President Donald Trump will make three campaign stops in Pennsylvania on Monday as his campaign tries to chip away at former Vice President Joe Biden’s polling lead in the Keystone State.
Trump narrowly won Pennsylvania in 2016, but USA TODAY’s polling average has Biden leading Trump by 5.4 points there just over a week before Election Day.
Both campaigns have their eyes on Pennsylvania. Trump gave a rally there last week, former President Barack Obama was in Philadelphia on Wednesday and Biden and wife Jill were there on Saturday.
The Supreme Court could get its ninth justice on Monday, when the Senate is expected to take its final confirmation vote on Amy Coney Barrett. Vice President Mike Pence, who campaigns in Minnesota on Monday, had planned to preside over the Senate vote, but those plans are “in flux” after a recent outbreak of COVID-19 among his staff.
☕ The latest:
- ‘Settle for Biden’: Not all Biden voters are enthusiastic about their candidate. The Settle for Biden organization is geared to get young progressives to vote for the Democrat who has run as a centrist.
- Lincoln Project: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have threatened to sue the Lincoln Project over ads running in Times Square.
- Who performed better in debate?: A majority of registered voters said Biden performed better than Trump in the final debate last week, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll.
📊 What the polls are saying: Biden is leading Trump in Florida and Pennsylvania, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll released Saturday.
📆 Eight days until Election Day, 86 days until Inauguration Day, 67 days left in 2020.
🗳️ Voting: See USA TODAY’s Voter Guide for information on registering to vote, when your state begins voting and what the candidates think about the issues.
We will update this article throughout the day. You can follow all of USA TODAY’s politics reporters on Twitter or subscribe to our daily On Politics newsletter.
Pompeo under scrutiny for controversial convention speech
A government ethics office is investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for possible violations of a federal law that bars Executive Branch employees from engaging in partisan political activities, according to two House Democrats.
The probe centers on Pompeo’s controversial decision to deliver remarks to the Republican National Convention – even though it was a break in diplomatic protocol and appeared to violate the State Department’s own policy barring partisan political activity.
“Our offices have confirmed that the Office of Special Counsel has launched a probe into potential Hatch Act violations tied to Secretary Pompeo’s speech to the Republican National Convention,” Reps. Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Nita Lowey, chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, said in a joint statement Monday.
“It was lawful.’:Pompeo defends controversial RNC speech
The Hatch Act is intended to prevent public officials from using their taxpayer-funded office to conduct partisan politics.
“I can confirm that OSC has opened a case file, but am unable to comment beyond that,” said Zachary Kurz, a spokesman for the OSC.
The State Department’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The State Department previously dismissed questions about the ethics of Pompeo’s remarks by saying he was addressing the RNC in his “personal capacity.” The agency said no official federal resources were used for the event.
But Pompeo made his speech in the middle of an official State Department trip to the Middle East. His speech was recorded and piped in from Israel.
– Deirdre Shesgreen
Trump administration planning White House swearing-in of Amy Coney Barrett
President Donald Trump hopes to capitalize on Amy Coney Barrett’s expected confirmation to the Supreme Court by holding a public swearing-in ceremony as early as Monday night, just hours after the Senate vote, officials said.
Trump, who campaigns throughout Pennsylvania on Monday, is scheduled to return to the White House around 7:40 p.m. EDT, around the time of the Senate confirmation vote on Barrett.
The White House is planning a Monday night ceremony for Barrett, though the event could slip to Tuesday if the Senate vote is somehow delayed, said an official familiar with the planning, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Senate has not yet confirmed Barrett.
Trump has made Barrett’s nomination a major issue on the campaign trail, and will more than likely speak at the swearing-in ceremony that would take place eight days before Election Night. Trump also had a public ceremony on Sept. 26 to announce Barrett’s nomination, and in the days afterward more than a dozen attendees tested positive for the coronavirus.
Chief of Staff Mark Meadows declined to provide details of the event, but said that COVID restrictions would be in place given the recent outbreak in the vice president’s office.
“We’ll be doing the best we can to encourage as much social distancing as possible,” Meadows said.
A ceremony is not required for Barrett to become a member of the high-court.
– David Jackson
Pence’s plans to preside over Amy Coney Barrett vote ‘in flux’
Vice President Mike Pence’s plans to preside over the Senate’s confirmation vote of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett were up in the air Monday morning, following the recent outbreak of coronavirus among his inner circle.
“I think that is in flux,” White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters.
Pence’s vote, as president of the Senate, isn’t expected to be needed to break a tie. But Pence has been heavily involved in President Donald Trump’s three Supreme Court nominations and he presided over the confirmation votes of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
“I’m gonna be in the chair because I wouldn’t miss that vote for the world,” Pence said of the final vote for Barrett during a campaign rally in Florida Saturday.
But that was before his office revealed that Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, had tested positive for COVID-19. Other close aides have also contracted the virus.
‘Totally irresponsible’:Dems criticize Pence presiding over Amy Coney Barrett vote after aides contract COVID-19
Pence has not curtailed his public schedule – which includes a campaign trip to Minnesota Monday – because the White House says he is an “essential worker.”
Pence and second lady Karen Pence again tested negative for COVID-19, the vice president’s office said Monday morning.
Senate Democrats, however, scoffed at the notion and said his presence in the Senate would be a clear violation of guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“It would also be a violation of common decency and courtesy,” Democratic leaders wrote in a letter to Pence. “Nothing about your presence in the Senate tomorrow can be considered essential.”
– Maureen Groppe
Nancy Pelosi says she will seek another speaker term if Democrats keep House
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that she will run for another term as speaker should Democrats keep control of the lower chamber.
When asked whether she would seek reelection in 2021, Pelosi told CNN “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper, “Yes, I am. But let me also say, we have to win the Senate.”
The statement is in line with an agreement Pelosi made when she was elected to the office, which limits her speakership to four years.
– Matthew Brown
Sen. Susan Collins says she’ll vote against Barrett confirmation
Sen. Susan Collins said Sunday that she would vote against Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court making the Maine Republican the only member of the GOP expected to oppose the federal appeals judge’s appointment to the high court.
Collins, who is facing a tough reelection battle, had said for weeks that she opposed the Senate taking up Barrett’s nomination before voters have their say on Election Day. She reiterated her stance on Sunday.
“Because this vote is occurring prior to the election, I will vote against the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett,” Collins said in a statement.
She added that her “vote does not reflect any conclusion that I have reached about Judge Barrett’s qualifications to serve on the Supreme Court” but rather, was about fairness after the Republican majority refused to take up Merrick Garland’s nomination by President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court months ahead of the 2016 election.
– Christal Hayes
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