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Weekly Legislative Update
Week of June 12, 2017
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Week of June 12
The House and Senate are both in session this week. On Monday, the House will vote on 10 bills under suspension of the rules, including a bill (H.R. 338), which aims to have the Department of Energy prioritize training for modern energy and manufacturing jobs. For the remainder of the week, the House will vote on the following five healthcare and VA-related bills: the Verify First Act (H.R. 2581), which would prohibit tax credits for health insurance premiums from being paid in advance unless an individual's citizenship or immigration status has been verified; the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act (S. 1094), which would allow the VA Secretary to fire, demote or suspend employees using an expedited process and would establish a VA office to handle whistleblower tips and recommend disciplinary actions; the Veterans Equal Treatment Ensures Relief and Access Now (VETERAN) Act (H.R. 2372), which would allow veterans who are eligible for, but not enrolled in, health coverage through the VA to receive premium tax credits to purchase private health insurance; the Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017 (H.R. 1215), which would overhaul the medical liability system, including by limiting damages and lawyers' fees; and the Broader Options for Americans Act (H.R. 2579), which would allow individuals with unsubsidized COBRA continuation coverage to be eligible for House Republicans' proposed premium tax credits in the House-passed American Health Care Act of 2017 for health insurance in the individual market.
On Monday, the Senate will vote on the nomination of Kenneth P. Rapuano to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense, Homeland Defense and Global Security. The Senate then plans to resume consideration of
the Countering Iran's Destabilizing Activities Act of 2017 (S. 722), which would let the Trump Administration impose more economic sanctions against Iran, as well as companies and individuals that assist Tehran in ballistic missile tests or fomenting terrorism in the region. Bipartisan negotiations could also produce an amendment to additionally impose new sanctions against Russia. The Senate may also vote this week on a resolution of disapproval (S.J. Res. 42), introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), to block $500 billion in U.S. weapons sales to Saudi Arabia over ten years. Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 provides special procedures whereby any Senator can force a vote on an arms sale. Senate Republicans are continuing to craft their healthcare bill behind closed doors this week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said that the Senate may vote on its measure before the July 4 recess.
Congressional markups and hearings of note this week include a House Appropriations Subcommittee markup of the $88.8 billion FY 2018 Military Construction-VA Appropriations bill; a House Financial Services Committee markup of seven bills related to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which needs to be reauthorized by September 30, 2017; 17 House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittee FY 2018 budget request hearings, with the Secretaries of Treasury, Defense, State, Transportation, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the EPA Administrator testifying; and an open Senate Intelligence Committee hearing with Attorney General Jeff Sessions to discuss his role in the investigation into contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russia during the 2016 election.
President Trump will
spend this week touting apprenticeships and workforce training programs. On Tuesday, Trump and his eldest daughter, Ivanka, will travel to Waukesha, Wisconsin, to visit Waukesha Technical College with Gov. Scott Walker and take part in a roundtable on apprenticeships. On Wednesday, Trump and Ivanka will host an apprenticeship roundtable in Washington with 15 CEOs and then head over to the Labor Department for a major policy speech on job training and to announce executive actions to help strengthen apprenticeship programs. On Thursday,Ivanka will lead a roundtable on the issue with President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and eight governors. The Trump Administration also plans to unveil this week a plan to trim regulations it believes constrain U.S. manufacturing growth, potentially affecting environmental permits, worker safety, and labor rules. Lastly, on Friday, Trump will travel to Miami where he is expected to announce the tightening of restrictions on travel and business dealings with Cuba.
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Trump Administration Holds "Infrastructure Week"
During "Infrastructure Week" last week, President Donald Trump
said in a speech in Cincinnati, Ohio that Americans can no longer live with crumbling locks, dams, roads and bridges and
outlined a plan to leverage $1 trillion in investment in U.S. infrastructure. President Trump said the plan also calls for spurring investment by reducing the time to secure needed regulatory approvals and permits from about 10 years to two years. The President's FY 2018 budget proposal calls for $200 billion in direct federal spending over the next 10 years to spur at least $800 billion in spending by states, municipalities and private entities that together own most U.S. infrastructure.
According to the White House, the federal funding in Trump's plan would be divided into four categories:
- A mixture of grants and loans to "transformative'' projects, with Trump's proposal to place the U.S. air-traffic control system under a private, non-profit corporation as an example.
- Grants to rural areas to repair bridges, roads, and waterways. (Critics of Trump's approach have raised concerns that rural areas would not be able to rely on tolls or fees to attract private investment.)
