House Passes “Minibus” Package

Posted on July 28, 2017

While the Senate was busy with healthcare yesterday, on the other side of the Capitol, the House took up a “minibus” spending package for FY2018, consisting of four bills: Defense, Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction. The House Republicans combined these four bills as a defense-oriented package, after an initial conversation to pull together all 12 spending measures were unfruitful.

The bill passed by a vote of 235 to 192.

Even though the package has been adopted by the House, its biggest portion, the Defense bill, contains funding recommendations that cannot be implemented without change in law. The allocation for defense programs in the bill exceed the current allowable limit by more than $70 billion, meaning that either the law will need to be changed or the funding levels in the bill will need to be altered.

Healthcare Pulled from Senate Floor as “Skinny Repeal” Fails

Posted on July 28, 2017

In a dramatic vote late last night/early this morning, the Senate defeated by a vote of 49-51 the “skinny” repeal bill. In the end, Republicans Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski were joined by John McCain in siding with the Democrats to bring down the bill. It was McCain who cast the deciding vote.

It was assumed by many that Collins and Murkowski would vote against the bill. However, how McCain was planning to vote was unknown going into the vote. In the end, he cast the crucial vote. When McCain voted ‘No,’ there were audible gasps on the Senate floor.

Additional background on how last night’s vote unfolded is available here and here.

What are the next steps? Healthcare has been pulled from the Senate floor for now. After last night’s dramatic vote, a number of Republican committee chairmen suggested that they would be open to hearings on the issue moving forward.

Stay tuned for updates on possible further developments.

Straight Repeal Fails, More Votes Expected During a Long Day

Posted on July 27, 2017

After defeating a repeal-and-replace measure during the first day of debate, the Senate turned down yesterday a straight repeal of the Affordable Care Act by a vote of 45- 54. A myriad of alternatives and amendments are expected to be voted on as the Senate continues its consideration, including a “skinny” repeal, the details of which are not yet final but will most likely include at least the elimination of the individual and employer mandates as well as the tax on medical devices.

The current goal of the Senate leadership appears to be to get even a small legislative package passed by the chamber so that it can go to conference with the House to attempt to craft a new bill. Some believe that the “skinny” repeal bill could serve as that vehicle. Whether that is the case remains to be seen.

The debate and votes are expected to last long into the evening.

House Begins to Move Four-Bill Spending Package

Posted on July 26, 2017July 26, 2017

On Wednesday, the House approved rules that will govern the floor debate for a four-bill spending package for FY2018. The House leadership earlier this week decided to combine four of the appropriations bills for next year– the Legislative Branch, Military Construction, Energy and Water, and Defense– into a single legislative package and move them together through the House. The House will act on the “minibus” package this week.

The House is expected to take up the Legislative Branch and Military Construction bills before moving on to the Energy and Water legislation later this evening. The Defense bill is expected to be the last of the four measures that will be brought up.

Senate Starts Debate on Healthcare Legislation

Posted on July 26, 2017

After agreeing to start debate on healthcare yesterday by a vote of 51-50, a vote on which Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote, the Senate turned back the first option it considered by a vote of 43-57, with nine Republicans joining all 48 Democrats to oppose the measure.

According to the rules governing this issue, the Senate has 20 hours to debate the healthcare legislation. During the remainder of the issue, the Senate is expected to consider a number of other options, including a repeal-with-a-two-year-delay as well as a more limited package that would eliminate the individual and employer mandates and the medical device tax.