Good morning! Read on for this week's top stories in federal politics. For a full review of the week, plus a look ahead, click the button below and launch the full edition.

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O’Rourke ends presidential campaign

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) announced Friday that he was ending his presidential campaign.

• In a tweet announcing his withdrawal, O’Rourke said, “Our campaign has always been about seeing clearly, speaking honestly, and acting decisively. In that spirit: I am announcing that my service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee.”

O’Rourke is the tenth noteworthy Democratic candidate to suspend his bid for the presidency this year. The last candidate to do so was Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) on October 24. O’Rourke’s withdrawal leaves 17 noteworthy Democrats in the running.

North Carolina court blocks use of state's congressional maps in 2020

On October 28, 2019, a three-judge panel of North Carolina's superior court temporarily blocked the use of the state's congressional district maps in the 2020 election cycle. Opponents of the maps had filed a lawsuit alleging that the plan constituted a partisan gerrymander in violation of state law.

• The panel did not issue a full decision, instead writing that "disruptions to the election process need not occur, nor may an expedited schedule for summary judgment or trial even be needed, should the General Assembly, on its own initiative, act immediately and with all due haste to enact new congressional districts."
• On the same day, the same panel approved new state legislative district maps. These remedial maps were adopted by the state legislature after the panel had struck down the existing district plan as an impermissible partisan gerrymander under the state constitution.

Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.) resigns

Democratic Rep. Katie Hill (CA-25) resigned from Congress. Hill announced her resignation on October 27, following her acknowledgment that she had been involved in an intimate relationship with a campaign staffer. Hill was first elected to Congress in 2018.

Hill is the seventh member of the 116th Congress to leave office early. Of those seven, six were members of the U.S. House (two Democrats and four Republicans), and the other was a Republican U.S. Senator.

Rep. Walden (R-Ore.) announces he's not running for re-election in 2020

• He said in a statement, “[F]or me, the time has come to pursue new challenges and opportunities. So, I will not seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, nor election to any other office.” Walden was first elected to represent Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District in 1998 and most recently won re-election in 2018 with 56 percent of the vote.
• Walden is the 19th Republican member of the U.S. House to announce he will not seek re-election in 2020 and is the second one to do so in October. Seven Democratic members of the U.S. House have announced 2020 retirements so far. In the 2018 election cycle, 52 members of the U.S. House—18 Democrats and 34 Republicans—did not seek re-election.

House approves resolution establishing presidential impeachment inquiry procedures

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a resolution establishing procedures for the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump (R), marking the first impeachment-related congressional vote. The 232-196 vote ran along party lines with no Republicans supporting the measure and only two Democrats opposing it. One independent, Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.), supported the resolution.

The resolution includes specific instructions for the Intelligence Committee and the Judiciary Committee on the release of deposition transcripts, the length of questioning, and subpoena requests.

Four candidates have qualified for December’s sixth Democratic presidential debate

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg gained his fourth and final poll to qualify for the Democratic presidential primary debate on Dec. 19. He joins former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Three candidates have reached the fundraising threshold of 200,000 donors or more: Sens. Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar, and entrepreneur Andrew Yang. Harris needs one more qualifying poll to make the debate stage and Klobuchar and Yang need three each.

Candidates have until Dec. 12 to reach the polling and fundraising thresholds.

Biden leads Democratic presidential candidates in Ballotpedia pageviews

Joe Biden's campaign page on Ballotpedia received 3,100 views for the week of October 20-26. Biden's pageview figure represents 9.7% of the pageviews for the week. Elizabeth Warren had 8.8% of the pageviews for the week, followed by Andrew Yang with 8.4%. This is Biden's first time leading in pageviews since the week of August 4-10.

• Each week, we report the number of pageviews received by 2020 presidential campaigns on Ballotpedia. These numbers show which candidates are getting our readers' attention.
• Every Democratic campaign other than Beto O'Rourke's received fewer pageviews last week than the week before. O'Rourke's page received 5.4% more pageviews.
• Andrew Yang remains the leader in overall pageviews this year with 133,701. He is followed by Pete Buttigieg with 126,649 and by Biden with 117,736.

Is Congress in session?

The Senate will be in session next week, while the House will not. Click here to see the full calendar for the first session of the 116th Congress.

Where was the president last week?

• On Monday, Trump spoke and signed an executive order at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Conference and Exposition in Chicago.
• On Tuesday, Trump participated in a roundtable with supporters in Washington, D.C.
• On Wednesday, Trump had lunch with the vice president and presented a Medal of Honor.
• On Thursday, Trump did not have any public events scheduled.
• On Friday, Trump spoke at a Keep America Great Rally in Mississippi.

Federal judiciary update

• 103 federal judicial vacancies
• 48 pending nominations
• 18 future federal judicial vacancies

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