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Category: On the Hill

House GOP Sets Leadership Elections

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House Republicans will hold elections for new leaders on Oct 8 in a closed door session. It is expected to be a contentious meeting and election, with multiple candidates vying for each position as the House GOP conference struggles to maintain political strength after Speaker John Boehner’s surprise retirement announcement last week.

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is expected to win the speakers gavel. He’s running against Florida Republican Rep. Daniel Webster who unsuccessfully tried to beat Boehner in the speaker election earlier this year.

If McCarthy wins that opens the door for a majority leader election. Reps. Tom Price (R-GA) and Steve Scalise (R-LA), who is the current Majority Whip, are both vying for that post.

If Scalise wins, there will also be a race for Majority Whip.

Shutdown Averted

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Earlier this morning, the Senate passed a clean continuing resolution (CR) extending federal funding authority until December 11th. Last week, the Senate tried and failed to pass a CR which would prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funds. The measure failed, which cleared the way for the clean CR.

Just now, the House cleared, 277-151, a two-month stopgap spending bill on Wednesday that will avert a government shutdown. Earlier, the Senate passed the measure 78-20. The bill, which will keep the government funded through Dec. 11, is expected to be quickly signed by President Barack Obama.

The measure was approved only with strong support by House Democrats — a sign of just how angry rank-and-file Republicans remain. In one last display of their fury, House Republicans on Tuesday adopted another resolution to cut off government financing to Planned Parenthood. The resolution was to be sent to the Senate, where Democrats were certain to block it.

 

Power Scramble for House GOP

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With Boehner’s retirement announcement, his position, and the power of Speaker, is now up for grabs. His successor — Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is considered the front-runner — may have just as much difficulty in pacifying conservative Republicans willing to hold important legislation hostage to their priorities.

Some ambitious members already in leadership vying to move up the ladder, but the position of Majority Leader seems to have the greatest horse race in the likely event the current officeholder, McCarthy, succeeds Boehner as Speaker. Thus far, McCarthy appears to have little, if any competition.

Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) and GOP Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) have all been speculated to want to the job and have not been hiding their ambitions. They used the weekend to make calls to colleagues to get commitments of support, and they solidified their whip teams to help make the rounds and nudge undecideds.

Late yesterday, Rep. Tom Price, Chairman of the House Budget Committee, announced his intention to run for Majority Leader with two high profile endorsements of Rep. Jeb Henserling (R-TX), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Chairman of the House Ways and Means committee and Vice Presidential candidate in 2012. With those endorsements, McMorris Rogers announced her intention not to run for Speaker and remain Caucus Chair.

Thus far, it is a horserace between Whip Scalise and Pryce for the Majority Leader position. Both are staunch conservatives from southern states. It should be noted that the House GOP conference does not require the current seat holder to withdraw from leadership to run for higher office, so conceivably if Price wins, Scalise could remain the GOP Whip.

Who takes the helm to lead the GOP will have tremendous impact and shape the eventual FY2016 appropriations as well as impact if the functioning of the government.

Senate Advances Clean CR

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On Monday, the Senate took the first step toward approving a continuing resolution (CR) to fund federal government through December 11, 2015. They will take a final vote on the measure on Wednesday – the last day of the current fiscal year – and then send it to the House for consideration at before current budget authority expires Wednesday night at midnight.

Senators voted 77-19 in favor of limiting debate on an amendment containing the text of the so-called “clean” CR (HR 7190. The CR would fund federal agencies for 90 days and keep federal dollars for Planned Parenthood in place despite opposition from conservatives.

The House must pass the stopgap before the end of the day Wednesday in order to avert a shutdown and appears on track to do so with relatively little drama. Legislative obstacles in the chamber seemingly evaporated after Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) announced his retirement Friday.

The stopgap provides funding for federal agencies at an annualized rate of $1.017 trillion, which is roughly flat compared to current funding levels. The CR notably includes $700 million in emergency funding to suppress Western wildfires, flat funding for the non-capped war account, and a reauthorization of the E-Verify program and the Internet Tax Freedom Act.

The Obama administration said in a Statement of Administration Policy issued Monday night that it would support the CR.

Perkins Extension Passes House, Still In Danger

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The House has passed by voice vote, HR 3594, a measure which would extend the Perkins program for a year until it may be fully considered with the impending Higher Education Act reauthorization, which is expected this fall and spring. The Perkins program would expire on September 30th without the extension.

The Perkins program is a critical tool that allows UW to combine federal funds with additional investment by the university to offer needy students fixed, low interest loans. UW receives more Perkins loan volume than any other public institution in the nation — about 4,700 recipients in the 2013-14 school year for UW.

While the measure passed the House, the fate of the program is unclear in the Senate. Senate HELP Committee Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) has expressed a desire to let the program simply expire, which is in line with his ultimate goal of one loan, one form for higher education. Expiration would effectively kill the program.

Senate Democrats are working on passing the measure by Unanimous Consent, but it is unclear if the measure will be considered in time (i.e. today).