The House Is Still Without a Speaker, Senate Struggles on Appropriations, Violent Crime Drops Below 2017 Level
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.
Supplemental appropriations request from the White House sent to Congress: The White House has requested $106 billion in emergency appropriations from Congress. The request covers everything from additional aid to Ukraine ($61.4 billion of the request), aid to Israel in its war against Hamas ($14.3 billion), and security along the Southern border with Mexico ($13.6 billion). The request also covers other issues, including China and funding for the U.S. submarine industrial base. Funding for Ukraine has become a flashpoint among Republicans. There’s a push to separate the aid for Ukraine from the rest of the supplemental request. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) support linking the two together. Considering the dysfunction in the House, the Senate will almost certainly move on the emergency supplemental before the House, jamming the lower chamber in the process. The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, October 31 for a hearing on the request.
Jordan’s bid for Speaker burns out: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) faced two primary problems in his bid for Speaker of the House. The first was that Jordan, a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, are internal problems inside the House Republican Conference. The Republican base likes Jordan because he’s firebrand and “a fighter” who goes after Democrats whenever possible. The view of Jordan as a firebrand, the eight to deposed Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker backing Jordan, and the belief that Jordan didn’t vigorously help House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) enough in his own bid for Speaker were too much to overcome. The second is that Jordan’s team and outside groups supporting his candidacy for Speaker appear to have gone way too far with their efforts pressure those opposing Jordan to flip. Credit where credit is due. Jordan and his team reduce the opposition from 55 members from the conference meeting in which Jordan was selected as Speaker-designate to 20 on first ballot. The pressure campaign, though, seems to have hurt Jordan on subsequent ballots when his opposition grew. See the first, second, and final roll call votes. The outcome here was entirely predictable. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Republicans go back to the drawing board with nine candidates for Speaker: After Jordan failed to get the Speakership locked on the third roll call vote, the House Republican Conference met and voted to drop him as their Speaker-designate by a vote of 112 to 86. Potential candidates for Speaker began jockeying for position on Friday. Nine ultimately filed by the deadline. Those candidates are Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), Conference Chair Mike Johnson (R-LA), Policy Chair Gary Palmer (R-AL), Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern (R-OK), Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI), Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA), Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), and Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA). Emmer is the early favorite, but he has a Trump problem that he’s going to have to get through. Still, Emmer is the one of two candidates to certify the 2020 presidential election (the other was Scott) and is the only one who voted to protect same-sex marriage. To be clear, I’m biased. I like Emmer and want him to get it. Johnson, Palmer, Hern, and Donalds will divide the most conservative members of the conference. Scott ran against Jordan, and it seems that he’s misjudging the 81 votes that he got when he went up against Jordan in conference. Bergman doesn’t seem to have much of a constituency for his campaign. Meuser is a member of the Republican Main Street Caucus and the Problem Solvers Caucus, so he may attract moderates to his candidacy. The wild card is Sessions. He served in Republican majorities in the 90s and early 2000s, as well as in the 2010s. He lost his reelection bid in 2018 before coming back in 2020. He has chaired the Rules Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Candidates for Speaker to give their pitch: The House Republican Conference will meet tonight at 6:00 pm to listen to the nine candidates give their pitch to the conference. The first vote inside the conference is expected to take place on Tuesday at 9:00 am. There will almost certainly be additional votes because of the sheer number of candidates seeking to become Speaker-designate. Can any of the nine get 217 votes on the floor? There are doubts, but we won’t know until we have a Speaker-designate who goes to the floor, potentially as early as Tuesday. Also, ranked-choice voting would make this process inside the conference so much easier. Just sayin’.
Empowering the Speaker Pro Tem has to be explored: House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (R-NC) is currently serving as Speaker Pro Tem, and he’s open to expanding the power of the role should the House Republican Conference continue to fail to find the 217 needed to elect a Speaker. McHenry would want the House to vote on the matter and approve it before he begins move legislation. House Republicans shot down the idea late last week, dubiously arguing that such a move would be unconstitutional and would require Democratic votes because so many Republicans were opposed. Still, Mark Strand, formerly of the Congressional Institute; Soren Dayton of the Niksanen Center; and myself have each made separate arguments for empowering the Speaker Pro Tem if the stalemate continues.
House committee schedule: Below are some House committee hearings that may be of interest. The full House committee schedule for the week is here.
