Weekly Legislative Update
 Week of November 14, 2016
  
Congressional Outlook

Week of November 14th

The House and Senate are in session this week, after a 6-week recess prior to the election on November 8. On Monday and Tuesday, the House will consider 12 bills under suspension of the rules, including the Improving Access to Maternity Care Act (H.R. 1209), which would require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration to identify areas of the country facing a shortage of maternity health care providers and assign doctors, nurses and other professionals who are part of the National Health Service Corps; and the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2015 (H.R. 2713), which would expand and reauthorize, through FY 2021, grants and scholarships provided for nursing education and workforce development programs. For the remainder of the week, the House will vote on the Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2016 (H.R. 5982), which would expand the Congressional Review Act to allow Congress the ability to use a single resolution of disapproval to try to kill multiple major regulations completed in the final year of a President's term, rather than utilizing the current procedure of disapproving one regulation at a time. The Senate this week has only one vote scheduled, on the Gold Star Families Voices Act ( H.R. 4511 ), which would expand the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project (VHP) to include family members of veterans who died as a result of their service or who are missing in action.
 
This week, House and Senate Republican leaders will likely finalize plans on whether Congress should attempt to complete any of the remaining 11 appropriations bills for the 2017 fiscal year in the lame duck as an omnibus/minibus package(s) or, instead, opt to extend temporary government funding for at least six weeks, now set to expire Friday, December 9th, until after Donald Trump takes office as President on January 20th, 2017. That would preserve the Republicans' ability to impose their spending priorities under President-elect Trump. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said last week that he wants to finish the spending process for the current fiscal year before the calendar year ends. Conservatives such as Rep.Bill Flores (R-TX), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, are calling for a stopgap bill into the spring paired with the Midnight Rules Relief Act to stop any new Obama Administration regulations. A delay could allow conservatives to fulfill their goal of at least $30 billion in cuts to discretionary spending this year, although it risks a government shutdown showdown with Senate Democrats early in the new year.
 
The only other must-pass agenda item for the current 114th Congress, other than funding the federal government, is the $602 billion FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which currently sits in a House-Senate conference committee. House and Senate negotiators are also expected to convene in a formal conference committee in the lame duck to finalize and pass the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2016 ( H.R. 5303 / S. 2848 ) . Congressional leaders also plan to take up a wide-ranging medical innovation bill, the 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 6), in the lame-duck session, which would spur new medical treatments and increase spending for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration. Additional policy items which may be finalized and passed prior to the end of the 114th Congress include the Energy Policy Modernization Act ( S. 2012 ), a ten-year extension of the Iran Sanctions Act (IRA), which is set to expire on December 31st, and tax extenders legislation. With the election of a Republican majority in the House and Senate for the new 115th Congress, coupled with the election of a new Republican President, many of the policy items that would have moved in the lame duck had the election resulted in divided government are now likely off the table and will not be considered. These include criminal justice reform legislation; the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement; and a Senate vote on President Obama's nominee to the vacant Supreme Court seat, Merrick Garland.
 
The Congressional orientation for the 62 newly elected members of Congress (55 Representatives-elect and 7 Senators-elect) began on Monday. Both parties in the House and Senate are also scheduled to choose their leaders for the 115th Congress this week. Republicans are expected to nominate Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) for a two-year term, in addition to most of the other current House Republican leaders, on Tuesday. While House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced that the Democratic Caucus will meet on November 30th to hold their party elections, there are now reports that those elections will be postponed, signaling dissension among House Democrats. Senate Democrats are scheduled to pick their leaders on Wednesday, while Senate Republicans have not yet scheduled their party elections, although they could occur as soon as this week. Most committee chairmen and ranking members are selected by Republican and Democratic steering committees and then approved by the larger party caucuses. The steering committees will meet separately in December 2016 to make committee selections.
 
