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3 Texas judicial nominees don’t get committee vote

WASHINGTON — As expected, the three nominees for lifetime judicial posts in Texas didn’t get a committee vote Thursday.

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee regularly choose to hold over votes on judicial nominees for a week, a tactic allowed under Senate rules. The committee is now set to vote next Thursday on the nominees: U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman of San Antonio, Texarkana lawyer Robert Schroeder III, and Sherman Magistrate Judge Amos Mazzant III.

If the committee approves them, the candidates must then garner a majority vote in the full Senate.

It remains unclear whether that can happen before next year. In early January, Republicans will take over the committee and Senate.

3 Texas judicial nominees likely won’t get committee vote Thursday

Robert L. Pitman, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, speaks during a news conference June 4 in Midland. (AP Photo/Odessa American, Courtney Sacco)

WASHINGTON — Three candidates for federal judgeships in Texas aren’t likely to get a committee vote Thursday, giving the Senate less time to approve the nominations by the end of the year.

Under Senate rules, any Judiciary Committee member can postpone the vote by one week, a move Republicans have traditionally used for judicial nominees. Once a nominee clears that hurdle, the full Senate would vote on confirmation for U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman of San Antonio, Texarkana lawyer Robert Schroeder III, and Sherman Magistrate Judge Amos Mazzant III.

“Standard protocol would be for them to be held over to the next business meeting,” said Beth Levine, a spokeswoman for Republicans on the committee. Democrats control the committee and Senate only until early January, when the new Congress is sworn in.

Confirmation requires a majority of votes in the Senate. At a committee hearing in September, Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz publicly backed the trio of Texas nominees, whom they had jointly recommended to the White House.

On Tuesday, a Cornyn aide reiterated the senator’s support. Both Texas senators sit on the Judiciary Committee. President Barack Obama announced the nominations in June.

It’s unclear whether the full Senate will vote to confirm the nominees by the end of the year, Levine said.

Democrats will likely try to move as many nominees as they can before Republicans take over, said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond who tracks judicial nominations.

The handover in power means Republicans have less incentive to act quickly.

“They’re not in a hurry because they’re going to take over,” he said, “and then they can run the whole show.”

The seat Pitman is up for has been vacant since the end of 2008. Pitman would become Texas’ first openly gay federal judge.

Mazzant, a federal magistrate judge in Sherman, would fill a post in Marshall. Schroeder, a partner at the law firm Patton, Tidwell, Schroeder & Culbertson, is up for a position in Texarkana.

Ralph Hall, recovering from accident, may not be in Washington next week

Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Texas) questions witnesses during a House Committee on Science, Space and Technology hearing on Nov. 19, 2013. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/The New York Times)

WASHINGTON — Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Rockwall, is expected to make a full recovery from a car accident last month — but it’s unclear if he’ll be in Washington next week when Congress returns from recess.

Hall is being treated at an inpatient rehabilitation facility after a car wreck in Trenton forced him to have hip surgery. His district director, Tom Hughes, declined to comment on when Hall would leave the facility, saying that decision falls to Hall, his family and his doctor.

“Our goal is for him to get those final votes up there and keep his record going,” Hughes said.

Lawmakers are set to return to Washington next week after a seven-week long recess. As Hall recovers, staff members have been updating him daily on issues, Hughes said.

Hall, the oldest-ever lawmaker in the U.S. House, is heading into the final weeks of his term, after losing a primary runoff in May to John Ratcliffe.

Following the car accident, the 91-year-old suffered a hip injury, in addition to minor cuts and bruises. He was taken by helicopter to Medical Center of Plano.

Hall was a passenger in the car, which was being driven by his friend Howard Zielke. The congressman’s office said he had been attending a parade in Fannin County.

Ratcliffe, a former U.S. attorney, will replace Hall in early January, when the next congressional term begins.

Hinojosa, Hurd to be most vulnerable Texans in U.S. House next year

WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Rubén Hinojosa and Republican Will Hurd will head into Congress next year as the most vulnerable lawmakers in the Texas delegation.

It’s common for lawmakers in the 23rd District, which Hurd will represent, to be top targets for the opposing party. Elections for the West Texas seat are known to be competitive, and Hurd’s win marked the fifth time the district elected a new congressmen in 10 years.

Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes (AP Photo/HO, File)

Will Hurd, former CIA operative (Hurd campaign)

In his Democratic-leaning district, Hinojosa won with 54 percent of the vote. In Congress, he’s in his ninth term and chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Hinojosa, a Mercedes Democrat, faced Republican opponent Eddie Zamora, who received 43 percent of the vote. The candidates ran in the 15th District, located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

Zamora raised about $107,000, while Hinojosa raised about $438,000, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Hinojosa’s vote margin is his lowest in recent years. The Democrat won 61 percent of the vote in 2012 and 56 percent in 2010.

