Congress is expected to take up today a two-week continuing resolution to keep the entire federal government operating through December 21.
The negotiations between the different sides during this additional two-week window will determine what happens after the new shutdown deadline.
Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) officially won the nod as the Democratic nominee for Speaker for the 116th Congress. The vote among Democrats was 203 to 32, with three abstentions.
With no other candidate running against her, even after a number of Democrats pledging not to back her as Speaker, her status as the Democratic nominee was not in question. However, as the Speaker must be elected by the entire House and not just the majority party, Pelosi must still go before the entire House when it convenes in January. It remains to be seen as to how many votes she’ll ultimately be able to garner in the chamber.
In addition to Pelosi’s nomination as Speaker, the House Democrats chose Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Jim Clyburn (D-SC) as the Majority Leader and Majority Whip, respectively.
Both chambers of Congress return this week in an attempt to address several unresolved issues.
With respect to policy, the current continuing resolution (CR) that is funding programs and agencies supported by the seven unsigned appropriations bill runs out at midnight on December 8. Congress and the White House must come to an agreement on how to address their differences in order to prevent a partial shutdown of the government. The most high profile of these issues are the White House’s insistence on $5 billion for a border wall along the Southern border and the Congressional Democrats’ recent push on including provisions that would protect Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller in the final spending package. A host of other disagreements on lower profile must also be ironed out.
While another CR is possible, the 116th Congress, one in which Democrats will control the House, convenes on January 3. This fact may drive some of the negotiations during the lame duck session.
In preparation for the 116th Congress, the House Democrats are scheduled to elect their leadership team this Wednesday. The only remaining question about the elections is whether Nancy Pelosi will have enough support from her colleagues to return to the Speaker position. While there is no Member who has announced their candidacy in opposition to her, there seems to be some question as to how many Democrats will oppose her in the end.
Both parties in the Senate yesterday largely re-elected the same leadership teams that were in place before the elections last week.
As expected, the Senate Republicans re-elected Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as Majority Leader. John Cornyn of Texas, who had to step aside as Majority Whip because of party-imposed term limits on leadership positions, was replaced by John Thune of South Dakota, who moved up from the position of Republican Conference Chair.
On the other side of the aisle, Charles Schumer of New York and Richard Durbin retained the top two Democratic positions.
In the House, although challenged by Jim Jordan of Ohio, one of the co-founders of the Freedom Caucus, Kevin McCarthy of California will serve as the Minority Leader when the 116th Congress convenes. He currently serves as the Majority Leader and there had been speculation about whether he had enough votes to succeed retiring Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) as the leader of the House Republicans. McCarthy won yesterday’s vote among the Republicans 159 to 43.
The biggest uncertainty regarding party leadership races remains with the House Democrats, who will assume the majority next Congress and will not vote on their leadership team until after Thanksgiving. With a number of Democrats stating publicly before the elections that they would not support Nancy Pelosi of California, it remains to be seen whether she has the votes to become the next Speaker.
With a number of races still yet to be called, Congress reconvenes this week to try to wrap up unfinished business as well as vote on a number of leadership positions for next Congress. In addition, the newly elected members arrive in town this week to begin their official orientation program, which is expected to last until after Thanksgiving.
The most pressing of the unresolved issues to be addressed is the remaining FY2019 appropriations bills. With the fiscal year having started October 1, seven of the 12 bills have yet to be signed into law. Funding for a wall along the Southern border, which President Trump has repeatedly emphasized as a personal priority, is the biggest skirmish that will need to be settled during this lame duck period. The current short-term government funding measure expires at midnight on December 8 and it remains to be seen whether the wall issue can be resolved by then.
In the meantime, with at least 92 new Members of the House and the Senate expected next year, the two parties in both chambers are expected to take up questions surrounding leadership positions for next Congress starting tomorrow.
House Republicans are expected to vote on their leaders tomorrow. With Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) retiring at the end of this year and the Democrats taking control next year, current Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is seeking to become the Minority Leader. He is expected to be challenged by Jim Jordan (R-OH), a leader of the Tea Party wing of the House Republicans. Steve Scalise of Louisiana is not expected to be challenged for the position of Minority Whip. Recently re-elected Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, who is currently the Republican Conference Chair, will not seek to keep that position in the new Congress and is expected to be replaced by Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
On the Democratic side of the aisle, the elections will wait until after Thanksgiving. Although a number of Democratic House candidates pledged not to support her as the new Speaker if they were to win, it remains to be seen whether anyone will challenge Nancy Speaker of California for Speaker. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) is expected to assume the position of Majority Leader in the new Congress. The race for Majority Whip, at this point, has two candidates: Jim Clyburn (D-SC), the current Assistant Democratic Leader, and Diana DeGette (D-CO), a long-time Member from Colorado.
In the Senate, with the Republicans retaining control, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky will remain as the Majority Leader. In the position of Majority Whip, John Cornyn of Texas will likely be replaced by John Thune of South Dakota, due to term limits placed on leadership positions by the Senate Republicans. John Barrasso of Wyoming is expected to become the new Republican Conference Chair.
Senate Democrats are expected to keep their leadership team in place, with Chuck Schumer of New York and Dick Durbin of Illinois remaining as Minority Leader and Minority Whip, respectively.