Congress is Back: Hurry Up and Wait for Action on Key Topics

Supreme Court rulings awaited on major ag sector topics | Regan visits House Ag panel


Weekly Headers_041623

 

Washington Focus


 

In focus this week: Lawmakers return from a lengthy Easter break, the House will hold a vote to override a WOTUS bill veto, EPA’s Regan goes before the House Ag Committee on Wednesday, more hearings on a new farm bill and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack is on a weeklong trip to Asia.

Vilsack journeys abroad primarily for the G7 ag ministers’ meeting in Japan. But during his weeklong trip to Asia, he will stop in Vietnam on Monday-Wednesday to confer on trade and food security issues.

     Background: The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental organization consisting of seven major advanced economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The G7 agriculture ministers refer to the ministers responsible for agriculture and related policies in each of these seven countries. They periodically meet to discuss and coordinate their countries' approaches to agricultural issues, food security, sustainable agriculture practices, climate change, and other relevant matters that impact their countries and the global community. These meetings provide an opportunity for the G7 countries to align their policies and work together on common goals and initiatives in the agriculture sector.

     Vilsack will be in Hanoi from Monday through Wednesday and will meet with Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, Ag Minister Lê Minh Hoan Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hồng Diên and “private sector trade partners who support U.S. agricultural imports,” USDA said. He will also deliver a speech about USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative to students at Vietnam’s Foreign Trade University.

USDA Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor will travel to Amsterdam, Netherlands, April 17-19, to lead USDA’s first-ever agribusiness trade mission to the region. She will be joined by a delegation of more than 50 business, trade associations and state government leaders seeking to grow U.S. agricultural exports to the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

     On April 19, Taylor will hold a media teleconference to highlight initial trade mission results. She will also be joined by several state department of agriculture leaders who will share how agricultural trade and activities like USDA trade missions benefit their state.

WOTUS rule comes up Tuesday in House override vote. And it is not expected to get the two-thirds vote needed to override. The House initially approved the Congressional Review Act resolution, 227-198, considerably short of the two-thirds margin needed to override Biden's veto of the resolution. The Senate approved the measure, 53-43, with Democratic Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana joining all Republicans to pass the measure. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona independent who caucuses with Democrats, also voted with Republicans.

     A federal judge last Wednesday enjoined the EPA’s new waters and wetlands protection rule from being enforced in 24 states, issuing a preliminary injunction similar to a ruling in March blocking the rule in Texas and Idaho.

     Background: The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to overturn rules and regulations written by federal agencies within 60 days of their enactment by passing resolutions of disapproval. Disapproval resolutions are exempt from the filibuster rule and can’t be blocked by the Senate’s majority leader, meaning they need just a simple majority in both chambers to reach the president’s desk. They are still subject to a presidential veto, which would then require a two-thirds majority in each chamber to override. Disapproval resolutions rarely succeed. Of the 249 disapproval resolutions that were introduced by members of Congress since the law’s inception in 1996 to October 2022, only 20 have successfully managed to overturn federal regulations, according to a new study (link) by researchers at George Washington University. Democrats previously used disapproval resolution votes during the Trump administration.

     Timeline for a coming Supreme Court ruling on WOTUS is murky, with possible decisions on topics coming Monday. The Supreme typically announces its rulings, or decisions, on cases it has heard during its term, which runs from October through June or early July. Decisions are generally issued on Mondays, although this is not a strict rule, and they can be announced on other weekdays. The Court tends to announce its most significant or controversial decisions toward the end of the term, in late June or early July. The time it takes for the Supreme Court to issue its rulings can vary significantly, depending on the complexity of the case, the need for further deliberation among the justices, and the Court's overall workload. Typically, decisions are issued within several months of hearing oral arguments. Such oral arguments were heard early in the current Supreme Court session on WOTUS and another ag sector topic, Proposition 12.

EPA administrator Michael Regan will face questions about lingering topics when he appears Wednesday before the House Ag panel, including:

Nominations: The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday to consider the nominations of Jared Bernstein as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Ron Borzekowski as director of financial research at the Treasury Department, and Solomon Jeffrey Greene and David Uejio as assistant secretaries at HUD.

