Another CR Is Likely, Same-Sex Marriage Bill on the Floor in the Senate, Reentry Bill on the Floor in the House
By 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.
Party divisions of Congress for the 118th Congress: As of this morning, Republicans will hold 221 seats in the House at the beginning of the new Congress while Democrats will have 213 seats. There’s one seat, California’s 13 Congressional District, that hasn’t been called. Currently, the Republican in this race, John Duarte, has a 593-vote lead over his Democratic opponent, Adam Gray, with 99 percent of precincts reporting. The runoff in Georgia will be decided on Tuesday, December 6. I was down in Georgia for Thanksgiving. Literally every other ad from a campaign or an outside group.
We’re looking at another CR: Well, coming to an agreement on a year-end omnibus looks like a pretty bumpy road. Republicans rejected the topline discretionary figure for FY 2023 and no deal was reached before the Thanksgiving break. If there is to be a deal on toplines, allocations for each of the 12 appropriations divisions, and policy riders, it’ll have to happen this week. Considering that Congress is running against the clock on the current continuing resolution (CR), which runs through December 16, another short-term CR seems likely through December 23. However, a CR to some point in February or March can’t be completely ruled out.
Same-sex marriage bill in the Senate: The Senate returns today at 3:00 pm to resume consideration of the Respect for Marriage Act, H.R. 8404. Before the recess, the Senate agreed to the cloture motion on the motion to proceed by a vote of 62 to 37 and the motion to proceed by a vote of 53 to 23. The next procedural vote is today at 5:30 pm on the cloture motion for the substitute amendment, S.Amdt. 6487, offered by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Susan Collins (R-ME). This has a three-fifths threshold. Other amendments may be offered. We expect the chamber to finish up the bill this week.
Senate Democratic leadership elections: Senate Democrats are expected to hold their leadership elections on Thursday, December 8.
Senate committee schedule: Below are some Senate committee hearings that may be of interest. The full Senate committee schedule for the week is here.
Business Meeting (Environment and Public Works, Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Nominations Hearing (Foreign Relations, Tuesday at 2:30 pm)
Examining the Competitive Impact of the Proposed Kroger-Albertsons Transaction (Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights; Tuesday at 3:00 pm)
Putting the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Work: The Private Sector Perspective (Environment and Public Works, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Caring for Our Kids: Supporting Mental Health in the Transition from High School to College (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Children and Families; Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Nominations Hearing (Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Nominations Hearing (Judiciary, Wednesday at 10:30 am)
Nominations Hearing (Foreign Relations, Wednesday at 2:30 pm)
Opportunities and Challenges for Trade Policy in the Digital Economy (Finance Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness; Wednesday at 3:00 pm)
Fairness in Financial Services: Racism and Discrimination in Banking (Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Thursday at 10:00 am)
Legislative Hearing (Energy and Natural Resources, Thursday at 10:00 am)
Why Congress Needs to Act: Lessons Learned from the FTX Collapse (Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Thursday at 10:00 am)
Landsat at 50 and the Future of U.S. Satellite-based Earth Observation (Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Space and Science; Thursday at 10:00 am)
If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
Schedule and suspensions in the House: The House returns Tuesday at 2:00 pm for legislative business. First and last votes today are expected around 6:30 pm. The chamber will be in session through Friday, and the last votes for the week are expected at 3:00 pm that day. There are 19 bills (listed below) on the suspension calendar for the week.
H.R. 8876, Jackie Walorski Maternal and Child Home Visiting Reauthorization Act (Ways and Means Committee)
H.R. 2521, DOULA for VA Act (Veterans' Affairs Committee)
H.R. 4601, Commitment to Veteran Support and Outreach Act (Veterans' Affairs Committee)
H.R. 4772, Mark O’Brien VA Clothing Allowance Improvement Act (Veterans' Affairs Committee)
H.R. 5943, To designate the outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Greenville, South Carolina, as the “Lance Corporal Dana Cornell Darnell VA Clinic" (Veterans' Affairs Committee)
H.R. 7158, Long-Term Care Veterans Choice Act (Veterans' Affairs Committee)
S. 231, PFAS Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
S. 4003, Law Enforcement De-escalation Training Act (Judiciary Committee)
House Amendment to S. 3846, Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Reauthorization Act of 2022 (Judiciary Committee)
S. 3115, POWER 2.0 Act (Judiciary Committee)
H.R. 5455, Terry Technical Correction Act (Judiciary Committee)
H.R. 4134, Keeping Girls in School Act (Foreign Affairs Committee)
H.Res. 922, Condemning the use of hunger as a weapon of war and recognizing the effect of conflict on global food security and famine (Foreign Affairs Committee)
H.Res. 744, Condemning the Government of Iran's state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as amended (Foreign Affairs Committee)
H.R. 4785, Uyghur Policy Act (Foreign Affairs Committee)
H.R. 9308, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 6401 El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego, California, as the "Susan A. Davis Post Office" (Oversight and Reform)
H.R. 8025, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 100 South 1st Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as the ‘Martin Olav Sabo Post Office’ (Oversight and Reform Committee)
H.R. 8203, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 651 Business Interstate Highway 35 North Suite 420 in New Braunfels, Texas, as the "Bob Krueger Post Office" (Oversight and Reform Committee)
S. 3825, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3903 Melear Drive in Arlington, Texas, as the ‘‘Ron Wright Post Office Building’’ (Oversight and Reform 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 on Tuesday at 1:00 pm to markup the rule for the One Stop Shop Community Reentry Program Act, H.R. 3372, and the Pregnant Women in Custody Act, H.R. 6878. Both of these bills are bipartisan. The One Stop Shop Community Reentry Program Act, which would create a grant program for community-based reentry services for formerly incarcerated individuals, was marked up in July 2021 by the House Judiciary Committee by a vote of 31 to 8. The Pregnant Women in Custody Act, which seeks to bolster safeguards for pregnant women who are incarcerated, was approved by voice vote in September 2022, so we’re surprised that these aren’t on the floor as suspensions. Additional legislative items are possible.
House Democrats’ leadership elections: With Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) deciding not to seek leadership positions, the top spots for House Democrats have opened up for the next generation of Democrats. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has announced his bid for minority leader while Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA) will seek the minority whip position. Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-TX) will run for chair of the House Democratic Caucus. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), who served as whip since January 2019, is expected to remain in leadership as assistant leader, a position he held from January 2011 until he became whip. We’re not expecting any real fights in these elections, unlike on the Republican side.
Five Republicans have come out against McCarthy for Speaker: Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Bob Good (R-VA), Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Matt Rosendale (R-MT) have each said that they won’t vote for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for Speaker of the House. There are probably others who won’t vote for him. Assuming all 221 or 222 Republicans (depending on how CA-13 turns out) show up for the vote and don’t vote present, those five would be enough to deny McCarthy the speakership unless he makes significant concessions to conservatives in the conference.
House committee schedule: Other than the House Rules Committee Members’ Day hearing for proposed rule changes and the markup for this week’s rule bills, there aren’t any other committee hearings scheduled this week.
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