Trump’s Cabinet Holds Events With House Republicans in Tight Races

President Donald Trump’s Cabinet members and top political appointees are flying around the country to conduct events with House Republicans in tough re-election races.

None of the events were explicitly political. But they demonstrate one of the advantages that incumbent lawmakers have when their party holds the White House—bringing top officials to their home districts to reinforce the idea that the lawmakers are addressing their policy concerns.

At least five members of the administration held events this week with Republicans who are in races rated as “toss-ups” or leaning Democratic or Republican by the three major political ratings organizations.

The late-August push of appearances marks the beginning of a renewed momentum ahead of the election, Sherri Greenberg, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, told Bloomberg Environment.

“As far as I’m concerned, we’re already in September, and that‘s the slippery slope with early voting,” she said.

Perry Talks Energy in Texas

Energy Secretary Rick Perry visited Rep. Pete Sessions in his Dallas-area district Aug. 27 to discuss American energy policy. The eight-term congressman is running against Democrat Collin Allred in a district that voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

“Secretary Perry and I were able to sit down with local leaders to have a productive and free-flowing discussion on regulations impacting the energy industry and how emerging markets, like China and India, will impact the U.S.,” Sessions said in a statement.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson met with Rep. Keith Rothfus, who is facing Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb in November, to tour a public housing complex in Ambridge, Pa. Lamb is widely seen as the front-runner in that matchup.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine attended a roundtable with Republican Rep. Steve Knight of California on aeronautics and space exploration.

And Environmental Protection Agency acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler touted the EPA’s new plan to limit carbon emissions from power plants alongside Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr and Ohio Rep.-elect Troy Balderson in districts where President Barack Obama’s environmental policies were deeply unpopular.

Balderson, whose district is rated as “leans Republican” by the Cook Political Report, won by a mere 1,680 votes against Democrat Danny O’Connor in the special Aug. 7 election to replace Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio). The two will again face each other in November.

Tariffs a Test

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who must defend the White House’s stance on tariffs that could harm agricultural trade, is attending events with four vulnerable candidates: New York Rep. Claudia Tenney and three GOP politicians in Iowa: Gov. Kim Reynolds, Rep. Rod Blum, and Rep. David Young.

Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on goods from major trading partners of the U.S. sparked retaliatory measures from Canada and China. Agricultural exports stand to suffer from these measures, despite an initial $4.7 billion direct aid from the government.

“I think this tariff issue is the real test because it’s going to hit the pocketbook of farmers,” Barbara Trish, a political scientist at Grinnell College in Iowa, told Bloomberg Environment.

Hatch Act Bounds

The Hatch Act prohibits government officials from overtly endorsing a political candidate or raising money for a campaign, Paul S. Ryan, vice president of policy and litigation at the nonprofit Common Cause, told Bloomberg Environment. But an official can—in addition to holding policy-related functions with a lawmaker—make a contribution and attend campaign events.

“They’re typically people who have been partisans for many years,” Ryan said of political appointees. “It’s no surprise that they continue to be involved although they are constrained by the Hatch Act.”

Trump’s cachet was apparent in Florida’s Aug. 28 Republican gubernatorial primary, in which the president’s close ally Rep. Ron DeSantis finished 20 percentage points ahead the better-funded candidate Adam Putnam.