Robert C Scott

NORFOLK, Va. — At a recent town hall here in Virginia’s second most populous city, Rep. Robert C. Scott patiently took questions from more than two dozen residents waiting in line. The queue stretched to the very back of a high school auditorium with some standing for the entire portion of the two-hour public meeting.

Absent was the rancor that has dominated town halls across the country this year — mostly those held by congressional Republicans facing angry crowds, upset over changes the GOP wants to make to the 2010 health care law and expressing steadfast opposition to Donald Trump’s presidency.

The White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner is a day away. But Friday is a big night for parties to start the weekend off.

RealClearPolitics, the Distilled Spirits Council, the National Restaurant Association and the Beer Institute are joining for the first annual Toast to the First Amendment. It is from 7 to 10 p.m. at the National Restaurant Association, 2055 L St. NW.

The debate over miner health care and pensions that brought the Senate to the precipice of a government shutdown in December might be coming back.

Coal miners from the United Mine Workers have been all over the Capitol meeting with lawmakers in recent weeks.

Virginia Democrats prefer Rep. Robert C. Scott to take over the Senate seat of Tim Kaine if Democrat Hillary Clinton wins the White House and takes her running mate Kaine with her. 

The Judy Ford Wason Center for Public Policy/Christopher Newport University poll released Tuesday found that 27 percent of Old Dominion Democrats want to see Gov. Terry McAuliffe appoint Scott to the seat until a special election in 2017. 

Updated as of 11:45 p.m. |  Sen. Tim Kaine was not progressive Democrats' first pick for vice president, and he's unlikely to have changed many minds after his convention speech Wednesday.  

In his big introduction speech to the world, Kaine spent more time talking about Republican nominee Donald Trump than himself.  

While Sen. Tim Kaine was widely seen as the safest choice for presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's ticket, the Virginia Democrat's selection isn't without potential complications.  

Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a longtime ally of the Clintons, would assuredly appoint a Democrat to fill Kaine's seat if the first-term senator were to become vice president, but the resignation would prompt an unusual off-year Senate campaign in the commonwealth. The special election would align with the 2017 governor's race.  

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that a group of Republican members of Congress can’t challenge a lower court ruling that found an unconstitutional gerrymander created the lines for Virginia’s majority-black 3rd District held by Democratic Rep. Robert C. Scott .  

​The decision upholds the lower court ruling that ultimately created new districts for the November congressional elections  and quells any lingering uncertainty over the new district boundaries. Virginia's congressional primaries are scheduled for June 14.  

At oral arguments on the case brought by 10 current and former Republican members of Congress, the four justices who make up the liberal wing of the court expressed doubt not only about the case, but that the lawmakers had the right to bring the challenge at all.  Whether members of Congress can interject themselves in legal disputes over the borders of neighboring districts is the crucial question in this case.  

If the liberal bloc sticks together in the decision, expected before June, it would be enough to cause at least a 4-4 tie on the court, which has had a vacancy since the death of Antonin Scalia on Feb. 13. A split would uphold the lower court ruling that ultimately caused new districts for the November congressional elections.  

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Monday in a case that could determine if members of Congress can interject themselves in legal disputes over the borders of neighboring districts.  

Ten current and former Republican members of Congress from Virginia want the Supreme Court to stop a court-ordered redistricting plan in that state. But first the lawmakers will have to convince the justices that they have the right to challenge it.