Month: February 2020

House lawmakers will close out their work week with final passage of a comprehensive tobacco-related measure later this morning. The bill — which seeks to curb the use of e-cigarettes among youths and promulgate further regulations on flavored tobacco products — is expected to pass narrowly after some Democrats expressed concerns that the legislation would lead to discrimination. The Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act also faces a difficult path forward after the Trump administration issued a veto threat yesterday, arguing that it contains provisions that are not supported by available evidence regarding tobacco harm reduction and use habits.

House lawmakers will begin consideration of a comprehensive tobacco-related measure that seeks to curb the use of e-cigarettes among youths. Specifically, the Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to: (1) prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products; (2) promulgate Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations on synthetic nicotine and graphic health warnings for cigarette packing; and (3) ban the marketing, advertising, or promotion of any e-cigarette products to individuals under the age of 21. Full consideration and final passage of the bill will occur tomorrow after the lower chamber clears the rule later today. 

House lawmakers will convene today eyeing action on suspension bills out of the Natural Resources Committee. Notable measures up for consideration would: (1) reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network (H.R. 2427); (2) amend the Nutra Eradication and Control Program to include California (H.R. 3399); and (3) update and modify the maximum acreage for the Yucca House National Monument (H.R. 1492). In addition, the lower chamber will also take up a suspension bill out of the Judiciary Committee that would designate lynching as a federal hate crime. 

Senators will convene today for consideration of a pair of abortion-related measures. Designed as a messaging exercise for the 2020 election, the bills would establish requirements for the degree of care a health care practitioner must exercise in the event a child is born alive following an abortion or attempted abortion (S. 311); and seek to boost protections for pain-capable unborn children (S. 3275). The upper chamber will also resume consideration of presidential nominations, including a final confirmation vote on Katharine MacGregor’s nomination to be Deputy Secretary of the Interior.

Congress will return from the Presidents’ Day district work period to resume legislative business, with the Senate returning later this afternoon and the House picking back up tomorrow. On the Senate floor this week, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has queued up a pair of abortion-related measures that are designed as a messaging exercise for the 2020 election. The measures up for consideration would: (1) establish requirements for the degree of care a health care practitioner must exercise in the event a child is born alive following an abortion or attempted abortion (S. 311); and (2) seek to boost protections for pain-capable unborn children (S. 3275). Senators will also consider four presidential nominations, including Katharine MacGregor’s nomination to be Deputy Secretary of the Interior.  

The tightly-contested race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination will shift west this weekend as Nevadans prepare for the Saturday caucus. Recent polling from the Silver State suggests that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), former South Bend, IN Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and former Vice President Joe Biden will be in contention for a share of Nevada’s 36 delegates. With 1,991 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination, Mayor Buttigieg (23), Sen. Sanders (21), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) (8) are currently atop the leaderboard, with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) (7) and Vice President Biden (6) rounding out the top five.