Zamora also took on Hinojosa in 2010 and 2008.

Hurd, a former CIA operative who knocked off Democratic incumbent Rep. Pete Gallego, won just under 50 percent of the vote to Gallego’s 47.7 percent.

Gallego raised about $2.3 million to Hurd’s $1.1 million for the seat, which runs from San Antonio to El Paso. The congressional district is famously volatile and is by far the most competitive in Texas.

Former lawmakers give advice to conquering GOP

WASHINGTON – After a long, expensive slog to Election Day, Republicans will control both chambers of Congress in January.

Now comes the hard part.

Former senator Olympia Snowe (Pat Wellenbach/AP)

That was the message from former lawmakers and Beltway operatives on Wednesday, when the National Journal hosted a panel on the impact of Tuesday’s  midterm elections.

The panelists agreed that the elections were a referendum on President Obama’s policies, and inaction by Congress. But they also emphasized that before pursuing a legislative agenda, Republicans must learn lessons in bipartisanship and compromise.

“It was certainly a broad and sweeping repudiation of the status quo,” said Olympia Snowe, a former Republican senator from Maine. “I think it’s abundantly clear that Congress is going to have to move forward and learn how to legislate and govern.”

Republicans needed to pick up six seats to claim a majority in the Senate. They got seven, with races in Alaska and Louisiana still to be decided.

Republicans also padded their majority in the House, where they’ll enjoy their largest advantage in decades.

On Wednesday, panelists said the midterm results called for a new course of action – or any action at all. With only the lame duck session remaining, the 113th Congress has a chance to be the least productive ever.

“It was an election that sent the message ‘get something done for a change.’ That’s something that people want,” said Celinda Lake, president of the Democratic polling group Lake Research Partners.

Immigration reform could top Congress’ to-do list.

According to Martin Frost, a former House Democrat from the Dallas area, passing immigration reform would be a “true test of bipartisanship.”

“Immigration reform is a horribly complex issue,” he said. “Trying to solve this issue will be a real test to whether you can operate on a bipartisan basis.”

Former Rep. Martin Frost (Tom Gannam/AP)

Any immigration bill will require the president’s signature to become law.

Steve LaTourette, a former Republican congressman from Ohio, said that the president’s willingness to compromise will determine the success of the Republican agenda.

“The president has to dance,” LaTourette said “But if the president dances, you can get a lot of stuff done.”

In a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Obama said that he was “eager to work with the new Congress,” but added that “Congress will pass some bills I cannot sign.”

Before worrying about the president though, Republicans will first need to reach an accord within their own ranks – no easy task, according to Whit Ayres, president North Star Opinion Research, a Republican polling group.

Ayres said that whoever unites the various the factions within the GOP could hold the keys to the party’s presidential nomination.

Its nominee will have to bring together “the Tea Party, libertarians, establishment, social conservatives, and internationalist Republicans all in one coalition.”

“Whoever wins it will…get enough of those groups to build a majority,” Ayres said.

Roger Williams won’t seek NRCC chairmanship after GOP’s big wins

WASHINGTON — Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin, won’t challenge National Republican Committee Chairman Greg Walden’s bid for a second term, Roll Call reported Wednesday.

Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin. (Michael Ainsworth/Staff)

A day after Republicans enjoyed sweeping election victories in Congress, Williams wrote a letter saying that “now is not the time for more political gamesmanship” — though he noted he was encouraged to consider running. Roll Call confirmed with Williams’ office that the letter means he won’t make a play for the position.

“Now is the time to work together as a team with strong Republican leadership,” Williams wrote.

Under Walden, House Republicans saw their majority expand to its largest total in more than 60 years. The GOP also seized control of the Senate.

Walden, an Oregon Republican, could still be opposed in his re-election. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., has signaled he may run.

Williams, first elected in 2012, said he looks forward to working with the NRCC and Walden going forward.

“The NRCC has to out-work, over-perform, and out-hustle our opposition this next cycle,” he wrote.

Texas Republicans raise concerns about federal Ebola response

Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, center, and GOP lawmakers speak to reporters after a Republican caucus meeting, at the Capitol in Washington on May 6, 2014. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

updated at 3:51 p.m. with comment from HHS.

WASHINGTON — Texas Republicans are demanding answers from the Health and Human Services Administration about how existing public resources were used to combat the Ebola outbreak.

In a letter sent Friday, Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz — joined by all 24 Texas Republicans in the U.S. House — raise concerns that new Ebola cases emerged on U.S. soil despite the department’s funding for public health crises.

According to the letter, a 2013 law gave nearly $1.4 billion to “public health preparedness and response activities,” part of it to support efforts in Dallas and other metropolitan cities.

