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Justice Antonin Scalia, 1936-2016 (SCOTUS Edition)

On Saturday, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead of natural causes in a ranch in the Big Bend area of West Texas at Cibo Creek Ranch. He was 79. Having died in such a remote area, the declaring the justice dead, and disseminating the news of the his death, caused some some issue.

Scalia, life in pictures (POLITICO)

Known for his caustic dissents, Justice Scalia began his service on the court as an outsider, but his theories, initially viewed as idiosyncratic, gradually took hold, and not only on the right and not only in the courts. He has been called the most influential jurist of the last quarter century.

Justice Scalia was a champion of originalism, the theory of constitutional interpretation that seeks to apply the understanding of those who drafted and ratified the Constitution. In Scalia’s hands, originalism generally led to outcomes that pleased political conservatives, but not always. His approach was helpful to criminal defendants in cases involving sentencing and the cross-examination of witnesses.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was an only child who quickly was a standout in high school and subsequently at Georgetown University (graduating summa cum laude) and Harvard Law School (graduating magna cum laude). After practicing law in Cleveland, OH and teaching law at the University of Washington, he was confirmed as Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel after the Watergate scandal — he was nominated by President Nixon and served under President Ford.

Eventually, Scalia was nominated and confirmed to the DC Court of Appeals by President Reagan in 1982. Reagan again nominated Scalia for the US Supreme Court in 1986, where he was unanimously confirmed. He was the longest serving justice on the court.

With the death of Justice Scalia, comes a political storm caused by his absence, which is made more keenly felt since there has never been a vacancy on the Supreme Court in a presidential election year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has declared that the Senate will not confirm a candidate until after the election of the new president. However, it is unlikely President Obama will not nominate a candidate. Even if the Senate does decide to move forward, it will be a long fight.

That said, the absence of Scalia does not mean that the court will cease working. Rather, the court will continue to work with the slim 5-4 conservative lean now gone. The even 4-4 split of the court calls into questions many of the cases on the docket and potential gridlock on issues, including congressional redistricting, abortion access, birth control access, forming unions, the Administration’s immigration and enviromental policy, affirmative action in college admissions, and more.

Holding with tradition, Justice Scalia will lie in repose at the Supreme Court on Friday.

Final Obama State of the Union

In his final State of the Union address, President Obama hit a range of topics, from climate change, curing cancer, reforming criminal sentencing, campaign finance reform, and Cuba. The President made a pointed appeal for congressional cooperation this year on only a handful of legislative matters. None were the sort of bold new proposals that would have been destined for “dead on arrival” pronouncements from Congressional Republicans even if he were not a Democrat in the final year of his run.

On the education front, the Administration will continue to push for two of his major unfinished education priorities, giving every college student two years of free community college and providing the nation’s youngsters with universal pre-K. The President promoted hands-on computer science classes and noted that plans for the year ahead include “helping students learn to write computer code.”

One new policy push the President announced was an ambitious national effort to cure cancer, a moon shot-like goal, to be led by Vice President Joe Biden, which could rely heavily on new research. The White House is already developing a detailed road map for accelerating research, compressing 10 years’ worth of work into five, using the National Institutes of Health and private partnerships. One goal is not just to accelerate research, but get treatments to patients. The move comes after the House has passed HR 6, the 21st Century Cures Act last year as well as Vice President Biden’s own recent loss of his from cancer.

The full text of the address is here. 

 

 

State of the Union, Tonight

President Obama will address a joint session of Congress this evening in the annual State of the Union Address. It will be Obama’s seventh and final State of the Union address. Typically, the final address is used as a roadmap for the party and the presidential election to come (or already in full swing), and only 4 President’s have been able to take advantage of this opportunity.

The address is rooted in the Constitution, but has taken a decidedly partisan approach in modern politics. Recently, Members of Congress have booed or called out at the President during the address and Supreme Court Justices have refused to attend the address.

While the speech is not yet final, the White House is expected to discuss STEM and the success underrepresented students have had in the STEM fields. And a college student and STEM advocate will be a guest of first lady Michelle Obama, in addition to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. While the State of the Union is designed to set the tone for the legislative and political session while laying out sweeping initiatives, not all of these ideas have enjoyed political success. 

 

Federal Relations will have an update on the initiatives outlined and the Administration’s subsequent efforts following the address.

President’s FY 2017 Budget Delayed

The Office of Management and Budget announced that the President’s FY 2017 Budget proposal will be delayed until February 9th. The President’s budget is statutorily required to be presented to Congress the first Monday of February, which this year is February 1st.

A delay on the budget transmission is not a new event for the Administration, and nearly all of the Obama Administration Budgets have been just or well past the first Monday deadline.

Federal Relations will continue to monitor the progress of the budget as well as the release and the resulting impacts.