House to Consider Legislation for Pregnant Women and CRA, May Consider Approps Bills, Senate in Recess
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 Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The last votes for the week are expected no later than 3:00 pm on Thursday. No votes are expected on Friday. Eight (8) 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. 3496, Northern Mariana Islands Small Business Access Act (Small Business Committee)
H.R. 5763, Main Street Parity Act (Small Business Committee)
H.R. 5764, AI for Main Street Act (Sponsored by Rep. Alford / Small Business Committee)
H.R. 5784, AI-WISE Act (Sponsored by Rep. Scholten / Small Business Committee)
H.R. 5788, 504 Program Risk Oversight Act (Small Business Committee)
H.R. 1458, VETS Opportunity Act (Veterans’ Affairs Committee)
H.R. 1663, VSAFE Act (Veterans’ Affairs Committee)
H.R. 659, Veterans Law Judge Experience Act (Veterans’ Affairs 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 3:00 pm today to mark up the rule providing for the consideration of the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act, H.R. 6945; the Pregnant Students’ Rights Act, H.R. 6359; and disapproval of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Public Land Order No. 7917 for Withdrawal of Federal Lands; Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, Minnesota, H.J.Res. 140.
War powers and appropriations: The House may also consider the Venezuela War Power Resoution, H.Con.Res. 68. It’s hard to say where the House may land on it this time around. When the chamber last considered the issue, Nicolas Maduro was still in Caracas. With the Trump administration planning to keep the United States involved in Venezuela, it remains to be seen if moods among House Republicans have shifted. It’s also possible that the House will consider another round of appropriations bills this week, the most likely being Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. Homeland Security is likely to see a continuing resolution. The funding deadline is January 30. The House is scheduled to be in recess next week.
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.
Across the Capitol complex: The Senate is in recess this week.
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