Johnson Likely to Survive the Motion to Vacate, House Loaded Up for the Week, Senate to Begin FAA Reauthorization
Jason Pye - Director, Rule of Law Initiatives
Point of Order is a (mostly) weekly preview of key congressional activity for those with more than a passing interest in federal policy.
Let’s start with some personal news: Emily and I went on a cruise last week, and I proposed to her. She said yes! We’d planned on getting married for a while, but it’s just official now. We told The Kid on Saturday. She’s pretty excited. We’re also pretty excited. We’re now in the very early planning stages of a very small wedding. And listen, when I say “very early,” we haven’t even decided on a date. We’re getting there.
Recapping the past couple of weeks, Part I: As you know, the House passed the so-called “Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act,” H.R. 7888, on April 12. The motion to table the motion to reconsider was taken up last week, on April 15. That motion was agreed to by a vote of 259 to 128. It looked like the Senate was going to force the bill through for a moment, but we ended up getting an amendment process. Unfortunately, an amendment to require a warrant for backdoor searches was defeated, 42 to 50. The Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act was offered as an amendment, and it was defeated, 31 to 61. And an amendment to get rid of the troublesome definition of an electronic communication service provider was also defeated by a vote of 34 to 58. The Senate passed H.R. 7888 on April 19 by a vote of 60 to 34. President Biden signed the bill into law.
Recapping the past couple of weeks, Part II: The House finally considered a foreign aid package that was split into three bills; the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, H.R. 8034; the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, H.R. 8035; and the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, H.R. 8036. There was also a fourth bill—the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act, H.R. 8038—that included some other provisions, including the TikTok divestment legislation. Each of those bills passed by large margins. The roll call votes are here, here, here, and here. The story in the House is much more fascinating than these bills passing. Democrats on the House Rules Committee joined with all but three Republicans to markup the rule, H.Res. 1160, providing for consideration of the bills. Considering that rule votes are procedural and usually party-line, that’s very rare. Another rarity was the bipartisan vote on the rule, with 165 Democrats joining 151 Republicans to pass the rule. I don’t know of another time in which more members of the minority party voted for a rule than members of the majority. Fifty-five Republicans voted against the rule. The way the rule was written, the text of the four bills was inserted into H.R. 815 and sent to the Senate. H.R. 815 had already been involved in some legislative ping pong, so the House concurred with the Senate amendment to H.R. 815 with an amendment (the four bills). Over in the Senate, H.R. 815 passed by a vote of 79 to 18. President Biden has signed the bill into law.
Schedule and suspensions: The House returns today at 2:00 pm for legislative business. Votes are postponed until 6:30 pm, after the vote on the motion to table the motion to reconsider. The House will also be in session on Tuesday and Wednesday. Votes were expected on Thursday, but the schedule was changed to accommodate for the funeral of Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ). The last votes for the week will take place on Wednesday. No votes are expected on Thursday and Friday. Sixteen (16) bills are expected to be considered under the suspension of the rules (listed below). The cost estimates for those bills are here.
H.R. 1069, Clean Energy Demonstration Transparency Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 1767, Student Veteran Benefit Restoration Act (Veterans’ Affairs Committee)
H.R. 3722, Daniel J. Harvey Jr. and Adam Lambert Improving Servicemember Transition to Reduce Veteran Suicide Act (Armed Services Committee)
H.R. 3738, Veterans Economic Opportunity and Transition Administration Act (Veterans’ Affairs Committee)
H.R. 4016, Veteran Fraud Reimbursement Act (Veterans’ Affairs Committee)
H.R. 4755, Privacy Enhancing Technology Research Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 4824, Carbon Sequestration Collaboration Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 4877, Abandoned Well Remediation Research and Development Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 5333, Investing in All of America Act (Small Business Committee)
H.R. 5914, Veterans Education Transparency and Training Act (Veterans’ Affairs Committee)
H.R. 6093, Weather Act Reauthorization Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 7032, Congressional Budget Office Data Sharing Act (Budget Committee)
H.R. 7103, Agency Accountability Act (Small Business Committee)
H.R. 7985, Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Reporting Act (Small Business Committee)
H.R. 7987, Plain Language in Contracting Act (Small Business Committee)
S. 474, REPORT Act (Judiciary 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 is expected to consider the Extending Limits of U.S. Customs Waters Act, H.R. 529, on Monday. The House will also consider a resolution denouncing the Biden administration’s immigration policies, H. Res. 1112, during the week. The rule for these two bills, H.Res. 1137, already passed the chamber. The House Rules Committee will meet on Monday at 4:00 pm to markup the rule for the Western Economic Security Today (WEST) Act, H.R. 3397; the Alaska’s Right to Produce Act, H.R. 6285; the Superior National Forest Restoration Act, H.R. 3195; the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act, H.R. 2925; the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act, H.R. 615; the Trust the Science Act, H.R. 764; and the Antisemitism Awareness Act, H.R. 6090.
Johnson’s future: The motion to vacate, H.Res. 1103, is still hanging over the head of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), but he’s likely to survive. First, it looks like at least some, if not many House Democrats will help table or otherwise kill the resolution. Second, Johnson got some help from the Republican presidential nominee. Still, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who has been joined by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ), could make the motion privileged and force a vote this week or next. If things stand, Greene will have wasted the House’s time.
Party divisions in the House: Sadly, Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ) passed away on April 24. He was hospitalized on April 6 after a heart attack and slipped into a coma. He was 65 years old. The party divisions in the House are 217 Republicans and 212 Democrats. The current vacancies are CA-20 (McCarthy), CO-04 (Buck), NJ-10 (Payne), NY-26 (Higgins), OH-06 (Johnson), and WI-08 (Gallagher). Assuming every Member is present and voting, a simple majority is 215 votes. A two-thirds majority is 287.
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.
Nominee and FAA reauthorization in the Senate: The Senate returns on Tuesday at 3:00 pm to resume consideration of the nomination of Georgia N. Alexakis to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Around 5:30 pm, the Senate will begin a roll call vote on the cloture motion for the nomination. Cloture for the motion to proceed has also been filed on the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act, H.R. 3935. This is the vehicle for the reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Expect the Senate to turn its attention to that bill this week. The current authorization of the FAA runs through May 10.
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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