House Poised to Take Up NDAA, Nominees in the Senate, UGA Wins the SEC
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.
A quick note: There are some things that we’re watching that aren’t in today’s newsletter, but we may have a midweek update if there are developments.
Schedule and suspensions in the House: The House returns today 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 Thursday, and the last votes for the week are expected at 3:00 pm that day. There are 13 bills (listed below) on the suspension calendar for the week.
S. 198, Data Mapping to Save Moms' Lives Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)
S. 4052, Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)
Senate Amendment to H.R. 1193, Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy Act (Energy and Commerce Committee)
Senate Amendment to H.R. 3462, SBA Cyber Awareness Act (Small Business Committee)
H.R. 8844, STEP Improvement Act (Small Business Committee)
House Amendment to S. 1687, Small Business Cyber Training Act (Small Business Committee)
S. 1617, Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities Act (Small Business Committee)
S. 3875, Community Disaster Resilience Zones Act (Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
S. 3499, To amend the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 to repeal certain obsolete requirements (Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
S. 4235, A bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act to fix a technical error in the definitions (Judiciary Committee)
S. 2796, Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act (Judiciary Committee)
S. 4834, PROTECT Our Children Act (Judiciary Committee)
Senate Amendment to H.R. 5796, Patents for Humanity 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 Rules Committee will meet today at 3:00 pm to markup the rule(s) for the Senate Amendment to H.R. 7776 (National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2023); the Senate Amendment to H.R. 8404 (Respect for Marriage Act); the EAGLE Act, H.R. 3648; and the Veteran Service Recognition Act, H.R. 7946. Additional legislative items are possible.
A quick note about NDAA: We’re watching the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2023 to see what happens with the EQUAL Act. The base text of NDAA isn’t finalized yet, but it most likely will be today since House Rules is meeting to markup the rule for the bill.
An update on leadership elections: The House Democratic Caucus’s leadership elections happened without any real drama, even though there was a late surprise that ended up not materializing could’ve brought some drama. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) was elected to serve as Democratic leader, Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA) was chosen as Democratic whip, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-TX) was elected as chair of the House Democratic Caucus, and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) will be the assistant Democratic leader. On the Republican side, the incoming Republican whip, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), has selected Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) to be the deputy whip.
House Republican Conference rule changes: House Republicans have made changes to their conference rules. The changes highlight the precarious position Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is in as he tries to get the votes that he needs to become Speaker. House Republicans voted to keep earmarks in place. I don’t like earmarks because, in the past, they’ve been tied to corruption and waste. However, earmarks are a low percentage of overall federal spending and guardrails have been put in place to mitigate some of the past issues with them. Time will tell if these guardrails actually work. One change would require the House Rules Committee to give “priority consideration” to amendments that have the support of 20 percent of the conference. This change also encourages open and structured rules to have a more inclusive process for legislating. The last time the House had an open rule was May 2014. The last time the House had a modified open rule was in May 2016. One big change that I don’t like is that 50 members can petition for a special meeting on major legislation prior to a vote. It’s not as bad as codifying the “majority of the majority” rule, but it’s still not a good rule change.
Fair Sentencing Act technical correction passed the House: So, I completely missed this because my attention for the past several days has been elsewhere. (If you know, you know.) The Terry Technical Correction Act, H.R. 5455, was brought to the floor under the suspension of the rules last week, and it passed by a vote of 307 to 101. Admittedly, I’m annoyed by some of the no votes because the bill was marked up by the House Judiciary Committee by a voice vote in September, but the roll call reveals that some members of the committee (all Republicans) voted against the bill on the floor, including one who personally told me that he thought the bill made sense because it was simply a technical correction. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Terry Technical Correction Act, the bill is a response to the Supreme Court’s unanimous holding in Terry v. United States (2021) that the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 applied only to 21 U.S.C. §841(b)(1)(A) and §841(b)(1)(B). I could get into the case here, but that would take a lot of space for this newsletter. All the background can be found here. The Senate version of the bill, S. 2914, hasn’t moved in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Party divisions in the House: There was sad news last week when Rep. Donald McEachin (D-VA) passed away after a long battle with cancer. I also failed to mention that Rep. Theodore Deutch (D-FL) resigned on September 30. As of today, there are 219 Democrats and 213 Republicans in the House. There are currently three vacancies in the House, VA-04, FL-13, and FL-22.
2023 legislative calendar: Incoming House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) has released the House calendar for 2023. As scheduled, the House will be in session for 117 days. That’s a lot of legislative days scheduled for a majority that’s thin and may have difficulty moving even messaging bills that have no shot of passing the Senate. The schedule doesn’t show any committee work weeks, which were featured under Democratic control during the pandemic.
House committee schedule: Below are some House committee hearings that may be of interest. The full House committee schedule for the week is here.
Building a Safer Antarctic Research Environment (Science, Space, and Technology; Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Building Sustainable Businesses through Employee Ownership at SBA (Small Business Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations; Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Lessons from the Field: Overcrowding in National Parks (Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Confronting Yemen's Humanitarian and Political Crises Without a Ceasefire (Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Middle East, North Africa, and Global Counterterrorism; Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Unfinished Business: A Review of Progress Made and a Plan to Achieve Full Economic Inclusion for Every American (Financial Services Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion, Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Markup of Various Measures (Oversight and Reform, Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Solving the Climate Crisis: Key Accomplishments, Additional Opportunities, and the Need for Continued Action (Climate Crisis, Tuesday at 1:30 pm)
Markup of Various Measures (Foreign Affairs, Tuesday at 2:00 pm)
E, S, G and W: Examining Private Sector Disclosure of Workforce Management, Investment, and Diversity Data (Financial Services Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets; Tuesday at 2:00 pm)
Fulfilling Our Pact: Ensuring Effective Implementation of Toxic Exposure Legislation (Veterans’ Affairs, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Oversight of the Small Business Administration (Small Business, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Building Regional Innovation Economies Part II (Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology; Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Corporation for National and Community Service (Education and Labor Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment, Wednesday at 10:15 am)
Undue Influence: ‘Operation Higher Court’ and Politicking at SCOTUS (Judiciary, Thursday at 10:00 am)
If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
And over in the Senate: The Senate returns at 3:00 pm today to resume consideration of the nomination of Frances Kay Behm to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Around 5:30 pm, the Senate will hold a roll call vote on the nomination of Doris L. Pryor to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Cloture was invoked on the Pryor nomination on Thursday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also filed cloture on the nominations of Kelley Brisbon Hodge to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Mia Roberts Perez to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Kai N. Scott to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and John Frank Murphy to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Senate committee schedule: Below are some Senate committee hearings that may be of interest. The full Senate committee schedule for the week is here.
Farm Bill 2023: Research Programs (Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Executive Session (Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Business Meeting (Foreign Relations, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Nominations Hearing (Foreign Relations, Wednesday at 2:30 pm)
Executive Business Meeting (Judiciary, Thursday at 9:00 am)
If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
Nerd watch: The Congressional Budget Office will release Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2023 to 2032, on Wednesday. This is a regular comprehensive set of potential spending cuts and revenue increases that Congress could pass to lower the federal budget deficit. Yes, I’ll read it. It’s interesting.
SEC Champs: My Georgia Bulldogs knocked off LSU over the weekend to win the SEC Championship. We’re also the #1 seed in the College Football Playoff and will take on Ohio State on December 31 in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta. It’s going to be a fun ride no matter what happens. Go Dawgs!
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