The House and Senate are in session this week. The House will vote on 34 bills and resolutions under suspension of the rules, including the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 (S. 1811), a broad, bipartisan water infrastructure package that focuses on authorizing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to implement dozens of navigation, flood control, storm damage, and other water-related infrastructure projects. The House will also vote on the final version of the $740.5 billion FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 6395), which authorizes defense programs at the Pentagon, Energy Department, and other federal agencies—the legislation is expected to pass with a veto-proof majority despite veto threats from President Trump, who is demanding it include a provision abolishing a law (i.e., Section 230) that protects technology companies from liability over most user-generated content and his opposition to a provision which requires changing the names of Confederate-named bases and military installations within three years.
The Senate will vote on several judicial and executive nominations, including: Stephen Schwartz to be a Judge on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and Nathan Simington to be a Member of the Federal Communications Commission for a term expiring July 1, 2024. The Senate may also act on several House-passed measures, including WRDA 2020 and the FY 2021 NDAA. The chamber will also likely consider privileged joint resolutions of disapproval regarding arms sales, including the $23 billion sale of F-35 fighter jets, armed drones, missiles, and bombs to the United Arab Emirates.
With the current stopgap Continuing Resolution (CR) funding the federal government at enacted FY 2020 funding levels set to expire on Friday, December 11, the House and Senate this week are expected to pass a one-week CR through Friday, Dec. 18 to avoid a government shutdown. The one-week CR will give lawmakers additional time to keep negotiating a $1.4 trillion FY 2021 omnibus spending measure as well as a coronavirus relief bill, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) each support adding to the spending legislation. It will likely take until the weekend to strike a deal on this massive combination of legislation, with omnibus talks previously hitting snags on border wall funding, environmental policy riders, and measures on policing and racial disparities. Bipartisan, bicameral negotiators who unveiled a $908 billion pandemic relief proposal on Dec. 1, which includes $160 billion to state, local, and tribal governments, are planning to unveil more details of their proposal this week, aiming to settle on language that can satisfy enough Republicans and Democrats.
Tuesday, December 8 marks the “Safe Harbor” deadline for all 50 state governors and the Mayor of the District of Columbia to officially send their signed Certificate of Ascertainment to the Archivist of the United States declaring the final presidential election results in their jurisdiction and the list of their electors who will vote as members of the U.S. Electoral College. As of December 6, 47 states and Washington, DC had officially certified their election results and list of electors (only Hawaii, Missouri, and New Jersey have yet to do so). The 538 Electoral College electors are slated to meet in their respective state capitols and Washington, DC on Monday, December 14 to formally vote for the next President and Vice President of the United States. Barring any votes from faithless electors, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will receive votes from 306 electors while Donald Trump and Mike Pence will receive votes from 232 electors. On January 6, 2021, a joint session of Congress will count the 538 electoral votes and declare the final results of the November 3, 2020 presidential election.
|
|
