Judiciary
On Wednesday, Biden was in Washington, D.C., for the presidential inauguration.  On Thursday and Friday, Biden remained in Washington, D.C.	49 federal judicial vacancies 6 pending nominations 5 future federal judicial vacancies