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This year, the Senate has demonstrated the importance of a single vote. Betsy DeVoss controversial confirmation as education secretary happened only with the tiebreaking vote of Vice President Pence. In late March, Pence again broke a tie on legislation limiting federal funds to abortion providers.

And last month, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) defeated the GOPs effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act with a single flick of his thumb.

Theres more on the way. Later this fall, President Trumps agenda could be impeded by a one-man blockade, Sen. Robert Menendez, who by then could be a felon.

The trial of the New Jersey Democrat, indicted two years ago on corruption charges, is set to begin Sept. 6 in a federal courthouse in Newark. A 12-person jury was seated this week. The trial is expected to last well into October; by Halloween, Menendez could be the first sitting senator in nine years to become a felon.

While Menendez would almost certainly appeal such a verdict, the calls for his immediate resignation would be swift and voluminous. And much has been written about the calamity that his departure would bring on the Democratic Party in this Year of the Deciding Vote.

But no one should expect Menendez to heed those calls, at least not until Gov. Chris Christie (R) leaves office on Jan. 16.

The current front-runner to replace Christie, Democrat Phil Murphy, could be sworn in then as the new governor. This scenario would allow Murphy to appoint a Democratic interim senator and set a special election for later in 2018, in which Democrats would be heavily favored to retain the seat in increasingly blue New Jersey.

It might seem a bit outlandish for a felon to remain in the Senate for two to three months, just to deny the Republicans from getting an extra vote. But these are anything but normal political times in Washington.

Whats more, the Senates bipartisan precedents on corruption convictions are more lenient than the Houses regarding the time typically granted before colleagues move to evict someone from office.

The Senate has always taken more time (as with everything else), especially if the convicted senator has filed an appeal in the courts, Don Ritchie, the former Senate historian, said this week. The Ethics Committee will have to hold hearings and vote on a recommendation, and then the Senate deliberates and votes. Senators cant be forced to resign, and it takes a two-thirds vote to expel them, which prevents it from becoming a strictly partisan matter.

To this point, the Ethics Committee has done little to no work on the Menendez matter, instead deferring to the Justice Department. That probe began in 2013 after The Washington Post and the New York Times published extensive stories detailing the senators connections to a Florida eye doctor.

The two most recent examples of convicted senators should reassure partisan Democrats who fear that Christie would name a Republican to replace Menendez, which could revive the effort to gut the 2010 health-care law and move on other partisan legislative efforts.

On Oct. 27, 2008, the late Ted Stevens was found guilty on seven felony corruption charges. The Alaska Republican refused to resign, despite a bipartisan chorus calling for him to step down including the minority leader at the time, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Eight days later, Stevens lost his Senate reelection race, and the issue became moot. He served out the remaining two months of his historic run, retiring as the longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate. He continued to vote and attend caucus meetings, like any other senator, those last few weeks.

And as Jonathan Salant noted this week in the Newark Star-Ledger, the last Senate Democrat to be convicted of felony corruption charges was also from New Jersey, the late Harrison Pete Williams.

Williams was convicted in May 1981 amid the notorious ABSCAM investigation. An undercover FBI agent acting as an Arab sheikh caught Williams on camera agreeing to help the sheikh in exchange for a multimillion-dollar loan.

The ethics committee took almost four months, including open hearings, to recommend expelling the senator.

The full Senate then took up his expulsion in a trial-like setting but not until March 1982, after Williams had filed a series of legal motions in federal courts that all ended in rejection. Finally, when Williams realized there was easily a two-thirds majority to expel him, he resigned.

That was more than 10 months after his conviction.

The delay actually benefited Republicans. Had he resigned in 1981, the Democratic governor would have appointed Williamss successor. By 1982, Republican Thomas Kean Sr. was governor; he appointed a Republican to be interim senator.

Menendez would be doing the opposite, holding out long enough to ensure that a fellow Democrat takes his seat.

The late Williams played an intriguing role in the Menendez investigation which began with an anonymous source, under the pseudonym Pete Williams, spreading allegations that Menendez had taken many personal trips to the Dominican Republic.

That information was probably false, but it prompted a deeper look at Menendezs connections to Salomon Melgen, the eye doctor who back in 2012 was in a billing dispute with Medicare.

Menendez helped arrange a meeting in the Capitol that included Harry M. Reid (D), who was Senate majority leader, and Kathleen Sebelius, who was secretary of health and human services, at the same time Menendez was running for reelection.

Melgen donated $700,000 to a super PAC that helped Menendez, who also regularly flew on Melgens private jet to the doctors Dominican resort.

Joe Hayden, a prominent New Jersey criminal defense attorney, believes that federal prosecutors will have to prove that Menendez knew he was acting illegally and not just doing senatorial duties by trying to help settle a Medicaid dispute.

