Weekly Legislative Update
 Week of February 25, 2019  
  
Congressional Outlook

The House and Senate are in session this week. The House will consider eight bills under suspension of the rules, including the Senate-passed Natural Resources Management Act (S. 47), a broad package of public lands, natural resources, and water provisions, including the permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The House will vote on a joint resolution of termination (H.J. Res. 46) which would terminate the national emergency "concerning the southern border of the United States" declared by President Trump on February 15; upon House passage, the Senate is required to vote on the resolution within the next 18 days (i.e., by March 16) and only 51 votes are needed for passage. The House will also consider the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 (H.R. 8), which would require any firearm transfer between unrelated, unlicensed individuals - such as participants at a gun show - to be conducted through a licensed dealer, who is required to perform a background check; and the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019 (H.R. 1112), which would prevent a gun sale from proceeding if a background check is not completed within three days.  
 
The Senate will consider a motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (S. 311), which would allow doctors to be criminally charged and subject to civil liability if they do not provide medical care to a child that survives an abortion procedure. The Senate will also vote to consider the nominations of Eric Miller to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; Michael Desmond to be Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service and an Assistant General Counsel in the Department of the Treasury; Andrew Wheeler to be Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and John Ryder to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority.  
 
President Trump will attend a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam on Wednesday and Thursday. Among the potential outcomes in Hanoi, according to experts briefed by the Trump Administration, is an agreement that would trade a peace declaration for a North Korean commitment to open up and dismantle a handful of nuclear or missile facilities. Vice President Pence will travel to Bogota, Colombia on Monday on behalf of President Trump "to voice the United States' unwavering support for interim President Juan Guaido and highlight the Venezuelan people's fight for democracy over dictatorship."
Week in Review