What We’re Reading this Week (October 21st-25th, 2019)

Posted on October 25, 2019October 29, 2019

Here is a selection of articles the Federal Relations team has read this week.

Supreme Court Strikes Down Gerrymandering Case: The Supreme Court ruled that federal judges cannot interfere in the drawing of electoral maps, reversing a lower court decision that invalidated sections of the redrawn Michigan electoral map. The original case challenged the map as giving the GOP an unfair advantage. Full story at Roll Call.

President Trump Appoints Advisors to Science Panel: The President has made seven of sixteen appointments to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Almost all the nominees come from the private sector, although five hold doctoral degrees. One nominee comes directly from academia, and one nominee previously worked in the government, at the US Department of State and the National Institutes of Health. Full story at Science Magazine.

Both Sides are Unhappy about Syria Withdrawal: Bipartisan outcry over the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, which has allowed Turkey to invade Kurdish-controlled areas, is mounting. Although the President has authority over the armed forces, both chambers of Congress are preparing sanctions against Turkey as a form of condemnation. The House has already passed a resolution condemning the President’s actions. Meanwhile, Russia and Turkey have signed an agreement to control the northern Syrian border. More at Vox.

House Committee Approves Vaping Tax: In response to concerns about vaping-related deaths and illnesses, the House Ways and Means Committee approved a tax on vaping products. The tax is equal to that on tobacco and is estimated to raise $10 billion over a decade. The bill will now advance to the full House for a vote, before moving on to the Senate. See Bloomberg for more.

House Republicans Storm Secure Committee Room: As a form of protest, Republican members of Congress entered and occupied the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) where a top Pentagon official was set to begin her deposition related to US policy towards Ukraine and the impeachment inquiry. A screaming match soon began between Republican protesters and Democrats on the committee. The Republicans accused the Democrats of conducting a sham investigation, while the Republicans stand accused of violating security protocols and trying to deflect attention away from mounting evidence against President Trump. The SCIF is designated for highly classified information, and the protesters took no apparent measures to protect any classified material in the room at the time, such as leaving electronic devices outside. More at Roll Call.

Education Secretary Held in Contempt: Federal Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim, of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, held Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos in contempt of court and issued a $100,000 fine. The Department of Education had continued to collect on loan payments made by students who attended a predatory, for-profit school, despite an order to cease collection. A group of the students are suing the Department of Education, Secretary DeVos, and the college. Full story at Politico.

A Step Forward

Posted on October 23, 2019

By a vote of 92 to 2, the Senate yesterday agreed to debate a package of four FY2020 spending bills. As noted yesterday, the bundle is a Senate substitute to a set of House-passed bills and includes the following measures: Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development.

Even if the Senate does ultimately approve the package, what happens after that still remains a mystery, as the second set of bills that may be considered contains some of the most controversial ones, including the Defense and Labor-HHS measures.

The continuing resolution signed into law in late September runs out November 22.

Yes, But How Much Progress?

Posted on October 22, 2019

The Senate might see some thawing on the appropriations front later this week, but how much thawing remains to be seen.

In an attempt to break through on the appropriations impasse that has faced the Senate for weeks, the Republican leadership in the chamber plans to file a cloture motion on a package of four spending bills that had near unanimous support in committee. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will file a motion to invoke cloture on a House-passed legislative package of bills. Should the vote be successful, the Senate would then seek to replace the House-approved measure with its own bundle of bills: Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior and Environment, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development. If and when the Senate approves its substitute, things will likely get trickier.

Senate Republicans hope that agreement on the first package will allow for movement on a second bundle of appropriations measures, a combination of bills much more controversial because of the partisan fights on issues like funding for the border wall and language on abortion policy. After agreeing to the first “minibus” of bills, the Republican goal is to move to the floor the Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, Homeland Security, and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs measures. The Democrats have signaled that, at this point, this may be a bridge too far.

Stay tuned.

House Democrats Introduce HEA Legislation

Posted on October 21, 2019

As expected, the House Democrats introduced last week their version of the legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA). The 1,100-page College Affordability Act is likely to be marked up by the Education and Labor Committee next week. Unlike the Senate bill that was introduced in late September by HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN), the House legislation represents a comprehensive look at the underlying HEA.

The legislation covers a wide-range of issues in the HEA, from an increase of $500 in the Pell Grant maximum award to proposed changes in how outcome standards are determined for accreditation purposes and topics in between, such as the elimination of loan repayment programs currently in place and the creation of two new loan repayment options for new loans.

Read more about the legislation here. We will provide further updates.

What We’re Reading this Week (October 14th-18th, 2019)

Posted on October 18, 2019October 29, 2019

Here is a selection of articles the Federal Relations team has read this week.

Courts Block Green Card Restrictions: Federal Judges in three states, including Washington, blocked an immigration rule which would have gone into effect on October 15th. The “public charge rule” would expand how public benefit usage is factored into permanent residency determinations. Although “public policy charges” have been part of immigration law for over a century, the expanded rule would penalize applicants for using a much broader range of services. The nationwide injunction, issued by Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, determined the Department of Homeland Security acted outside its’ authority as delegated by Congress. Read more at NPR.

Congressman Elijah Cummings: Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) passed away in hospital on Thursday, October 17th due to what was described as “longstanding health challenges”. Rep. Cummings was a highly regarded Congressman and powerful figure in the Democratic caucus, serving as Chair of the House Oversight Committee. He was in Congress for over twenty years. Read more at Politico.

EU/UK Brexit Deal: The EU and UK announced they have reached a deal on Brexit, which will now have to pass both the EU and UK parliament. Time is running out on Prime Minister Borris’ plan to leave the EU by October 31st. Read more at BBC.

Diplomatic Spat Over Death of UK Citizen: Relations between the US and UK have been strained after the wife of a US Official was involved in a fatal car accident in the UK. While driving on the wrong side of the road, Anne Sacoolas struck and killed Harry Dunn, who was riding a motorcycle. Sacoolas, married to a US Official based in England, claimed diplomatic immunity and left the UK some weeks after the incident. The Dunn family has embarked on a campaign urging the US to extradite Sacoolas to face charges in the UK. President Trump supposedly attempted to set up a surprise meeting between the two families in the White House, further complicating the situation and offending the grieving family. Read more at Vox.

Senate Fails to Halt Border Emergency: Congress passed a measure, S.J. Res. 54 (116), which would have stopped President Trump from diverting billions of dollars in federal funds to construct a border wall. However, President Trump vetoed the measure, sending it back to the Senate. The Senate was unable to override the veto by a 2/3 vote, meaning the border emergency declaration will remain in place. Read more at Politico.

Science Integrity Bill Moves Forward: H.R. 1709, a House bill which aims to protect science from political influence, has advanced after gaining enough bipartisan support in the Science Committee. Initially, there had been push back over how closely Federal agencies’ media policies would be regulated. Now that the bill has passed in the House Science Committee, it will move to the full House for a vote. Read more at Science Magazine.