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Category: On the Hill

Senate Set to Vote on Competing Measures; Is That Progress?

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The Senate is scheduled to take up today two competing bills drafted to end the partial shutdown. Neither is expected to move forward.

The Republican measure follows the provisions outlined in President Trump’s remarks last weekend.  In addition to reopening the government, the bill also includes, among other provisions: $5.7 billion for a physical barrier; a three-year extension of protected status for 700,000 individuals currently in DACA; and a short-term extension for those currently Temporary Protected Status.  It would also make changes to the asylum process.

The Democrats’ counter-offer would reopen the government on a short-term basis through February 8, with no new funds for a border wall.  It also includes additional disaster funds and language that puts restrictions on how border security funds could be used.

With the current 53-47 make-up of the Senate, and because 60 votes would be needed to cut off debate and bring either measure to a vote, neither bill is expected to move forward in the process.  However, the votes today represent the first floor action in the Senate of any kind related to the reopening of the government since before the holidays.

 

House Continues to Take Up Funding Bills

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While the action in the Senate has been non-existent with respect to the shutdown, the House has been busy taking up and passing a host of bills to reopen the government.  None of the bills in the House has included funding for a border wall called for by the President.  The House action up to now has included passing individual bills as well as bundling them into a package.

Not surprisingly, the House action has not translated into Senate passage of any of the measures.

No End in Sight as Partial Shutdown Hits 24th Day

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With the partial shutdown now in its 24th day, making it the longest shutdown in history by far, there is still no in sight.  The two sides– the White House and the Congressional Democrats– have dug in their heels and no other meetings have been scheduled.

It was widely reported last week that a sizable number of the federal employees impacted by the shutdown did not receive their paychecks last week.  While some parts of the country may not yet have been impacted by the shutdown, the Washington Post reports on what else could be impacted in the days and weeks to come.

With Pelosi as Speaker, New House Seeks to Open Government

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As expected, the 116th House of Representatives elected yesterday Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as the new Speaker of the House. She returns to the past that she once held.

Also as expected, the Democratically-controlled House a package of measures that would reopen the government: the first combined six of the seven unsigned appropriations bills and would fund the agencies in those bills through the rest of the year, while the second measure would reopen the Department of Homeland Security, with no additional funding for the wall, through February 8.  The new House leadership has emphasized that the language approved by the House is the exact same language that was approved by the Republican-controlled Senate before the holidays in order to avoid the partial shutdown before President Trump announced that he would not sign it.

While the House was working on the funding package, both the White House and the Senate Majority Leader reiterated their opposition to the House bill.

With the shutdown now in its 14th day, leaders from both houses and both sides of the aisle are scheduled to meet with the President once again later today.

Read more about the situation here, here, here, and here.

Pelosi Wins Democratic Nomination for Speaker

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Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) officially won the nod as the Democratic nominee for Speaker for the 116th Congress.  The vote among Democrats was 203 to 32, with three  abstentions.

With no other candidate running against her, even after a number of Democrats pledging not to back her as Speaker, her status as the Democratic nominee was not in question.  However, as the Speaker must be elected by the entire House and not just the majority party, Pelosi must still go before the entire House when it convenes in January.  It remains to be seen as to how many votes she’ll ultimately be able to garner in the chamber.

In addition to Pelosi’s nomination as Speaker, the House Democrats chose Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Jim Clyburn (D-SC) as the Majority Leader and Majority Whip, respectively.