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News and updates

What We’re Reading This Week, November 23-27

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Happy Thanksgiving! Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is reading this week.

Downward Spiral  – University federal funding has failed to outpace inflation for the third consecutive year. Read more at NSF.

White House in the 40th Turkey Pardoning Ceremony (LOC)
White House in the 40th Turkey Pardoning Ceremony (LOC)

Revisiting History – Woodrow Wilson is one of Princeton’s most celebrated figures, but recently his attitudes on race have called into question his role, and the role his legacy should take at Princeton. Read more at the New York Times.

Game Change – A century ago, Albert Einstein was in a bit of a slump (divorced, living alone, had other scientists disproving his theories). And on November 25, 1915, Albert Einstein revealed a theory that ruled the universe – the Theory of Relativity. Read more at the New York Times. 

Future – Arne Duncan sits down for a discussion about his time at ED — it’s successes and failures. Read it at the Wall Street Journal.

Caliphate – The Washington Post has a story about the ISIS propaganda machine and what its like working for the organization’s PR arm.

NOAA Standoff – Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, has subpoenaed scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and demanded that they turn over internal e-mails related to their research for a groundbreaking climate change study which appeared in the June 4th online edition of Science. The scientists and NOAA Administrator Kathy Sullivan have refused. Read more at The Washington Post. 

 

FY 2016 Clock is Ticking

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Congress is in recess this week for the Thanksgiving holiday, but not all is quiet in Washington, DC. On Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande is visiting the White House in the wake of the Paris Attacks. At the Capitol, the clock is still ticking for deadlines on reauthorizing highway and transit programs and an FY 2016 omnibus spending bill. The coming days will be critical in determining whether appropriators will be able to strike another $1.1 trillion government-wide spending agreement. But national security concerns following last week’s Paris attacks and disagreement over whether or not to allow Syrian refugees to enter the U.S. add another major layer of complication to the negotiations. Lawmakers will return from their Thanksgiving break with just two weeks to reach a deal before the December 11th deadline when the current continuing resolution runs out. Read more here.

The refugee dispute is only one of a host of controversial policy provisions, known as riders that could doom speedy passage of the omnibus bill. Among the contentious riders yet to be resolved is a fight over whether to strip funding from Planned Parenthood, a measure to block EPA water regulations, the implementation of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul, and e-cigarette regulations. Even if the fights over riders can be resolved, funding levels remain in doubt, particularly after the Paris attack, which could trigger new spending requests for defense, homeland security or intelligence.

But this week will be quiet with most action taking place behind the scenes as appropriators continue to negotiate a final bill.

House and Senate Recess for Thanksgiving

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The Senate shelved consideration of the FY2016 Transportation-HUD spending bill after Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) blocked progress on two transportation-related amendments and demanded consideration of his amendment  to bar assistance to refugees from certain countries. Senate Leadership announced there will be no more votes this week in the Senate, opening the door to the Thanksgiving recess.

Earlier today, the House passed legislation putting more restrictions on refugees entering the country and adjourned pending on the adjournment of the Senate. The House has concluded all its legislative business prior to the Senate.

The House and Senate will be back in session November 30th.

House Pushes “Pause” on Syria Refugees

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The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to slap stringent — and difficult to implement — new screening procedures on refugees from Syria seeking resettlement, seizing on the fear stemming from the Paris attacks.

The bill passed by a vote of 289 to 137 with nearly 50 Democrats in support even after Administration officials implored congressional Democrats to vote down the bill. The measure would require that the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence confirm that each applicant from Syria and Iraq poses no threat. The White House has declared the requirements “untenable.”

The White House has threatened to veto the measure should it pass the Senate and be sent to the President for signature.

ESEA/NCLB Conference Finished, Vote in House Expected

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House and Senate conferees finished their work on an agreement to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law today. Members are hopeful that the conference package can clear both chambers by the end of the year. Both parties have been critical of the last reauthorization law (which renamed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to No Child Left Behind), which expired in 2007, for being overly prescriptive and limiting state and local agencies from prioritizing their needs. The Education Department has issued waivers from the law to many states, but also required states to adopt certain policies and standards pushed by the Obama administration. States losing their waivers, such as Washington State, has been a hot political issue.

Final legislative text is expected in the coming days, in order to give all members of Congress time to read the negotiated measure over the Thanksgiving break.

House Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) who also led the conference committee, said he expects the House to vote on the package on Dec. 2 or Dec. 3. The Senate is expected to take up the measure after the House acts.