Kavanaugh has recused himself in three Supreme Court cases so far

Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh is recused in three cases to be heard this term by the high court out of the roughly 40 cases that the justices have granted review of so far. More could come during the course of the court’s term through the spring, but as of October, Justice Kavanaugh will only sit out on Jam v. International Finance Corporation, Lorenzo v. Securities and Exchange Commission and Azar v. Allina Health Services.

All three cases come before the Supreme Court from the D.C. federal appeals court where Justice Kavanaugh sat as a circuit court judge for 12 years. He was part of the original three-judge panel in two of the cases and participated in an en banc order in the other. “This is not terribly high for a first term justice, especially from the DC Circuit which gets a pretty high review rate from the Supreme Court due to the national salience of many of its cases,” said Adam Feldman, founder of the Empirical SCOTUS blog.

Jam v. International Finance Corporation is a case brought by foreign fisherman and farmers over damages to communities near Gujarat, India, from work done by an Indian company and an international organization located in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, Lorenzo v. SEC concerns a man who says he did not have authority over a deal, and thus should not be held liable of violating part of the Securities Exchange Act since he was following his boss’s orders. Lastly, Azar v. Allina Health Services asks the court if the Department of Health and Human Services legally implemented the formula for Medicare reimbursement under the Medicare Act.

Democrats and liberal advocacy groups had charged Justice Kavanaugh of being too partisan at his confirmation hearing when he was responding to unsubstantiated allegations of sexual misconduct, which legal experts say could raise other recusal questions in future cases. “Certainly, Justice Kavanaugh’s intemperate remarks during the confirmation process will be the basis of voluminous, and potentially unprecedented, recusal issues. Thus far, however, his recusals appear routine,” said James Sample, a professor at Hofstra University. Advocacy groups have also demanded he recuse himself in cases that come before the Supreme Court related to President Trump.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/24/justice-kavanaugh-recused-three-high-court-cases-s/

Stop Pelosi website raises $50,000 in first hours

A website set up to solicit and dole out campaign donations to key races that could stop Rep. Nancy Pelosi from becoming House speaker raised more than $50,000 in its first hours, organizers said. Created by Rep. Jim Banks, Indiana Republican, StopSpeakerPelosi.com was intended to help Republicans boost their online campaign finance game — an area where Democrats have held a serious advantage. The website asks people to donate and then divides the cash among Republicans in 23 House races, which corresponds to the number of seats Democrats need to capture in order to retake control of the chamber for the first time since the 2010 elections.

The candidates span Florida to California, with four races in Virginia making the list, suggesting just how quickly that state has turned into a key battleground. Mr. Banks said what spurred him to action was hearing Mrs. Pelosi tell CNN earlier this week that she’s confident Democrats will win control of the House, and that her colleagues will elect her speaker — her second time at the helm. “We’ve been talking about it since the beginning of the cycle. All of the sudden we’re here, the election is a little less than two weeks away and she’s already declaring victory,” Mr. Banks said. “That was a sucker punch for me.”

He took inspiration for StopSpeakerPelosi from Act Blue, which funnels donations to Democratic candidates, and which has had a blockbuster year. Mr. Banks said even long-shot candidates are collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars thanks to Democrats’ ability to tap small-dollar donors online. The average donation to the Pelosi-blocking website so far is $23, amounting to $1 to each campaign.

Organizers said they are trying to tap GOP fears over what a Pelosi-led House would do to the Republican agenda and particularly to President Trump. “Impeachment is on the table. Tax cuts are on the table. They’re going to swamp the administration with investigations,” said Jordan Gehrke, a GOP consultant who helped craft the effort. Mrs. Pelosi’s political campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but pundits have debated her effect on voters this year, with some suggesting she no longer plays the same outsized role in voters’ minds that she may once have.

Mr. Gehrke said from what he’s seeing, she remains a crystalizing force. He is working for a Republican in a race for a House seat in Virginia and said they’ve gone heavy on a stop-Pelosi message for the last few weeks. He said that’s turned the race from a near-tie to a decent advantage for the Republican. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also seems to think Mrs. Pelosi is poisonous for voters in his state. This week he offered to pay her expenses for her to come campaign for Democrats in Texas. “No Californian represents the principles of big government and higher taxes better than California Congresswoman and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi,” Abbott campaign manager John Jackson wrote in the invitation letter. He also offered to give Mrs. Pelosi a list of barbecue joints she might try out, should she take the governor up on the offer. That seems unlikely.

Speaking at a CNN-sponsored forum earlier this week, Mrs. Pelosi said she considers this year’s elections a district-by-district fight, not a national campaign. “These races have a lot to do with what’s going on in their districts, and how they will represent their district,” she said. She was also confident Democrats would prevail. “If the election were held today, the Democrats would handily win the House,” she said.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/24/stop-pelosi-website-raises-50000-first-hours/

Democrats boycott another hearing for Trump judicial nominees

Democrats boycotted Wednesday’s hearing on another slate of President Trump’s judicial nominees, continuing their attempts to hinder Republicans’ plans to stock the courts with an army of conservative judges. The Judiciary Committee heard from four nominees, including two picks for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most liberal panels in the country and long a target for Republicans who complain of activist liberal judges.

Wednesday’s boycott is the second in a row after Democrats refused to show for a hearing last week on other court picks. Democrats say it is unprecedented to hold hearings on judges while senators are home preparing for the November election. But Republicans said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the committee’s ranking Democrat, struck a deal with GOP Chairman Chuck Grassley in August to hold the hearings in late October, knowing the Senate could be out of session at the time.

Sen. Mike Crapo, Idaho Republican, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, Utah Republican, were the only two senators out of the 21 on the committee to attend Wednesday’s hearing. Mr. Hatch promised the nominees they’ll try to push them through Democratic hurdles. “We’re going to do everything we can to get you through by the end of the year,” Mr. Hatch told the two circuit court nominees. The picks must first be voted on in committee and then would join a backlog of dozens of judicial nominees already waiting for votes on the Senate floor. “I hope we can get all the ones that have come through committee — we’ll do our best,” Mr. Hatch said. “I’m going to do everything I can to get it done.”

On the docket were Bridget S. Bade and Eric D. Miller both for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as Karin J. Immergut for the District of Oregon and Richard A. Hertling for the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Kristine Lucius, vice president of policy at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, criticized the GOP for moving ahead with the hearings. “Chairman Grassley continues his assault on Senate norms by dismissing the advice and consent process, scheduling hearings during recess and before nominees’ American Bar Association ratings are completed, and packing hearings with two circuit court nominees,” said Ms. Lucius.

Senate Republicans have made approving Mr. Trump’s judicial picks a chief focus of their agenda. They’ve already set a record by confirming 29 circuit court judges, and also cleared two Supreme Court justices and 53 district court picks.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/24/democrats-boycott-another-hearing-trump-judicial-n/