- Enhanced loan programs, with the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, or TIFIA, as an example of how federal funds can be used with state, local, and private dollars to fund highway projects.
- Incentive programs with grants to states and municipalities to create additional funding for infrastructure.
The White House has not detailed the source of the $200 billion or the breakdown in spending. The Administration has said a full legislative package could be ready by this fall. Trump also held a listening session at the White House with a group of mayors and governors and made a visit to the Transportation Department, where he discussed drastically reducing the time it takes to obtain federal permits for projects and the announcement of a new council designed to "help project managers navigate the bureaucratic maze [and] improve transparency by creating a new online dashboard allowing everyone to easily track major projects through every stage of the approval process" as well as a new office within the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to "root out inefficiency, clarify lines of authority, and streamline federal and state and local procedures so that communities can modernize their aging infrastructure without fear of outdated federal rules getting in their way."
Democrats, some Republicans, and groups representing the nation's governors and mayors have called for much more than $200 billion in direct federal spending over 10 years is needed to meet the nation's needs. They claim that relying on states, municipalities and the private sector won't result in priority projects being funded and constructed. Read more...
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Former FBI Director James Comey Testifies Before Senate Intelligence Committee
On June 8, former FBI Director James Comey
testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee in an open hearing regarding his firing by President Trump and his interactions with the President over the past five months. Comey testified that Trump and other in his Administration
lied when they said that FBI agents had lost confidence in him; revealed for the first time that he turned over memos about his conversations with Mr. Trump to the DOJ's special counsel, Bob Mueller; stated that Trump's conduct fell within "the scope of" the F.B.I.'s investigation but that he was not specifically under investigation; and acknowledged that he orchestrated the leak that revealed his account of his conversation with Trump in which the President asked him to drop the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. In response to Comey's testimony, Trump declared "total and complete vindication." Trump also stated at a June 9 press conference that he is "100 percent" willing to speak under oath before special counsel Mueller and repeated that he may talk about any secret tapes of conversations he may have had with Comey "in the near future."
Read more...
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House Passes Financial Regulatory Bill, Overhauling Dodd-Frank Act
On June 8, the House passed, by a vote of
233-186, the Financial CHOICE (Creating Hope and Opportunity for Investors, Consumers and Entrepreneurs) Act of 2017 (
H.R. 10), a bill that would overhaul the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act enacted in the wake of the 2007-08 financial crisis.
H.R. 10 would
allow banks that reach certain cash thresholds an off-ramp from Dodd-Frank, reduce the frequency of federal stress tests and restrain oversight powers of several federal agencies that the 2010 law expanded.
H.R. 10 would also eliminate Orderly Liquidation Authority-the process through which the federal government takes over and dismantles a major bank before it collapses-and place strict limits on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CHOICE Act would turn the CFPB, which Republicans consider abusive and unaccountable, into the Consumer Law Enforcement Agency. It would no longer control its own budget, its director would be appointed by the president, and it would lose its authority to crack down on "unfair, abusive and deceptive practices." The House also passed six amendments to H.R. 10. The White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy for H.R. 10, stating that "The Administration supports passage of the substitute amendment to H.R. 10 as a necessary and important step in moving financial reform legislation through the Congress. Upon passage, the Administration looks forward to working with the Senate on arriving at a final piece of legislation." Read more...
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House Passes Anti-Border Corruption Reauthorization Act
On June 7, the House passed, by a vote of
282-137, the Anti-Border Corruption Reauthorization Act of 2017 (
H.R. 2213), which
would authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to waive the polygraph examination requirement for CBP applicants considered "low risk," specifically military veterans and state and local law enforcement officers. The bill attempts to accelerate hiring, which proponents of the bill maintain has been delayed due to a shortage of DHS polygraph test administrators. The House voted down an amendment to the bill, by a vote of 179-238, which would have
delayed implementation of the provisions of the bill until DHS completes a number of steps, including a pilot program and two Inspector General reviews. Read more...
