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Weekly Legislative Update
Week of December 11, 2017
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The House and Senate are in session this week. The House will vote on
13 bills under suspension of the rules, including the Promoting Closed-Loop Pumped Storage Hydropower Act (H.R. 2880), which would mandate the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to establish an expedited process to license pumped hydroelectric storage projects; and the Promoting Hydropower Development at Existing Nonpowered Dams Act (H.R. 2872), which would establish an expedited licensing process at FERC for installing hydropower generation at existing dams that don't produce electricity. For the remainder of the week, the House will vote on the Community Institution Mortgage Relief Act of 2017 (H.R. 3971), under which additional mortgage lenders and servicers would qualify for exemptions from escrow and other requirements established by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; the Privacy Notification Technical Clarification Act (H.R. 2396), which would exempt additional lenders from a requirement to send annual privacy notices to consumers if no changes had been made to their policies regarding personal information shared with third parties; and two foreign policy related-bills, the Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act (H.R. 1638) and the Strengthening Oversight of Iran's Access to Finance Act (H.R. 4324).
The Senate this week will vote on the nominations of Leonard Grasz to be a Judge on the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota); and Don Willett and James Ho to be Judges on the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas). The 29-member House-Senate conference committee will meet on Wednesday to resolve differences in the House and Senate's separate tax reform bills. Among the issues up for debate are deductions for medical expenses and state income taxes, whether to repeal the corporate alternative minimum tax and the size of the corporate tax cut. The final conference report for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) will likely be released early next week, with a final vote in the House and Senate by Dec. 22.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have until Dec. 22 to reach another deal to fund the federal government. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) has said that another stopgap spending bill to fund federal agencies into January may be needed to complete work on an omnibus spending package for the remainder of FY 2018. So far there is no deal on raising the spending caps in the Budget Control Act of 2011. Democrats have called for a $54 billion increase per year in defense and non-defense spending, totaling $216 billion over two years. Republicans, meanwhile, may want a $230 billion increase over two years. If there is another stopgap spending bill, leaders of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and the Republican Study Committee have said they will insist that a full-year appropriation for Pentagon operations be attached to it. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said such a demand could lead to a partial government shutdown later this month. Democrats, who have leverage to shape the final spending package because Republican leaders need their votes to pass it in the Senate and likely in the House as well, are pressing to resolve the legal status of so-called Dreamers, the almost 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. Their demands also include legislation to pay health insurers subsidies to cover sick people to curb premium increases for coverage sold on the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
On Monday, President Trump signed Space Policy Directive 1 (SPD-1),
aimed at furthering the Administration's efforts in advancing space exploration by directing the NASA Administrator to lead an innovative space exploration program to send American astronauts back to the Moon, and eventually Mars.
On Tuesday, Trump will sign the FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2810), which the House and Senate passed in mid-November.
Voters in Alabama head to the polls Tuesday for the special election to replace Jeff Sessions, who left the U.S. Senate on February 8 to become U.S. Attorney General. The contest pits Republican nominee Roy Moore, the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court who has faced allegations of sexual misconduct, against Democratic nominee Doug Jones, a former U.S. Attorney.
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Trump Signs Two-Week Stopgap Funding Bill Into Law, Averting a Government Shutdown
On December 8, President Trump signed the "Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018" (
Public Law No. 115-90)
into law, which averted a government shutdown and funds the federal government through Friday, December 22. T
he House passed the bill by a vote of 235-193, while the Senate passed the measure by a vote 81-14. Along with continuing to fund federal departments and averting a government shutdown, the measure also directs additional federal money to those states running out of funds for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and extends the authorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for an additional two weeks.
The new Continuing Resolution (CR) allows Congress two more weeks to continue negotiations on FY 2018 appropriations bills. At this point, especially with tax reform legislation monopolizing bandwidth on the Hill, it does not look like a final deal on appropriations will be reached before the end of 2017. Instead, Congress is expected to take up another short-term CR that extends funding into January or February of 2018. Members would come back after the holiday break to finalize work on the twelve appropriations bills, most likely combining them in to one large omnibus appropriations bill.
