Update on Candace Valenzuela '06: Elizabeth Warren Endorsed Her on 1/28/2020

Last week, we talked about CMC alum involved in political campaigns, and we spoke about Candace Valenzuela who is currently running for TX Congressional District 24. On January 28, Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren endorsed Valenzuela for the House seat.

Here's the link to the article: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2020/01/28/elizabeth-warren-backs-candace-valenzuela-in-district-24-congressional-race/

Impeachment

Impeachment v. Bill of Attainder

Persons subject to impeachment (CRS 35)

• A separate process for disciplining members of Congress.

The list

The House

• "Due process" does not apply.  The Fifth Amendment says no person shall "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."  Impeachment merely removes a person from office.
• Simple majority

The Senate

• The majority makes the rules
• The role of the Chief Justice

The Grounds

• Treason
• Bribery
• High Crimes and Misdemeanors
• The "take care" clause

Andrew Johnson Articles of Impeachment  -- see esp. Article Ten

Nixon

• Yes, there was a partisan dimension.
• A key staffer remembers...

Clinton

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First Essay Spring 2020

Pick one:

• Carefully review Davidson, ch. 5. Compare and contrast the “Hill style” and “home style” of any current member of Congress. That is, how the "presentation of self" at home either resemble or differ from the member's Washington persona?  
• Pick any member of the House or Senate.  How has that member explained her or his position on the current impeachment controversy?  How does this explanation reflect both the member's constituency and her or his place on Capitol Hill?
• How does the demographic composition of a House district affect representational style?  Do members have an easier or harder time with home style and other aspects of representation if one racial or ethnic group predominates? Specifically, do they have an easier time reconciling Hill style and home style?
• Paper on constituent service
• Constituent data (percentages)
• A 2015 magazine article.

Essays should reflect an understanding of class readings and discussions. Many resources, including CQ Weekly and Politics in America, are at Honnold Library/Databases/CQ Library. See The Almanac of American Politics either in hardcopy at Honnold or via the library website. Consult other sources as well. See: http://www1.cmc.edu/pages/faculty/JPitney/congress.html

The specifications:

• Essays should be typed (12-point), double-spaced, and no more than three pages long. I will not read past the third page. 
• Please submit all papers in this course as Word documents, not pdfs.
• Cite your sources. Please use endnotes in the format of Chicago Manual of Style.  Endnotes do not count against the page limit. Please do not use footnotes, which take up too much page space.
• Watch your spelling, grammar, diction, and punctuation. Errors will count against you. Return essays to the Sakai dropbox for this class by 11:59 PM, Friday, February 7. Papers will drop one gradepoint for one day’s lateness, a full letter grade after that.

Trump's lawyer: Obama solicited help from Russia in 2012 election

Eric Herschman, one of Trump's lawyers, argued on Monday that you could substitute Obama's name into article 1 of Trump's impeachment. He said that he was "weak" on Russia, citing a debate clip from 2012 where he criticized Mitt Romney for saying Russia was our greatest geopolitical threat. When I opened the live stream, I heard Herschman say that Obama was weak when it came to Russia and may have asked for political assistance against Romney. I thought that it was crazy that this Obama argument was part of Trump's legal strategy/opening statement. It also highlights a concern among lawmakers that impeachment may turn into a political tool, not a constitutional one.

John Bolton Must Have Heard About Our Class Anthem

A book in the news:

Comparative Perspectives, Two Congresses

• Congressional pay and benefits
• Congressional staff titles
• Congressional staff salaries (find individuals here)
• Article I of the Constitution
• Burke's speech to the electors of Bristol (Davidson, p. 7-8)
• Demographics:

• Paths to Congress
• New members
• Immigration
• Religion
• African Americans
• House constituencies
• Home style

AOC-DC questions Michael Cohen:


Consider the characteristics of NY 14 as AOC goes local:

The Candy Desk

Alex Gangitano at The Hill:

The famous candy desk on the Senate floor is getting restocked on Friday after hungry senators diminished the supply during the early days of the impeachment trial.

Since the 114th Congress, the desk has belonged to Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who stocks it with candy for colleagues. The tradition started in 1965 with then-Sen. George Murphy (R-Calif.).

Toomey’s communication director wrote in an email to reporters that Hersey’s, which is headquartered in Pennsylvania, sent “reinforcements that have just been delivered to Senator Toomey’s office (248 Russell) this morning.”

In my own version of this tradition, I have the candy door.  Visit 232 Kravis, and sample the cup of candy that I have clipped to the metal slot.

Impeachment and the Congress Class

Senate flashcards:

NYT has a sketch artist covering impeachment, catching moments like Sen. Risch sleeping https://t.co/kXf9Voi0Og pic.twitter.com/fH5fee7In4

— Michael Calderone (@mlcalderone) January 22, 2020

 And the backstory

And the true story of the Compromise of 1790