House and Senate to Move on a Short-Term Funding Patch, Messaging Bills in the House, Nominees in the Senate
Jason Pye - Vice President, Due Process Institute
Point of Order is a (mostly) weekly preview of key congressional activity for those with more than a passing interest in federal policy.
Crunch time on appropriations: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) unveiled a continuing resolution (CR) on Sunday evening to fund the federal government through Friday, December 20. The CR isn’t completely clean. It includes the extension of several programs, including public health and veterans programs. The release of the new CR comes just days after the 14 House Republicans joined 206 House Democrats to defeat a six-month CR, H.R. 9494, that included the text of the SAVE Act. Johnson sent a letter to House Republicans on Sunday outlining the path forward. “[N]ext week the House will take the initiative and pass a clean, three-month CR to prevent the Senate from jamming us with a bill loaded with billions in new spending and unrelated provisions. Our legislation will be a very narrow, bare-bones CR including only the extensions that are absolutely necessary,” wrote Johnson. “While this is not the solution any of us prefer, it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances. As history has taught and current polling affirms, shutting the government down less than 40 days from a fateful election would be an act of political malpractice. (See, e.g., the McLaughlin & Associates survey showing that nearly two-thirds of likely voters oppose a government shutdown, including swing voters and large percentages of the Republican base.)” The Senate is expected to begin consideration of its own CR, the vehicle for which is H.R. 1555.
This week is it until the election: Both chambers are in this week. This is the last chance for any legislation. Granted, we have to use the term legislating loosely. Coming into this week, only 82 pieces of legislation have become law. There’s one bill that hasn’t been signed or vetoed yet. As noted last week, the 284 bills passed in the 112th Congress (2011-2012) was the previous low. I’ll have more on this at my Substack,
, this week. Unless something noteworthy happens between the beginning of the October recess until Congress comes back on November 12, Point of Order will be on a break.Schedule and suspensions in the House: The House returns today at 2:00 pm for legislative business. Votes are postponed until 6:30 pm. The House will also be in session on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The last votes for the week are expected no later than 3:00 pm on Friday. It is possible, though, that the House adjourns early. Sixty (60) bills are expected to be considered under the suspension of the rules (listed below). The cost estimates for those bills are here.
S. 1549, CBO Data Access Act (Oversight and Accountability Committee)
S. 2685, Reuse Excess Property Act (Oversight and Accountability Committee)
S. 3639, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2075 West Stadium Boulevard in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the "Robert Hayden Post Office" (Oversight and Accountability Committee)
S. 3640, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 155 South Main Street in Mount Clemens, Michigan, as the "Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Jefferson Post Office" (Oversight and Accountability Committee)
S. 3851, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 90 McCamly Street South in Battle Creek, Michigan, as the "Sojourner Truth Post Office" (Oversight and Accountability Committee)
H.R. 6633, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 9355 113th Street in Seminole, Florida, as the "Army SSG Ryan Christian Knauss Memorial Post Office Building" (Oversight and Accountability Committee)
H.R. 5867, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 109 Live Oaks Boulevard in Casselberry, Florida, as the "Colonel Joseph William Kittinger II Post Office Building" (Oversight and Accountability Committee)
H.R. 8057, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 9317 Bolsa Avenue in Westminster, California, as the "Little Saigon Vietnam War Veterans Memorial Post Office" (Oversight and Accountability Committee)
H.R. 6829, HEARTS Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)
H.R. 3884, Sickle Cell Disease and Other Heritable Blood Disorders Research, Surveillance, Prevention, and Treatment Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)
H.R. 6125, Online Dating Safety Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)
H.R. 2706, Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)
S. 133, NAPA Reauthorization Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)
S. 134, Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)
H.R. 7189, Congenital Heart Futures Reauthorization Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)
H.R. 5526, Seniors’ Access to Critical Medications Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)
H.R. 3433, Give Kids a Chance Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)
H.R. 8108, To amend title XIX of the SSA to add a Medicaid State plan requirement with respect to determination of residency of certain individuals serving in Armed Forces (Energy and Commerce Committee)
H.R. 6231, Department of Homeland Security Policy Issuance Review Act (Homeland Security Committee)
H.R. 7832, Emerging Innovative Border Technologies Act (Homeland Security Committee)
S. 794, CTPAT Pilot Program Act (Homeland Security Committee)
S. 4698, DHS Joint Task Forces Reauthorization Act (Homeland Security Committee)
H.R. 9459, PATHS Act (Homeland Security Committee)
H.R. 3208, DHS Cybersecurity On-the-Job Training Program Act (Homeland Security Committee)
S. 3764, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act (Foreign Affairs Committee)
S. 679, GAO Database Modernization Act (Judiciary Committee)
S. 670, IMPACTT Human Trafficking Act (Judiciary Committee)
H.R. 8958, To reauthorize the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and for other purposes (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 8674, Milestones for Advanced Nuclear Fuels Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 6219, ASCEND Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 7630, ANCHOR Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 7073, Next Generation Pipelines Research and Development Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 7685, IMPACT Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
