Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was assigned one of her first official duties as a member of the high court on Monday, ordered to oversee initial appeals in the Tenth Circuit of courts in the U.S.
The justices announced the allotment of circuits they'll oversee in miscellaneous orders on Monday, with its newest member taking responsibility for cases in the Tenth Circuit, which includes appeals stemming from Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and three districts of Oklahoma.
Sotomayor will handle that single circuit, while Chief Justice John Roberts will handle three. Justices John Paul Stevens and Samuel Alito will each handle two circuits, while the remainder of the justices will oversee only one.
In a related story, the Court also announced extended allotments for oral arguments in a challenge to campaign finance laws put in place earlier this decade.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a longtime opponent of the 2002 McCain-Feingold law, will get 10 minutes in oral arguments, pitting him against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who also received 10 minutes.
The parties to the case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (FEC), will each get 30 minutes to make their case before the court.
Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) is spearheading the GOP effort on health care as he run for the Senate in 2010, but he got called out for using a bogus fact this weekend.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's editorial board on Sunday ran with an editorial fact-checking Blunt's claim that under public health care plans in Canada or Great Britain, he as a 59-year old wouldn't be able to have a hip replacement.
"I'm 59," Blunt told Post-Dispatch reporters and editors last week. "In either Canada or Great Britain, if I broke my hip, I couldn't get it replaced."
Unfortunately for Blunt, the fact sounded fishy, and the paper did some checking. It found that hip replacements were predominantly performed on those 65 years old and older in both countries - 63 percent in Canada and two-thirds in England.
Blunt said he was relying on testimony from a House subcommittee, by "some people who are supposed to be experts on Canadian health care."
"I didn't just pull that number out of thin air," Blunt told the paper after the fact was brought to his attention.
"I had been given that example; I was told that 59 is the cutoff," he said. "I'm glad you pointed that out to me. I won't use that example any more."
Blunt is facing Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan (D) in the open-seat race to replace Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.).
By now we all know Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) is raising money with Vice President Joe Biden next week. He's been very proud about the event, and there was a hubbub Thursday about a registered federal lobbyist being included among the hosts.
Now we find out that Biden isn't the only Orlando-area freshman receiving Biden's help. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-Fla.) will also raise money with the vice president, according to a fundraising invitation obtained by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).
In contrast to Grayson, though, Kosmas hasn't played up the event. Indeed, it seems even the local reporters covering Grayson's Biden-lobbyist situation didn't know Kosmas was a part of the festivities. (It was reported by WDBO-TV, but Kosmas wasn't a part of the other coverage.)
Nothing better could illustrate the difference between the two neighbors; while Grayson is loud and unafraid of his Democratic politics, Kosmas is more cautious and has built a more centrist record. Republicans tasked with taking her down have tried to draw her out a bit more in hopes that she'll provide some fodder.
Of course, in this case, Kosmas's approach seems to have borne fruit. While Grayson stumbled by releasing a host committee with a federal lobbyist on it (a no-no when it comes to Obama Administration events), Kosmas gave herself time to avoid such snafus.
Time -- as well as many other factors -- will tell how each of them will do in 2010, but the contrast is notable and could be teachable for other freshman lawmakers.
National Republicans appear to have missed out on a top candidate to run against Rep. Zack Space (D-Ohio), as Ohio state Sen. Jimmy Stewart (R) is signaling he will take a pass on the race.
Stewart was in Washington last month meeting with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), but the Athens News reported Thursday that he has all but ruled out running.
"I don't anticipate running for Congress next year," Stewart told the paper. "It's a difficult decision, but I'm going to leave it up to someone else."
Republicans have gone hard after Space, including running an early TV ad against him this year. But they were unable to mount a serious campaign against him in his first reelection bid last year and are without a top candidate this cycle.
Republicans renewed their search for a challenger after Space cast a dicey vote in favor of the Democratic energy bill last month. Space, who represents a big coal-producing district, has since stuck by his vote.
Attorney Jeanette Moll, who lost in the GOP primary last year, is so far the only candidate in the race. She raised a modest $60,000 in the second quarter.
Space's district went for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the 2008 presidential race.
The Obama administration may be willing to sacrifice some of its allies in Congress in order to force through healthcare reform, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele suggested Thursday.
"There may be a sense of sacrificing some seats in Congress...to push through the nuclear option," Steele said during an interview on Fox News Radio this afternoon.
Steele was speaking about the possibility of using budget reconciliation to force through healthcare reform on a more strictly party lines vote, especially in the Senate, where only a simple majority would be required to pass the bill.
