Messaging Bills in the House, More Committee Assignments Announced, the Slow Start in the Senate Continues
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.
Federal police reform is back in the discussion: I watched the video of the murder of Tyre Nichols at the hands of several Memphis police officers who were part of the SCORPION unit, which was created to focus on violent crime. (Atlanta had a similar unit that was disbanded because of its tactics.) The video was tough to get through. It’s a literal video of a murder. That’s not something created by Hollywood. The guy who was punched and kicked to a pulp wasn’t an actor. There’s a void in the family of Tyre Nicholas. He’s gone because of the actions of these police officers. Look, police reform begins at the local and state levels. Federal police reform should happen, including ending qualified immunity. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but it should. The problem is that the Republican bill doesn’t go far enough while the Democratic bill probably went too far. No one is willing to meet in the middle on this issue. That has to change.
Schedule and suspensions in the House: The House returns today at 12:00 pm for legislative business. First votes are expected at 6:30 pm. Legislative business will begin at 12:00 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday and 9:30 am on Thursday. No votes are scheduled on Friday. There are five bills (listed below) on the floor that will be considered under the suspension of the rules. Those bills will be considered today and tomorrow.
H.R. 290, Commercial Remote Sensing Amendment Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 342, Cost-Share Accountability Act (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
H.R. 500, Financial Exploitation Prevention Act (Financial Services Committee)
H.R. 582, Credit Union Board Modernization Act (Financial Services Committee)
H.R. 298, Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act (Financial Services 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 5:00 pm to markup the rule for a resolution relating to a national emergency declared by the President on March 13, 2020, H.J. Res. 7; the Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems (SHOW UP) Act, H.R. 139; the Pandemic is Over Act, H.R. 382; and Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, H.R. 497. Rules will also meet tomorrow at 2:00 pm to markup the rule for a resolution denouncing the horrors of socialism, H.Con.Res. 9.
About the rule bills: I'm sure you get the theme of the week just from reading the short titles of the bills. In case you didn't get it, each of these bills relates in some way to COVID-19. H.J.Res. 7 would terminate the national emergency that was declared in March 2020 for the pandemic. The SHOW UP Act would reinstate pre-pandemic telework policies and require a study and plan of potential expansion of telework policies. Any potential expansion of telework policies would have to meet certain requirements and be certified by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. (Speaking as someone who has a hybrid work schedule, I'm not a fan of this bill. As someone who believes in fiscal responsibility, if letting more people telework means we can get rid of some office space and save taxpayers some money, I'm all for it. Let people work from home.) The Pandemic is Over Act would terminate the Public Health Emergency for the pandemic. The Freedom for Health Care Workers Act would eliminate the vaccine mandate for healthcare providers who provide services under Medicaid and Medicare. The Supreme Court struck down the vaccine mandate on business but kept the healthcare workers in place. H.Con.Res. 9 is a statement about the deaths attributed to socialism (these are deaths attributed to communist and totalitarian regimes throughout history) and how socialism conflicts with founding principles.
More House Republican committee assignments named: The members for Armed Services, Education and the Workforce, House Administration, Rules, and Veterans’ Affairs have been named. I believe Budget is the only committee that hasn't rolled out its membership. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) also announced the chairs and members of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party. You can view those announcements here and here.
And House Democratic committee assignments: House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has announced the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee’s recommendations for committee assignments for new members. The recommendations for House Administration, Appropriations, Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, and Ways and Means have been ratified by the Democratic Caucus. You can view those lists here. The Democratic members of House Rules have also been announced.
McCarthy rejects Schiff and Swalwell's appointments to HPSCI: As expected, McCarthy has notified House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) that he will not allow Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) to serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). In the letter, McCarthy writes, "I appreciate the loyalty you have to your Democrat colleagues, and I acknowledge your efforts to have two Members of Congress reinstated to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. But I cannot put partisan loyalty ahead of national security, and I cannot simply recognize years of service as the sole criteria for membership on this essential committee. Integrity matters more." The "partisan loyalty" excuse irks me because that's pretty much the status quo, regardless of party. Some would say HPSCI is different, but I'd point to former Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) as an example of partisan hackery.
But McCarthy might not get Omar off Foreign Affairs: Another target of McCarthy and Republicans is Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), whose past controversial remarks about Israel have sparked an effort to remove her from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Reps. Victoria Spartz (R-IN), Nancy Mace (R-SC), and Ken Buck (R-CO) have already said that they'll oppose removing Omar. Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN) and David Valadao (R-CA) are reportedly on the fence. You also have to imagine that Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), a noted centrist, is weighing how to vote. With the absence of Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), who is recovering from a scary fall, McCarthy can’t lose more than three votes. By the way, Schiff, Swalwell, and Omar have a piece out about being targeted for removal from their committees.
