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Author: Gabriel Kornas

What We’re Reading this Week (February 1st-5th, 2021)

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Below is a selection of articles the Federal Relations team read this week.

Senate Under New Leadership: On Wednesday the Senate formally adopted the power-sharing resolution allowing Democrats to take control of Committees. More.

1st Tie Breaking Vote: Vice President Kamala Harris cast her first tie-breaking vote early Friday morning in the divided Senate, allowing a budget resolution with a $1.9 trillion COVID stimulus to proceed. More.

Removed from Committees: Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was removed from her assignments to the House Education and Labor, and Budget Committees, in a full House vote, as punishment for her use of violent rhetoric and promotion of conspiracy theories. The highly-partisan resolution passed 230-199. Read more.

Liz Cheney: House Republicans voted Wednesday night to keep Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) in her role as the #3 GOP leader, after she faced criticism from within her caucus for voting to impeach former President Trump following the insurrection at the Capitol. Full story.

More Nominations: The Senate Banking Committee voted to approve Congresswoman Marcia Fudge’s (D-OH) nomination to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the new Administration. Her nomination will now go to the full Senate for confirmation. The committee also voted to approve Cecilia Rouse to be Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. Read more.

Defense Production Act: The Biden Administration reported that its using the Defense Production Act to produce Pfizer vaccine supplies, at-home testing kits, and PPE for frontline workers. More.

Budget Resolution Under Consideration

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The FY21 joint budget resolution under consideration by the House and Senate will give “reconciliation” instructions to 11 authorizing committees, directing them to report legislation related to spending, revenue, or debt. The Democrats’ joint resolution carves out an addition $1.9 trillion in deficit spending by changing the top level discretionary spending amount for FY21.

The 3 committees with the largest instructions are:

  • Finance ($1.296 trillion)
  • Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions ($305 billion)
  • Baking, Housing, and Urban Affairs ($89 billion)

The deadline to report legislation is February 16th.

The reconciliation process can be used as a vehicle to pass large agenda items such as a minimum wage increase, COVID relief, and additional stimulus checks, as long as it is related to the budget. Congress is limited to one reconciliation measure each year from each of the categories of direct spending, revenue and the debt limit.

There are various restrictions as to how this process can be used. In the Senate, reconciliation bills are not subject to the filibuster (can pass by simple majority) and amendments must be germane to the bill, however the Byrd Rule applies which limits the provisions included. For a more detailed overview, you can read here.

What We’re Reading this Week (January 25th-29th, 2021)

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Below is a selection of articles the Federal Relations team read this week.

Raising the minimum wage?: Democrats may attempt to use the annual budget reconciliation to increase the federal minimum wage to $15/hour by 2025. Read here.

Power Sharing Agreement: Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have reached a power-sharing agreement in the 50-50 split Senate following a feud over ending the filibuster. The filibuster will remain intact. Read more.

Impeachment Trial: Articles of impeachment passed in the House have been transmitted to the Senate. After Republicans tried to halt the trial on constitutionality grounds, the Senate will move ahead following a 55-45 vote. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) will oversee the trial, rather than SCOTUS Chief Justice Roberts. 60 votes are needed to convict the former President, which seems unlikely to happen. Analysis here.

Judge Strikes Down Deportation Moratorium: U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton of the Southern District of Texas struck down President Biden’s 100 day moratorium on deportations, finding that the Administration failed to consider options more narrow in scope and time, and failed to provide concrete justification. The moratorium will be halted for 14 days as the court continues to review the case. Story here.

US and Russia Extend Arms Treaty: Russian parliament voted to extend the New START Treaty for another five years. The treaty does not require Congressional approval in the US, and limits American and Russian nuclear arsenals. Read more.

Conspiracy Theories: The White House declined to comment after freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was accused of supporting several conspiracy theories and making threats towards Democratic leadership preceding her run for Congress. Read more.

FBI Lawyer Gets Probation: A former attorney for the FBI narrowly avoided jailtime after doctoring an email which was instrumental in the FBI receiving approval to surveil a former Trump campaign aide during the Russia investigation. Full story.

Biden Signs Executive Orders to Tackle Climate Crisis

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President Biden signed several Executive Orders related to climate resiliency and sustainable infrastructure. The Executive Orders aim to:

  • Center the Climate Crisis in US Foreign Policy and National Security Considerations;
  • Take a “Whole-of-Government” approach to the Climate Crisis and Create an Office of Domestic Climate Policy;
  • Leverage Federal Buying Power;
  • Rebuild Infrastructure to catalyze the creation of jobs in construction, manufacturing, engineering and the skilled-trades;
  • Advance Conservation, Agriculture, and Reforestation;
  • Revitalize Energy Communities;
  • Secure Environmental Justice and Economic Opportunity.

The President also signed a memorandum on scientific integrity and evidence-based policymaking, which will re-establish the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).

A full fact-sheet is available here.

Further Executive Actions Related to Race and Equity

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On January 26th, President Biden undertook four executive actions related to diversity, race, and equity, spanning several issue areas. The President:

  • Instructed the Department of Justice to not renew contracts with privately-owned prisons. This does not apply to other agencies such as DHS. Full Executive Order here.
  • Instructed the Department of Housing and Urban Development to reassess changes made under the prior administration which made it harder for plaintiffs to prove unintentional discrimination in housing policies, and that HUD should implement the Fair Housing Act’s requirements in a way that prevents practices with an unjustified discriminatory effect. Memorandum here.
  • Reaffirmed tribal sovereignty and directed agencies to submit plans to comply with Executive Order 13175 (November 6, 2000), requiring agencies to engage in regular, meaningful, and robust consultation with Tribal officials in the development of Federal policies that have Tribal implications. Memorandum here.
  • Condemned racism and xenophobia towards Asian Americans, and required that agencies do not use xenophobic language with regards to COVID-19, and directed the Attorney General to expand anti-Asian hate crime reporting. Memorandum here.