Weekly Legislative Update
 Week of January 30, 2017
  
Congressional Outlook

Week of January 30

The House and Senate are both in session this week. On Monday and Tuesday, the House will consider 26 bills under suspension of the rules, including the Transit Security Grant Program Flexibility Act (H.R. 549), which would allow recipients of TSA grants additional time to use funds, from two years to 36 months; the  First Responder Access to Innovative Technologies Act (H.R. 687), which would mandate FEMA to develop a process for reviewing grant applications for purchasing equipment and systems that don't meet or exceed voluntary consensus standards under the State Homeland Security Grant Program and the Urban Area Security Initiative; and the Cyber Preparedness Act of 2017 ( H.R. 584), which would expand a Dept. of Homeland Security information-sharing initiative with states and municipalities to include coordination involving cybersecurity risks.
 
For the remainder of the week, the House will vote on five separate disapproval resolutions under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows Congress, with a simple majority in the House and Senate, to nullify rules finalized by the Obama Administration in the last 60 legislative days of the 114th Congress: (1) nullifying the Interior Department's stream protection rule, which prohibits mining activities that would cause "material damage" to streams outside of the mining permit area (H.J. Res. 38); (2) disapproving of the resource extraction rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which requires companies to disclose payments to the U.S. and foreign governments for the development of oil, natural gas or minerals (H.J. Res. 41); (3) disapproving of the Social Security Administration's rule requiring it to report disability insurance recipients to the FBI's background check system for prospective gun buyers (H.J. Res. 40); (4) disapproving of a rule submitted by DoD, the GSA, and NASA requiring prospective federal contractors to disclose their labor violations (H.J. Res. 37); and (5) disapproving of the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management methane flaring, venting and waste rule, which requires oil and gas production operations on federal land to reduce wasted methane and limits what wasted gas doesn't count when calculating royalty payments to the government (H.J. Res. 36).
 
The Senate will be voting on the confirmation of Rex Tillerson to be the 69th U.S. Secretary of State and Elaine Chao to be the 18th U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Other nominees who will be voted on by their respective Senate committees of jurisdiction include: Steve Mnuchin to be Treasury Secretary; Linda McMahon to be SBA Administrator; Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) to be Interior Secretary; Rick Perry to be Energy Secretary; Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) to be HHS Secretary; Betsy DeVos to be Education Secretary; Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) to be U.S. Attorney General; Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) to be OMB Director; and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to be EPA Administrator. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee will also be holding a nomination hearing on Wednesday for Dr. David Shulkin to be the 9th U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
 
At 8pm on Tuesday night, President Trump will be announcing his nominee for the vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, which several Senate Democrats have already threatened to filibuster. The top contenders are two federal appeals court judges, 51-year old Thomas Hardiman from Pittsburgh, PA and 49-year old Neil Gorsuch from Denver, CO. Trump is likely to continue signing numerous executive orders throughout the remainder of the week. 
Week in Review

President Trump Signs 15 Executive Orders and Presidential Memoranda
 
From January 23-28, President Trump signed 15 separate executive orders and presidential memoranda, ranging from freezing the federal workforce to expediting environmental reviews on infrastructure projects, increasing border security measures, stripping money away from so-called "sanctuary cities," implementing a five-year lobby ban for White House employees, and suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Programs for 120 days and barring citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the U.S. for 90 days. Read more...
Senate Votes to Confirm CIA Director and U.S. Ambassador to the UN
 
On January 23, the Senate voted 66-32 to confirm former Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) to serve as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). On January 24, the Senate voted 96-4 to confirm former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to serve as the 29th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (UN). Read more...
Senate Democrats Unveil $1 Trillion Infrastructure Plan
 
On January 24, Senate Democrats unveiled their " Blueprint to Rebuild America's Infrastructure," a 10-year, $1 trillion proposal to "rebuild our nation's crumbling infrastructure and create 15 million middle-class jobs." Also, on Jan. 24, a  document  leaked out listing 50 infrastructure projects compiled and shared by President Donald Trump's transition team, and put together by a Washington-based consulting firm.   Read more...
House and Senate GOP Hold Legislative Retreat
 
From January 25-27, the House and Senate Republican conferences held a joint legislative retreat in Philadelphia, PA. At the retreat, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced an ambitious 200-day Congressional agenda, which includes rolling back regulations, repealing and replacing the 2010 health care law, funding a border wall, rewriting the tax code, expanding the veterans' choice program, advancing an infrastructure package, and avoiding a debt default - all before the August recess. Read more...
House Passes No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017
 
On January 24, the House passed, by a vote of 238-183, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017 ( H.R. 7 ), which would amend the Affordable Care Act to bar any federal money to provide premium subsidies that help pay for insurance plans that provide abortion services and would prohibit state matching funds for from being used for purchasing such coverage as well. The White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy stating that "The Administration strongly supports H.R. 7 [...] If the President were presented with H.R. 7 in its present form, he would sign the bill." Read more...
Senate Passes GAO Access and Oversight Act of 2017
 