Whether there was a criminal or corrupt attempt, Hayden said, intent will be the biggest issue.

If Menendez is convicted, McConnell, now majority leader, could try to force an immediate expulsion vote and get an interim Republican senator but it would breach recent bipartisan precedent. McConnell would need all 52 Republicans and 15 Democrats to vote to expel a high hurdle given that Democrats know the value of a single vote, particularly this year.

After a while, however, public pressure may build up to the point where senators feel forced to act, Ritchie, the historian, said.

By then, Democrats hope that Murphy will be in Drumthwacket, the New Jersey governors mansion, preserving the Senate seat in their hands.

Read more from Paul Kanes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.

Link:
In the Year of the Deciding Vote, one Democrat's corruption trial could change the Senate or not - Washington Post

An undeniable change is afoot. No country is spared from the forces of digital disruption. Experts are sounding dire warnings of a near-future that will be profoundly disrupted by digitization, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), industrial automation, the internet of things (IoT) and rampant cyber threats, which have already undermined the cornerstones of democracy and trust in institutions. In response to these relentless changes the world needs a new breed of civic engagement that goes beyond Facebook activism, true political compromise, and, perhaps most importantly, the emergence of a new breed of elected leader who can champion peoples rights in a time when all lines are blurred. These leaders are veritable Digital Democrats and their numbers are scarce in the U.S. and around the world.

A Digital Democrat is a progressive leader prepared for the technical and technological challenges of the 21st century. These include the prospects of wide scale job loss due to industrial automation, combating hidden biases built into AI, while fostering a policy and security environment that cares for the people behind the binary code. Few if any leaders in office are adequately harnessing the risks and rewards of our time or our form of government. Any talk of government accountability, efficiency, or greater stewardship of scarce taxpayer resources that does not contemplate digital transformation, is simply not serious and will produce the very waste that is emblematic of a dysfunctional Washington.

Just as the workforce needs to reinvent itself to adapt to an increasingly digital world, our political class needs to confront the reality that so few of them are well-equipped to make sense of the 21st century. As with all organizations, the best decisions are made in an environment that prizes diversity. For this the U.S. Congress and Senate not only lack adequate representation of women, minorities, and other groups, they are decidedly light in their technological bench, with most elected officials coming from a legal pedigree. Looking at the current roster of elected officials, few have the technical background to properly lead a cyber risk inquiry, let alone formulate a balanced regulatory approach to digital innovation. For us to retain this economic miracle, while managing its blowback, our elected officials need to not only reflect our times in the knowledge they bring to the job, they need to understand technology and how to at once harness and guard against it at granular level.

Consider the seeds of doubt that were watered in the 2016 presidential election by cyber misinformation warfare and fertilized by myopic political goals of victory at any cost. Indeed, if Teslas Elon Musk and Googles Eric Schmidt are correct that the very future of humanity is at risk and that the world will go to war over data, we are woefully unprepared and the majority of our political leaders are not conversant in these emerging trends. As the birthplace of the Internet age and the midwife of digital transformation, the U.S. bears a special obligation to lead the world in responsibly harnessing technology as a force for good.

Looking then at the field of candidates vying for elected office, few have the skill set to be a future-proof leader for the 21st century. Brian Forde, the congressional candidate in Californias 45th District not only has the right balance of political experience at the highest levels of government, he brings the right technical virtuosity when it comes to confronting the many challenges and opportunities of the digital age. Forde may very well emerge as the countrys first Digital Democrat, and his candidacy in a largely Republican district, hearkens to the type of partisanship and consensus that is desperately needed in Washington. Indeed, his campaign is breaking new ground by accepting a digital currency, acknowledging Bitcoins legitimate role as a part of our economic thrift.

Digital citizenship and the emergence of Digital Democrats are not necessarily zero-sum propositions where one party or person wins at the expense of another. The emergence of this new class of political leadership augurs well for a future in which party lines matter much less than outcomes. Indeed, looking around the world at the scorecard for how eGovernance has taken shape, few bright lights emerge, with Estonia being among the brightest. Estonia, a country that might have been forgotten 10 years ago, has quickly vaulted to the top of the list of countries embracing technology and digital transformation for greater stewardship of public trust and greater efficiency in citizen services.

The only reason it is hard for the U.S. to conceive of a similar transformation, despite our large population and advanced economy, is because of the lack of political leadership that can comprehend the opportunities and rewards of embracing digital transformation. If we are to face the type of job loss in the millions that experts are forecasting, does it not make sense to have elected officials who can properly regulate and manage this change reducing the impact on people's lives, while at the same time future-proofing the country? A Digital Democrat can at once understand the national security implications of a hyper-connected world, one in which a cyber threat can spread to 150 countries over a weekend, where trust can evaporate in an instant and the White House can be taken with a tweet. In this new era, the only way to restore public trust is a democracy that can thrive in sunlight.

