First Minibus Likely This Week, State of the Union, DOJ Seeks Renewal of 702 Certifications
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.
Recovering from Disney: We got back from Disney World on Saturday. We had a great trip. We hit three parks and bought way too much stuff for The Kid. That’s the good news. Well, except the amount of money we spent. That’s not good news. We told Reagan that we were going to eat grilled cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the next month while we financially recover. The bad news is that I’m under the weather. Alas, with all the stuff going on, I wanted to get Point of Order out the door this morning. Thanks to Tray for filling in last week.
Appropriations update, Part I: As you may know, Congress passed the Extension of Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act, H.R. 7463, last week. President Biden signed the bill on Friday. This gives Congress a little more breathing room on appropriations bills, for which some progress has been made in the past several days. The deadline for Agriculture; Energy and Water; Military Constriction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA); and Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (T-HUD) was extended through Friday, March 8. The remaining bills, including Defense, have been extended through Friday, March 22.
Appropriations Update, Part II: House and Senate appropriators reached a deal over the weekend on six of the regular appropriations bills—Agriculture; Commerce, Justice, and Science; Energy and Water; Interior and Environment; MilCon-VA, and T-HUD. The summaries for the six bills are available here. The text of the bills is here. Earmarks in the bills are here. We expect the House to consider this minibus this week, with H.R. 4366 being the legislative vehicle. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who has to deal with several disgruntled members, is claiming some victories, such as cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as wins on a handful of minor policy riders.
The State of the Union address: President Biden will give his third State of the Union address to a Joint Session of Congress on Thursday at 9:00 pm. Major cable news networks, including C-SPAN, will carry the address live.
Schedule and suspensions: The House returns on Tuesday at 2:00 pm for legislative business/ Votes are postponed until 6:30 pm. Fourteen (14) bills are expected to be considered under suspension of the rules. The cost estimates for those bills can be found here. The House will also meet on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Votes are expected each day, with the last votes for the week expected no later than 3:00 pm on Friday.
H.R. 498, 9-8-8 Lifeline Cybersecurity Responsibility Act (Energy and Commerce)
H.R. 3277, Energy Emergency Leadership Act (Energy and Commerce)
H.R. 3385, To direct NTIA to submit report on trans-Atlantic fiber feasibility
H.R. 3391, Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act 2.0 (Energy and Commerce)
H.R. 3821, Firefighter Cancer Registry Reauthorization Act (Energy and Commerce)
H.R. 3836, Medicaid Primary Care Improvement Act (Energy and Commerce)
H.R. 3838, Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act (Energy and Commerce)
H.R. 3843, Action for Dental Health Act (Energy and Commerce)
H.R. 4510, NTIA Reauthorization Act (Energy and Commerce)
H.R. 4403, Securing the Cities Improvement Act (Homeland Security)
H.R. 4467, DHS Border Services Contracts Review Act (Homeland Security)
H.R. 5969, Improving Travel for Families Act (Homeland Security)
H.R. 6174, DHS Biodectection Improvement Act (Homeland Security)
S. 206, END FENTANYL Act (Homeland Security)
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 4:00 pm to markup the rule providing for the consideration of the Expanding Access to Capital Act, H.R. 2799, and the Laken Riley Act, H.R. 7511. The Expanding Access to Capital Act is designed to reduce paperwork burdens for businesses and provide for more opportunities for individuals to invest. The Laken Riley Act is another immigration-related bill. This particular bill is named after the victim of murder who was killed while on a jog on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens. The alleged killer is an individual who entered the United States illegally in 2022 but was paroled and allowed to stay in the country. The alleged killer was arrested for shoplifting in October. That arrest wasn’t reported to the federal government. Once you read past the messaging lines in the Laken Riley Act, you’ll see that the bill would require the detention of an immigrant who “is charged with, is arrested for, is convicted of, admits having committed, or admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of any burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting offense.” The Laken Riley Act was introduced on Friday and has not gone through regular order. Additional legislation, such as FY 2024 appropriations by way of H.R. 4366, is likely, although it’ll probably be added as a suspension.
Party divisions in the House: With the swearing-in of Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY)), there are 219 Republicans and 213 Democrats. The remaining vacancies are CA-20 (McCarthy), NY-26 (Higgins), and OH-06 (Johnson). Assuming every member is present and voting, the threshold for a simple majority is 217 votes. The number for two-thirds is 289 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.
Over in the Senate: The Senate returns on Tuesday at 3:00 pm and will resume consideration for the nomination of Ronald Keohane to serve as an Assistant Secretary for Manpower and Reserve Affairs for the Department of Defense. Around 5:30 pm, the Senate will begin a roll call vote on the cloture motion for the Keohane nomination. Cloture motions were filed on the nominations of Moshe Marvit to serve as a Member of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission and Cathy A. Harris to serve as Chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board. We expect the Senate to begin processing H.R. 4366 once the House sends it over.
McConnell to step down as Republican leader: Although Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) plans to serve out the remainder of his term, he will step down from his post as Republican leader in November. McConnell has held this role since January 2007 and is the lost-serving party leader in Senate history. Over the past several years, I’ve developed a new respect for McConnell, even though I may not always agree with him. He promoted democratic norms and has been a frequent critic of the former President, who is actively running a campaign on illiberalism and fascist ideas. I appreciate McConnell’s service, especially in the past several years. Who’s running to replace him? Well, Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Rich Scott (R-FL), and John Thune (R-SD) seem likely to run. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) is a real possibility as well.
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.
Well, we told you this was going to happen: The Department of Justice plans to go back to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to renew certifications for surveillance under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The certifications would be good for 12 months. (See 50 U.S.C. § 1801 note—click on “Notes” and scroll or ctrl+f to “Transition Procedures.”) This would extend well beyond the current expiration of Section 702 in April. We said this would happen before the end of the year when Congress extended Section 702. Members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence said that wasn’t true. But here we are.
And another song: I posted another song before I left for Disney World. This is actually a cover of one of my old band’s songs. It’s called “Southbound.” The recording we did back in 2002 or 2003 was never completely finished. It wasn’t properly mixed or mastered. Anyway, check it out here.
Due Process Institute is a bipartisan nonprofit that works to honor, preserve, and restore principles of fairness in the criminal legal system. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.