Skip to content

News and updates

Drama Continues in Congress

With the full House currently scheduled to take up the Obamacare repeal-and-replace healthcare bill later today, as of this writing, it still remains uncertain as to whether the White House and the House Republican leadership have been able to convince enough holdouts to get the legislation across the finish line. Many sources report that negotiations between many of the conservative opponents and the White House and the leadership continued throughout yesterday and last evening. At the same time, there are also reports that many of the concessions which may have been offered to the conservatives may have, in turn, alienated some of the moderates who were uneasy about the underlying legislation.

The situation on this front remains fluid and the Office of Federal Relations continues to monitor the situation.

On the other side of the Capitol today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will continue its questioning of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. The confirmation hearing is expected to wrap up this week, with the committee voting on his nomination in early April.

Also taking place today is the Senate Agriculture Committee’s confirmation hearing for Agriculture Secretary nominee Sonny Perdue, the former governor of Georgia.

NASA Transition Authorization Bill Signed Into Law

Earlier today, the NASA Transition Authorization of 2017 was signed into law by President Trump. The bipartisan bill was adopted unanimously in both chambers of Congress. Historically, different presidential Administrations have sought to emphasize different areas of the agency’s broad mission and expertise, and the legislation was an attempt, in part, to provide stability for NASA during the first part of the transition to this Administration.

 

House Republican Leadership Proposes Changes to Healthcare Legislation

Last evening, the Republican leadership in the House proposed a number of changes to the committee-passed healthcare legislation. The changes have been offered as proposed amendments (see here) and will still need to be formally adopted to become part of the official legislative package.

The proposed changes were offered to garner enough support from among the House Republicans still unsupportive of the bill to ensure its passage. President Trump met with the entire House Republicans earlier today to urge that they support the bill.

Among the proposed changes are:

• Allowing states to place work requirements on Medicaid recipients
• Allowing states to turn Medicaid into a block grant
• Repealing a number of taxes created by Obamacare a year earlier than currently planned
• Changing Medicaid reimbursement rates for states
• Delaying the “Cadillac tax” on insurance benefits from 2025 to 2026
• Instructing the Senate to offer bigger tax credits for those who are 50 to 64 to offset premium increases

It remains to be seen whether these changes will win over enough of the members who are still either undecided or opposed to the measure to gain passage.

FBI: No Wiretaps

During a public hearing that lasted most of the day before the House Intelligence Committee, FBI Director James Comey stated publicly neither the FBI nor the broader Justice Department have any evidence to confirm the Trump White House allegation that Trump was wiretapped. At the same hearing, Comey also publicly acknowledged that the FBI has an investigation under way to examine, among other things, possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign.

This Week in Congress, March 13-17

It’s a busy week on the Hill! Here is a selection of committee hearings taking place this week.

 

Monday, March 20

 

House Rules

HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM LEGISLATION

5 p.m. March 20, H-313, U.S. Capitol

Full Committee Business Meeting

 

House Select Intelligence

RUSSIAN ELECTION TAMPERING

10 a.m. March 20, 1100 Longworth Bldg.

Full Committee Hearing

 

Tuesday, March 21

 

Senate Judiciary

GORSUCH NOMINATION

March 21, Time TBA, 216 Hart Bldg.

Full Committee Hearing

 

Senate Energy & Natural Resources

FEDERAL LANDS INFRASTRUCTURE

March 21, 10 a.m., 366 Dirksen Bldg.

Full Committee Hearing

 

House Agriculture

FARM BILL

March 21, 10 a.m., 1300 Longworth Bldg.

Subcommittee Hearing

 

House Appropriations

NIH BUDGET

March 21, 10 a.m., 2358-C Rayburn Bldg.

Subcommittee Hearing

 

House Education & the Workforce

IMPROVING FEDERAL STUDENT AID

March 21, 10 a.m., 2175 Rayburn Bldg.

Subcommittee Hearing

 

House Energy & Commerce

OPIOID CRISIS

March 21, 10:15 a.m., 2123 Rayburn Bldg.

Subcommittee Hearing

 

House Judiciary

PRIVATE IMMIGRATION BILL RULES OF PROCEDURE

March 21, 10 a.m., 2141 Rayburn Bldg.

Subcommittee Markup

 

House Science, Space & Technology

NSF SCIENCE CHALLENGES

March 21, 10 a.m., 2318 Rayburn Bldg.

Subcommittee Hearing

 

Wednesday, March 22

 

Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions

ACOSTA NOMINATION

March 22, 9 a.m., 430 Dirksen Bldg.

Full Committee Hearing

 

Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation

EMERGING CYBERSECURITY TECHNOLOGIES

March 22, 10 a.m., 106 Dirksen Bldg.

Full Committee Hearing

Thursday, March 23

 

Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation

STATE OF THE COAST GUARD

March 22, 2:30 p.m., 253 Russell Bldg.

Subcommittee Hearing