On July 28, the Senate rejected, by a vote of 49-51, a substitute amendment to the House-passed American Health Care Act (AHCA) of 2017 entitled the " Health Care Freedom Act," (HCFA) which would have repealed the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) mandate that all Americans carry coverage; nix the requirement that large employers provide coverage to all workers; and provided a three-year repeal of the medical device tax and a one-year defunding of Planned Parenthood. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), John McCain (R-AZ), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined all 48 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus in voting against the amendment.

On July 27, the full House passed, by a near party-line vote of 235-192, a $788 billion FY 2018 "minibus" appropriations package ( H.R. 3219), which includes the Defense, Energy and Water Development, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bills. The House plans to address the remaining eight FY 2018 appropriations bills when it returns to Washington the week of September 4. In the Senate, the minibus package has little chance of passing in its current form. Senate Democrats, whose votes would be needed for passage, have numerous concerns with the package, one of them being the inclusion of $1.6 billion to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. However, the Senate has yet to consider any appropriations bills on the floor. The Senate Appropriations Committee is slowly but surely continuing to approve individual FY 2018 appropriations bills, approving three more last week: Commerce-Justice-Science; Legislative Branch; and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development. Click  here for the committee highlights, texts and reports for each bill.

On July 27, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) issued a joint statement on tax reform that tried to show off their commitment to pursuing tax reform without delving into any policy specifics.  However, missing from the "Big Six" leaders' statement were details such as what rates Republicans think major corporations, the wealthiest individuals and the middle class should pay, the status of the estate tax and the fate of prized tax breaks, such as the ability to deduct business interest, state and local taxes, and the tax exemption for municipal bonds.The lone policy detail contained in the statement is that the so-called border-adjustment tax (BAT) will be set " aside in order to advance tax reform." White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short said on July 31 that he expects the markup process to begin on a tax reform bill after Labor Day, with House passage in October and Senate passage in November.  Read more...

On July 25, the House passed, by a vote of 231-190, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) disapproval resolution ( H.J. Res. 111) which would nullify a final rule published by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on July 19, 2017 which bans financial institutions from using mandatory arbitration clauses to prevent consumers from utilizing class action lawsuits to address grievances. If H.J. Res. 111 were to be enacted, the CFPB rule would also not be allowed to be issued in "substantially the same form" in the future unless it is specifically authorized by a subsequent law. The White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy for H.J. Res. 111 stating that "If H.J. Res. 111 were presented to the President in its current form, his advisors would recommend that he sign it into law." Read more...