Where do we even begin: The mad rush is on to get last-minute bills passed in the House before the 26-day recess kicks off. (Well, it’s a 26-day recess assuming no additional votes are scheduled during the recess.) There’s already a bunch of drama in the House already because of additional rule bills that could come up this week. I’ve got all that covered in this bonus edition of Point of Order.
Recapping the, uh, one day of work in the House: Tuesday was a fly-in day, so there were a bunch of votes. The House tackled not quite half of the suspensions for the week. Votes on 12 of the suspensions were pushed into today. Below is a look at the votes and other activities on the floor so far.
On the Previous Question to H.Res. 1254 (the rule for South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act, H.R. 3771; the Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act, H.R. 5118; and the Susan Muffley Act, H.R. 6929) - Agreed to 217-193
On the Passage of H. Res. 1254 - Passed 218-201
Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act, H.R. 6552 - Passed 401-20
Federal PFAS Research Evaluation Act, H.R. 7289 - Passed 359-62
Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act, H.R. 3588 - Passed 323-92
Brycen Gray and Ben Price COVID-19 Cognitive Research Act, H.R. 7180 - Passed 350-69
Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, H.R. 8454 - Passed 325-95
Timely Delivery of Bank Secrecy Act Reports Act, H.R. 7734 - Passed 349-70
Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act, H.R. 1842 - Passed by voice vote
Housing Temperature Safety Act, H.R. 6528 - Passed by voice vote
Promoting New and Diverse Depository Institutions Act, H.R. 4590 - Passed by voice vote
To require the Securities and Exchange Commission to revise the definition of a qualifying investment to include an equity security issued by a qualifying portfolio company, whether acquired directly from the company or in a secondary acquisition, for purposes of the exemption from registration for venture capital fund advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and for other purposes, H.R. 4227 - Passed by voice vote
National World War II Memorial Commemorative Coin Act, H.R. 1057 - Passed by voice vote
Here’s a look at today’s House schedule: The House is already in session for the day. The first votes are expected between 11:30 am and 12:30 pm. Last votes are expected between 4:15 pm and 6:15 pm. The ITS Confidication Act, H.R. 4990, will be considered under the suspension of the rules. The South Asian Heart Health Awareness Act, H.R. 3771; the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act, H.R. 4040; and the Susan Muffley Act, H.R. 6929, are on the floor today. The South Asian Heart Health Awareness Act and the Susan Muffley Act are coming to the floor under a structured rule. The House will consider H.Res. 1256 at some point today, which provides a closed rule for the consideration of the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID–19 Act, the other rule bill on the floor today. The postponed votes on suspensions are expected today, but we’ll see if the House actually gets through them all.
More rule bills: The House Rules Committee will meet at 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm today. In the first meeting, the committee will markup the rule for the Assault Weapons Ban, H.R. 1808, and the Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act, H.R. 2814. At the 2:00 pm meeting, the committee will markup the rule for the Mental Health Justice Act, H.R. 1368; the Break the Cycle of Violence Act, H.R. 4118; the VICTIM Act, H.R. 5768; the COPS on the Beat Grant Program Reauthorization and Parity Act, H.R. 6375; and the Invest to Protect Act, H.R. 6448. Right as I was about to hit “Publish” on this post, an email came in from the House Rules Committee that the meetings scheduled for today have been postponed subject to the call of Chairman Jim McGovern (D-MA).
And what happens from here on out is kinda ¯\_(ツ)_/¯: So, seven more rule bills might hit the floor this week, in addition to another outstanding rule bill, the Big Cat Public Safety Act, H.R. 263. The Big Cat Public Safety Act ain’t the bill causing consternation among House Democrats. Moderate and vulnerable Democrats have problems with the Assault Weapons Ban and members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus have issues with the bills to provide funding for law enforcement. There has been some talk of progressives taking down the rule for the bills that provide funding for law enforcement, which would be a disaster for Democratic leadership. It’s highly unlikely that Democratic leadership will bring these bills to the floor if they don’t have the votes for passage. Unless a deal comes together, at least some of these bills could get pushed until September. Also, don’t forget that if the Senate completes the innovation bill this week, that’ll also wind up in the House.
A vote on the innovation bill is expected in the Senate today: The Senate is in session and, as I write this, is in a vote series. The first vote in the two-vote series is on the motion to waive the Budget Act for the vehicle for the innovation bill, H.R. 4346–what is being called the “CHIPS-Plus Act.” The second vote is on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 4346, with a further amendment. The amendment that the Senate is making is the text of S.Amdt. 5135. The CHIPS-Plus Act will then go over to the House. Another vote is expected today around 4:30 pm on the motion to concur in the House amendment to S. 3373, which is the vehicle for the Honoring Our Pact Act.
Same-sex marriage bill may not get a vote before September: Look, anything is possible, but there are several Republicans who won’t say how they plan to vote on the Respect for Marriage Act, H.R. 8404. Many Republicans are calling the bill “a distraction.”On the first point, if it’s a distraction, then eliminate the distraction so you can get back to focusing on inflation because the bigger headache is not passing it considering how that’ll be messaged from now until November.
Senate scheduling: The Senate has the rest of this week and next week before its recess begins. The White House and Democrats are still hopeful that they’ll be able to pass a budget reconciliation bill that still seems elusive and the approval of Sweden and Finland to join NATO. We’ll have an update on Monday since the Senate has one more week to go after this week before its recess begins.
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