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Senate Passes WILD Act
On June 8, the Senate passed, by Unanimous Consent, a bill that could direct hundreds of millions of dollars toward creative wildlife conservation efforts. The "Wildlife Innovation and Longevity Driver (WILD) Act," (
S. 826), which was introduced by Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) in early April. The original bill sought to revive and bolster several wildlife protection programs and would have launched four annual conservation prizes worth $100,000 each. Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and EPW's Ranking Member, Tom Carper (D-DE) all signed on as cosponsors. The bill also has the backing of Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and John Boozman (R-AR), as well as advocacy groups like the World Wildlife Fund and the Family Farm Alliance. The Congressional Budget Office
estimated that the "WILD Act" would authorize the spending of up to $653 million between fiscal 2018 and 2022, which may impede passage in the more conservative House of Representatives.
Read more...
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Senate Passes VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act
On June 6, the Senate passed, by voice vote, the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 (S. 1094), which
would allow the VA Secretary to fire, demote or suspend employees using an expedited process and would establish a VA office to handle whistleblower tips and recommend disciplinary actions. Read more...
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Senate Confirms CIA General Counsel and U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand
On June 6, the Senate voted
67-33 to confirm Courtney Elwood to be General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency. On June 8, the Senate voted
94-4 to confirm former Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) to be U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. Read more
here and
here.
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Trump Signs Two Bills Into Law
On June 6, President Trump signed the following two bills into law:
- H.R. 375, which designates the Federal building and United States courthouse in Nashville, Tennessee as the "Fred D. Thompson Federal Building and United States Courthouse"; and
- H.R. 366, the "DHS Stop Asset and Vehicle Excess Act" which requires the Under Secretary for Management of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to oversee and manage vehicle fleets throughout DHS; and imposes new requirements on DHS components regarding the management of those fleets.
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Trump Announces Nominations to Administrative Posts
Last week, the White House announced that
Everett Eissenstat will join the White House senior staff as Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. The White House also announced the following 31 nominations had been sent to the Senate for consideration:
- Henry Kerner to be Special Counsel, Office of Special Counsel, for a term of five years;
- Brian A. Benczkowski to be an Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice;
- David S. Bohigian to be Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation;
- Steven G. Bradbury to be General Counsel of the Department of Transportation;
- Annie Caputo to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the remainder of a five-year term expiring June 30, 2021;
- Robert Charrow to be General Counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services;
- Carlos G. Muñiz to be General Counsel of the Department of Education;
- Peter L. Oppenheim to be Assistant Secretary for Legislation and Congressional Affairs at the Department of Education;
- Joseph Otting to be Comptroller of the Currency at the Department of the Treasury;
- Stephen Parente to be an Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services;
- David P. Pekoske to be an Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration;
- Richard V. Spencer to be Secretary of the Navy;
- Charles D. Stimson to be General Counsel of the Department of the Navy;
- Kristine L. Svinicki to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a five-year term expiring June 30, 2022 and to be designated as Chair;
- Elizabeth E. Walsh to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service;
- Ray Washburne to be the President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation;
- Owen West to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense, Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict;
- David Wright to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the remainder of a five-year term expiring June 30, 2020;
- Dr. Francis Collins to continue to serve as the Director of the National Institutes of Health;
- Michael P. Allen to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for the term of fifteen years;
- Jeffrey B. Clark to be an Assistant Attorney General;
- Allison H. Eid to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit;
- Ralph R. Erickson to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit;
- Dabney L. Friedrich to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia;
- Timothy J. Kelly to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia;
- Ryan McCarthy to be Under Secretary of the Army;
- Trevor N. McFadden to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia;
- Amanda L. Meredith to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for the term of fifteen years;
- Stephen S. Schwartz to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for a term of fifteen years;
- Patrick M. Shanahan to be Deputy Secretary of Defense; and
- Joseph L. Toth to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for the term of fifteen years;
Trump also announced his intent to nominate the following 13 individuals to various positions last week:
- Christopher A. Wray to be Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
- Lynn A. Johnson to be Assistant Secretary for Family Support at the Department of Health and Human Services;
- David G. Ehrhart to be Air Force General Counsel;
- Jeffrey Gerrish to be Deputy United States Trade Representative for Asia, Europe, the Middle East & Industrial Competitiveness with the Rank of Ambassador;
- Lucian Niemeyer to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment;
- Nathan A. Sales to be Coordinator for Counterterrorism, with the rank and status of Ambassador at Large, Department of State;
- Dawn DeBerry Stump to be Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission;
- Eric Ueland to be Under Secretary of State for Management;
- Daniel Elwell to be Deputy Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration;
- Norman Sharpless to be Director of the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Services;
- Amy C. Thompson to be Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development;
- Stephanos Bibas to be a circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; and
- Claria H. Boom to be a district judge on the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky.
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