Weekly Legislative Update
 Week of January 17, 2017
  
Congressional Outlook

Week of January 17

The House is in recess this week, while the Senate is in session. On Tuesday, the Senate will vote on the House-passed 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. When the House returns the week of January 23, it will consider the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017 (H.R. 7), which would permanently prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for any abortion services or abortion coverage.  
 
Six Senate committees will hold eight confirmation hearings this week for President-elect Donald Trump's nominees for Secretaries of the Interior, Education, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Energy, and Treasury, in addition to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has previously stated that he is "hopeful" that six to seven of Trump's Cabinet and administration nominees will be confirmed on Friday afternoon, immediately following Trump's swearing-in as President. These include Trump's nominees for CIA Director, Defense Secretary, and Homeland Security Secretary, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS), and retired Marine Corps generals James Mattis and John F. Kelly, respectively.  
 
The peaceful transfer of power begins Friday morning when President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama welcome Trump and his wife, Melania, to the White House for tea and a small reception. The incoming and outgoing Presidents then plan to ride together to the U.S. Capitol for Trump's noon oath taking and inaugural address. Former presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter plan to attend, as does Hillary Clinton. Immediately following Trump's Inauguration, the Obama family will travel to Palm Springs, California, before returning and moving into a new home in the Kalorama neighborhood in Washington, DC.   
Week in Review

Senate and House Pass FY 2017 Budget Resolution, Allowing for Repeal of the Affordable Care Act
 
On Thursday and Friday last week, the Senate and House passed the FY 2017 concurrent budget resolution (S.Con.Res.3) by votes of 51-48 and 227-198, respectively. Passage of the resolution allows for the utilization of "budget reconciliation" to expedite legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by allowing the Senate to bypass the 60-vote threshold and pass this legislation with a simple majority of 51 votes. The resolution provides the four relevant House and Senate committees with reconciliation instructions to report legislation with a combined $2 billion in deficit reduction over fiscal years 2017-2026 to the Senate and House Budget Committees by January 27, 2017, although that date is not necessarily binding. Read more...          
House Passes Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017
 
On January 11, the House passed, by a vote of 238-183, the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017 ( H.R. 5). This bill modifies the federal rule-making process by re-writing the Administrative Procedure Act to require federal agencies to consider more than 70 new criteria when issuing rules, including alternatives to any rule proposal, the scope of the problem the rule is meant to address, and potential costs and benefits of the proposal and alternatives. The measure creates statutory thresholds for regulations to be deemed "major" rules and "high-impact" rules - i.e., rules likely to cost more than $100 million or $1 billion a year - and requires that these rules proposals be subject to additional criteria and procedural steps. The House adopted 7 amendments to H.R. 5. Read more...
Senate and House Pass Bill Allowing Waiver for Trump's Defense Secretary Nominee
 
On Thursday and Friday last week, the Senate and House passed, by votes of 81-17 and 268-151-1, respectively, legislation (S. 84) providing an exception for anyone who has served in the military in the past seven years to be President-Elect Trump's first Secretary of Defense. Under current law, a seven-year waiting period is required for retired military officers to serve as Secretary of Defense. Trump's Defense Secretary nominee, retired Marine Corps General James Mattis needs this waiver because he has only been retired from the military for four years. The White House said President Obama will sign the bill into law before he leaves office on January 20. Read more...
House Passes Three Financial-Related Bills
 
On January 10, the House passed, by a vote of 344-73, the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act ( H.R. 79), which would make it easier for angel investor groups to host "demo days" where startups showcase their products and would direct the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to exempt demo days hosted by colleges, nonprofits and angel investor groups from requirements for general solicitations of capital. Read more...
 
On January 12, the House passed, by a vote of 243-184, the SEC Regulatory Accountability Act (H.R. 78), which would require the SEC Chief Economist to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of proposed regulations and explain how their expected benefits justify their costs to a wide range of actors, including: market participants, individuals, businesses, and other bodies (including state and local governments). Under the bill, the SEC would also have to forecast their effect on investor choice, market liquidity, and small businesses. Only after these new requirements were met could the SEC issue new rules. The House adopted one amendment to H.R. 78. Read more...
 
On January 12, the House passed, by a vote of 239-182, the Commodity End-User Relief Act (H.R. 238), which would reauthorize the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) through 2021 and make several significant changes to the way the CFTC operates as a commission and regulates derivatives and swaps under the Dodd-Frank Act. The House adopted 8 amendments to H.R. 238. Read more...
President-elect Trump Announces VA Secretary Nominee
 
Last week, President-elect Donald J. Trump announced his appointment of the current Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health, Dr. David J. Shulkin, to serve as U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs. More information on additional White House staff appointments made thus far may be found  here . Two additional Cabinet-level nominations are expected to be officially announced soon by President-elect Trump: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. 
Congressional Schedule

Tuesday, January 17 
  • Full Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing for Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) to serve as U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
  • Full Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education. 
Wednesday, January 18 
  • Full Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee confirmation hearing for Wilbur Ross to serve as U.S. Secretary of Commerce.
  • Full Senate Environment and Public Works Committee confirmation hearing for Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to serve as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
  • Full Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing for South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
  • Full Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing for Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) to serve as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
Thursday, January 19 
  • Full Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing for Rick Perry to serve as U.S. Secretary of Energy.
  • Full Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing for Steven Mnuchin to serve as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
  • Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management hearing entitled "Improving Small Business Input on Federal Regulations: Ideas for Congress and a New Administration."