NRCC Weekly Rundown: Pelosi finally endorses Clinton, O’Connor running as an Independent in NH-01, another DCCC recruit goes down in flames, and more!
And here’s this week’s edition of the NRCC Weekly Rundown:
National: Hillary Clinton continued to consolidate the support of the Democrat establishment this week, as both President Obama and Nancy Pelosi finally broke their silence and endorsed her scandal-plagued campaign. House Democrats now have nowhere to hide from Clinton’s support for unpopular policies like Obamacare, the Iran Deal, or closing Gitmo, or from her numerous scandals, including the FBI investigation into her email server.
National: The DCCC had another embarrassing night on Tuesday, as their NJ-03 recruit Jim Keady was defeated and CA-21 recruit Emilio Huerta trails his opponent pending the final ballot count, joining their already defeated candidates in WV-02 and PA-07. To make matters worse, Democrats were forced to spend heavily in currently Democrat-held CA-24, just to ensure that a Democrat made it through the open primary.
CA-07: As Californians went to the polls on Tuesday, it was reported that Ami Bera is now facing multiple FEC complaints. These complaints come as Bera continues to claim ignorance of his father’s illegal fundraising activities. The scandal-plagued Bera will now face Republican Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones in November. Jones is extremely well-known and popular in the district, having served as Sheriff since 2010.
CO-06: News broke that Colorado health insurance premiums are set to skyrocket next year, and that nearly 100,000 Coloradans will be forced to find new coverage. Given these new developments, the NRCC wondered if Morgan Carroll would finally start running on her long-support for single-payer health care, that she seems to have avoided talking about since announcing her run for Congress.
NH-01: New Hampshire Democrats have a big problem on their hands, as the primary fight between Carol Shea-Porter and Shawn O’Connor has boiled over, with O’Connor bolting the party and promising to run as an Independent in November. To make matters worse for Democrats, O’Connor has pledged to self-fund his campaign to the tune of at least $1 million.
NY-21: Mike Derrick was caught breaking Pentagon rules this week. The Free Beacon reported that Derrick’s campaign materials freely reference his position as a retired officer and prominently featuring photographs of Derrick in uniform without including the required disclaimers.
OH-08: NRCC Chairman Greg Walden congratulated newly elected Representative Warren Davidson on his win in the 8th District special election. Rep. Davidson was elected with 77% of the vote and was sworn in on Thursday.
PA-08: Do-nothing state representative Steve Santarsiero rejected Brian Fitzpatrick’s proposed debate schedule, citing the need for him to be in Harrisburg for session. Since giving that excuse, Santarsiero has missed 44% of votes in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
VA-10: DC resident Luann Bennett was caught lying to the press about her living situation this week. Bennett told the Winchester Star that she never lived in her condo in the DC Ritz-Carlton, despite her rental listing for the unfurnished condo containing pictures depicting it fully furnished with personal belongings, including a family photo AND A TOOTH BRUSH!
WI-08: Taxin’ Tom Nelson skipped work this week to head to Milwaukee for a fundraiser. The host of this fundraiser? Tax-hiking ex-Governor Jim Doyle.
NEWS AND NOTES:
Knight Bill to Increase Natural Gas Safety Heads to President
A measure by Representative Steve Knight, CA-25, that would increase safety at underground natural gas storage facilities and help prevent future gas leaks passed the House floor on Wednesday. “The gas leak may be sealed, but we do not want a similar disastrous leak to happen in the future,” said Rep. Knight. “I am pleased that my colleagues in Congress recognize that the communities in this country need to be protected from dangerous natural gas leaks.” READ
Taking on TSA’s troubles
It’s only been a week and a half since House Homeland Security Committee leaders rolled out their legislative remedy for long TSA lines, and already the bill (H.R. 5338) is up for a vote in the House today. The measure, authored by Rep. John Katko, would require TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger to reassign behavior detection officers to checkpoint positions and give local TSA directors flexibility to make staffing decisions — two moves that are already underway, according to the TSA chief. READ
Congressman: Transportation sector’s FAST Act saved oil field workers
Hurd said many out-of-work oil field workers have been able to pick up construction jobs with the large transportation projects that are funded through the next four years.
“The reason why you don’t see high unemployment in South and West Texas is because we passed the FAST Act,” Hurd said. READ
Zeldin: “Improving Healthcare for America’s Seniors”
Congress has also been committed to passing legislation and securing funding to expand seniors’ access to the most innovative technologies and treatments so that we can diagnose and treat diseases as early as possible. Last year, the House passed the 21st Century Cures Act, bipartisan legislation that I cosponsor in Congress to improve and modernize our nation’s healthcare. READ
One Year After OPM Data Breach, What Has The Government Learned?
Rep. Will Hurd, who chairs the information technology panel of the House Oversight Committee, says OPM may be moving in the right direction now, but vulnerabilities remain across government agencies — whether it’s the Department of Education, which he says has “tons of information on anyone who’s going to school,” or the Social Security Administration.
“They’re not even adopting some of the best practices when it comes to good digital system hygiene,” says Hurd, a former CIA agent whose personnel records were among those hacked. READ