Congress Is Back!

Posted on October 19, 2015October 20, 2015

After a one week recess to enjoy Columbus Day, Congress is back in session — the Senate will convene Monday and the House will be back Tuesday. The Senate is back and will be focused on considering S2146, the Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act. It’s a bit looser on the House-side, which will be considering a series of noncontroversial measures and HR 1937, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act. Meanwhile, the most exciting thing happening in the House, and in DC as a whole, is whether Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI) will or won’t run for Speaker to replace John Boehner (R-OH) and former-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies on Benghazi Thursday.

It truly is decision time for Paul Ryan, not just because Boehner has announced that he plans to leave Congress in 10 days…Ryan needs to make up his mind as to whether he will seek the Speakership or get out of the way and let the Republican party find another candidate. If Ryan does not run, it is doubtful that the Speaker election will be wrapped up by Oct. 30, when Boehner planned to leave Congress. Boehner, who has pledged to remain in place until a new Speaker is chosen, could be forced to stay put and deal with thorny budget issues and raising the debt ceiling as a lame-duck Speaker…Not willing to leave his party in the lurch, Boehner has said he is willing to stay for some of November but does not expect to be in Congress come Thanksgiving.

Regardless of what Ryan decides, Boehner will stay until Republicans pick a new leader and he wants to set a date for the internal party election this week. The House GOP conference will spend several hours over the next three days behind closed doors, trying to settle on a strategy to avoid a default on the national debt, which is set to expire in early November, and chart a path for their party.

And this Speaker race is having serious implications on the debt and budget negotiations. Republicans are demanding changes to entitlement programs, a request that’s already been rejected by Democrats. Democrats want boosts in domestic spending without painful cuts, a nonstarter for the GOP. Meanwhile, there’s no House speaker scheduled to serve past October, which puts Senate Leadership, namely Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in a tough negotiating place with congressional Democrats and the White House on what exactly can get done and be passed all with little agreement in sight.

On Thursday, former Secretary of State Clinton squares off with the House Select Committee on Benghazi in what will arguably the highest-profile hearing of the year. It should be combative and explosive.

Ryan says NO and “Interim Speaker” Idea Being Floated

Posted on October 9, 2015

In a shocking turn of events, McCarthy withdrew himself from the race moments before the caucus was set to vote on the nominees and after making a speech to the caucus that morning as to why he should be Speaker. McCarthy will remain Majority Leader. Additionally, with McCarthy not running for Speaker, the subsequent leadership races are no longer moot because the position of Majority Leader will no longer be vacated. As a result, the vote was immediately cancelled and the Speaker election on the 29^th has been postponed. Boehner will remain Speaker until another candidate can be found.

McCarthy said that he did not have the assured votes to secure being Speaker in the larger election on the 29th, which is why he withdrew. The House Freedom Caucus had said that it will not support the caucus candidate in the larger election if it was McCarthy.

The next presumed candidate is Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who endorsed McCarthy at the morning caucus meeting. Ryan has adamantly asserted he will not run for Speaker. He is currently the House Ways and Means Committee Chair. Immediately following the breaking news of McCarthy’s withdrawal, Ryan stated that he will not run for Speaker, and he has echoed this many times subsequently.

That leaves the Republican Leadership and caucus in a pickle. In the wake of Majority Leader McCarthy’s abrupt withdrawal from the Speaker race, House Republicans kept floating trial balloon speaker candidates Thursday in the wake of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s about-face on climbing the GOP ladder, including several who might serve as an “interim” speaker.There have been points in history where the House has operated without a Speaker, but it has not been a practice in recent history. The idea of a “Interim Speaker” has been bantered about. The idea that the Member would be someone who has already announced their intent to retire allowing them to serve as Speaker for about 16 months. The only problem with this plan is who exactly would be the individual that could receive the support of both the various factions of the Republican caucus, and how this position would function…and if doing such a thing is even legitimate….

McCarthy Not Running for Speaker

Posted on October 8, 2015October 9, 2015

In a shocking turn of events, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has announced that he no longer intends to run for Speaker. This morning McCarthy addressed the Caucus as to why he should be elected Speaker and just now, he announced he was no longer running.

House GOP Elections Pushed Back

Posted on October 5, 2015

In a move that could spell trouble for current leadership looking to rise in office, current Speaker John Boehner has postponed the House GOP leadership elections from this Thursday, October 8th, until October 29th. The nominees for the Speaker’s positions will be declared on the 8th, but now, the actual election will be held weeks later.

Much of the reason for the oath postponement is due to House Republican’s contention that other GOP leadership spots cannot be filled until a Speaker is officially selected. The full House of Representatives votes on the Speaker, and the request seems to question whether Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, and current front runner, can gain enough votes to secure Speaker. Over the weekend, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) announced his intention to run and lost no time airing grievances at McCarthy’s leadership.

Meanwhile, the move will allow the new Speaker to set any subsequent leadership elections if such elections are necessary (if McCarthy moves up and vacates the Majority Leader post).

Also, supporters of Reps Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Tom Price (R-GA), who have both announced their intentions to run for Majority Leader should McCarthy win Speaker, are concerned that the additional time will allow a “true conservative” to enter the fray for Majority Leader.

Perkins Expires

Posted on October 1, 2015October 2, 2015

Despite efforts of Senators Tammy Balwin (D-WI) and Patty Murray (D-WA), the Senate was unable to take up the House-passed measure to extend the Perkins program. After the House moved quickly this week to extend Perkins loans and send a measure to the Senate, the two Senate champions attempted to have the Senate quickly consider and pass the measure via a legislative procedure called a Unanimous Consent request. To be considered in this manner, no Senator must object, and HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) did object effectively killing the program, which expired September 30th.

The Senate could still take up the House extension bill that failed to get unanimous consent Wednesday, or Higher Education Act reauthorization could allow for a more permanent reinstatement of a program.