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Category: On the Hill

Congress Returns To Try To Address Unresolved Issues

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Both chambers of Congress return this week in an attempt to address several unresolved issues.

With respect to policy, the current continuing resolution (CR) that is funding programs and agencies supported by the seven unsigned appropriations bill runs out at midnight on December 8.  Congress and the White House must come to an agreement on how to address their differences in order to prevent a partial shutdown of the government.  The most high profile of these issues are the White House’s insistence on $5 billion for a border wall along the Southern border and the Congressional Democrats’ recent push on including provisions that would protect Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller in the final spending package.  A host of other disagreements on lower profile must also be ironed out.

While another CR is possible, the 116th Congress, one in which Democrats will control the House, convenes on January 3.  This fact may drive some of the negotiations during the lame duck session.

In preparation for the 116th Congress, the House Democrats are scheduled to elect their leadership team this Wednesday.  The only remaining question about the elections is whether Nancy Pelosi will have enough support from her colleagues to return to the Speaker position.  While there is no Member who has announced their candidacy in opposition to her, there seems to be some question as to how many Democrats will oppose her in the end.

 

Congress Reconvenes This Week

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With a number of races still yet to be called, Congress reconvenes this week to try to wrap up unfinished business as well as vote on a number of leadership positions for next Congress.  In addition, the newly elected members arrive in town this week to begin their official orientation program, which is expected to last until after Thanksgiving.

The most pressing of the unresolved issues to be addressed is the remaining FY2019 appropriations bills.  With the fiscal year having started October 1, seven of the 12 bills have yet to be signed into law.  Funding for a wall along the Southern border, which President Trump has repeatedly emphasized as a personal priority, is the biggest skirmish that will need to be settled during this lame duck period.  The current short-term government funding measure expires at midnight on December 8 and it remains to be seen whether the wall issue can be resolved by then.

In the meantime, with at least 92 new Members of the House and the Senate expected next year, the two parties in both chambers are expected to take up questions surrounding leadership positions for next Congress starting tomorrow.

House Republicans are expected to vote on their leaders tomorrow.  With Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) retiring at the end of this year and the Democrats taking control next year, current Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is seeking to become the Minority Leader.  He is expected to be challenged by Jim Jordan (R-OH), a leader of the Tea Party wing of the House Republicans.  Steve Scalise of Louisiana is not expected to be challenged for the position of Minority Whip.  Recently re-elected Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, who is currently the Republican Conference Chair, will not seek to keep that position in the new Congress and is expected to be replaced by Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

On the Democratic side of the aisle, the elections will wait until after Thanksgiving.  Although a number of Democratic House candidates pledged not to support her as the new Speaker if they were to win, it remains to be seen whether anyone will challenge Nancy Speaker of California for Speaker.  Steny Hoyer (D-MD) is expected to assume the position of Majority Leader in the new Congress.  The race for Majority Whip, at this point, has two candidates:  Jim Clyburn (D-SC), the current Assistant Democratic Leader, and Diana DeGette (D-CO), a long-time Member from Colorado.

In the Senate, with the Republicans retaining control, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky will remain as the Majority Leader.  In the position of Majority Whip, John Cornyn of Texas will likely be replaced by John Thune of South Dakota, due to term limits placed on leadership positions by the Senate Republicans.  John Barrasso of Wyoming is expected to become the new Republican Conference Chair.

Senate Democrats are expected to keep their leadership team in place, with Chuck Schumer of New York and Dick Durbin of Illinois remaining as Minority Leader and Minority Whip, respectively.

 

 

New Democratic Chairs to Helm House Committees

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As a result of the November elections, Democrats will assume the chairs of committees in the House when the new Congress convenes in 2019.

At the macro level, we can expect the Democrats to hold oversight hearings on myriad issues and activities related to the Trump Administration with respect to both policies and politics.  Individually, the soon-to-be chairs of the committees, all of whom are seasoned Members, will have different priorities that they plan to emphasize.  Earlier this year, Politico profiled a number of the Democrats likely to lead the panels after the switch in control.  A shorter synopsis of the new chairs’ backgrounds and their interests is provided below.

Appropriations

Nita Lowey, representing the suburbs of New York City, is expected to take over as the first woman to chair the Appropriations Committee.  First elected to Congress in 1988, she has been a tremendous champion of domestic programs.

She has served in the past as the lead Democrat on the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee, which is responsible for funding biomedical and student aid programs.  She has made funding NIH a priority in the past.

Armed Services

Adam Smith, representing the 9th Congress District of Washington and one of UW’s biggest backers, is slated to take over the chairmanship of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC).

A UW alum, he was first elected to Congress in 1996 and has served as Ranking Member on since 2011.

Education and the Workforce

Bobby Scott, who will be in his 14th term from the Newport News area of Virginia, will become the new chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee.

