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Month: February 2017

Health Policy Report

Posted on by Thornrun

The Week in Review

Congress continued to take aim at Obama-era regulations last week, with both chambers passing disapprovals of a Securities and Exchange Commission rule requiring companies to publish the payments they make to foreign governments as a part of their attempts to extract natural resources (H.J. Res. 41), an environmental regulation that aims to protect U.S. streams from waste (H.J. Res. 38), and a Bureau of Land Management rule related to the emission of the powerful greenhouse gas methane (H.J. Res. 36). Democrats opposed the moves, but the provisions of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) allow for Congress to disapprove of rules finalized within the last 60 legislative days of the previous session on a simple majority vote in both chambers. President Trump joined in on the regulatory rollback, signing executive orders that would require the repeal of two regulations for every new one implemented and another that targets the implementation of Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reforms.

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Financial Services Report

Posted on by Thornrun

Looking Ahead

Near Term

  • The House starts up the Congressional Review Act process by teeing up votes on a handful of regulations, including on Dodd-Frank era SEC rule requiring disclosure of payments made for mineral extraction. 
  • In the Senate, lawmakers will continue to work through President Trump’s Cabinet nominees, with floor votes scheduled for Secretary of State pick Rex Tillerson, and Transportation nominee Elaine Chao   At the committee level, votes for Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, Energy Secretary nominee Rick Perry, Office of Management and Budget Director nominee Mick Mulvaney, and Small Business Administrator nominee Linda McMahon are all expected.

Further Out

  • Fed Chair Yellen comes to the Hill for the semi-annual testimony.  She will be on the Senate side on the 14th of February and then on the House side the next day.
  • President Trump is scheduled to speak before a joint session of Congress on February 28th.

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Today on the Hill: DeVos Vote Set for Monday as Congress Reverses More Obama Rules; Trump Signs Dodd-Frank EO

Posted on by Thornrun

Despite efforts from Democrats to slow down the process, the Senate is moving forward on confirming President Trump’s Cabinet nominees, starting with a final vote on Betsy DeVos’ nomination to be Education Secretary scheduled for Monday. The upper chamber successfully invoked cloture on DeVos’ confirmation this morning on a 52-48 party-line vote. However, Republican Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) have both signaled that they will oppose DeVos in the final vote, meaning that Vice President Mike Pence will need to vote to break the tie – assuming there are no other Republican defections. Following the DeVos vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) plans to race through floor action on the nominations of Sen. Jeff Sessions to be Attorney General, Rep. Tom Price to be Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Steven Mnuchin to be Treasury Secretary, and Scott Pruitt to be Environmental Protection Agency Administrator. Democrats are largely opposed to all of those selections, but without Republican defections, they are powerless to stop them from moving forward.

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Today on the Hill: Both Chambers to Target Obama Rules; DeVos Nomination on Senate Floor

Posted on by Thornrun

One of President Trump’s most controversial selections for his Cabinet is – Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos – due to hit the Senate floor today, with another contentious pick, Attorney General nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), next in line for floor consideration. DeVos will be first because Republicans want to make sure that Sessions – who will have voting power in the Senate until he is confirmed as Attorney General – can cast his vote to confirm the school choice advocate as the nation’s head of education policy in what is expected to be a very close vote. Republican Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced yesterday that they will oppose her confirmation, meaning that Republicans cannot afford any more defections from their 52-vote majority. Assuming there are no other surprises, DeVos would be confirmed on a 51-50 vote with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote. The cloture vote for her confirmation is expected tomorrow, meaning that Sessions’ floor consideration will likely slip into next week.

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