Congress Not Likely to Return Early for Disaster Relief

Capitol Hill Update Former Vice President Joe Biden is projected to defeat President Donald Trump in the race for the White House after clinching victories in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The Democratic nominee is also leading in Nevada, Georgia, and Arizona as the remaining mail-in and absentee ballots continue to get counted. Despite leading in […]

Although we do not know who is going to win the Presidential election next week, proponents of former Vice President Biden are once again putting their faith in positive polling, and so we are starting to see an increase of articles about the Biden Transition. In fact, Politico has a whole newsletter devoted to the topic. While these stories […]

Capitol Hill Update The Senate is poised to take up another targeted pandemic relief bill when the chamber convenes for votes today, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said last week. The forthcoming package is largely expected to mirror the previous Senate GOP “skinny relief” effort, including business liability provisions and allocating roughly $500 billion […]

Capitol Hill Update While Senators on the Judiciary Committee convene for the Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced yesterday that no votes are expected in the lower chamber this week as Congressional Democrats and the Trump administration remain far apart on the next round of COVID-19 relief aid. […]

While the House was scheduled to be in recess – albeit subject to a 24-hours notice to return for a vote if a deal on COVID relief gets made – the Senate was scheduled to be in town to continue to vote on Judges. Then three Senators tested positive for COVID and Senate Majority Leader […]

Over the weekend, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced that votes for this week would be cancelled and the Senate adjourned after three Republican Senators — Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Ron Johnson (R-WI) — tested positive for COVID-19. Leader McConnell originally sought a consent agreement to meet in pro forma […]

Capitol Hill Update Congress is expected to conclude its September legislative work session this week before embarking on a month-long sprint to the finish for the 2020 campaign. In the upper chamber, Senators are poised to take up the bipartisan continuing resolution (CR) (text; summary) tomorrow ahead of Wednesday’s Sept. 30 government funding deadline. The measure […]

Capitol Hill Update Congress will convene today with less than 10 days remaining until the government funding deadline. Congressional leadership is hopeful that lawmakers will be able to take up and pass a continuing resolution (CR) this week that would avert a shutdown on Sept. 30th, but the talks have hit a snag over various […]

Capitol Hill Update Senators failed to advance (52-47) the GOP’s targeted pandemic relief bill last week Senate Democrats, plus Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), voted against the motion to proceed for the underlying bill. The package — which included Republican priorities on child care, liability protections, health care, education, and small business — did not meet […]

Capitol Hill Update House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows did not move closer to a deal on the next round of pandemic relief aid, as the two sides remain far apart on the size and scope of the next package. The two lead negotiators held a roughly 25-minute […]

Capitol Hill Update Over this past weekend, House lawmakers convened for a rare Saturday session, passing (257-150) legislation that seeks to shore up the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). House Oversight and Government Reform Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney’s (D-NY) bill would: (1) provide the USPS with $25 billion to cover revenue losses; (2) reverse service and operational changes […]

Capitol Hill Update House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is poised to call Members back to Washington for votes amid growing concerns about the state of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Lawmakers will likely come back later in the week to vote on House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney’s Delivering for America Act, which […]