The House begins consideration of a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security through the duration of FY15. You’ll recall DHS was not included in the FY15 CRomnibus so that the new Republican Congress could attempt to block President Obama’s executive order on immigration. However, the White House has promised to veto any attempt to do so. As a result, HR 240 is largely the same version that was negotiated at the end of the last Congress for inclusion in the omnibus. The deadline for passage is in late February, when the CR funding DHS ends.
The Senate resumes consideration of controversial legislation that would allow construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Several committees meet this week to organize and adopt committee rules for the 114th Congress. As House and Senate Committees begin to dive into policy, we’ll keep you updated here on the blog when hearings on topics of interest to the University take place.