Skip to content
News and updates

Category: On the Hill

This Week in Congress

Posted on

The Senate resumes its gun control debate this week, beginning today with the most substantive and contentious issue: a bipartisan proposal to require background checks of gun purchasers in commercial and Internet sales. It’s the start of deliberations that could keep that chamber busy until the Memorial Day recess. We also expect to see an immigration reform legislation unveiled this week in the Senate.

The House will consider four minor bills under suspension today, including measures that would bar federal employees and contractors who owe back taxes from being employed or awarded contracts worth more than $150,000. The House will focus on cybersecurity legislation for the remainder of the week.

In addition to floor action, both chambers plan more than 40 congressional hearings this week to review President Obama’s FY14 budget as lawmakers weigh the potential for a grand bargain on deficit reduction (to replace the sequester). The $3.77 billion budget request assumes that sequestration has been turned off, and therefore the FY 2014 top-line spending number does not include cuts required by sequestration. Conveniently, the budget request also makes comparisons with the FY 2012 enacted spending levels, which do not take into account the sequester. The White House was able to do this because technically they have 30 days from the time the final FY13 continuing resolution was passed (March 22nd) to calculate the final spending numbers, including cuts from the sequester. The budget also assumes that Congress will consider increased tax revenue and entitlement reform, both very sticky political subjects.

Jewell Confirmed as Interior Secretary

Posted on

The Senate has just voted to confirm Sally Jewell as the next Secretary for the US Department of the Interior. We congratulate Secretary Jewell and look forward to working with her in her new capacity.

Federal Update, March 2013

Posted on

The month of March has been a busy one in Washington, D.C. On March 1st sequestration went into effect after Congress failed to come to agreement on long-term deficit reduction, and last week both the House and Senate approved their respective budget resolutions that address overall spending for federal government for FY 2014. And, finally, Congress took action on a continuing resolution to fund the federal government for the remaining six months of FY 2013, just a week before the current CR expires on March 27th. Congress is now enjoying a two-week recess period before returning to work on April 8th, the same day that President Obama is to release his FY 2014 budget request, two months later than usual because of all of the fiscal uncertainty in Congress.

This Federal Update will focus on these fiscal issues, and also take a look ahead at the congressional agenda for spring. Continue reading “Federal Update, March 2013”

Senate Approves Budget, Begins Two-Week Recess

Posted on

Early this morning, the Senate passed its first budget in four years by a vote of 50 to 49 after a marathon session that began Friday morning and included 562 filed amendments. The Senate approved a budget resolution that relies heavily on $975 billion in new tax revenue to stabilize the growth of the national debt within the next ten years. The Senate budget contains and equal amount of spending cuts ($975 billion), and also turns off $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts scheduled over nine years (sequestration).

But while the Senate plan would bring the deficit down to only $566 billion by 2023, it does not balance like the budget plan approved by the House earlier this week. The House plan bring government taxes and spending into balance by 2023 with cuts to domestic programs below the sequestration levels and mandates significant changes to Medicare and the tax code. Negotiations between the two chambers to reconcile the different budget plans will likely be fruitless as the two plans are wildly different.

Congress now begins a two-week recess period, returning to work on Monday, April 8th. At that time, the Senate is expected to take up controversial gun legislation and executive nominations. The gun legislation will likely include background checks, gun-trafficking language, and school safety provisions. The House returns to work Tuesday, April 9th.