Nominees Kick Off the Week in the Senate, House to Consider Debt Collection Bill, Liz Cheney Saga
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.
Is this thing on? Testing…testing: Hey, folks. Yeah, I’m back in your inbox. I know you’ve missed my references to obscure music and occasional snark. As you may have noticed, I made a professional change. After more than six years, I left FreedomWorks at the end of February. I started a new job at Due Process Institute on March 1. It was time for something new and different. For those of you who aren’t familiar with us, Due Process Institute is a bipartisan nonprofit that works to honor, preserve, and restore principles of fairness in the criminal legal system. We think of ourselves as lobbyists for the Constitution. Now that I’m more than two months into this awesome job, I thought it was a good idea to kick the tires and light the fires on a (mostly) weekly Capitol Hill preview. (I’m giving Substack a try at the suggestion of my good friend, Nathan Leamer.) We will try to write one when at least one of the chambers is in session.
Nominees to begin the week in the Senate: The Senate returned at 3:00 pm yesterday and resumed consideration of the nomination of Andrea Joan Palm to serve as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services. Cloture on the Palm nomination was invoked yesterday evening by a vote of 62 to 35. The Senate will convene at 10:00 am today. A confirmation vote on the Palm nomination will take place today around 11:30 am. Following that vote, the Senate will vote on the cloture motion for the nomination of Cynthia Minette Marten to serve as Deputy Secretary of Education. Only a simple majority is required for cloture on nominees.
Certainly, there will be other activity in the Senate: Expect other activity during the week such as unanimous consent requests or voice votes to pass legislation or resolutions, which is how the vast majority legislative activity in the chamber is conducted. Only a handful of bills have actually received roll call votes in the Senate during the 117th Congress. Those bills are H.R. 335, H.R. 1319, H.R. 1799, and H.R. 1868, while 12 bills in total have become law. This also puts the discussion over the filibuster into perspective. (By filibuster, I mean a cloture motion failing to get the three-fifths required to get for a motion to proceed or to limit debate.) From what I can tell, no legislation has been filibustered in the 117th Congress. Then again, the most significant legislation that has been considered in the Senate hasn’t come to the floor under regular order. Instead, fast-track processes like budget reconciliation or the Congressional Review Act, which bypasses the three-fifths threshold for cloture, have been used to get around regular order.
Senate committee schedule: Below are some Senate committee hearings that may be of interest. At the very least, you can expect some theater. The full Senate committee schedule for the week is here.
Nominations Hearing (Armed Services, Tuesday at 9:30 am)
An Update from Federal Officials on Efforts to Combat COVID-19 (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Stop Gun Violence: Ghost Guns (Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Prevention, Response, and Recovery: Improving Federal Cybersecurity Post-SolarWinds (Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Business Meeting – S. 1, For the People Act (Rules and Administration, Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Closing the Tax Gap: Lost Revenue from Noncompliance and the Role of Offshore Tax Evasion (Finance Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight, Tuesday at 2:30 pm)
Business Meeting (Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Wednesday at 9:30 am)
The President’s 2021 Trade Policy Agenda (Finance, Wednesday at 9:30 am)
Nominations Hearing (Judiciary, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Examining the Racial Wealth Gap in the United States (Joint Economic, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Waste, Fraud, Cost Overruns, and Auditing at the Pentagon (Budget, Wednesday at 11:00 am)
Military and civilian personnel programs in the Department of Defense in review on the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2022 and the Future Years Defense Program (Armed Services, Wednesday at 2:30 pm)
The Essential Role of Immigrant Workers in America (Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety; Wednesday at 2:30 pm)
The COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond: Improving Mental Health and Addiction Services in Our Communities (Finance Subcommittee on Health Care, Wednesday at 3:00 pm)
Nominations Hearing (Armed Services, Thursday at 9:30 am)
·Retirement Security: Building a Better Future (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Thursday at 10:00 am)
Executive Business Meeting (Judiciary, Thursday at 10:00 am)
DHS Actions to Address Unaccompanied Minors at the Southern Border (Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Thursday at 10:15 am)
House schedule and suspensions: The House returns today. Legislative businesses will begin at 2:00 pm, with votes expected around 6:30 pm. The chamber will be in session through Friday, with the last votes of the week expected around 3:00 pm. There are 22 bills (listed below) on the suspension calendar for the week. Suspensions will be considered Tuesday and probably Wednesday.
H.R. 433, Family Support Services for Addiction Act
H.R. 586, STANDUP Act
H.R. 721, Mental Health Services for Students Act
H.R. 768, Block, Report, And Suspend Suspicious Shipments Act
H.R. 1205, Improving Mental Health Access from the Emergency Department Act
H.R. 1260, Bipartisan Solution to Cyclical Violence Act
H.R. 1324, Effective Suicide Screening and Assessment in the Emergency Department Act
H.R. 1475, Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act
H.R. 1480, HERO Act
H.R. 2862, Campaign to Prevent Suicide Act
H.R. 2877, Behavioral Intervention Guidelines Act
H.R. 2981, Suicide Prevention Lifeline Improvement Act
H.R. 2955, Suicide Prevention Act
H.R. 1629, Fairness in Orphan Drug Exclusivity Act
H.R. 1448, PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act
H.R. 958, Protecting Moms Who Served Act
H.R. 297, To require the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a study on the establishment of, and the potential land that could be included in, a unit of the National Forest System in the State of Hawaii, and for other purposes
H.R. 49, To designate the National Pulse Memorial located at 1912 South Orange Avenue, Orlando, Florida, 32806, and for other purposes
H.R. 478, Blackwater Trading Post Land Transfer Act
H.R. 810, To amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Chief Standing Bear National Historic Trail, and for other purposes
H.R. 1688, Native American Child Protection Act
H.R. 2208, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas Equal and Fair Opportunity Settlement Act
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.
