Tax Deal Could Reach the House Floor, Mayorkas Impeachment Looming, Senate Border Deal on Life Support
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.
Schedule and suspensions: The House returns today at 2:00 pm for legislative business. Votes are postponed until 6:30 pm. Eight (8) bills are expected to be considered under suspension of the rules. The cost estimates for those bills can be found here. The House will also meet on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Votes are expected each of those days.
H.R. 599, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3500 West 6th Street, Suite 103 in Los Angeles, California, as the ‘Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Post Office (Oversight and Reform)
H.R. 1060, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1663 East Date Place in San Bernardino, California, as the "Dr. Margaret B. Hill Post Office Building" (Oversight and Reform)
H.R. 2754, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2395 East Del Mar Boulevard in Laredo, Texas, as the ‘Lance Corporal David Lee Espinoza, Lance Corporal Juan Rodrigo Rodriguez & Sergeant Roberto Arizola Jr. Post Office Building’ (Oversight and Reform)
H.R. 3728, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 25 Dorchester Avenue, Room 1, in Boston, Massachusetts, as the ‘Caroline Chang Post Office’ (Oversight and Reform)
H.R. 3865, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 101 South 8th Street in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, as the ‘Lieutenant William D. Lebo Post Office Building’ (Oversight and Reform)
H.R. 3947, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 859 North State Road 21 in Melrose, Florida, as the ‘Pamela Jane Rock Post Office Building’ (Oversight and Reform)
H.R. 5528, Safe and Smart Federal Purchasing Act (Oversight and Reform)
S. 3427, Overtime Pay for Protective Services Act (Judiciary)
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 4:00 pm to markup the rule(s) providing for the consideration of the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act, H.R. 5585; the Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act, H.R. 6976; the Consequences for Social Security Fraud Act, H.R. 6678; and the No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act, H.R. 6679. Each of these bills deal with immigration in some way. if it hasn’t become clear that Republicans are making immigration their top issue for the rest of the year, I don’t how to make it more obvious to you.
Tax deal could also be on the floor: The House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee have agreed to a deal to reform the child tax credit and extend some provisions for businesses that were part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Budget Office project that the impact to the deficit will be roughly $400 million over ten years. We’ve heard it’s possible that the bill could be on the floor under suspension. The House Freedom Caucus is whining about the bill, so that makes Republican leadership’s job potentially a lot harder.
Mayorkas impeachment looms: The House Homeland Security Committee will meet on Tuesday at 10:00 am to markup articles of impeachment against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, H.Res. 863. The substitute to H.Res. 863 can be found here. It’s likely that Republican leadership has the votes to move the articles of impeachment through the House, so expect H.Res. 863 to reach the floor as early as next week.
House committee schedule: Below are some House committee hearings that may be of interest. The full House committee schedule for the week is here.
The Future of Data Privacy and Artificial Intelligence at VA (Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, Monday at 3:30 pm)
Authoritarian Alignment: The CCP's Support for America's Adversaries (Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, Tuesday at 9:00 am)
Menace on the Red Sea: Securing Shipping Against Threats in the Red Sea (Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Pathways to Success: Supporting Entrepreneurs and Employees with Disabilities Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development; Tuesday at 10:00 am)
The Southern Border Crisis: The Constitution and the States (Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Better Investment Barriers: Strengthening CCP Sanctions and Exploring Alternatives to Bureaucratic Regimes (Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions; Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Exposing President Biden’s Plan to Dismantle the Snake River Dams and the Negative Impacts to the United States (Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security; Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Artificial Intelligence (AI): Innovations within the Legislative Branch (House Administration, Tuesday at 10:30 am)
From Risk to Resilience: Reauthorizing the Earthquake and Windstorm Hazards Reduction Programs (Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology; Tuesday at 2:00 pm)
UNRWA Exposed: Examining the Agency’s Mission and Failures (Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability, Tuesday at 2:00 pm)
America’s Report Card: Oversight of K-12 Public Education (Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services, Tuesday at 2:00 pm)
Markup of Various Measures (Small Business, Wednesday at 9:45 am)
Quality of Life Review – Perspective from Senior Enlisted Leaders (Armed Services, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Creating a Culture of Fiscal Responsibility: Assessing the Role of the Congressional Budget Office (Budget, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Overseeing the Department of Health and Human Services’ Compliance with Congress (Coronavirus Pandemic, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Rules Without Analysis: Federal Banking Proposals Under the Biden Administration (Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Health Care Spending in the United States: Unsustainable for Patients, Employers, and Taxpayers (Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
TV Timeout: Understanding Sports Media Rights (Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, Wednesday at 10:30 am)
The CCP Cyber Threat to the American Homeland and National Security (Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, Wednesday at 11:00 am)
The Future of Peacekeeping and the Increasing Role of Private Military Companies in Africa (Foreign Affairs Subcommittees on Africa and Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations; Wednesday at 2:00 pm)
Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property: Part II – Identity in the Age of AI (Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet; Friday at 9:00 am; Field Hearing in Los Angeles)
If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
Across the Capitol in the Senate: The Senate will meet on Tuesday at 3:00 pm to resume consideration of the nominee of Joshua Paul Kolar to serve as judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Cloture was invoked on the Kolar nomination last week. The vote on confirmation is expected to begin around 5:30 pm on Tuesday.
The bipartisan border deal is on life support: Negotiators have reportedly reached a deal on border provisions of a bill that would also include funding for Ukraine and Israel. Text is being finalized. However, Trump is doing everything he can to make passage of this deal impossible. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) wrote last week, “If rumors about the contents of the draft proposal are true, it would have been dead on arrival in the House anyway.” Never say never, but it’s hard to see this thing getting done. If it doesn’t, funding for Ukraine and Israel could hitch a ride on an omnibus in February or March.
Senate committee schedule: Below are some Senate committee hearings that may be of interest. The full Senate committee schedule for the week is here.
Executive Session (Finance, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Avoiding, Detecting, and Capturing Methane Emissions from Landfills (Environment and Public Works, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Artificial Intelligence and Housing: Exploring Promise and Peril (Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development; Wednesday at 10:00 am)
A Blueprint for Prosperity: Expanding Housing Affordability (Budget, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis (Judiciary, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Nominations Hearing (Finance, Wednesday at 10:15 am)
Business Meeting (Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Wednesday at 10:15 am)
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization at 75: Reflecting on Past Successes and Planning for the Future (Foreign Relations, Wednesday at 2:30 pm)
Nomination Hearing (Armed Services, Thursday at 9:30 am)
Examining Scams and Fraud in the Banking System and Their Impact on Consumers (Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Thursday at 10:00 am)
If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
Age demographics in the United States are even more concerning: While Congress argues about border security and immigration, the Congressional Budget Office’s latest demographic outlook finds that the United States will have more deaths than births in 2040. The only increase in population growth from that point forward will come from net immigration.
Ten-year budget outlook is coming out next week: The Congressional Budget Office will release The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2024 to 2034 on February 7. Talking to a friend a while back, we both expected that the budget numbers would be a lot worse than previously projected because interest costs will likely be higher than estimated in the last report. I’m going to need everyone to leave me alone for several hours after this comes out so I can nerd out.
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