Water Resources Development Acts: Status of Past Provisions and Future Needs (Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water, Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Examining the SEC’s Agenda: Unintended Consequences for U.S. Capital Markets and Investors (Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Tuesday at 10:00 am)
The Tangled Web of Global Governance: How the Biden Administration is Ceding Authority Over American Financial Regulation (Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy, Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Markup of Various Legislative Measures (Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security; Tuesday at 10:00 am)
The Factors Influencing the High Cost of Insurance for Consumers (Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, Tuesday at 2:00 pm)
The Broken Path: How Transnational Criminal Organizations Profit from Human Trafficking at the Southwest Border (Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement, Tuesday at 2:00 pm)
Joint Hearing: Oversight of the Internal Revenue Service (Oversight and Accountability Subcommittees on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce and Healthcare and Financial Services, Tuesday at 2:00 pm)
Measuring Poverty: How the Biden Administration Plans to Redraw the Poverty Line and Rob Resources from Rural America (Ways and Means Subcommittee on Work and Welfare, Tuesday at 2:00 pm)
Friend and Ally: U.S. support for Israel after Hamas’ Barbaric Attack (Foreign Affairs, Tuesday at 2:00 pm)
Modernizing Financial Services Through Innovation and Competition (Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion; Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Faith Under Fire: An Examination of Global Religious Persecution (Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs; Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Educational Freedom and Opportunity for American Families, Students, and Workers (Ways and Means, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
The U.S.-Honduras Bilateral Relationship: Analyzing the Socialist Government of President Xiomara Castro de Zelaya (Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Wednesday at 2:00 pm)
The Global Engagement Center: Helping or Hurting U.S. Foreign Policy (Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability, Wednesday at 2:00 pm)
The Power of Apprenticeships: Faster, Better Paths to Prosperous Jobs and Less Waste in Higher Education (Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs; Wednesday at 2:00 pm)
How America and Its Allies Can Stop Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran from Evading Sanctions and Financing Terror (Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions; Wednesday at 2:00 pm)
The Submarine Industrial Base and its Ability to Support the AUKUS Framework (Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, Wednesday at 2:30 pm)
One Million Claims and Growing: Improving Social Security's Adjudication Process (Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, Thursday at 9:00 am)
Moving the Money: Understanding the Iranian Regime’s Access to Money Around the World and How They Use It to Support Terrorism (Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Thursday at 9:00 am)
If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
Nominees in the Senate: The Senate returns on Tuesday at 10:00 am in legislative session before proceeding to executive session to consider the nomination of Michael G. Whitaker to serve as Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. A vote on the cloture motion for the Whitaker nomination is expected to begin around 2:15 pm. A cloture motion was also filed for the nomination of Jessica Looman to serve as the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor.
Appropriations still seem to be a mess in the Senate: The three-bill minibus that included the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, H.R. 4366, is still bogged down in the Senate. It’s possible that the remaining issues related to amendments could be resolved to allow the Senate to move forward. With the federal government funding through November 17, the likelihood of another continuing resolution (CR) is almost a certainty. A CR that runs through the end of FY 2024 has been floated as a possibility.
Senate committee schedule: Below are some Senate committee hearings that may be of interest. The full Senate committee schedule for the week is here.
Instability in the Sahel and West Africa: Implications for U.S. Policy (Foreign Relations, Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Protecting Americans from Robocalls (Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband; Tuesday at 10:00 am)
Examining Competition and Consumer Rights in Housing Markets (Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights; Tuesday at 2:30 pm)
Precursor Chemicals Used to Manufacture Illicit Synthetic Drugs (Caucus on International Narcotics Control, Tuesday at 3:00 pm)
Business Meeting (Foreign Relations, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Executive Session (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Bottlenecks and Backlogs: How Climate Change Threatens Supply Chains (Budget, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Ensuring the Safety and Well-Being of Unaccompanied Children, Part II (Judiciary, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Exploring Paid Leave: Policy, Practice, and Impact on the Workforce (Finance, Wednesday at 10:00 am)
Business Meeting (Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Wednesday at 10:30 am)
The Human Rights of Foster Children (Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, Wednesday at 2:30 pm)
Assessing the Department of State’s Strategy for Security in the Black Sea Region (Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, Wednesday at 2:00 pm)
VA Accountability and Transparency: A Cornerstone of Quality Care and Benefits for Veterans (Veterans’ Affairs, Wednesday at 3:30 pm)
Executive Business Meeting (Judiciary, Thursday at 10:00 am)
Combating the Networks of Illicit Finance and Terrorism (Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Thursday at 10:00 am)
Evaluating Material Alternatives for Single-Use Plastics (Environment and Public Works, Thursday at 10:00 am)
Unlocking Hope: Access to Therapies for People with Rare, Progressive, and Serious Diseases (Aging, Thursday at 10:00 am)
Overworked and Undervalued: Is the Severe Hospital Staffing Crisis Endangering the Well-Being of Patients and Nurses? (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Field Hearing; Friday at 9:00 am)
If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
Good news on crime, but the lack of data is a problem: The good news is that the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows that crime dropped in 2022. Homicides declined by 6.1 percent. Overall, violent crime dropped by 1.7 percent. However, the data cover 93.5 percent of the population. Although that’s better than data in 2021, more complete data is always helpful. The violent crime rate in 2022 was 380.7 reported crimes per 100,000 inhabitants, which is lower than the violent crime rate in 2017 (383.8) and far below the peak violent crime rate in 1991 (758.2).
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