Author: Thornrun

House lawmakers adjourned for the Martin Luther King Jr. district work period last week after passing [331-97] legislation that would ban the sale of crude oil reserves to China. Both chambers will return to action next week, with the Senate meeting first on Monday, January 23, and the House on Tuesday, January 24. Meanwhile, it is anticipated that the House Republican Steering Committee will continue doling out committee assignments and subcommittee gavels over the coming days, including leadership posts for the Committees on Appropriations, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce.

House lawmakers were finally sworn-in early Saturday morning after House Republicans elected Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker during the 15^th round of voting. Speaker McCarthy ultimately won the gavel after GOP dissidents — Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and Matt Rosendale (R-MT) — switched their votes to present, thus lowering the threshold needed to win a majority. House Republican leadership will now turn their attention to passing the rules package (text; summary) for the 118^th Congress, as well as settling a series of undecided committee leadership posts. According to the latest intel, the House GOP Steering Committee will meet today to begin the process of deciding on contested gavels for the Committees on Ways and Means, Homeland, Education and Workforce, Budget, and Small Business. Other organizational activities — including decisions on contested subcommittee leadership posts and committee assignments for the rank-and-file at large — are expected in the coming days from leaders on both sides of the aisle.

Lawmakers returned to Washington today to formally kick off the 118th Congress as the race for Speaker of the House remains in an unprecedented standstill. While Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) earned more than 200 votes from his Republican colleagues in the first two rounds of voting, he remains shy of the 218 votes necessary to win the speaker’s gavel. As it currently stands, 19 House Republicans have opposed Leader McCarthy’s nomination, instead casting their votes for Freedom Caucus co-founder Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).

Capitol Hill Update

Both chambers will return for votes today as negotiations on a year-end omnibus funding package continue. The “four corners” leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are expected to resume their deliberations over the course of the next few days in the hopes of striking a deal on topline funding figures for fiscal year (FY) 2023 — an important precursor to the development of a broader year-end spending package. If negotiators do not make significant progress over the course of the next two weeks, another continuing resolution (CR) will be needed to keep the government funded past Friday, December 16.

Congress will return for votes this week, with the Senate in first later today followed by the House tomorrow. As the December 16 government funding deadline draws nearer, appropriators are pushing to reach an agreement on topline funding levels for fiscal year (FY) 2023 — a key precursor to a year-end spending package. With divided government on the horizon, lawmakers appear motivated to tie up loose ends on several bipartisan legislative efforts prior to the start of the 118th Congress. However, cooperation between Democratic and Republican leadership will be crucial, especially in the evenly divided Senate. Any extraneous policy riders that imperil the omnibus’s chances of reaching 60 votes will likely fall by the wayside to ensure that the government remains funded past the December 16 deadline.  

Capitol Hill Update

Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington after the November 8 midterm elections. The next votes in the House and Senate are scheduled to occur during the week of November 14.

Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington after the November 8 midterm elections. The next votes in the House and Senate are scheduled to occur during the week of November 14.

Capitol Hill Update

President Joe Biden signed a two-month continuing resolution (CR) (text; summary) late last week after congressional leadership struck a deal to keep the government funded until December 16. Barring a sudden and unforeseen change in the schedule, final passage of the CR will be the final vote either chamber takes until after the November midterm elections. Senators were originally slated to come in for a nine-day legislative work period to tackle the fiscal year (FY) 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), but instead will remain in their respective states during the final weeks of the 2022 campaign. Regardless of who comes out on top on November 8, lawmakers will be faced with a hectic “lame duck” work period to close out the 117th Congress, with a particular focus on trying to strike an omnibus spending package for FY 2023 that could potentially carry a host of health policy priorities before the start of the new Congress.

House and Senate lawmakers will resume legislative business today as negotiations on a continuing resolution (CR) continue. In particular, discussions at the leadership level are likely to focus on reaching agreements on items that could potentially be added onto the stopgap, including energy permitting reforms and reauthorization of several user fee agreements at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Both of these proposals will require bipartisan cooperation to ensure that the CR can pass the Senate with a filibuster-proof majority — a factor that could prolong the talks into the final days leading up to the September 30 deadline. Meanwhile, members of the House Freedom Caucus have coalesced behind a strategy spearheaded by three GOP senators — including Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Ted Cruz (R-TX) — in opposing a CR through mid-December. Instead, the Republican lawmakers have been pushing for a “clean” funding bill that maintains current federal spending levels until the new Congress begins in 2023