Final Senate Races Lead to Democrat Control

Posted on January 6, 2021January 6, 2021

Amid much national and international attention, the two runoff US Senate elections in Georgia on January 5th decided the (foreseeable) control of the US Senate for at least the first two years of President-elect Biden’s term. Both Georgia seats were flipped after Democrats defeated the Republican incumbents.

Senator-elect Jon Ossoff (D-GA) won election to the Class II seat previously occupied by former-Senator Perdue (R-GA). He will be up for reelection in 2026.

Senator-elect Raphael Warnock (D-GA) won election to the Class III seat previously occupied by former-Senator Loeffler (R-GA). Loeffler was appointed to replace former-Senator Isakson (R-GA) who resigned in 2019. Warnock will be up for reelection in 2022 for a full six year term.

With the Senate split 50-50, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris (D) will serve as the tie-breaking vote in her constitutional role as President of the Senate.

Waiting on the Senate

Posted on December 30, 2020December 30, 2020

As of Wednesday, the US Senate has still not voted on whether to override President Trump’s veto of the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). A final vote, and eventual passage, is expected by this weekend after Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) objected to unanimous consent today. The House already voted to override the veto with bipartisan support.

Sanders’ objection was an attempt to push Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to schedule a vote on the increased, $2000 stimulus payments. The increased payments already passed in the House, and have the backing of President Trump. In a statement, Senator McConnell said the increased payments have “no realistic path to quickly pass the Senate.”

The clock is ticking to finish remaining agenda items before the 117th Congress is sworn in at 12:00pm on Sunday, January 3rd, 2021.

House Approves Bigger Checks, Overrides Defense Veto

Posted on December 28, 2020

Today the US House of Representatives voted, by a 2/3 majority, to increase COVID-relief stimulus checks from $600 to $2000 per individual. The President has signaled support of this, however it is unclear if it can pass in the Senate.

The House also voted, with significant bipartisan support, to override the President’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual piece of legislation setting broad defense policy. If the Senate also votes to override, the legislation can become law without the President’s signature.

President Signs Appropriations Bills into Law

Posted on December 27, 2020December 27, 2020

President Trump has signed both the $900 billion COVID relief package, as well as the $1.4 trillion FY21 omnibus appropriations bill, into law. His signature will avert a government shutdown.

More details here.

COVID/Approps Spending Package Cleared by Both Chambers

Posted on December 22, 2020

After making the text available earlier in the day, both chambers of Congress cleared the massive $2.3-trillion COVID/FY2021 appropriations package last evening. The measure now goes to the White House for the President’s signature, although it is uncertain when that would exactly happen.

Because the printing and processing of the official text of legislation for the President’s signature takes time– and the size of yesterday’s package was unusually large– Congress also passed and Trump signed yesterday another continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown while the legislative package was being readied.

Office of Federal Relations will continue to provide updates about the bill on its blog.