Today on the Hill: NC Voters Head to Polls for Bellwether Special Election

Voters in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District will head to the polls today for a highly-anticipated special election after the 2018 race was marred by credible allegations of election fraud. Democrat Dan McCready — who was also the 2018 nominee — will face off against NC State Rep Dan Bishop in a tossup race that will be closely watched as a possible indicator for the 2020 election. Elsewhere in the Tar Heel State, voters in the 3^rd Congressional District will also head to the polls for a special election to replace the late Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC). GOP State Rep. Greg Murphy is expected to knock off former Greenville Mayor Allen Thomas in this safe Republican district.

Back in Washington, House lawmakers will reconvene this afternoon and will look to clear a host of suspension bills out of the Financial Services Committee. This includes: (1) a measure that seeks to provide rental assistance to low-income tenants in rural housing projects finance by the U.S. Department of Agriculture; (2) legislation that would amend the Bank Service Company Act to provide improvements with respect to State banking agencies; and (3) an act that would amend the Federal Reserve Act to require Federal Reserve banks to interview at least one individual reflective of gender and racial or ethnic diversity when appointing bank presidents.

In the upper chamber, Senators will resume consideration of pending presidential nominations, including the nomination of Elizabeth Darling to be Commissioner on Children, Youth, and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Off the floor, the Senate Appropriations Committee is slated to begin marking up fiscal year (FY) 2020 spending bills for Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, Energy-Water, and State-Operations this morning. The Senate’s appropriations process has gotten off to a slow start thus far, as negotiators have still yet to agree upon the so-called 302(b) allocations for the Senate’s FY 2020 funding measures.