The RNC chairman suggested that President Obama, knowing how unpopular forcing through healthcare could be, would be willing to endure Democratic losses in Congress.
"They operate at that arrogant level, where they really believe we need to put in a system that will upend 1/6th of the economy," Steele said.
Republicans looking to take down House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) will begin their quest in earnest next week.
Former state Rep. Vicky Hartzler, who more recently spearheaded a statewide constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, on Wednesday announced a district-wide listening tour on health care. Hartzler had quietly filed for the race late last month, but this will be her first public foray as an actual candidate.
She is expected to face some primary opposition from state Sen. Bill Stouffer, who looks ready to jump in the race.
Skelton's seat would be a huge get for Republicans, who have eyed it after it went for President Bush by 29 points in 2004 and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) by 23 points last year. But Skelton has not been seriously challenged in years, and his clout in the House has helped him to sizeable reelection margins.
Republicans also hold out some hope that a difficult challenge could nudge the 77-year-old incumbent into retirement.
Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) is speaking out about Sen. John Ensign's (R-Nev.) affair, and he's not exactly helping his fellow Nevada Republican.
In comments to local political reporter Jon Ralston, Heller said Ensign is doing himself a disservice by not speaking more publicly about the affair.
When asked by Ralston in a TV interview whether Ensign should be talking about the situation, Heller said, "I think he should."
"I don't want to speculate, but until John talks, we haven't seen the end of it," Heller said, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
Heller this week opted not to run for the state's other Senate seat - a campaign that would have pitted him against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). And he acknowledged Ensign's affair played a role in his decision, calling it an "important part" of his thought process.
"It just gave pause," he said. "I had anticipated, in a good campaign like this, Sen. Ensign being there with me.
"Sen. Ensign had to be there when I announced. Sen. Ensign had to deflect some of the attacks that would have occurred in a very rough and tumble campaign like that. All of a sudden, that variable was out."
Heller never seemed particularly likely the take the plunge against Reid, but if that was actually the case, why would he start blaming Ensign -- even a just a little -- for his decision? It seems there are some hard feelings about the political impact of Ensign's decision.
Whatever the case, Ensign, a former chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), appears to have cost his former committee with one of its potential prize candidates.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is targeting another vulnerable Democrat with TV ads, and it is signaling an effort to tie members to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The Pelosi strategy was employed to some degree in 2008, but Republicans appear to be hoping that the current series of Democratic initiatives will pay bigger dividends in the 2010 cycle.
The ad focuses on Rep. Steve Kagen (D-Wis.), a doctor, and his role in the current health care debate. It features a video of Kagen joking with a video tracker about how he is writing the current health care legislation and would like to know what the tracker wants in the bill.
The ad implores him to write the bill for his constituents and not Pelosi.
Participants in town hall meetings across the country are largely stocked with constituents with legitimate concerns, Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) insisted Thursday.
Sestak said that while some protesters who've loudly interrupted lawmakers' district meetings may be organized by outside groups -- "astroturf" protesters -- many have rightful queries about the healthcare bill before Congress.
"There are some, obviously, that might be organized. But that's politics," Sestak said during an appearance on Fox News. "The vast, vast majority are people who have legitimate concerns."
Sestak's 2010 Democratic senatorial primary opponent, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), was embarrassed on national television by particularly vociferous constituents at a town hall meeting on Tuesday. Sestak seemed to lend credence to those confrontations.
The Democratic lawmaker also broke with some of his party's leaders, who have insinuated that the protests are being largely organized and funded by corporate interests opposed to healthcare reform.
"Sometimes in Washington, D.C., we representatives are in an echo chamber, and not out in the hustings enough, explaining and listening," Sestak said.
California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi would be the Democratic nominee in the race to replace Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) if the voting began this week, according to a new poll.
The SurveyUSA poll shows Garamendi leading a field of 14 candidates with 26 percent of the vote. He leads state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, who has 15 percent, and Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, who has 14 percent. Iraq veteran Anthony Woods is fourth among Democrats at 5 percent.
The order and margins between the candidates closely resemble a poll released by Garamendi this week, which had him at 31 percent, DeSaulnier at 21 percent and Buchanan at 17 percent.
Among Republicans, attorney David Harmer holds a wide lead with 18 percent of the vote. The race is an uphill battle for the GOP, but the National Republican Congressional Committee recently added Harmer to their Young Guns program for top challengers.
In California special elections, all candidates are part of an open primary in which the top Republican, top Democrat and top third-party candidate all advance to a runoff.
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