     Julie Su, Biden’s pick to lead the Labor Department, will go before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday.

Debt limit debate continues. House Republicans still want to pair spending cuts with raising the debt ceiling. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) plans a speech in New York Monday on the debt ceiling, and House Republicans were set to have a members-only call on Sunday.

     Key unknowns include what will be in the final GOP debt limit package, when it will be voted on, and whether or not the eventual plan will have enough votes to clear the House. Republicans have a narrow 222-213 majority in the House, so McCarthy must get almost all members on board assuming no Democratic support.

     The White House awaits the GOP plan before any negotiations on the topic. If talks fail, or if McCarthy is forced to strike a deal with Democrats, McCarthy could see his speaker job jeopardized.

     A bipartisan group, the Problem Solvers Caucus, has been meeting to attempt to find a path through which Republicans and Democrats could agree on raising the debt ceiling. That would likely cut out member of the more conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) plan to return to the chamber after weeks away. The focus is on the Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) situation as the 89-year-old senator seeks to relinquish her Judiciary panel spot while retaining her Senate seat. Last Thursday, Thursday Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said publicly that it’s time for her to go.

The Fox News trial opening Monday could set an important First Amendment precedent — and shape political coverage by one of America's most powerful media outlets, Axios reports. The opening before a jury in a Delaware courtroom comes more than two years after Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.6 billion defamation suit, accusing the network of knowingly airing disinformation about election fraud in the 2020 presidential contest.

     The voting-machine company has accused the news network of airing false claims by hosts and guests that Dominion helped rig the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in favor of Joe Biden. Fox has said it was reporting on allegations from then-President Trump and his associates that were newsworthy. A Delaware jury will decide whether Fox acted with “actual malice.” Defamation cases are difficult for plaintiffs to win. Legal observers say the Dominion case could prove to be a notable counterexample.

 


Hearings & Other Events of Note



Monday, April 17

Tuesday, April 18

— Education’s Miguel Cardona at House Appropriations
— Housing and Urban Development’s Marcia Fudge at House Appropriations

Wednesday, April 19

Thursday, April 20

Friday, April 21

 


Economic Reports and Fed Speakers for the Week



Federal Reserve officials are out in force this week ahead of the March 2-3 FOMC meetings. Note on Federal Reserve: Blackout period ahead of the May 2-3 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting begins Saturday (April 22).

On the economic front, housing data will be the focal point a week after inflation and retail sales take center stage. NAHB Housing Index data, housing starts, and existing home sales are all expected to be updated during the week, offering a picture of the housing market amid a rising rate environment.

Monday, April 17

Tuesday, April 18

Wednesday, April 19

Thursday, April 20

Friday, April 21


Key USDA & international Ag & Energy Reports and Events 



China’s second batch of trade data for March, including corn, pork and wheat imports, will be released Tuesday.

On the energy front, Platt’s Global Power Markets Conference takes place Monday-Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Monday, April 17

     Ag reports and events:

Energy reports and events:

Tuesday, April 18

     Ag reports and events:

     Energy reports and events:

Wednesday, April 19

     Ag reports and events:

     Energy reports and events:

Thursday, April 20

     Ag reports and events:

     Energy reports and events:

Friday, April 21

     Ag reports and events:

     Energy reports and events:


 

 

KEY LINKS


WASDE | Crop Production | USDA weekly reports | Crop Progress | Food prices | Farm income | Export Sales weekly | ERP dashboard | California phase-out of gas-powered vehicles | RFS | IRA: Biofuels | IRA: Ag | Student loan forgiveness | Russia/Ukraine war, lessons learned | Russia/Ukraine war timeline | Election predictions: Split-ticket | Congress to-do list | SCOTUS on WOTUS  | SCOTUS on Prop 12 | New farm bill primer | China outlook Omnibus spending package | Gov’t payments to farmers by program | Farmer working capital | USDA ag outlook forum |