One note about the suspension bills: The House Freedom Caucus has made a point to request roll call votes on suspension bills, stretching out the time that suspension bills are considered. This has led Democratic leadership to package a number of bills for en bloc consideration on the floor. This means several suspension bills will be passed in one vote.
Two rule bills this week: The House Rules Committee will meet at 3:30 pm on Tuesday to consider amendments and the rule(s) governing consideration of the two main bills on the floor this week – the Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act, H.R. 2547, and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, H.R. 1065. The Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act deals with the reporting of credit information and the collection of debts. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act prohibits employers from making accommodations against employees or applicants who are pregnant or experiencing a medical condition related to pregnancy. We expect rule bills to be considered on Thursday and Friday.
House committee schedule: Below are some House committee hearings that may be of interest. To be honest, there’s probably going to be more theater on the House side. The full House committee schedule for the week can be found here.
Oversight of the January 6th Attack: United States Capitol Police Threat Assessment and Counter-Surveillance Before and During the Attack (House Administration, Monday at 3:00 pm)
COVID-19 Variants and Evolving Research Needs (Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Markup of Various Measures (Financial Services, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
The Capitol Insurrection: Unexplained Delays and Unanswered Questions (Oversight and Reform, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Funding Our Nation's Priorities: Reforming the Tax Code's Advantageous Treatment of the Wealthy (Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, Wednesday at 2:00 pm)
Recruiting, Empowering and Retaining a Diverse Congressional Staff (Modernization of Congress, Thursday at 9:00 am)
Mental Health Emergencies: Building a Robust Crisis Response System (Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; Thursday at 10:00 am)
Juvenile Justice Pipeline and the Road Back to Integration (Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security (Thursday at 10:00 am)
On the House Administration hearing mentioned at the top of this section, I literally set it up for committee members to make an Office Space reference since the witness’s name is Michael Bolton. Please, for the love of everything, don’t let me down.
Composition of the House: Although the Clerk’s website shows that there are 218 Democrats and 212 Republicans, that’ll change later today when Rep.-elect Troy Carter (D-LA) is sworn in. Carter won the special election in LA-02, the seat previously held by former Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA), who now serves as the Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. There currently vacancies in FL-20, NM-01, OH-11, and TX-06. The addition of Carter will bring the total composition of the House to 219 Democrats and 212 Republicans for a total of 431 voting members. The magic number for passage of legislation under regular order is 216 while 288 (two-thirds of the whole) are needed to suspend the rules and pass legislation.
Oh, and the Liz Cheney saga: If you’ve been following the news at all, it’s expected that Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who currently serves as Chair of the House Republican Conference, will be replaced in that post by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY). Cheney survived a vote to remove her from the leadership post earlier this year by an overwhelming margin, but her continued criticism of former President Donald Trump has irked House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and other Republicans. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has made fun of Republicans for seeking to replace Cheney while some fiscal conservative groups have noted that Stefanik actually has a lower rating on their respective scorecards than Cheney.
Upcoming schedule: The House will be in session this week and next. A committee work week is scheduled for May 24. The Senate will be in session each of the next three weeks. Both chambers will be in recess the week of May 31.
What we’re up to at the Due Process Institute: Since the beginning of the 117th Congress, we’ve been very busy boys and girls making the magic happen for several bipartisan pieces of legislation. We’ve endorsed and are lobbying on a number of sentencing reform and second chance bills like the EQUAL Act, S. 79 and H.R. 1693; the Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act, S. 601 and H.R. 1621; the Safer Detention Act, S. 312; the Smarter Pretrial Detention for Drug Charges Act, S. 309; the Clean Slate Act, S. 1380 and H.R. 2864; the Smarter Sentencing Act, S. 1013, Driving for Opportunity Act, S. 998 and H.R. 2453; the Kenneth P. Thompson Begin Again Act, H.R. 1924; and the First Step Implementation Act, S. 1014. In the accountability and procedural fairness space, we support the Inspector General Access Act, S. 426, and the Effective Assistance of Counsel Digital Age Act, H.R. 546, the latter of which has already passed the House. And, in the civil liberties space, we’re into the Fourth Amendment Is Not for Sale Act, S. 1265. If you’re a Hill staffer and want information about any of these bipartisan bills, let me know at jason@idueprocess.org or simply reply to this email.
Policing update: Over the weekend, House Democratic Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) suggested that qualified immunity didn’t need to be part of the final product of the policing reform negotiations spearheaded by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA). “If we don’t get qualified immunity now, then we will come back and try to get it later,” Clyburn said on CNN. “But I don’t want to see us throw out a good bill because we can’t get a perfect bill.” Scott has proposed allowing individuals municipal liability, or respondeat superior, as the path forward. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) said yesterday that the proposal is a “step in the right direction,” although he didn’t outright endorse it.
Due Process Institute is a bipartisan nonprofit that works to honor, preserve, and restore principles of fairness in the criminal legal system.