“[I]t is especially troubling to witness the federal government’s communications missteps and confusion about protocols knowing that a wide range of federal resources have already been in place for years,” the lawmakers write.

In a statement Friday afternoon, HHS said it looks forward to responding to the letter.

“HHS values working with members of Congress on this important public health matter,” spokesman Bill Hall said.

National Ebola protocols came under scrutiny after two Dallas health care workers contracted the disease while treating an Ebola patient. The patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, died but the two nurses, Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, have been declared Ebola-free.

Labeling Dallas “ground zero” for the first Ebola case, the Texas lawmakers say it’s necessary to understand how the U.S. government has applied its resources before charting a path forward.

In their letter, they tick through a number of requests to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell, including an explanation of how policies under a 2006 law are helping to contain and treat the disease.

That law created the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, a position whose responsibilities Texas lawmakers also want detailed.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates endorses Will Hurd

In this June 2011 file photo, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates takes questions from the media at the Pentagon. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON — Former CIA director and Defense Secretary Robert Gates is backing Republican congressional candidate Will Hurd, Gates’ first endorsement this election cycle.

“Will [has served] our country on the front lines of the War on Terror, he knows the cost of freedom, and you can count on him to take care of our veterans here at home,” Gates said in a statement issued by the Hurd campaign. “[Will] is a man of courage, integrity, and ability, and I enthusiastically support [his] election to the United States Congress.”

Will Hurd, the Republican candidate in the 23rd District. (Hurd campaign)

Hurd, a former CIA operative, is running as a Republican against freshman Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, in a sprawling West Texas district. During his CIA tenure, Hurd collected intelligence in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

On Thursday, Hurd expressed gratitude for Gates’ support. Gates served as Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011, under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

“It is a true honor to have the support of such a highly respected National Security expert,” Hurd said in a statement. “I hope to continue fighting to keep our country strong and to protect freedom and democracy, as Secretary Gates has done.”

Ebola lobbying hits Washington

WASHINGTON — Ebola lobbying is going viral in Washington.

Over July through September, more than 15 groups cited the disease in lobbying reports filed with the Secretary of the Senate’s Office of Public Records. The organizations include drugmakers, hospitals and health professional associations, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which noted the lobbying trend.

Cerus Corporation, which is seeking compassionate use approval of its anti-viral blood treatment technology, has spent $20,000, the reports indicate. Zimek Technologies, which has touted its disinfecting system for hospital rooms, also shelled out $20,000.

Another company, Hemispherx BioPharma, brought on the firm Squire Patton Boggs to “to bring our experimental drug Ampligen and FDA approved drug Alferon online as potential therapeutics for Ebola,” according to a statement provided to Politico.

Last month, Congress approved $88 billion for Ebola drug research as part of a short-term spending bill. There aren’t any drugs or vaccines approved to treat the disease in the U.S., but several experimental drugs have been used.

Another company, Sanford Health, has been lobbying on “issues related to [the] Ebola outbreak, including education, research and funding needed for treatment,” according to the filings.

Other organizations that listed Ebola in the reports include Sarepta Therapeutics, which is pushing for fast-track approval of its experimental Ebola treatment, and ONE Action, U2 singer Bono’s advocacy group.

 

 

Texas judicial nominees could get Senate committee vote in November

Robert L. Pitman, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, speaks at a news conference June 4 in Midland. (AP Photo/Odessa American, Courtney Sacco)

WASHINGTON — A Senate committee could vote as early as Nov. 13 on three nominees for lifetime appointments as federal judges in Texas.

That’s the final step before the full Senate decides whether to confirm U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman of San Antonio, Texarkana lawyer Robert Schroeder III, and Sherman Magistrate Judge Amos Mazzant III.

Unless Republicans object, the Judiciary Committee plans to hold the vote when it meets for the first time after the November elections. Under Senate rules, any committee member can postpone the vote by one week.

The Senate vote could come by the end of the year, depending on the timing of committee action.

To be confirmed, a majority of senators must approve of the picks.

At a Judiciary Committee hearing last month, Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz praised the nominees and their qualifications. Both Texas Republicans sit on the committee.

“Each of these three nominees are lawyers of the highest caliber and the kinds of individuals who should serve on the federal bench,” Cornyn said.

President Barack Obama announced the nominations in June, after Cornyn and Cruz recommended them to the White House.

The seat Pitman would hold in San Antonio has been vacant the longest, since the end of 2008. He Pitman would become the state’s first openly gay judge in Texas.

Mazzant would fill a seat in Marshall. Schroeder, a partner at the law firm Patton, Tidwell, Schroeder & Culbertson, is up for a post in Texarkana.