Democracy Download: Week of September 4, 2018

09.4.2018 / By Aaron Scherb

Democracy Download is an every-other-weekly round-up of democracy-related events from across the ideological spectrum.

Democracy Download, an every-other-weekly round-up of events, hearings, and other important dates of note pertaining to our democracy. The events cover a range of perspectives from across the ideological spectrum and are all based in Washington, D.C., but some of them can be seen on C-Span, or live-streamed in Facebook Live, or another online source.  Check links for details.

Common Cause publishes this list every-other-week, or weekly if events warrant. If you’d like this delivered as an e-newsletter to your email, or if you have an event you’d like to see listed, contact me at AScherb@commoncause.org. The e-newsletter version also tracks all democracy-related bills introduced in the 115th Congress, which you can find here.

Key Dates (All times Eastern)

  • September 4, 9:30am: The Senate Judiciary Committee begins several days of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, 216 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC. Livestreamed here.
  • September 5, 9:30am: Senate Intelligence Committee holds an open hearing entitled, “Foreign Influence Operations’ Use of Social Media Platforms,” G50 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.
  • September 6, 11am: The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) hold an event to release its report entitled, “Securing the Vote: Protecting American Democracy,” National Academy of Sciences Building, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW (Room 125), Washington, DC. RSVP here.
  • September 6, 1pm-2pm: The American Bar Association hosts a webinar entitled, “Gerrymandering and the New Supreme Court: Where Do We Go From Here?” with Common Cause national redistricting director Kathay Feng and law professor/election expert Rick Hasen, RSVP here.
  • September 7: Sentencing hearing for George Papadopoulos, who pled guilty to one count of lying to the FBI
  • September 11, 12pm-1:30pm: Cato Institute hosts an event entitled, “Can Free Speech Be Progressive?” with former White House lawyer Robert Bauer and others, 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Hayek Auditorium, Washington, DC. RSVP here.
  • September 17: Constitution Day
  • September 18, 2:30pm-4pm: The Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement and the Cook Political Report host an event entitled, “Drawn Out: How Iowa Got Redistricting Right” at the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor (1st Amendment Lounge), Washington, DC. RSVP here.
  • September 20, 9:30am-11am: Bipartisan Policy Center hosts a panel entitled, “Social Media in the 2018 Campaign” at 1225 Eye Street NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC. RSVP here.
  • September 24: Start of Paul Manafort’s trial in the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC.
  • September 25: National Voter Registration Day (see this full list of events around the country)
  • September 27, 10am: Federal Election Commission holds an open meeting, 1050 1st St. NE, Washington, DC. Agenda TBA.
  • September 30: Deadline for federal employees to report payments of travel accepted from non-Federal sources to the Office of Government Ethics
  • October 1: Deadline for congressional candidates to complete Common Cause’s Our Democracy 2018 questionnaire (to date, more than 200 congressional candidates have completed it)
  • October 15: 3rd quarter campaign finance reports are due to the FEC