According to a document obtained by The New York Times on Tuesday, the Justice Department may be looking to take on colleges and universities that use race-based admission policies that discriminate against white applicants. Additional information about this potential development is available here and here.
News and updates
House in Recess, Senate Still in Session
The House has now started its traditional August recess, and will not return until after Labor Day. After the announcement from Majority Leader McConnell earlier in July that the chamber would stay in for at least a part of August, the Senate is still in session this week.
After failing to pass a healthcare bill last week, the Senate this week is considering a number of nominations.
House Passes “Minibus” Package
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
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
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.