This morning President Trump tweeted that he plans to announce his pick to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court on Tuesday at 8 PM. Trump previously narrowed the field to three potential nominees, Judge William Pryor of Alabama, Judge Neil Gorsuch of Colorado and Judge Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania.
The Senate must confirm the nomination, a vote that require 60 yay votes. This means Republicans will need eight Democrats to join them in supporting the nominee.
Since the November elections, there have been discussions about rolling back unpopular regulations issued by the Obama Administration in late 2016. One of the tools being discussed as a possible vehicle to pull back a number of regulations is the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which was adopted in 1996 as part of the Republican “Contract With America.”
In short, the law stipulates that Congress has 60 legislative days (days in which Congress is in session) to review final regulations from agencies and, if desired, pass joint resolutions of disapproval. If a joint resolution disapproving a regulation is adopted by both the House and Senate, the President has the option to either sign or veto it. If it is vetoed, Congress can seek to overturn the veto. A provision in the CRA also states that once a regulation is disapproved by Congress via the CRA, the federal government cannot promulgate essentially similar regulations in the future without Congress adopting a law supporting a new regulation on the same issue. Essentially, Congress has to approve every subsequent regulatory change to the issue in question going forward. Since its adoption in 1996, the CRA has been successfully used to turn back a regulation only once—in 2001 to repeal a regulation related to workplace ergonomic requirements.
A number of Obama Administration regulations have been suggested as possible items to rollback using the CRA, including the set of regulations related to overtime pay for salaried employees, including those at colleges and universities. Many also believe that many environmental regulations from the Obama Administration could also be subject to the CRA.
Congress is set to begin regulatory rollback through the CRA starting this Wednesday, with the House slated to take up a number of joint resolutions disapproving regulations related to, among other issues, the environment as well as the application of labor laws to federal contractors.
Last night, a Brooklyn judge halted parts of an Executive Order on Immigration the White House issued Friday that bars immigrants and travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the US.
Judge Ann Donnelly of the Eastern District of New York issued a stay on the Administration’s immigration Executive Order issued Friday saying that individuals with approved US visas from being returned to their country of origin.
The Office of Federal Relations will continue to post and monitor on this issue as it evolves.
The White House issued a series of executive actions late Friday.
Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is enjoying this week.
It’s A What? – A week in to President Trump’s tenure, his Administration has been very active on in the executive action arena issuing Executive Orders and Presidential Memorandum. What’s the difference (not much). Read about the in The Washington Post.
Working Plan – New Homeland Security Secretary Mike Kelly has said that for border security more is needed than simply a wall. Kelly has advocated for growing cooperative efforts with countries as far south as Peru and supports increased aid for economic development, education and a focus on human rights to combat unauthorized immigration and drug trafficking. Read more in The New York Times.
Page Down – Trump Administration officials have asked the EPA to remove its climate change page from its website. The page contains links to scientific global warming research and detailed data on emissions. Read more at Reuters.
Fiscal Solvency – A recent GAO report warned lawmakers that they must take action to trace a broader long-term plan for the country’s finances or the balance sheet will reach a point of instability not seen since the aftermath of World War II. Specifically, the debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio, an indicator of how much the government is spending compared to economic output, would skyrocket within 15 to 25 years to historic levels at 106 percent — a ratio last held in 1946. Deficits were driven by what appropriators have hammered home in numerous floor speeches in both chambers for years: costs for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as interest on the federal debt. And the share of that debt held by foreign entities also increased 9 percent from fiscal 2001 to fiscal 2016, to 39 percent at the end of fiscal 2016. Read the report here.
Reality Check – Many of the sweeping actions President Trump vowed this week through his executive orders and proclamations are problematic, either because they are impractical, opposed by Congress and members of his Cabinet, or full of legal holes. Read more from the Washington Post.
What’s a Block Grant? – Everything you need to know about block grants, which are at the heart of the GOP’s Medicaid plans. President Donald Trump’s administration made explicit last weekend its commitment to this strategy for turning control of the program to states and capping what the federal government spends on it each year. Read more from Governing.
First Day ACA Executive Action – On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as President of the United States. True to his word, on his first day in office he issued an executive order addressing the Affordable Care Act. It may not be, however, all that his supporters expected. Read all about it on the Health Affairs blog.
Books Are Up! – Sales of Orwell’s 1984 have skyrocketed in recent weeks. Read more in Bloomberg.