SCOTUS Changes Conversation on Abortion in the Senate, Pelosi Sets Minimum Pay for House Staffers
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 mid-week procedural vote on abortion legislation is expected: The Senate returns today at 3:00 pm to resume consideration of the nomination of Ann Claire Phillips to serve as the Administrator of the Maritime Administration. A roll call vote on the cloture motion is expected to begin around 5:30 pm. The Senate will also consider the nomination of Asmeret Asefaw Berhe to serve as the Director of the Office of Science at the Department of Energy. The cloture motion for the Berhe nomination has already been filed. On Wednesday, the Senate is expected to consider the cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the Women’s Health Protection Act, S. 4132. This has a 60-vote threshold. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is bringing the bill to the floor in direct response to the leak of the draft majority opinion in Hobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (more on that below). The Senate voted on the same procedural motion on the House version of Women’s Health Protection Act, H.R. 3755, in February. The motion was rejected by a vote of 46 to 48. Six senators, evenly split between the parties, didn’t vote, and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) voted against the motion. So, like in February, the vote we’ll see on Wednesday is expected to fail.
A breach at SCOTUS: Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock the past week (some may wish they had been hiding under a rock), the leak of the draft majority opinion in Hobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has caused an uproar in Congress. Obviously, the leak was a brazen breach of protocol. Whoever did it had a clear intention of influencing the Court, either by trying to influence a justice in the majority to switch sides or by trying to lock in the majority. The Court verified the authenticity of the draft opinion and Chief Justice John Roberts has asked the Marshal of the Court to investigate the leak. The Court also noted that the decision isn’t final, but a decision is expected to come in the weeks ahead. This leads me to…
SCOTUS and Roe: And you thought the political divide and hyperpartisanship couldn’t get any worse. It’s really hard to overstate the political earthquake of overturning Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). The implications are far-reaching, from women’s health to public policy, privacy to procedure in the Senate, and the midterm election to the public’s view of the Supreme Court. Public opinion is clearly in support of keeping Roe and Casey in place, but until the leak of this draft opinion, abortion barely registered as an issue on voters’ minds. I have friends on both sides of this issue. Regardless of their position, I respect their views because I know they’re deeply held and honest. This isn’t something I work on, or ever have, but whatever decision comes down from the Court is going to have implications for those of us who lobby in Congress because of even more heightened tensions.
Cannabis provisions could get added to the “China bill”: It might be a long shot, but some in the Senate and outside advocates are pushing for the inclusion of the SAFE Banking Act in the conference committee on the so-called “China bill,” H.R. 4521. The SAFE Banking Act would allow cannabis businesses to participate in the United States financial system. The SAFE Banking Act, H.R. 4521, has already passed the House but has stalled in the Senate despite having strong bipartisan support.
Senate committee schedule: Below are some Senate committee hearings that may be of interest. The full Senate committee schedule for the week is here.
The Financial Stability Oversight Council Annual Report to Congress (Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Tuesday at 9:45 am)
Nomination Hearing (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Nominations Hearing (Foreign Relations, Tuesday at 2:30 pm)
Nominations Hearing (Judiciary, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Oversight of the Council on Environmental Quality: A Year in Review (Environment and Public Works, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Executive Session (Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Examining Quality of Care in VA and the Private Sector (Veterans’ Affairs, 3:00 pm)
Executive Business Meeting (Judiciary, Thursday at 9:00 am)
U.S. Efforts to Support Ukraine Against Russian Aggression (Foreign Relations, Thursday at 9:30 am)
Addressing Climate Change with Energy-Efficient and Resilient Housing (Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Thursday at 10:00 am)
Pathways to Procurement Innovation (Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Thursday at 10:15 am)
If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
House schedule and suspensions: The House returns Tuesday 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 Friday. Last votes for the week are expected at 3:00 pm on Friday. There are 28 bills (listed below) on the suspension calendar for the week.
Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act, H.R. 847 (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
NWR Modernization Act, H.R. 5324 (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act, S. 66 (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act, H.R. 7077 (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
PRECIP Act, H.R. 1437 (Science, Space, and Technology Committee)
Fair Hiring in Banking Act, H.R. 5911 (Financial Services Committee)
Empowering States to Protect Seniors from Bad Actors Act, H.R. 5914 (Financial Services Committee)
Small Business Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification Act, H.R. 935 (Financial Services Committee)
Russian and Belaraus Financial Sanctions Act, H.R. 7066 (Financial Services Committee)
Ukraine Comprehensive Debt Payment Relief Act, H.R. 7081 (Financial Services Committee)
Isolate Russian Government Officials Act, H.R. 6891 (Financial Services Committee)
Russia and Belarus SDR Exchange Prohibition Act, H.R. 6899 (Financial Services Committee)
United States Army Rangers Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act, S. 1872 (Financial Services Committee)
Benjamin Berell Ferencz Congressional Gold Medal Act, H.R. 6015 (Financial Services Committee)
Supply Chain Security Training Act, S. 2201 (Oversight and Reform Committee)
Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act, S. 1097 (Oversight and Reform Committee)
Targeting Resources to Communities in Need Act, H.R. 6531 (Oversight and Reform Committee)
To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 5302 Galveston Road in Houston, Texas, as the "Vanessa Guillén Post Office Building," H.R. 224 (Oversight and Reform Committee)
To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 303 East Mississippi Avenue in Elwood, Illinois, as the "Lawrence M. 'Larry' Walsh Sr. Post Office," H.R. 700 (Oversight and Reform Committee)
To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2016 East 1st Street in Los Angeles, California, as the "Marine Corps Reserve PVT Jacob Cruz Post Office," H.R. 5900 (Oversight and Reform Committee)
To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 450 West Schaumburg Road in Schaumburg, Illinois, as the "Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial Post Office Building," H.R. 6386 (Oversight and Reform Committee)
To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4744 Grand River Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, as the "Rosa Louise McCauley Parks Post Office Building," H.R. 6614 (Oversight and Reform Committee)
To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 810 South Pendleton Street in Easley, South Carolina, as the "Private First Class Barrett Lyle Austin Post Office Building," H.R. 91 (Oversight and Reform Committee)
To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 110 Johnson Street in Pickens, South Carolina, as the "Specialist Four Charles Johnson Post Office," H.R. 92 (Oversight and Reform Committee)
To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 215 1st Avenue in Amory, Mississippi, as the "Command Sergeant Major Lawrence E. 'Rabbit' Kennedy Post Office Building," H.R. 207 (Oversight and Reform Committee)
To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 305 Highway 15 North in Pontotoc, Mississippi, as the "Lance Corporal Marc Lucas Tucker Post Office Building," H.R. 209 (Oversight and Reform Committee)
To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 39 West Main Street, in Honeoye Falls, New York, as the "CW4 Christian J. Koch Memorial Post Office," H.R. 3508 (Oversight and Reform Committee)
RECA Extension Act, S. 4119 (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 Tuesday at 2:00 pm to markup the rule for the Rights for TSA Workforce Act, H.R. 903; the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act, H.R. 2499; and Community Services Block Grant Modernization Act, H.R. 5129. The Rights for TSA Workforce Act would make several changes to the workplace rights and benefits that Transportation Security Administration workers have. The Federal Firefighters Fairness Act would create a presumption that federal firefighters who develop heart disease, lung disease, and specific forms of cancer developed those illnesses because of their job. The Community Services Block Grant Modernization Act would reauthorize the Community Services Block Grant, with changes to the program. Each rule bill is bipartisan, so that’s a fun twist. Additional legislation is possible.
Congressional workers union and a minimum pay requirement: The House is also expected to consider a resolution that recognizes congressional workers’ right to organize. The resolution wasn’t linked in the floor schedule for the week, but this may be H.Res. 915. This has been a topic of debate in the House. If you follow any of the Instagram accounts run by congressional staffers, you know low pay for junior staff (background here and here) and poor treatment in certain offices has been a frequent topic. Although I’m not a fan of unions, I do recognize that this is a legitimate problem because of the burnout that happens on Capitol Hill. The DMV also isn’t a cheap place to live, by any stretch of the imagination. Recognizing this problem, Congress increased offices’ Members’ Representational Allowance by 21 percent in the FY 2022 omnibus passed in March. Many offices used the increase to increase salaries and/or give bonuses or have planned bonuses. (Of course, Republicans have a history of underfunding the Legislative Branch, so that 21 percent increase may not be there if they take control of the chamber.) Last week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) also used her authority under 2 U.S.C. § 4532 to set the minimum annual salary for congressional staff at $45,000. Pelosi had previously increased the maximum annual salary to $199,300, but she also took the step of increasing it again to $203,700 to bring the House in line with the Senate. None of these actions impact member pay.
House committee schedule: Below are some House committee hearings that may be of interest. The full House committee schedule for the week can be found here. We are in budget hearing season, and a number of these have already taken place. To save space, I haven’t been including these.
Markup of Legislative Measures (Judiciary, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Markup of Legislative Measures (Small Business, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Securing the Digital Commons: Open-Source Software Cybersecurity (Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittees on Investigations and Oversight and Research and Technology; Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Markup of Legislative Measures (Oversight and Reform, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
A Notch Above? Examining the Bond Rating Industry (Financial Services Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets; Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Standing Up for Workers: Preventing Wage Theft and Recovering Stolen Wages (Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, Wednesday at 10:15 am)
Bringing Prosperity to Left-Behind Communities: Using Targeted Place-based Development to Expand Economic Opportunity (Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth, Wednesday at 12:00 pm)
Reviewing President Biden’s Strategy to Reduce Veteran Suicide by Addressing Economic Risk Factors (Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity)
Accountability and Justice for War Crimes Committed in Ukraine by the Russian Federation (Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment, and Cyber; Wednesday at 2:00 pm)
Changing Market Roles: The FTX Proposal and Trends in New Clearinghouse Models (Agriculture, Thursday at 10:00 am)
Moving Upwards and Onwards: The Workforce and Innovation Needs of the Aviation and Aerospace Industry (Small Business Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development; Thursday at 10:00 am)
Board Member Views on Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization (Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials; Thursday at 10:00 am)
Space Situational Awareness: Guiding the Transition to a Civil Capability (Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics; Thursday at 10:00 am)
Modernizing Hydropower: Licensing and Reforms for a Clean Energy Future (Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, Thursday at 10:30 am)
Examining DHS’s Efforts to Combat the Opioid Epidemic (Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation, and Operations; Thursday at 2:30 pm)
If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
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