Congress returns from its brief Independence Day recess with a full slate of legislative work to tackle before breaking for the national conventions and the body’s traditional August break later this month. The House reconvenes today and is set for a busy week after its last floor session ended abruptly due to Democrats’ dramatic sit-in on the chamber floor to force a vote on gun control proposals. House lawmakers will be set to vote tomorrow afternoon on Rep. Tim Murphy’s (R-PA) mental health bill (H.R. 2646) that was unanimously passed by the Energy and Commerce Committee earlier this month. Today, the lower chamber will consider a series of 16 bills under suspension of the rules, including a measure that would authorize a strategic approach for US foreign assistance directed towards alleviating global hunger (S. 1252) and another (H.R. 5210) that would aim to improve access to durable medical equipment for Medicare beneficiaries. Details on the other 14 bills due for consideration can be found here.
Author: Thornrun
Financial Services Report
Our Take
When the House returns today, and the Senate a day later, from their 4th of July breaks it is unlikely that the time spent extolling the virtues of our country, wrapping themselves in patriotism or recalling the words of the Declaration of Independence will have any effect on the partisan gridlock that has continued to grip Congress in a vice lock this year. With only two weeks of session before an elongated summer recess that will include each party’s respective Presidential convention we should continue to expect rhetorical fireworks for the remainder of their time in DC.
Health Policy Report
The Week in Review
With the House out for the week ahead of the Independence Day holiday, the Senate’s work was divided between the hugely successful and the continually frustrating. On the latter, senators began the week by continuing consideration of the House-passed Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bill (H.R. 2577) that includes a funding package to combat the Zika virus. Democrats successfully blocked the bill over insufficient Zika funds and policy riders that would restrict access to birth control and suspend pesticide permitting requirements near waterways. The Senate will be scrambling to try again on the bill in order to pass a Zika funding package before Congress leaves for its summer recess later this month.
Financial Services Report
Our Take
Starting last Wednesday afternoon and stretching all the way through the next 25 hours, the House of Representatives ground to a halt, as House Democrats staged a sit-in to express their frustrations with the lack of a vote on their proposal to prevent individuals on the “no fly list” from being able to purchase handguns. While the event was characterized as an insurrection or a publicity stunt depending on one’s political views, it was certainly a historic event. Regardless of whether you agree with the motives or the methods of the Democrats efforts, it was clear that the chaos of the sit-in, and the visible frustration of House Democrats, dovetailed perfectly with the thesis of a recent article from The Atlantic entitled, How American Politics Went Crazy, which outlines how structural and social changes have resulted in a Congress, and in fact an entire political system, that is disintegrating before our eyes.
This Week on the Hill: Zika, Collins Gun Proposal, Puerto Rico, GMOs in Senate before July 4 Recess
With the House already on recess for the July 4 holiday, the Senate will begin the week with a noncontroversial judicial confirmation before moving on to more contentious debates on spending bills and Puerto Rico debt relief legislation. A vote is expected this afternoon on the nomination of Robert Rossiter, Jr. to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Nebraska as the upper chamber begins to wind down its consideration of confirmations ahead of this November’s elections.
Health Policy Report
The Week in Review
In Washington and abroad, last week brought unprecedented action that caught most political analysts by surprise. On Thursday, the United Kingdom (UK) shocked the world by voting to leave the European Union (EU) in a highly anticipated public referendum. The move brought turmoil to global financial markets, forced British Prime Minister David Cameron to announce his resignation, and has induced renewed calls in Scotland for independence from the UK. Although negotiations for the UK to formally leave the world’s largest economic and political union will take years, the referendum’s result is likely to have cascading effects on both sides of the Atlantic and could play a role in November’s general elections in the United States.
Today on the Hill: Dem Sit-In Forces Early House Recess; Zika Conference Report Approved
With House Democrats staging a sit-in on the well of the House floor to attempt to force votes on gun control proposals, Republican leaders elected to formally adjourn the chamber for the week. The House is not scheduled to be in session next week, meaning that the next action legislative action for House lawmakers may be delayed until after the July 4 holiday. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), known for his critical role in the Civil Rights Movement, is leading Democrats in the demonstration on the House floor after the Senate voted down gun control proposals that were forced by a 15-hour filibuster from Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) last week. The protesting lawmakers want votes on two bills: H.R. 1217, which would establish background-check requirements for gun show purchases, and H.R. 1076, which would prohibit individuals on the FBI’s terrorist watch list from being able to purchase guns.
Rosenstock: Warren More Effective for Clinton Campaign in Senate than as VP
This morning, Politico published an article highlighting the skepticism of some political analysts to the possiblity that liberal firebrand Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) would be a wise choice as Vice-President for presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. While some on Wall Street have concerns over Warren's record as a fierce critic of the financial services industry, TRP's Jason Rosenstock asserted that the Massachusetts senator would be more of an asset to the Clinton campaign and Democratic Party by remaining in the Senate.
Continue reading “Rosenstock: Warren More Effective for Clinton Campaign in Senate than as VP”
Financial Services Report
Looking Ahead
Near Term
- The Senate is expected to take up a proposal on gun control in response to the the mass shooting in Orlando and after Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) held a 15-hour filibuster on the subject last week. The vote will be part of four amendments to pending Commerce-Justice-Science spending legislation (H.R.2578).
- The House is scheduled to debate the fiscal 2017 Financial Services spending bill (H.R. 5485), which includes decreases in funding for both the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The bill also would also block certain requirements set out by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law, notably including rebukes of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) payday lending rule and adjustments to the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s (FSOC) systemically important financial institution designation process.
- The House is also take up an override vote of President Barack Obama’s veto of a resolution (H.J. Res. 88) that would nullify the Department of Labor’s rule on the fiduciary duties of investment advisers, though they are unlikely to get the sufficient number of votes to sustain a veto.
- Fed Chair Janet Yellen makes her semi-annual trek up the Hill to testify before the House and Senate Banking Committees this week. The appearance comes after the Fed’s recent announcement to keep interest rates the same, as well as a recent NPRM on new regulations on insurance companies. We also anticipate that questions about the impact of a potential “Brexit” on the global economy could be in the mix.
- The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) will meet this week in a highly anticipated meeting on insurance rules and a review of the annual re-evaluation of the designations of nonbank financial companies.
Health Policy Report
The Week in Review
After consideration of dozens of amendments, House lawmakers approved defense appropriations legislation (H.R. 5293) on Thursday by a vote of 282-138. The bill provides $517.1 billion of funding to defense programs, with another $58 billion allocated to the Overseas Contingency Operations account for combat operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other terrorist organizations. House lawmakers also passed a measure that would expand public access to federal government records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (S. 337) and another that would prohibit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from requiring tax-exempt organizations to disclose their donors. In response to the Orlando attacks, the House also re-approved a legislative package (H.R. 5471) dedicated to combatting violent extremism by directing the Department of Homeland Security to improve coordination of intelligence.