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Digital Democrat - HuffPost

In case you havent heard, the leader in every poll for the Treasurers race this fall is a Democrat despite the fact the three major candidates in the race are Republicans. Derrick Edwards, a lawyer from New Orleans whose interesting physical condition hes a quadriplegic is a frequent candidate for office who ran last year for the Senate, polling three percent of the vote in the primary and finishing in eighth place. Now hes in first place and a fairly likely participant in the runoff; what we dont know at this point is whether it will be Rep. John Schroder, Sen. Neil Riser or former Jindal administration Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis wholl be in the final round with him.

Almost everybody who knows something about that race will tell you once Edwards gets into the runoff with whichever Republican joins him, hes got zero chance to win. But in that respect hes no different than Foster Campbell in the 2016 Senate race, or Kip Holden in the 2015 Lt. Governors race, or even Edwin Edwards in the 2014 6th District congressional race. They all got slaughtered in the runoff and the Democrats knew it, and backed them anyway.

But the Democrats arent backing Edwards in this race even though hes leading every poll with at least 25 percent of the vote.

Why?

(T)he Democratic Partys executive committee worries about how Edwards would get from 30 percent of the vote to the 50 percent plus one needed to win a runoff from an electorate who overwhelming backs Republicans in most statewide elections.

Though Edwards was the first announced candidate in the race, he hasnt been campaigning much. He reported $138.20 available in a campaign finance report filed Aug. 8. Plus, because he was late filing, Edwards could face $2,000 in fines from the Louisiana Board of Ethics.

We were uncomfortable with the fact that he was a little late, at that time, filing his financial disclosure and campaign finance forms, said Kyle Green Jr., a state party executive committee member from Marrero. We urged him to get his house in order and once he did that, we would be happy to revisit that decision.

The 25-member party executive committee decided to hold off until Edwards could name a campaign team, detail fundraising plans, and identify major supporters.

The executive committee felt rather strongly that Mr. Edwards needs to do some basic things before recommending him for a party endorsement, said Stephen Handwerk, executive director of the Louisiana Democratic Party.

One wonders if this is a racial thing, which youd think shouldnt be a problem for a party who would have virtually zero political presence in Louisiana but for black voters and black elected officials. Still, the Democrats have a history of failing to give much help to black candidates for statewide office they let Cleo Fields and Bill Jefferson die on the vine in the 1995 and 1999 runoffs, and they did exactly nothing to help Holden last year.

With a black state senator in Karen Carter Peterson, who as it happens is also from New Orleans, as the Democrat party chair, youd think this lack of support wouldnt continue.

But it does. Theyre going to let the only Democrat candidate they have in the only statewide race going on this year go without any money or an endorsement? And hes not only a candidate of color but a disabled candidate as well?

How can this be? How can a party which breaks its arm patting itself on the back for how much it supposedly cares about minorities and people with disabilities simply let Derrick Edwards die on the political vine?

Sure, Edwards has no shot to win. Foster Campbell had no shot to win. That didnt stop them from pitching in and raising every dime they could for him. And if he has no shot to win and cant do all the basic things a candidate needs to do to have a shot to win, then why in the hell couldnt the Louisiana Democrat Party recruit somebody more legitimate to run in an open seat?

None of their grandees, like for example Rep. Walt Leger or Sen. Eric Lafleur, bothered to qualify. This guy did, and he put a D next to his name. And theyre snubbing him anyway. No union money, no party money, not even a little check from one of their trial lawyer donors to get him started.

Its embarrassing. This is not a party that deserves to win a major election in this state, ever again.

Read more here:
What The Democrat Party Is Doing To Derrick Edwards Is Shameful - The Hayride

A Democrats proposed amendments to an upcoming federal spending package on the House floor would prohibit taxpayer funds from being used at businesses owned by President Trump.

The House is expected to consider a spending package providing funds for multiple agencies during the first week of September, ahead of a deadline at the end of the month to avoid a government shutdown.

Rep. Steve Cohens (D-Tenn.) amendments to the legislation would ban the use of federal spending at Trump-owned hotels, resorts, golf clubs or any other businesses listed in the presidents financial disclosure form.

Congress should not allow the President to use his office to profit himself and his family, Cohen said in a statement. The Presidents refusal to divest from his privately owned businesses creates a conflict of interest when steering federal spending to his resorts and other businesses.

Trump has spent almost every weekend since taking office in January at his family-owned properties, including his Northern Virginia golf course located roughly an hour from the White House, his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., and Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla.

The Washington Post reportedin July that the State Department spent more than $15,000 to book rooms at the Trump hotel in Vancouver when members of the president'sfamily attended its grand opening in February.