While the CR did not include any additional policy provisions or add-ons, aside from the short-term extensions of CHIP and the NFIP, additional policy previsions and funding may be added to the next CR, including emergency hurricane and wildfire relief,
passage of the Dream Act to legalize the residency status of almost 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children,
changes to stabilize the Affordable Care Act, and a permanent fix to CHIP. Read more...
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House and Senate Vote to go to Conference on Tax Bill
Last week, the House voted
222-192 and the Senate voted
51-47 to formally create a House-Senate conference committee to resolve differences in the House and Senate's separate tax reform bills. Among the issues up for debate are deductions for medical expenses and state income taxes, whether to repeal the corporate alternative minimum tax and the size of the corporate tax cut. The final conference report for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) will likely be released early next week, with a final vote in the House and Senate by Dec. 22. The
29 members of the conference committee (17 Republicans and 12 Democrats) were announced last week by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and will meet at 2pm ET on Wed., Dec. 13.
Read more...
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Senate Confirms Five Trump Nominees
Last week, the Senate took recorded votes to confirm the two following Trump Administration nominees:
- Kirstjen Nielsen to be U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, confirmed by a vote of 62-37;
- Joseph Balash to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Mineral Management, confirmed by a vote of 61-38 .
The Senate also confirmed several nominees by voice vote or Unanimous Consent:
- Emily Murphy to be Administrator of General Services Administration;
- Glen Smith to be a Member of the Farm Credit Administration Board; and
- Susan Bodine to be an Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
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Trump to Unveil Infrastructure Plan in January
Late last week, it was reported that President Trump will finally unveil his long-awaited infrastructure proposal in early January 2018, according to a White House official. Trump will release a "detailed infrastructure principles document," delivering on a longstanding promise to invest in America's infrastructure. The plan is expected to emphasize a greater role for states and localities in funding for their infrastructure needs (with or without private sector involvement) and to promote that through four pots of money supplied by the federal government. Over the past several months, the White House has been working behind the scenes to craft a detailed, 70-page infrastructure memo, and this document, which will be submitted to Congress next month, will likely serve as the building block for lawmakers to write actual legislation. The Trump Administration has long said it wants to use $200 billion in federal seed money, along with significant permit reform and other incentives, to leverage $1 trillion worth of overall infrastructure investment.
According to sources, the funds provided under the plan would be divided into four general areas:
- Fully half of the $200 billion is expected to take the form of grants to state and local governments for projects across many modes of infrastructure (highways and transit, rail, navigable waterways, drinking water and sewer projects). These "incentive" grants will be able to cover no more than 20 percent of eligible project costs, and applicants will be judged primarily on the ability to commit long-term non-federal revenues for the project. The incentive grants will also be paired with additional streamlining of federal project delivery and permitting processes.
- About one-quarter of the $200 billion is expected to fund a new program for infrastructure assistance in rural areas. The money would be distributed to states via formula, and distribution within each state would be left up to the governor.
- The bulk of the remainder of the $200 billion, after the incentive grants and the rural grants, will go towards what the Administration calls "transformative" projects - pricey, big-ticket showcases that transform the way infrastructure currently works. Grant recipients will be selected on a competitive basis by the Administration (probably centralized in the Commerce Department). The federal cost share of these grants is expected to be significantly higher than the 20 percent match level in the incentive grants.
- The Administration plan is also expected to provide additional funding for existing federal credit programs that provide aid to infrastructure (TIFIA, RRIF, WIFIA, etc.) However, the TIFIA program already has more money than it can spend, and has had to give hundreds of millions of unspent dollars back to the Treasury. And the RRIF program, as currently structured, does not require federal funding - loan applicants pay fees high enough to make the program self-sustaining.
The big question is whether, and how, to pay for the $200 billion in infrastructure funding, with no guidance from the President's FY 2018 budget in this regard. Tax reform and the various year-end funding issues may utilize all of the low-hanging pay-fors (like overseas corporate income repatriation) before the infrastructure bill comes around. With House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and other Republican leaders maintaining their opposition to a gasoline tax increase, it's anybody's guess what kind of pay-fors will be considered next year. Read more...