As chair, he will drive much of the agenda related to higher education, including the possible reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.  He will look to push back against much of the Trump Administration’s attempts to roll back consumer protections with respect to the for-profit institutions and well the proposed changes to Title IX and other civil rights issues.  The House Democrats’ HEA bill introduced earlier this year, the Aim Higher Act,  will likely serve as the starting point for HEA reauthorization.

Energy and Commerce

The Energy and Commerce has a big portfolio in terms of legislative jurisdiction, including health care.  Frank Pallone of New Jersey is expected to assume the chairmanship of the committee.

Pallone helped draft the Affordable Care Act in 2009 and 2010.  Possible changes to the ACA and other health care policies will have to go through his committee.

Homeland Security

Bennie Thompson of Mississippi is slated to take over as the chair of the Homeland Security Committee.

As the name states, the committee has jurisdiction over, among other issues, the Department of Homeland Security and its various agencies, including those responsible for immigration matters.  We should expect to a flurry of activities around the Administration’s immigration policies and practices.

Judiciary

The Judiciary Committee is scheduled to be taken over by Lowey’s fellow New Yorker Jerrold Nadler.

First elected in 1992, we should expect to see the committee take on the Administration on host of high profile issues, including immigration, gay and LGBTQ rights, and voting rights, just to name a few.

Oversight and Government Reform

Elijah Cummings of Baltimore will helm the Oversight and Government Reform panel.

This committee’s jurisdiction is broad and we should expect myriad subpoenas from and hearings in front of it on a host of matters related to the operation of the government which Democrats believe have not been adequately addressed by the House Republicans.

Ways and Means

The Ways and Means Committee has jurisdiction over tax matters but other issues of interest to UW as well, such as healthcare.  Much of the debate during this current Congress (which wraps up at the end of the year) on the tax bill and the ACA repeal took place in this committee.

Its next chairman, Richard Neal of Massachusetts, has been a member of the panel for 25 year.  Changes to healthcare and possible changes to the tax code will have to go through Chairman Neal and his Democratic colleagues in the 116th Congress.

 

Results…and Still Counting

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There are still many races that are still too close to call this morning, which was expected. It happened in 2012, 2014 and 2016. It’s happened twice already this year.

That said, many races have been called. The Democrats have 220 seats, exactly two more seats than needed for a majority and a gain of 27 seats, while Republicans have 193. There are currently just over 30 House seats yet to be called; if the current leader in all of them ends up winning, the House will be 227 Democrats, 208 Republicans. House Democrats gained in states like New York, California, Kansas, Iowa, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Oklahoma.

The Republican majority in the Senate got stronger with wins in Indiana, Florida, and Missouri. In the Senate there are still two races outstanding in Montana and Arizona, while Mississippi is going to have a runoff. Republicans lead in both those races; if the current leader ends up winning, the Senate will have 46 Democrats, 54 Republicans. Democrats were always looking at a challenging year as they were defending more seats and many in conservative states.

Democrats made significant pickups across the nation at the Governor’s office gaining seats in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Nevada, Kansas, and Maine. If they current leader ends up winning, there will be 23 Democratic and 27 Republican governors.

In some contentious races, like in Georgia and Mississippi, there is a possibility that no candidate will receive a majority of votes, kicking in special rules to decide the election at a later date. Although currently Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp is running just barely above the total needed for a recount. Mississippi looks likely to head to a runoff.  Florida has also triggered an automatic recount between Senate candidates Sen. Ben Nelson (D) and Gov. Rick Scott (R).

In Washington state, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-WA-05) defeated challenger Lisa Brown in a hotly contested race. Technically, two races are still outstanding this morning, but Rep. Jaime Herrera Beulter (R-WA-03) is expected to be re-elected and Dr. Kim Schier (D) is expected to be declared the winner over Dino Rossi to represent WA-08 in an open contest. Otherwise, the current Washington delegation was handily elected.

It’s Election Day!

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Happy Election Day!

In a much hyped and talked about mid-term election, Americans are going to the polls for some exciting local and national races. Will the Democrats win the House? How many new Members of Congress will Washington state have? Will the Republicans gain seats in the Senate? Will most of our nation’s governors be in the Democratic party? We will start to find out tonight. However, given the peculiarities and peccadilloes of each state’s elections laws, we might not know who has won many elections for weeks.

Washington state has some very interesting races being watched on the national stage, and with Congressman Reichert’s retirement, we will have at least one new Member of Congress representing WA-08. Track the results for all Washington races here.

For national races, the New York Times will has it’s very popular Needle on their home page tracking election results again this year.  CNN will also have live updates. The Washington Post also has a fun tracker. Do not expect poll returns until later in the day. The Times has a story on when polls close.

For those of you that have been intensely interested in this election (Beto! Stacey Abrams! Dino Rossi!)  just keep in mind, the forecasts and models were very wrong last year.  It’s raining in every state east of the Mississippi River, and that’s sure to impact turnout.

For those intensely interested in what’s happening across the country at every level, here’s a handy-dandy election tracker that has all high-target political races this election.

 

Federal Relations will update this post as necessary throughout the day and have an election recap tomorrow.