S. 2228, Building Chips in America Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 1735, Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 9488, SHIELD Act (House Administration Committee)
H.R. 7764, Commission to Study the Potential Transfer of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History to the Smithsonian Institution Act (House Administration Committee)
H.R. 6242, VOTES Act (House Administration Committee)
H.R. 8790, Fix Our Forests Act (Natural Resources Committees)
H.R. 5302, Michel O. Maceda Memorial Act (Homeland Security Committee)
H.R. 5646, Stop Campus Hazing Act (Education and the Workforce Committee)
S. 2087, Congressional Award Program Reauthorization Act (Education and the Workforce Committee)
H.R. 4259, Think Differently about Education Act (Education and the Workforce Committee)
H.R. 6656, Stuck on Hold Act (Veterans’ Affairs Committee)
H.R. 7323, Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserves Tuition Fairness Act (Veterans’ Affairs Committee)
H.R. 522, Deliver for Veterans Act (Veterans’ Affairs Committee)
S. 656, Veteran Improvement Commercial Driver License Act (Veterans’ Affairs Committee)
H.R. 7370, Geothermal Energy Opportunity Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 1657, Lake Winnibigoshish Land Exchange Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 2468, Mountain View Corridor Completion Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 4094, Great Salt Lake Stewardship Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 6852, Holcombe Rucker Park Landmark Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 1726, Continued Rapid Ohia Death Response Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 7422, Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 2950, Coastal Habitat Conservation Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 5490, Bolstering Ecosystems Against Coastal Harm Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 5509, Electronic Permitting Modernization Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 4596, Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Reauthorization Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 6474, To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to expedite geothermal exploration and development in previously studied or developed areas (Natural Resources Committee)
S. 612, Lake Tahoe Reauthorization Act (Natural Resources Committee)
Bills that come to the floor under suspension of the rules require two-thirds of members present and voting for passage. This is the most common way that bills considered by the House come to the floor. Some of these bills may be passed by a voice vote, rather than a roll call vote. Most bills that come to the floor under suspension aren’t widely considered controversial, although leadership may occasionally test a bill under suspension to gauge opposition or sneak a bill through the chamber.
Rule bills: The House Rules Committee will meet today at 4:00 pm to markup the rule providing for the consideration of the Fix Our Forests Act, H.R. 8790; the Keeping Violent Offenders Off Our Streets Act, H.R. 8205; the Sanctioning Tyrannical and Oppressive People within the Chinese Communist Party Act, H.R. 3334; a resolution ensuring accountability for key officials in the Biden-Harris administration responsible for decisionmaking and execution failures throughout the withdrawal from Afghanistan, H.Res. 1469; and the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act for FY 2025, H.R. ____.
Touching on a couple of the rule bills: Obviously, these are mostly messaging bills. H.Res. 1469 “condemns” President Biden, Vice President Harris, and several administration officials. Of course, it ignores that the Trump administration negotiated with the Taliban and set the withdrawal in motion before President Biden took office. The Keeping Violent Offenders Off Our Streets Act ignores that violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic levels. The 2022 violent crime rate was the fourth-lowest since violent crime peaked in 1991. The data for 2023 are expected in the coming days, and the violent crime rate is expected to drop even further. Likewise, it looks like the decline will continue in 2024.
New House Freedom Caucus chair: Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) was elected to serve as the next chair of the House Freedom Caucus. Harris was elected after Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) dropped out of the race. Biggs served as chair of the group from October 2019 to January 2022. The post had to be filled after the then-chair, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), lost his primary in July and opted to resign his post in the House Freedom Caucus. Harris’s accent to the chairmanship of the far-right caucus is interesting because a) he is an appropriator, b) he has generally (but not universally) supported Ukraine after Russia’s unwarranted invasion, and c) the House Freedom Caucus is going through an identity crisis. Granted, Harris is a fairly stereotypical conservative, but he’s not the bomb-thrower the House Freedom Caucus usually has at the helm.
House committee schedule: The full House committee schedule for the week is here. If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
Over in the Senate: The Senate returns today at 3:00 pm to resume consideration of the nomination of Rose E. Jenkins to serve as a judge on the United States Tax Court. Cloture has already been invoked on the Jenkins nomination, so the Senate will move to a roll call vote on confirmation around 5:30 pm. Cloture motions have also been filed for the nomination of Michael Sfraga to serve as the U.S. Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs for the State Department and H.R.1555, the vehicle for the Senate’s version of the CR.
Senate committee schedule: The full Senate committee schedule for the week is here. If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
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