On January 17, the Senate passed, by a vote of 99-0, the GAO Access and Oversight Act of 2017 (H.R. 72), which provides the Government Accountability Office with enhanced tools to oversee federal programs and ensure that the GAO is able to obtain records it needs to audit, evaluate, and investigate federal agencies. The House previously passed H.R. 72 on January 4 by voice vote and now heads to President Trump to be signed into law.  Read more...  
Congressional Schedule

Monday, January 30 
  • Full Senate Finance Committee executive session to vote on the nomination of Steve Mnuchin to be the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
  • Full House Rules Committee hearing to consider Disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of the Interior known as the Stream Protection Rule (H.J. Res. 38); Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of a rule submitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to ''Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers'' (H.J. Res. 41); and Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Social Security Administration relating to Implementation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (H.J. Res. 40).
  • Full Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee business meeting to vote on the nomination of Linda McMahon to be the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. 
Tuesday, January 31 
  • House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing entitled "Medicaid Oversight: Existing Problems and Ways to Strengthen the Program."
  • Full Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee business meeting to vote on the nominations of Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) to be the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and Rick Perry to be the U.S. Secretary of Energy.
  • Full Senate Finance Committee executive session to vote on the nomination of Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) to be the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.
  • Full Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee business meeting to vote on the nomination of Betsy DeVos to be the U.S. Secretary of Education.
  • Full Senate Judiciary Committee executive business meeting to vote on the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) to be the U.S. Attorney General; and to consider the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act (S. 178).
  • Full House Oversight and Government Reform Committee business meeting to consider the following bills: Tax Accountability Act of 2017 (H.R. 396); Federal Agency Mail Management Act of 2017 (H.R. 194); Federal Employee Antidiscrimination Act (H.R. 702); Construction Consensus Procurement Improvement Act (H.R. 679); Federal Intern Protection Act of 2017 (H.R. 653); and the Follow the Rules Act (H.R. 657).
  • House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Health Care, Benefits, and Administrative Rules hearing entitled "Fraud, Waste and Abuse Under the Affordable Care Act."
  • Full House Rules Committee hearing to consider Disapproving the final rule submitted by the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration relating to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (H.J. Res. 37); and Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the final rule of the Bureau of Land Management relating to ''Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation'' (H.J. Res. 36). 
Wednesday, February 1  
  • Full Special Senate Aging Committee hearing entitled "Stopping Senior Scams: Developments in Financial Fraud Affecting Seniors."
  • Full House Armed Services Committee hearing entitled "The State of the World: National Security Threats and Challenges."
  • Full Senate Budget Committee executive session to vote on the nomination of Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) to be Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
  • Full Senate Budget Committee hearing entitled "The Congressional Budget Office's Budget and Economic Outlook for Fiscal Years 2017-2027."
  • Full Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing entitled "A Growth Agenda: Reducing Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens."
  • Full House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing entitled "Rescuing Americans from the Failed Health Care Law and Advancing Patient-Centered Solutions."
  • House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing entitled "Strengthening Medicaid and Prioritizing the Most Vulnerable."
  • House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy hearing entitled "The Electricity Sector's Efforts to Respond to Cybersecurity Threats."
  • Full Senate Environment and Public Works Committee business meeting to vote on the nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to be the Administrator of the U.S. Environment Protection Agency.
  • Full Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing entitled "Obamacare Emergency: Stabilizing the Individual Health Insurance Market."
  • Full Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing entitled "Fencing Along the Southwest Border."
  • Full House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing entitled "Empowering the Inspectors General."
  • House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations hearing entitled "Five Years Later: A Review of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act."
  • Full House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing entitled "Building a 21st Century Infrastructure for America."
  • Full Senate Veterans Affairs' Committee nomination hearing for Dr. David J. Shulkin to serve as the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Thursday, February 2 
  • Full House Budget Committee hearing entitled "The Congressional Budget Office's Budget and Economic Outlook for Fiscal Years 2017-2027."
  • House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education hearing entitled "Helping Students Succeed Through the Power of School Choice."
  • House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing entitled "Patient Relief from Collapsing Health Markets."
  • House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing entitled "Reauthorization of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)."
  • House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Protective Security hearing entitled "The Future of the Transportation Security Administration."
  • Full House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing entitled "Improving Security and Efficiency at OPM and the National Background Investigations Bureau."
  • Full House Oversight and Government Reform Committee business meeting to consider a resolution disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Death with Dignity Act of 2016 (H. J. Res. 27); the Federal Records Modernization Act of 2017 (H.R. ____); and the Electronic Message Preservation Act of 2017 (H.R. ____).