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News and updates

Members of Washington Delegation to Assume New Leadership Roles

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The Democratic Steering and Policy Committee in the House released yesterday its slate of recommendations for most committee chair positions for next Congress.  As expected, the committee has recommended that Rep. Adam Smith, representing the Ninth Congressional District of Washington and the current top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, take over the position of Chairman when the Democrats assume control of the chamber in January.

The Senate Democrats also released yesterday their committee leadership roster for next Congress. Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, currently the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, will give up that post to assume the top Democratic slot on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.  Sen. Patty Murray will remain as the Ranking Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

 

Two-Week CR Signed

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President Trump has signed into law a two-week continuing resolution (CR). The most recent CR pushes back the deadline for an agreement on the unsigned FY2019 spending bills to December 21.

Two-Week CR Expected Today

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Congress is expected to take up today a two-week continuing resolution to keep the entire federal government operating through December 21.

The negotiations between the different sides during this additional two-week window will determine what happens after the new shutdown deadline.

Two-Week Extension of Federal Funding Expected

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Another continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the government funded past midnight on Saturday was released yesterday. This version of the CR would keep the parts of the government funded by spending bills not yet signed into law for another two weeks, pushing the deadline to reach a deal to December 21.

With the original December 7 deadline approaching, many had been expecting a partisan showdown this week over issues like funding for a border wall.  However, with Washington paying tribute to President George H.W. Bush for much of this week, it appears that the two sides will resume discussions at a future date.

 

Pelosi Wins Democratic Nomination for Speaker

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Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) officially won the nod as the Democratic nominee for Speaker for the 116th Congress.  The vote among Democrats was 203 to 32, with three  abstentions.

With no other candidate running against her, even after a number of Democrats pledging not to back her as Speaker, her status as the Democratic nominee was not in question.  However, as the Speaker must be elected by the entire House and not just the majority party, Pelosi must still go before the entire House when it convenes in January.  It remains to be seen as to how many votes she’ll ultimately be able to garner in the chamber.

In addition to Pelosi’s nomination as Speaker, the House Democrats chose Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Jim Clyburn (D-SC) as the Majority Leader and Majority Whip, respectively.