David Schweikert

Oliver Schwab, Arizona Rep. David Schweikert’s chief of staff, resigned as they both face an investigation by the House Ethics Committee. 

Schwab announced his resignation Monday, saying he was having surgery and will work as a U.S. Coast Guard licensed maritime captain, AZ Central reported. 

The House Ethics Committee has established an investigative subcommittee to discover whether Arizona Republican Rep. David Schweikert and his chief of staff, Oliver Schwab, violated multiple campaign finance and official congressional funds laws.

Committee members unanimously voted to continue the investigation, which Texas GOP Rep. John Ratcliffe will lead.

Arizona Rep. David Schweikert said he received more death threats in 2017 than in the rest of his time in Congress combined.

The fourth-term Republican made the comments on Wisconsin Republican Rep. Sean Duffy’s “Plaidcast” podcast, the Daily Caller reported.

The House Ethics Committee is reviewing an Office of Congressional Ethics referral to investigate Rep. David Schweikert and Oliver Schwab, his chief of staff.

Schwab has allegedly been paid by the Arizona Republican’s campaign beyond the limit for outside earned income for senior congressional staffers.

Now that President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have redesigned the tax code, niche markets from bitcoin buyers to kombucha makers and cannabis businesses are seeking their turn at the tax cut trough.

Producers of kombucha, a fermented tea drink growing in popularity with millennials, yogis and more, want lawmakers to ensure they’re free from alcohol excise taxes. Marijuana dispensaries are aiming to ease restrictions blocking them from claiming the same tax breaks as other small businesses. And amid a growing cryptocurrency craze, advocates are seeking to exempt transactions of bitcoin and other virtual currencies from strict IRS reporting requirements.

Welcome to At the Races! You can keep track of House and Senate races with this weekly newsletter by subscribing here. We want to hear what you think. Email us at attheraces@cqrollcall.com with your questions, tips or candidate sightings. — Simone Pathé and Bridget Bowman

The special election in Arizona’s 8th District will set the stage for a hotly contested Senate race and a handful of competitive House races in the Grand Canyon State. And both parties are watching for indications of what’s to come in November.

More than 150,000 people have already voted in the contest to replace Republican Rep. Trent Franks, who resigned in December amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Democrats are hopeful they can make the race close even though President Donald Trump carried the suburban Phoenix-based district by 21 points in 2016. And Republicans know analysts will be looking at the outcome for signs of a potential blue wave.

To try to “restore a little faith” in Congress, the Congressional Management Foundation on Friday announced the finalists for its first Democracy Awards.

The organization chose its finalists for their focus on constituent services, their workplace environment, innovation, and transparency.

Congress has already left town ahead of next week’s Presidents Day recess.

This week saw the arrival of President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2019 budget (if you missed it, we boiled down the agencies that would win and lose under the budget in one chart), House passage (though not without protests) of a bill aimed at curbing American with Disabilities Act lawsuits, and the Senate consideration (and likely the end of consideration) of immigration proposals. 

Arizona Rep. Dave Schweikert’s chief of staff is facing an ethics complaint for essentially taking two salaries while working for Congress.

The complaint filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics claims Oliver Schwab, who has worked for the Arizona Republican’s office since 2011, was running a consulting firm to help his boss’ campaign, the Phoenix New Times reported.