Yesterday the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act for FY22 with strong bipartisan support. The legislation authorized a $770 billion funding level for the Department of Defense and made key changes to defense policy. Read more here.
Category: 117th Congress
CR until February 18
The House and Senate have agreed to pass a continuing resolution (CR), which would keep the federal government open and funded, until February 18, 2022. Congress has previously passed a CR that expires at midnight on Friday, December 3, 2021.
The extension gives the House and Senate additional time to finish FY2022 funding and try to pass other legislative priorities, like Build Back Better and raise the debt ceiling, before the end of the calendar year.
While the extension is not happy news, there had been political rumblings of allowing the federal government to shut down for a short time in December for political gains. The CR until February 18, 2022 avoids that situation.
The legislation would be a straight extension of existing funding with the only increase in appropriations for Afghan refugees.
House Passes “Build Back Better” Package
After months of intraparty discord among Democrats, both within the House and between chambers, the House passed early this morning the “Build Back Better” reconciliation package. The House cleared the measure by a vote of 220 – 213, with one Democrat voting against it. The vote was delayed to this morning after Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) spoke for more than eight hours against the package, lasting into the very early hours of this morning.
The package now goes to the Senate, where changes are likely, as at least one Democrat in that chamber has made clear his reservations about several parts of the House bill.
USICA Goes to Conference
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced in a joint statement that the bipartisan United States Innovation and Competition Act (S. 1260) will be conferenced to resolve differences between House and Senate versions. Although leadership in both chambers originally hoped to include the legislation in the upcoming FY 22 National Defense Authorization Act, Senate Republicans have indicated they would not support such a move. Conferencing brings the legislation one step closer to being signed into law.
If enacted, USICA would create a new NSF Directorate, authorize additional funding for semiconductor research, Department of Energy research, and tackle manufacturing and supply chain issues.
It’s “Infrastructure Week”– Infrastructure Bill Officially Signed
With more than 800 guests in attendance at the White House, President Biden officially signed into law yesterday the $1.2-trillion infrastructure legislation. The signing ceremony became possible after Democrats were able to come to an agreement on how to proceed on it and the reconciliation package and the House cleared the infrastructure bill before leaving town for Veterans Day last week.