President Obama will be traveling to Greece, Germany, and Peru from November 14th-21st. This trip "will highlight the President's commitment to trans-Atlantic solidarity, a strong and integrated Europe, and to cooperation with our Asia Pacific partners. The President's schedule will underscore the linkages between our security interests and our economic agenda, our efforts to promote balanced, sustainable, and strong global economic growth, and our support for trade liberalization and economic reforms that reduce inequality and deliver opportunities for the middle class around the world as well as regional economic institutions that foster private sector growth."
Week in Review

Donald J. Trump Elected 45th President of the United States, Republicans Maintain Control of House and Senate
 
On Tuesday, November 8th, Donald J. Trump was elected America's 45th President of the United States, defeating Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in an event that rocked Washington, D.C., and its institutions. After a long campaign, President-elect Trump now has to complete the mammoth task of transitioning to his new government, and appointing thousands of individuals who will comprise his Administration. Indiana Governor Mike Pence was also elected as the 48th Vice President of the United States. Both men will be sworn-in to office at noon on Friday, January 20th, 2017 on the western side of the United States Capitol Building. The final Electoral College tally will likely result in 306 electoral votes for Trump and Pence and 232 electoral votes for Clinton and Tim Kaine; 270 electoral votes are required for an individual to be elected President. As of November 14, Hillary Clinton is currently leading in the popular vote by 666,548 votes, with 61,040,517 votes (47.8%) going to the Clinton-Kaine ticket and 60,373,969 votes (47.3%) going to the Trump-Pence ticket. The 538 electors in the United States Electoral College will formally cast their votes for President and Vice President in all 50 state capitals on Monday, December 19th; there will then be a joint session of Congress in the House chamber on Friday, January 6th, 2017, presided over by Vice President Joe Biden, where the 538 electoral votes will be officially counted and certified.   
  
Trump paid a visit to Washington  on Thursday, where he met with House and Senate Republican leaders after a 90-minute meeting with President Obama at the White House. The two had never met before, and Trump said he would seek his predecessor-in-waiting's advice. With Republican leaders, Trump vowed to work on advancing policy changes around  taxes, health care and immigration. The Trump transition team has been working for months to ensure that there is a seamless succession of power starting on January 20th, 2017. Transition teams are official, government-recognized groups that work separately from the campaign. They are formed shortly after the two major party Presidential nominees are selected. The Trump transition team, and all transitions teams, focus on the following tasks: developing short lists of candidates for Administration positions; turning campaign goals into actionable policies and legislative proposals; operations and support; and agency review.  On November 13, President-elect Trump named RNC Chairman Reince Priebus as his White House Chief of Staff and Brietbart News CEO Steve Bannon as his chief strategist and senior counselor. Vice President-elect Pence is serving as Chairman of the official Transition effort, with NJ Governor Chris  Christie, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions serving as Transition Vice-Chairs.  The transition team's  organization chart  was recently published by Politico. This team of Washington insiders and industry leaders is working at the departmental/agency level to take suggestions and vet names for Cabinet level jobs and below - over 1,200 of which will need Senate confirmation. Over 4,000 political jobs will eventually need to be filled in the Trump Administration.

Down-ballot Republicans road Trump's coattails to maintain their Senate and House majorities. Democrats flipped just two seats in the Senate, with New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan defeating incumbent GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte, and Rep. Tammy Duckworth unseating Sen. Mark Kirk in Illinois. The Senate breakdown next year, pending a runoff in Louisiana which is likely to go Republicans' way, is currently 51-48. One of the few bright spots for Democrats was in Nevada, where Catherine Cortez Masto   defeated   Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) to succeed retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. Additionally, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and California Attorney General Kamala Harris (D-CA) will be filling two open Democratic-held seats. Rep. Todd Young (R-IN) also won his race in Indiana to fill an open Republican Senate seat, and there is a pending Senate runoff election in Louisiana on December 10 between Republican John Kennedy and Democrat Foster Campbell. The Republican majority still remains below the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster attempt, a procedural blockade the minority uses to prevent the majority from moving legislation. Democrats will surely take advantage of this as it will be one of few tools at their disposal to keep Republicans from having absolute power in Washington. However, Senate rules allow bills to pass with a simple majority if they only relate to spending, and there is a possibility that the Republican majority may move to eliminate the filibuster.

