In an expected turn of events, the Senate failed to invoke cloture last night. The Senate’s third attempt to get the 60 votes needed to limit debate on the substitute amendment for the FY 2017 Energy-Water appropriations bill fell short.
Senate Democrats have refused to support advancing the measure unless Republicans abandon a proposed amendment by Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) that would prevent the Energy Department from using FY 2017 funds for a planned purchase of heavy water, a byproduct of nuclear fuel processing, from Iran.
The White House has said the amendment would disrupt its agreement to focus Iran’s nuclear development efforts on energy rather than weapons and force President Barack Obama to veto the overall spending measure.
The path forward for this FY 2017 bill remains unclear.
The House and Senate return to work this week, including former Presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz.
The Senate will try for the third time on Monday to advance its $37.5 billion fiscal 2017 Energy-Water appropriations bill, but there is no indication that leaders will find the 60 votes needed to break the logjam caused by the threat of an amendment related to the Iranian nuclear development deal. Previously, President Obama threatened to veto the bill over an amendment proposed by Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) that would bar funding for the U.S. to buy so-called heavy water from Iran. Conversely, the Republican-derided Iran Nuclear Deal requires Iran to export the water, which is a byproduct of nuclear fuel production. Without a plan forward, the bill looks to stall out just as it has previously. Senate Republican leadership has suggested allowing Senator Cotton to hold a vote on the amendment as a separate measure, but it is unclear if Senate Democrats are open to the idea.
Meanwhile, the House will turn its attention to opioid abuse by focusing on two bills (H.R. 5046– Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act of 2016 and S. 524 – Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016)designed to give relief to American local communities dealing with the spike of opioid abuse. Additionally, the House will gear up for consideration of the FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) next week. The NDAA is the annual authorization bill determines the agencies responsible for our nation’s defense, establishes funding levels, and sets the policies under which money will be spent.
With less than 50 legislative days left before October 1, which is the statutorily mandated dated start of the federal fiscal year, the likelihood of the Congress considering all 12 of the standing appropriations bills continues to shrink. A continuing resolution is all but assured in September before Congress recesses for the election.
Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is enjoying this week.
Crumbles and Cracks, Cruz’s Demise – When Senator Ted Cruz emerged as Donald Trump’s sole serious challenger, Cruz needed to pivot and win over the same Republican Party insiders he had built his career running against; he needed them to rally around him. Their problem wasn’t with Cruz’s hard-line conservative principles. It was his hard-edged personality and political practices. Many of his congressional colleagues and mainstream Republicans stayed on the sidelines. Some embraced Trump. Others attacked Cruz, including former Speaker John Boehner, who called him “Lucifer in the flesh.” A few endorsed half-heartedly. They might have feared Trump. But they loathed Cruz. One of Cruz’s few endorsers, Lindsey Graham, compared the choice to poison or being shot. Read more in Politico.
Ray McKinley, Hotel Commodore, New York, N.Y., ca. Apr. 1946 (LOC)
Houses or Education – A few years ago, as the country grappled with the meteoric rise of student debt, economists warned that education loans were holding back college graduates from buying homes, putting a damper on the economic recovery. Yet a new look at popular data used to support that claim tells a very different story. Read more in The Washington Post.
Concealed Carry – Georgia Governor Nathan Deal’s decision to reject House Bill 859, which would legalize firearms at all public colleges in Georgia, comes almost a month after the Governor infuriated many religious conservatives by vetoing “religious liberty” legislation that would have extended legal protections to opponents of same-sex marriages. It was a no win situation for the Governor. Read more in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Slight Adjustments –Dept of Ed officials adjusted the student-loan default rates of 21 colleges, helping them to avoid sanctions in the past two years that could have resulted in a loss of federal funding, according to a list released by the Education Department. The list, released to The Wall Street Journal this week in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, included one school whose chief executive was later imprisoned for defrauding the government of nearly $1 million in federal student aid. Read more at the Wall Street Journal.
Just Not There – On Wednesday morning, not even 24 hours after Donald Trump effectively clinched the Republican nomination, Paul Ryan convened his top advisers for a call. With Congress out of session, Ryan was bouncing between multiple states, raising the piles of money needed to keep House Republicans in the majority. Ryan never expected Trump to lock up the nomination so quickly. Read more in Politico.
Foreign Students – Many people assume foreign students at U.S. colleges are rich, pampered youths out to have a good time before returning home to lives of privilege. Sometimes this is true. But as the number of foreign students surges on U.S. campuses—nearly a million were enrolled last year, up more than 40% from five years earlier—more are coming from middle-class backgrounds like Fan Yue’s. They’re eager to escape flawed education systems back home, where low standards are leaving many ill-prepared for a global economy. Read more in the Wall Street Journal.
After a shocking defeat last night in Indiana, Senator Ted Cruz announced his withdrawal from the 2016 presidential election. The move all but assures Trump the Republican presidential nomination in July.
Trump is now on course to be the first standard-bearer of a political party, who has not previously served in office, since President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower was a five-star general and the commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II, but had not previously served in elected office.
Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is enjoying this week.
Federal “Affordability” Conundrum – The crisis of college affordability may not be solvable by the federal government: It has had much less control over tuition than state policies. Read more in The Atlantic.
On the Rise, But More to Go – Meanwhile, higher education funding is creeping back toward pre-recession levels – but 45 states still appropriated fewer dollars per student last year than they did in 2008, according to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association’s (SHEEO) 13th annual State Higher Education Finance report. Still, 40 states boosted support in FY 2015, and total state and local government allocations to public colleges increased more than $4 billion, reaching nearly $91 billion. Factor in a 1.1 percent decline in full-time enrollment, and the average state and local support per student rose 5.2 percent to hit $6,966 – still more than $1,200 less than what was spent in 2008 – dragging down the share of education costs borne by students to 46.5 percent. That’s the lowest that figure has been since 2011. Read the report and get the data at SHEEO’s website.
Ryan’s President Trump Problem – When House Speaker Paul Ryan effectively took himself out of consideration as a possible “Stop Trump” candidate at a contested GOP convention, the smart thinking immediately leapt to the idea that Ryan’s real sights are on the 2020 race. And, in many ways, a “bide your time” makes sense, but if Ryan’s still Speaker at all in 2017, it’s likely to be a disastrous experience for him because of a forecasted an epic cycle of internecine fights and humiliating climb-downs that make John Boehner’s years in office look dignified due to the repercussions of the Trump campaign on the Republican party. Read more in Vox.
Unedumacated – Trump made headlines after the Nevada caucuses when he pronounced love for the “poorly educated.” New research from the Pew Research Center offers context that helps explain why. It finds that highly educated adults are far more likely to take liberal positions, and the education divide has only grown wider over the past 20 years. Watch the Trump statement after the Nevada primary at Politico. Read the Pew Study here.
First Loser of the Season – The first primary loss by an incumbent in this election season happened to Rep. Chakah Fattah (D-PA). First elected in 1995, Rep. Fattah was an entrenched Democratic incumbent from Philadelphia, who lost his primary Tuesday night after being indicted on corruption charges last year. Fattah’s legal troubles gave an opening to state Rep. Dwight Evans, who narrowly defeated Fattah on Tuesday. Evans led with 43 percent of the vote to Fattah’s 36 percent, while two other challengers split the remainder with nearly every vote counted. Read more at Politco.
Kinda Like David and Goliath – A small mammal has sabotaged the world’s most powerful scientific instrument. The Large Hadron Collider went off line this week from an electrical issue. Upon investigation, officials found the charred remains of most likely a weasel that had chewed through the power lines. Read more at NPR.
