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Category: 115th Congress

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.

 

 

Congress Now in Recess

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Both chambers of Congress are now in recess.  Congress is scheduled to return after the elections in November to address a number of unresolved issues, including passing the remaining seven FY2019 appropriations bills.

He Did Sign It

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Questions about whether he would actually shut down parts of the federal government were finally answered as President Trump signed on Friday the Labor-HHS-Education and Defense spending package that contained the continuing resolution that would  keep the other parts of the government funded through December 7.

The new fiscal year, FY2019, starts today and there were doubts as to whether he would force a partial shutdown of the government because of the lack of additional funding for the border wall along the Southern border in the spending package.  Funding for the wall will be one of the key issues that will need to be resolved when Congress returns to spending bills after the November elections.

No Deal on Spending Bills 6 – 9

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The House and Senate appropriators negotiating on a four-bill spending package conceded yesterday that they will need to revisit the issue after the election.  This means that the programs and agencies funded by those four bills– Interior, Agriculture, Transportation and Housing, and financial services– will need to remain on autopilot, assuming that the president signs the Defense/ Labor-HHS-Education package, which also contains a short-term continuing resolution, before Monday morning.

With the House scheduled to go into recess later today until after the November elections, the negotiators will need to resume their discussions after both chambers return to Washington.

With the new fiscal year scheduled to start on October 1, five of the 12 annual spending bills have been signed into law or are ready for the president’s signature.