Republicans   lost only 5-6 seats   in the House, reducing their majority from 247 seats to 241-242 seats in the 115th Congress; 218 seats are needed to have a majority in the House. Of the 388 House incumbents running for re-election in 2016, only 8 were defeated in their re-election (6 Republicans and 2 Democrats). The 6 incumbent House Republicans who lost re-election are Reps. Frank Guinta (R-NH), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), John Mica (R-FL), David Jolly (R-FL), Bob Dold (R-IL), and Cresent Hardy (R-NV); the two incumbent House Democrats who lost re-election are Reps. Brad Ashford (D-NE) and Mike Honda (D-CA). In addition to the 8 new House freshmen who defeated incumbents, there are 47 incoming House freshmen who are filling open seats of retiring House members, or those who died in office, ushering in a total of 55 new Representatives in the House for the 115th Congress (12.6% of the House). A full list of the winners of all 435 House races may be found here; a list of all retiring House members may be found here.
Congressional Schedule

Monday, November 14 
  • Full House Rules Committee hearing to consider a bill "To prohibit the Secretary of the Treasury from authorizing certain transactions by a U.S. financial institution in connection with the export or re-export of a commercial passenger aircraft to the Islamic Republic of Iran" (H.R. 5711) and the "Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2016" (H.R. 5982). 
Tuesday, November 15 
  • House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade hearing entitled "Disrupter Series: Self-Driving Cars."
  • Full House Financial Services Committee hearing entitled "Examining the SEC's Agenda, Operations, and FY 2018 Budget Request."
  • House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands legislative hearing entitled "Central Wasatch National Conservation and Recreation Area Act."
  • House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources legislative hearing on the "Federal Land Freedom Act of 2015" (H.R. 866) and the "Honor the Nevada Enabling Act of 1864 Act" (H.R. 1484).
  • Full House Natural Resources Committee markup of the "Arbuckle Project Maintenance Complex and District Office Conveyance Act of 2015" (H.R. 1219); the "Chicano Park Preservation Act" (H.R. 3711); the "San Luis Unit Drainage Resolution Act" (H.R. 4366); and the "Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act" (H.R. 5633).
  • Full House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing entitled "Oversight of the Secret Service."  
Wednesday, November 16
  • Full House Agriculture Committee hearing entitled "Past, Present, and Future of SNAP: Opportunities for Improving Access to Food.
  • Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development hearing entitled "The Future of Nuclear Power."
  • Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies hearing entitled "The Automated and Self-Driving Vehicle Revolution: What Is the Role of Government?"
  • Full Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing entitled "Exploring Augmented Reality."
  • House Energy and Commerce Subcommittees on Communications and Technology & Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade hearing entitled "Understanding the Role of Connected Devices in Recent Cyber Attacks."
  • House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance hearing entitled "Modernizing Appraisals: A Regulatory Review and the Future of the Industry."
  • Full House Judiciary Committee markup of a bill to "ensure funding for the National Human Trafficking Hotline, and for other purposes" (H.R. 5422) and the "Judgment Fund Transparency Act of 2015" (H.R. 1669).
  • Full House Natural Resources Committee markup of the "Arbuckle Project Maintenance Complex and District Office Conveyance Act of 2015" (H.R. 1219); the "Chicano Park Preservation Act" (H.R. 3711); the "San Luis Unit Drainage Resolution Act" (H.R. 4366); and the "Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act" (H.R. 5633).
  • Full House Oversight and Government Reform Committee markup.
  • House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations hearing entitled "2020 Census: Outcomes of the 2016 Site Test."
  • House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Information Technology hearing entitled "Federal Cybersecurity After the OPM Data Breach: Have Agencies Learned Their Lesson?"  
Thursday, November 17  
  • Full Joint Economic Committee hearing entitled "The Economic Outlook."
  • Full House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence open hearing entitled "Intelligence Community Support to the U.S. Department of Defense."