Idea Floating for New Research-Funding Entity

Posted on November 7, 2019November 12, 2019

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is considering a draft proposal for a new entity which would spend $100 billion over five years on research related to artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and 5G technology. The tentative name for the proposed organization is the “National Science and Technology Foundation”. It would be a subsidiary of the National Science Foundation and would work in concert with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). For context, NSF’s annual budget is currently $8.1 billion.

The idea comes from the interim report, published November 4^th, from the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, which was a commission established through the FY2019 National Defense Authorization bill (P.L. 115-232).

The US is competing fiercely with Russia and China to be the global leader in artificial intelligence, so this organization would be closely tied to US national security.

The proposal is still in the earliest stages of development, and it has not been decided how the organization will be structured or if it will continue to operate after the initial five year period.

One Step At A Time

Posted on October 31, 2019

After having agreed to take it up late last week, the Senate passed this afternoon a four-bill appropriations package by a vote of 84 – 9. The bundle, a Senate substitute to a House-passed bill, includes the following FY2020 funding bills: Agriculture; Commerce-Justice-Science; Interior; and Transportation – Housing and Urban Development. This represents the first four spending bills passed by the Senate for the current fiscal year, which started October 1.

Senate Republican leaders had hoped that the passage of the first bundle would led to momentum to bring up a second package of bills that would include, among others, the Defense and Labor-HHS-Education measures. The Democrats have continuously objected to the two bills moving because of the DOD funds that would be used to build a Southern wall and fights over language on abortion in and the perceived lack of enough funding for the Labor-HHS bill. After the Senate agreed to the first four bills, it failed to reach the 60-vote threshold necessary to get cloture to move forward on the second set of bills. The vote was 51 -41.

Although the Senate has now passed four appropriations bills, there still is no agreement between the two chambers on how much funding is available overall for FY2020. The top line must be agreed to first before compromises on individual bills can be reached.

Cloture Filed on Appropriations Measure

Posted on October 29, 2019October 29, 2019

Last night, Senator McConnell filed cloture last night on a motion to proceed to H.R. 2740, which you may recall is the most expansive/expensive of all the spending packages and includes Labor-HHS, Defense, State/Foreign Ops, and Energy and Water. A successful vote on Wednesday means that the Senate floor debate could begin on this bill with new text from the Senate Republicans. The consideration would not be without a fight from Senate Democrats who want more of their priorities included in the bill and higher spending numbers for the Labor-HHS bill.

A Step Forward

Posted on October 23, 2019

By a vote of 92 to 2, the Senate yesterday agreed to debate a package of four FY2020 spending bills. As noted yesterday, the bundle is a Senate substitute to a set of House-passed bills and includes the following measures: Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development.

Even if the Senate does ultimately approve the package, what happens after that still remains a mystery, as the second set of bills that may be considered contains some of the most controversial ones, including the Defense and Labor-HHS measures.

The continuing resolution signed into law in late September runs out November 22.

Yes, But How Much Progress?

Posted on October 22, 2019

The Senate might see some thawing on the appropriations front later this week, but how much thawing remains to be seen.

In an attempt to break through on the appropriations impasse that has faced the Senate for weeks, the Republican leadership in the chamber plans to file a cloture motion on a package of four spending bills that had near unanimous support in committee. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will file a motion to invoke cloture on a House-passed legislative package of bills. Should the vote be successful, the Senate would then seek to replace the House-approved measure with its own bundle of bills: Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior and Environment, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development. If and when the Senate approves its substitute, things will likely get trickier.

Senate Republicans hope that agreement on the first package will allow for movement on a second bundle of appropriations measures, a combination of bills much more controversial because of the partisan fights on issues like funding for the border wall and language on abortion policy. After agreeing to the first “minibus” of bills, the Republican goal is to move to the floor the Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, Homeland Security, and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs measures. The Democrats have signaled that, at this point, this may be a bridge too far.

Stay tuned.