The spending package slated for House consideration in September includes funding for the departments of Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Treasury, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and State.

The House previouslypassed a national-security themed spending billin July that included $1.6 billion to start building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a top priority for Trump.

Cohen, as well as Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), submitted similar amendments to prevent taxpayer funds from going to Trump properties to the spending bill in July.

But House GOP leaders, who want to avoid forcing their members to take tough votes relating to Trump, did not allow floor votes on any of those amendments.

Cohen faces a long shot in securing votes on his amendments in September as well.

The Tennessee liberalannouncedlast week that he willfile articles of impeachmentagainst Trump over his response to the violence stemming from a white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Va. Trump has blamed both hate groups and counterprotesters for the violence.

More:
House Democrat seeks to prohibit federal spending at Trump businesses - The Hill (blog)

LEWISTON Jared Golden, a Democratic state lawmaker and Marine combat veteran, announced Thursday that he is entering the 2018 race for the U.S. House, challenging incumbent 2nd District Rep. Bruce Poliquin, a Republican.

Golden, 35, served tours with the U.S. Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan before returning home to Maine, where he earned a bachelors degree at Bates College in Lewiston. He is the Democratic assistant majority leader in the Maine House of Representatives.

Golden is the fifth and, so far, most prominent Democrat to enter the race against Poliquin, who is serving his second term in Congress. Poliquin easily defeated his last challenger, Emily Cain, a former Democratic state lawmaker from Orono, in 2016.

Other Democrats who have announced a bid for the seat include Jonathan Fulford, owner of a construction business in Monroe; Tim Rich, a restaurant owner in Bar Harbor; Phil Cleaves, a Dexter mail carrier; and Craig Olson, an antique book dealer on Islesboro. Voters will select the partys candidate during a primary next June.

After studying at Bates, Golden said he returned to the war-torn countries where he fought, first volunteering as a teacher in Afghanistan and later working for a logistics company in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He then worked in Congress for U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as part of the staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Golden, now serving his second term as the state representative for Maine House District 60, grew up in Leeds and lives in Lewiston with his wife, Isobel, who serves on the Lewiston City Council.

On Thursday, Golden questioned Poliquins record of protecting Maine jobs and took aim at him for supporting a recently failed effort by Republicans in Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Everyone knows Congress must fix Obamacare to increase coverage and lower costs, but instead Bruce Poliquin voted to take coverage away from millions of Americans, Golden said.

Poliquins political adviser, the Maine Republican Party and the National Rifle Association all quickly issued statements criticizing Golden, a sure sign that he is seen as a credible challenger to the incumbents bid for a third term.

Young Jared Golden looks good on the surface, but diving deeper you find an extreme Augusta liberal politician, said Brent Littlefield, Poliquins political adviser.

Maine Republican Party Executive Director Jason Savage said Goldens assertions that Poliquin hasnt done much to secure jobs for Mainers are simply out of touch and not true, and that Poliquin had opposed Republican leaders in Congress to vote against trade policy changes that would hurt Maine.

The NRAs national spokesman, Lars Dalseid, said Golden opposed legislation that removed concealed-handgun permit requirements in Maine and supported legislation requiring a federal background check for private firearms sales in Maine.

His votes to deny Maine residents their constitutional right to self-protection and punish law-abiding gun owners for the criminal actions of others are just two of the many reasons why voters should reject his run for the U.S. Congress, Dalseid said.

Golden said none of the votes in question reduced the rights of law-abiding citizens to own guns. I dont want to take anyones guns away unless they are not legally allowed to possess them, he said. I would like to go shooting with Bruce Poliquin sometime and see who knows their way around an AR-15 assault rifle better.

Golden said the early attacks out of Washington are what he expected.

This is classic Bruce Poliquin, he said. All of his D.C. buddies in Washington, D.C., have been preparing for weeks now, figuring out how they were going to take a swing at a Marine because Bruce Poliquin is unwilling to do it himself.

As a state legislator, Golden has served on both the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee and the Transportation Committee, developing a reputation as an advocate for veterans, immigrants and infrastructure improvement. He helped pass bills that expanded the capacity of the states Bureau of Veterans Services and provided free tuition for members of the National Guard at the University of Maine System campuses and the states community college system.

Golden joined the Marine Corps in 2002 while attending college at the University of Maine-Farmington, serving four years on active duty. He said his experiences while growing up and working on his familys Springbrook Golf Course, where he still works as greenskeeper in the summer, guided him during his military service.

Each Marine is expected to carry their own weight, to watch each others backs and to work as part of a team to get the job done, he said.

Scott Thistle can be contacted at 791-6330 or at:

[emailprotected]

Twitter: thisdog

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Jared Golden, a leading Democrat in Maine House, announces run ... - Press Herald