Senate Continues to Work on Tax Bill

Posted on December 1, 2017

The Senate continues to work on its version of the tax bill. With a number of Republican Senators raising concerns about a host of issues with the bill, the Republican leadership has tried to address them throughout this week. Late yesterday, the chamber was informed by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Tax that the bill would add more than $1 trillion to the national debt, even after using a scoring methodology favored by the supporters of the bill.

The legislation continues to be changed on the floor.

Tax Bill Reported Out by Senate Committee

Posted on November 28, 2017

By a party line vote of 12 to 11, the Senate Budget Committee reported out earlier this afternoon a legislative package that combines a tax bill and a measure that would open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. Although the bill was approved by the committee, whether it has enough votes to pass the full chamber at this point remains to be seen.

The full Senate is scheduled to take up the bill later this week, with a vote possible on Thursday.

Congress Returns to Face a Full Plate

Posted on November 27, 2017

Both chambers of Congress return to DC this week after their Thanksgiving recess last week and face a long “to-do” list.

The Senate is currently expected to bring up its version of a tax bill this week and there is still uncertainty about its fate. President Trump and the Congressional Republicans have set out the December holiday period as their self-imposed deadline for signing into law tax reform legislation. The House passed its version on a nearly partisan vote just before recessing for Thanksgiving, with 13 Republicans joining every Democrat in opposing the bill.

It still remains to be seen at this point whether there is enough Republican Senate support to get a bill passed. No Democrats are currently expected to support the bill, and further complicating the process are the push to include a repeal of the Affordable Care Act individual health insurance mandate as well as the concerns of a handful of Senators about the impact of the bill on the federal debt.

Even though FY2018 started on October 1, none of the 12 individual funding bills have been signed into law and the government is currently operating under a temporary funding measure that expires at midnight, December 9. Part of the delay in finalizing the final budget for FY2018 is due to the lack of an agreement on how much total funding is available for the year. Negotiations are currently taking place between the senior leaders in both chambers and representatives from the Administration about the top line funding levels for the rest of this year and potentially for next year. Another short-term temporary package to keep the government funded past the December 9 deadline will most likely be needed to buy more time for the negotiators.

At the same time, there are discussions underway, at least among Congressional Democrats, about trying to tie a legislative fix on DACA/Dreamers to the end-of-the-year funding package. Several Democrats have been very vocal about their support for such a move.

Potentially complicating the “to-do” list further is the sexual harassment controversies that have surfaced recently in both chambers.

House Passes Tax Bill; Senate Action Awaits

Posted on November 16, 2017

Earlier this afternoon, the House passed H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, by a vote of 227 to 205. A total of 13 Republicans joined every Democrat in opposing the bill.

Even as the House was considering its bill on the floor, the Senate Finance Committee has been debating its version of the measure since Monday. Late on Tuesday, the committee leadership decided to add a provision that would repeal the individual insurance mandate currently in law as part of the Affordable Care Act. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) announced his opposition to the bill yesterday, making the Republican leadership’s current vote margin on the bill even smaller.

The goal of the proponents of this effort is to get a bill signed into law by the holidays.

Third Travel Ban Partially Ok’ed by Federal Court

Posted on November 14, 2017

On Monday, a panel of judges in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals allowed a version of the Trump Administration’s third travel ban to take effect. The proposed ban, which was originally slated to take effect last month, sought to bar many kinds of travelers from eight countries, including those from Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. Before itcould take effect, suits were filed against the Administration in the Fourth Circuit and the Ninth Circuit.

In their decision, the judges ruled that the government could implement the ban but not on those individuals with “a bona fide relationship with a person or an entity in the United States.” The appeal in the Fourth Circuit has not yet been heard.