Good Friday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 111th day of the year. There are 254 days remaining in 2017.
Chaffetz says he may step down from Congress before his term ends. A poll shows McMullin would beat Hatch head-to-head. Republicans are struggling to avoid a government shutdown.
The clock:
- 29 days until the Utah Republican State Convention (5/20/2017)
- 57 days until the Utah Democratic State Convention at Weber State University (6/17/2017)
- 200 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
- 276 days until the opening day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (1/22/2018)
- 321 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)
- 564 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
- 1,292 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)
Today’s political TL; DR –
- Just one day after announcing he would not run for re-election in 2018, Rep. Jason Chaffetz says he’s considering resigning from Congress before his term is over [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
- Utah GOP Chairman James Evans says Chaffetz will step down from his seat “sooner rather than later” [Utah Policy].
- If Chaffetz steps down, Utah will have to hold its first special election for Congress in more than 80 years. In that case, there likely won’t be a signature-gathering route to the ballot for candidates to replace Chaffetz [Utah Policy].
- Rep. Jason Chaffetz says there’s no truth to the rumor that a scandal is a reason he is not running for another term in Washington [Politico].
- Understand the what and why from the past week in Utah politics with our week-in-review [Utah Policy].
- Gov. Gary Herbert suggests he might be interested in running for another term as governor in 2020 in the wake of speculation that Jason Chaffetz may be considering a running for that office as well [Tribune].
- A poll shows former independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin would defeat Sen. Orrin Hatch in a head-to-head matchup for the U.S. Senate [Deseret News].
- Sen. Orrin Hatch visits the newly-created Bears Ears National Monument, which he calls a “massive land grab” by the federal government [Deseret News].
- Even though Salt Lake City is out as the host of the Outdoor Retailers show, the city submitted a bid to host future shows [Deseret News, Tribune].
- President Donald Trump is ratcheting up the pressure on Republicans in Congress to revise the Affordable Care Act despite previous failure [Washington Post].
- Time is almost up for President Trump and Congress to pass a funding measure to avoid a partial shutdown on April 29, which would happen to be Trump’s 100th day in office [Wall Street Journal].
- Markets are showing signs that investors are worried that the U.S. economy will start to weaken [Wall Street Journal].
- Attorney General Jeff Sessions dismisses a Hawaii judge who put President Trump’s proposed travel ban on hold as a “judge sitting on an island in the Pacific” [Politico].
- President Donald Trump is set to issue executive orders on steel imports, tax rules and dairy farmers [New York Times].
- Bill O’Reilly‘s exit from Fox News will include a payout of approximately $25 million, which is one year of salary for the TV host. O’Reilly was forced out following a string of sexual harassment allegations [Huffington Post].
On this day in history:
- 1649 – The Maryland Toleration Act, which provided for freedom of worship for all Christians, was passed by the Maryland assembly.
- 1836 – With the battle cry “Remember the Alamo!” Texas forces under Sam Houston defeated the army of Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna at San Jacinto, Texas, opening the path to Texas independence.
- 1918 – Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the German ace known as the “Red Baron,” was killed in action during World War I.