CRAs in the House, Discharge Petition on New Parent Proxy Voting and a Concerning Impeachment Resolution, Senate Focuses on Nominees
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.
Schedule and suspensions in the House: The House returns at 2:00 pm today for legislative business. Votes are postponed until 6:30 pm. The House will also be in session on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The last votes for the week are expected no later than 3:00 pm on Thursday. No votes are expected on Friday. Eight bills are expected to be considered under the suspension of the rules (listed below). The cost estimates for those bills are available here.
H.R. 359 – Cost-Share Accountability Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 730 – Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 1318 – United States Research Protection Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 1325 – Commercial Remote Sensing Amendment Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 1326 – DOE and USDA Interagency Research Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 1350 – DOE and NSF Interagency Research Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 1368 – DOE and NASA Interagency Research Coordination Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 1534 – IMPACT Act (Science, Space, and Technology 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 at 4:00 pm today to mark up the rule providing for the consideration of the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act, H.R. 1048, and two disapproval resolutions under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The first CRA, H.J.Res. 24, cancels a Department of Energy rule related to higher energy conservation standards for commercial walk-in coolers and freezers. The second CRA, H.J.Res. 75, cancels a Department of Energy rule related to higher energy conservation standards for commercial refrigerators, freezers, and refrigerator-freezers.
More cheapening of impeachment: Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) filed a resolution, H.Res. 229, to impeach Judge James Boasberg for issuing a 14-day temporary injunction that should’ve stopped deportation flights arranged by the Trump administration to remove individuals from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act. By the way, some of the individuals deported to El Salvador didn’t have criminal records and were in the United States legally. The impeachment resolution rests on two notions that have become the primary talking point in conservative circles; that the president has “broad authority over the executive branch” and that the 1948 Supreme Court opinion in Ludecke v. Watkins supposedly precludes federal courts from considering challenges to the Alien Enemies Act. The first talking point is concerning because it effectively expands the power of the Executive Branch. Republicans need to remember that political power is temporary, but the power it hands to the Executive Branch is forever. The notion that Congress or the courts can’t restrain the Executive Branch is very dangerous. The second talking point is based on a selective reading of Ludecke. Here’s the relevant line that Trump’s supporters in Congress conveniently overlook, “As Congress explicitly recognized in the recent Administrative Procedure Act, some statutes ‘preclude judicial review.’ Barring questions of interpretation and constitutionality, the Alien Enemy Act of 1798 is such a statute.” Interpretation matters in this instance because the United States has not declared war with Venezuela. Even if you look at that and say, “Nah,” Ludecke and other cases specifically not the importance and necessity of judicial review for the individuals subject to a deportation order. You can read more from Just Security here, here, and here. Gill, who is the son-in-law of conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza, could force a vote on the impeachment resolution as early as this week. Whether that vote is to table the resolution or on passage is anyone’s guess. It’s worth noting that the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is hearing the appeal of Boasberg’s order today.
New parent proxy voting discharge petition hits 218 signatures: Just flagging a discharge petition that has reached 218 signatures. The discharge petition filed by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) provides for the consideration of a rule change, H.Res. 23, which would allow new parents to vote by proxy for up to 12 weeks. House Republican leadership apparently opposes the rule change. Democrats provided the bulk of the signatures on the discharge petition, but I count a dozen Republicans who signed it as well. Those dozen Republicans come from across the ideological spectrum of the conference. H.Res. 23 has to wait on the discharge calendar for seven legislative days. The resolution was placed on the discharge calendar on March 11. It can be considered on the second or fourth Monday of the month.
Rest in peace, Sylvester Turner and Raúl Grijalva: I realize I’m a little late on these because I was out last Monday and didn’t get around to writing Point of Order. Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-TX) passed away on March 5. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) passed away on March 13. Our thoughts are with their families and colleagues.
Rest in peace, Mia Love: Former Rep. Mia Love (R-UT) passed away yesterday. Recently, Love penned an open letter in the Deseret News. You can read that here. Our thoughts are with her family.
Party divisions in the House: Republicans have 218 seats while Democrats have 213. The current vacancies are AZ-07 (Grijalva), FL-01 (Gaetz), FL-06 (Waltz), and TX-18 (Turner). The special elections in FL-01 and FL-06 will take place next week. A simple majority in the House is 218 votes. A two-thirds majority is 288 votes.
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.
Nominees in the Senate: The Senate will meet today at 3:00 pm to resume consideration of the nomination of John Phelan to serve as Secretary of the Navy. Cloture was invoked on Phelan’s nomination before the recess. Cloture was also invoked on the nomination of Christopher Landau to serve as Deputy Secretary of State. Around 5:30 pm, the Senate will vote on the Phelan and Landau nominations. Before the recess, cloture was filed on five other nominees. Those nominees are Michael Kratsios to serve as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy; Jayanta Bhattacharya to serve as Director of the National Institute of Health; Martin Makary to serve as Commissioner of Food and Drug Administration; James Bishop to serve as Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget; and Aaron Reitz to serve as Assistant Attorney General. We expect this to be the bulk of Senate activity this week.
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.
We’re still waiting on the budget: The House and the Senate are hashing out their differences on the budget to start the reconciliation process. The latest we read is that a final product could be on the House floor the week of April 7. Both chambers are in recess the weeks of April 14 and April 21. We’re watching this, but we really don’t know what to expect.
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