Welcome to your Saturday morning! We've got this week's top stories in federal politics for you below. If you want more, follow the link below to read the full version online.

As a reminder, we won't be publishing the Tap next week, so you'll hear from us again on December 7!

Read the full Tap online

       

President Trump signs continuing resolution funding federal government through Dec. 20

• President Donald Trump signed a continuing resolution Thursday to fund federal agencies through December 20, 2019, as lawmakers continue to negotiate twelve appropriations bills that would fund the government for the rest of the 2020 fiscal year.

• The continuing resolution passed the U.S. House 231-192 and the Senate 74-20.

• Congress approved the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 on August 2, which increases discretionary spending limits and suspends the debt ceiling for two years. Lawmakers must still pass appropriations bills, which determine specific levels of allowed discretionary spending.

• Spending disagreements have centered upon the Trump administration’s request for $5 billion to fund the construction of a border wall.

Democratic presidential candidates debate impeachment, foreign policy, voter outreach in Atlanta

• Ten candidates participated in the fifth Democratic presidential primary debate in Atlanta Wednesday: Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, and Andrew Yang. 

• The candidates discussed impeachment, healthcare, tax policy, national security, climate change, voting rights, border policy, and abortion. Warren had the most speaking time at 13.5 minutes. Yang spoke the least at 6.8 minutes. 

• For highlights from the debate for each candidate, click here.

Republican National Committee outraises Democratic counterpart for 6th consecutive month

• The Republican National Committee (RNC) has outraised its Democratic counterpart by more than two-to-one for a sixth consecutive month, while the Democratic House committee outraised its Republican counterpart, according to November 2019 campaign finance reports filed with the FEC Wednesday.

• The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) raised $6.7 million and spent $4.8 million last month, while the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) raised $5.4 million and spent $5.6 million. So far in the 2020 cycle, the NRSC has raised 8.8% more than the DSCC ($54.4 million to $49.8 million). The NRSC's 8.8% fundraising advantage is up from 7.1% in October but down from 12.3% in September.

• On the House side, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) raised $12.2 million and spent $4.8 million last month, while the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) raised $10.0 million and spent $5.6 million. So far in the 2020 cycle, the DCCC has raised 36.0% more than the NRCC ($101.3 million to $70.4 million). The DCCC's 36.0% fundraising advantage is down from 38.4% in October and 36.6% in September.

• At this point in the 2018 campaign cycle, Democrats led in both Senate and House fundraising, although their advantage in the House was smaller than in this cycle. The DSCC had raised 19.7% more than the NRSC ($44.4 million to $36.5 million), while the DCCC had raised 14.3% more than the NRCC ($89.1 million to $77.2 million).

• Republicans continue to lead in national committee fundraising, with the Republican National Committee (RNC) raising $25.3 million last month and spending $23.1 million while the Democratic National Committee (DNC) raised $9.0 million and spent $8.9 million. So far in the 2020 cycle, the RNC has raised 89.1% more than the DNC ($194.0 million to $74.5 million). The RNC's 89.1% fundraising advantage is up from 88.2% in October and 83.0% in September.

• At this point in the 2016 campaign cycle, the RNC had a smaller 54.3% fundraising advantage over the DNC ($89.3 million to $51.2 million).

• So far in the 2020 cycle, the RNC, NRSC, and NRCC have raised 34.2% more than the DNC, DSCC, and DCCC ($318.8 million to $225.6 million). The Republican fundraising advantage is up from 32.7% in October and 31.5% in September.

U.S. House continues public hearings in presidential impeachment inquiry 

• The second week of public hearings began in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump (R) with testimony from nine witnesses Tuesday through Thursday:

  • Alexander Vindman, director for European Affairs at the U.S. National Security Council

  • Jennifer Williams, U.S. Department of State official

  • Kurt Volker, U.S. special envoy to Ukraine

  • Tim Morrison, National Security Council aide

  • Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union

  • Laura Cooper, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russian, Ukrainian, and Eurasian affairs

  • David Hale, under secretary of state for political affairs

  • Fiona Hill, former National Security Council official

  • David Holmes, U.S. Department of State official

• Click here to find an overview of the inquiry with links to the witnesses’ opening statements and videos of the hearings.

Biden leads Democratic presidential candidates in Ballotpedia pageviews for 4th straight week

• Joe Biden's campaign page on Ballotpedia received 2,448 views for the week of November 10-16. Biden's pageview figure represents 9.4% of the pageviews for the week. Andrew Yang had 8.7% of the pageviews for the week, followed by Elizabeth Warren with 8.4%. This is Biden's fourth week in a row with the most pageviews.

• 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 candidate other than Tom Steyer had fewer pageviews last week than the week before. Steyer's pageviews increased by 11.2%.

• Andrew Yang remains the leader in overall pageviews this year with 141,319. He is followed by Pete Buttigieg with 133,702 and Joe Biden with 126,819.

Messam (D) ends presidential campaign

• Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam (D) ended his presidential campaign on Wednesday. He wrote in a statement, “I will continue to be engaged during this 2020 cycle to ensure that we defeat Donald Trump. My state of Florida will be ground zero and I intend to be a factor to mobilize our state.”

• Seventeen notable Democrats remain in the race, including the latest entrant, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.

Congress is out of session.

Neither the Senate nor the House will be in session next week. Click here to see the full calendar for the first session of the 116th Congress.

Where was the president last week?

• On Monday, Trump met with the secretary of state and received his intelligence briefing.

• On Tuesday, Trump participated in a cabinet meeting.

• On Wednesday, Trump traveled to Austin, TX and toured the Apple manufacturing plant.

• On Thursday, Trump presented the National Medal of Arts and the National Humanities Medal.

• On Friday, Trump participated in a listening session on youth vaping and electronic cigarettes.

Federal Judiciary

• 98 federal judicial vacancies

• 44 pending nominations

• 19 future federal judicial vacancies

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