Constitutional Law

CapHill Round-Up: 4/6/09

After a party-line vote supporting the bulk of President Obama's proposed budget, Congress adjourned for a two-week spring recess late last week. Even with the Hill quiet, however, the wrangling continues for seats and votes.

SEATS UNSETTLED

The special election to determine who replaces now-Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in New York's 20^th congressional district has resulted in a dead-even tie as of latest reports. With overseas and military ballots being accepted until April 13, and several thousand absentee ballots remaining uncounted, the contest is likely to go unresolved for several weeks.

On the other side of Capitol Hill, a legal challenge to Al Franken's lead over incumbent Norm Coleman continues winding through the Minnesota courts. ACS contributor and election law expert Prof. Richard Hasen recently surveyed the remaining legal avenues available to Coleman.

SOUGHT-AFTER VOTES

Despite the resolution of Coleman v. Franken being central to the battle over the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), advocates on both side of the debate are keeping the pressure high on seated senators who have yet to announce their positions. Both sides are now using location-targeted Google ads recently made available by the Web giant.

In other legislative news, advocates for giving Washington residents full representation in Congress are yielding no ground even after Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) amended the D.C. Voting Rights Act to weaken the District's gun safety laws. 'In only the 25 days between March 10 and April 5, 53 people have been killed in mass murders by gunmen,' Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said in a recent statement opposing Ensign's amendment. 'Yet, Members of the House and Senate have not looked at the gun amendment, but have regarded it as just another routine attachment to a local D.C. bill.'

Finally, The Washington Post's E.J. Dionne sees many obstacles to healthcare reform. However, he writes, 'Yes, this is the year Congress will finally give every American access to health insurance.'

Full post as published by ACS Blog on April 06, 2009 (boomark / email).