Recapping the first open modified rule in almost seven years: As I mentioned last week, the House considered the Strategic Production Response Act, H.R. 21, under a modified open rule. This was the first modified open rule since May 26, 2016. I was on the House side on Thursday, and it was interesting to listen to folks talk about this. In the morning, there were more than 40 amendments filed. Toward the end of the day, there were more than 140 amendments. Now, some of these were adopted by voice vote while some failed by voice. Others were adopted by roll call vote, but many were defeated in the same manner. A lot of amendments weren't germane to the subject and were ruled out of order. You can see the results of the amendments here. It's great to see the House work like this, and I truly hope it continues. That said, there's a risk of members getting tired of it too. It's easy to have Rules weed out amendments and bring bills to the floor under a structured rule because it saves time. It took two full legislative days to debate and process the amendments and pass the Strategic Production Response Act. When you have an amendment that gets only 14 votes (or somewhere else in that ballpark), members may begin to complain about abuse of the process. That's my concern.
I got something wrong a couple of weeks ago: It has been known to happen occasionally: I put together a graphic a couple of weeks ago that listed Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) as the incoming chair of House Administration. That's what the service I use for my government affairs work told me. It was wrong. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) has been named the chair of the committee. Mea culpa.
A bill update: In the January 11 bonus edition of Point of Order, I mentioned that House Republicans had planned to consider the Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act, H.R. 27, but the bill had a major issue. The issue was that it amended the wrong statute. The Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act ended up getting pulled. With the Rules Committee now constituted, it can be amended and go to the floor. However, I've been told that at least some Republicans were going to vote against the bill because they had federalism concerns.
House committee schedule: Below are some House committee hearings that may be of interest. The full House committee schedule for the week is here.
Organizational Meeting (Rules, Monday at 4:30 pm)
Organizational Meeting (Judiciary, Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Organizational Meeting (Oversight and Accountability, Tuesday at 11:00 am)
Organizational Meeting (Education and the Workforce, Tuesday at 2:00 pm)
Organizational Meeting (Transportation and Infrastructure, Wednesday at 9:30 am)
The State of Transportation Infrastructure and Supply Chain Challenges (Transportation and Infrastructure, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
The Biden Border Crisis: Part I (Judiciary, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Federal Pandemic Spending: A Prescription for Waste, Fraud and Abuse (Oversight and Accountability, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Organizational Meeting (Financial Services, Wednesday at 1:00 pm)
If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
Things have moved slowly in the Senate: The Senate returns today at 3:00 pm and will begin a period of morning business. Things have been moving very slowly in the chamber. No organizing resolution has been passed, and there's still disagreement over committee ratios. We were hoping that would happen last week. (The only committee I know of that has announced any assignments is Judiciary.) Some measures have been passed by unanimous consent while others have been placed on the calendar under Rule XIV, but only two roll call votes have been taken. There are things happening behind the scenes, though, including discussion about immigration reform and the debt limit.
BUT SENATE DID PASS THE MOST IMPORTANT RESOLUTION EVER: Apologies for all caps. The Senate passed S.Res. 16 recognizing the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team for winning the national championship. The resolution passed by unanimous content. At least no one wanted to question this win.
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: Trade and Horticulture (Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Examining the Department of Energy's Implementation of the Investment and Jobs Act (Energy and Natural Resources, Thursday at 10:00 am)
Executive Business Meeting (Judiciary, Thursday at 10:00 am)
Executive Session (Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Thursday at 10:00 am)
If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
Hey, budget nerds, mark your calendars: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will release an updated version of The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2023 to 2033 at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, February 15. I'll be on vacation at Disney World, so I'll manage to fight the urge to look at it, but it'll be hard. (I'm kidding. Mostly.)
Demographic projections: The CBO recently released updated demographic projections for the next 30 years. I really wish those who oppose immigration reform in Congress would read these reports. The biggest takeaway is that deaths will surpass births in 2042. That’s a year earlier than the projection in the previous iteration of this report. This is a problem that few in Congress are talking about, and it’s an entirely predictable crisis. I’m going to write something about this over at
in the next few days or so.Several new reports on criminal justice: Our friends at the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) have released a series of reports from its Take Force on Long Sentences. The task force is co-chaired by former Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. You can find the reports here.
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