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Two Members of Congress Resign, Third Will Resign in the Coming Weeks
On December 5, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI)
resigned after serving nearly 53 years in the House amid sexual harassment allegations against him. On December 8, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ)
resigned after serving nearly 15 years in the House shortly before a news report that said he offered a staffer $5 million to act as a surrogate, and another media report that said two staffers were not sure if he wanted them to serve as surrogates by having intercourse with him or through in vitro fertilization. On December 7, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN)
announced that he would be resigning in the coming weeks amid allegations of sexual misconduct and after he lost the support of fellow Senate Democrats. A new poll
found that 61 percent of registered voters say Congress should probe all credible allegations of sexual misconduct against a sitting politician, even if the alleged events took place before the lawmaker took office.
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House Votes to Table Consideration of Articles of Impeachment Against Trump
On December 6, the House voted 364-58-4 to table the consideration of several articles of impeachment (H. Res. 646) against President Trump filed by Rep. Al Green (D-TX). All 238 House Republicans voted in favor of tabling the articles of impeachment along with 126 House Democrats, while 58 House Democrats voted against tabling them, and 4 House Democrats voted present. Read more...
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House Passes Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act
On December 6, the House passed, by a vote of
231-198, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 (
H.R. 38). The bill would require all states to honor a permit to carry a concealed firearm from any other state, regardless of different laws pertaining to the permitting state and the state in which a person is carrying a firearm. Regardless of current state laws, H.R. 38 would force every state to accept concealed carry weapons permits from other states, meaning individuals can get a concealed carry permit from states with the easiest requirements and bring that firearm into any other state in the country. The bill also makes modest changes to the National Instant Criminal Background System (NICS) that would penalize federal agencies that fail to report relevant criminal records to the FBI and creates an incentive for states to report up-to-date information by giving federal grant preferences to states who comply.
Read more...
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House Passes Small Business Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification Act
On December 7, the House passed, by a vote of
426-0, the Small Business Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification Act of 2017 (
H.R. 477), which would exempt merger and acquisition brokers from registering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as broker-dealers, and exempt them from the 1970 Securities Investor Protection Act. This legislation specifies the exemption applies to brokers that facilitate the transfer of ownership of privately held companies with earnings of less than $25 million or revenues of less than $250 million annually.
Read more...
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Trump Shrinks Two National Monuments in Utah
On December 4, President Trump
signed two Proclamations in Salt Lake City, which drastically trim Utah's
Bears Ears and
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments after deciding the designations under the Antiquities Act of 1906 were overreach. Trump's move to shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments by more than 1.1 million acres and more than 800,000 acres, respectively, immediately sparked an outpouring of praise from conservative lawmakers as well as protests by activists outside the White House and in Utah. The changes plunge the Trump administration into uncharted legal territory, as no president has sought to modify monuments established under the 1906 Antiquities Act in more than half a century. His decision removes about 85 percent of the designation of Bears Ears and nearly 46 percent of that for Grand Staircase-Escalante, land that potentially could now be leased for energy exploration or opened for specific activities such as motorized vehicle use.
Read more...
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Trump Declares Jerusalem the Capital of Israel
On December 6, President Trump
signed a
Proclamation proclaiming Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel, shattering decades of unwavering U.S. neutrality on Jerusalem, and sparking frustrated Palestinians to cry out that he had destroyed the already-fragile Mideast hopes for peace. Trump also signed a
Presidential Memorandum officially delaying any move of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem for six months.
Read more...
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Supreme Court Allows Trump Travel Ban to Take Effect
On December 4, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the third version of the Trump Administration's travel ban to go into effect while legal challenges against it continue. The court's unsigned orders (see
here and
here) urged appeals courts to move swiftly to determine whether the latest ban was unlawful. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor said they would have denied the Administration's request to allow the latest ban to go into effect. The Court's order means that the Administration can fully enforce its new restrictions on travel from eight nations, six of them predominantly Muslim. For now, most citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad, and North Korea will be barred from entering the U.S., along with some groups of people from Venezuela. The restrictions vary in their details, but in most cases, citizens of these countries will be unable to emigrate to the U.S. permanently and many will be barred from working, studying or vacationing here.
Read more...
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Trump Announces Two Additions to his Administration
Last week, President Trump announced his intent to nominate the following two individuals to his Administration:
- Michael Griffin to be Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, which will become effective February 1, 2018; and
- Gregory Slavonic to be an Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Manpower and Reserve Affairs.
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