Vantage Point Strategies’ Summary of the Inflation Reduction Act https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yC1jKsmLjX3fHD7btg2vYu4lUmP2uaew/view?usp=sharing
Senate China Competition-Semiconductor Bill (CHIPS+/CHIPS and Science Act)
The Senate just passed H.R. 4346, the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act by a vote of 64 to 33. The bill now goes to the House who could vote on it this week before they leave for their August recess. If the House passes the bill, it would then go to the President for his signature.
The bill is a trimmed-down competitiveness package from a larger bill that passed last year, but stalled in bipartisan, bicameral conference talks. It includes $54.2 billion in five-year grants for semiconductor manufacturing and research, as well as 5G wireless deployment, a 25% tax credit for investments in semiconductor manufacturing facilities through 2026, funding authorization for the National Science Foundation (NSF), and other science-focused measures.
Bill Text
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/CFC99CC6-CE84-4B1A-8BBF-8D2E84BD7965
Section-by-Section Summary
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/1201E1CA-73CB-44BB-ADEB-E69634DA9BB9
CHIPS and ORAN Investment Division A Summary
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/2699CE4B-51A5-4082-9CED-4B6CD912BBC8
NSF, NIST, DOC, NASA Division B Summary
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/6E687DDA-7AA6-4EA8-B9C8-F25E3A0254ED
Department of Energy Division B Summary
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/218906F5-60BE-4EEF-A58C-F50CC0A134E6
Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriations Update
FY2023 Appropriations
This week the House Appropriations Committee began marking up their 12 fiscal year 2023 (FY23) appropriations bills. They began the process before reaching a bipartisan agreement on discretionary spending levels.
Negotiations have ground to a halt due to differences over defense vs. nondefense spending and a Republican push to strip earmarks out of the bills. Republicans want large defense spending increases to keep pace with inflation, but will only support flat-funding for nondefense agencies.
Appropriations Subcommittee |
House Subcommittee Markup |
House Full Committee Markup |
Senate Subcommittee Markup |
Senate Full Committee Markup |
Agriculture |
June 15, 2022 |
June 23, 2022 |
|
|
Commerce Justice Science |
June 22, 2022 |
June 28, 2022 |
|
|
Defense |
June 15, 2022 |
June 22, 2022 |
|
|
Energy & Water |
June 21, 2022 |
June 28, 2022 |
|
|
Financial Services |
June 16, 2022 |
June 24, 2022 |
|
|
Homeland Security |
June 16, 2022 |
June 24, 2022 |
|
|
Interior Environment |
June 21, 2022 |
June 29, 2022 |
|
|
Labor HHS Education |
June 23, 2022 |
June 30, 2022 |
|
|
Legislative Branch |
June 15, 2022 |
June 22, 2022 |
|
|
Military Construction VA |
June 15, 2022 |
June 23, 2022 |
|
|
State Foreign Operations |
June 22, 2022 |
June 29, 2022 |
|
|
Transportation HUD |
June 23, 2022 |
June 30, 2022 |
|
|
The first six bills hew closely to President Biden’s FY23 budget request. House Democrats set an overall $1.6T discretionary spending cap for the FY23 bills earlier this month. That is about 9% above the FY22 spending cap. Here is how the House FY23 bills compare with FY22 enacted levels.
Appropriations Subcommittee |
FY2022 Enacted |
FY2023 House |
FY2023 Senate |
Agriculture |
$25.125B |
$27.2B |
|
Commerce Justice Science |
$75.8B |
|
|
Defense |
$728.5B |
$761.681B |
|
Energy & Water |
$54.97B |
|
|
Financial Services |
$25.5B |
$29.8B |
|
Homeland Security |
$81.1B |
$85.67B |
|
Interior Environment |
$38.0B |
|
|
Labor HHS Education |
$213.6B |
|
|
Legislative Branch |
$5.925B |
$5.702B |
|
Military Construction VA |
$284.6B |
$314.1B |
|
State Foreign Operations |
$56.1B |
|
|
Transportation HUD |
$81.0B |
|
|
Full Committee markups of the House bills will begin next week and wrap up on June 30. The bills will then go to the House floor for consideration in July.
June 2, 2022 Update from DC
Congress is in recess this week. They will return next week and will be in session for the next three weeks. They will recess again for the weeks of June 27 and July 4.
When they return the week of June 6 their focus will be on FY23 appropriations bills, gun control legislation, January 6th insurrection hearings, U.S. Innovation and Competition Act conference negotiations, and legislation on mental health, drug pricing and user fee reauthorizations.
Amidst all of this, another thing to keep an eye out for is that the Supreme Court generally releases the majority of its decisions in mid-June.
Here’s an update on some of the biggest issues being discussed and negotiated in Congress right now.
FY2023 Appropriations
The House will begin marking up their 12 FY2023 appropriations bills in June, with the goal of bringing them to the House floor in July. Senate Appropriators aim to mark up all of their bills in committee in July. The fiscal year ends on September 30. While Congress is unlikely to enact all 12 bills before that deadline, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Ranking Republican Richard Shelby (R-AL) are both retiring at the end of this Congress and want to complete these bills before they leave DC in December. The chairs and ranking members from the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have met to discuss topline spending figures (defense vs. non-defense spending) with the hopes that this will expedite the appropriations process this year, but they have not yet reached an agreement.
Ukraine
Tomorrow marks the 100th day of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war, the U.S. has committed approximately $4.6 billion in security assistance. Yesterday, the Department of Defense announced an additional $700 million focused on meeting critical Ukrainian needs. Capabilities in this new package include:
- High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and ammunition;
- Five counter-artillery radars;
- Two air surveillance radars;
- 1,000 Javelins and 50 Command Launch Units;
- 6,000 anti-armor weapons;
- 15,000 155mm artillery rounds;
- Four Mi-17 helicopters;
- 15 tactical vehicles;
- Spare parts and equipment.
The United States continues to work with its Allies and partners to identify and provide Ukraine with capabilities to meet its evolving battlefield requirements.
January 6th Committee Hearings
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol is expected to begin public hearings on June 9.
The committee aims to tell a more complete story of what happened that day and what led to it. Over two weeks of hearings, they intend to showcase what they uncovered in months of work on the events surrounding the attack, such as the more than 1,000 interviews they have conducted and thousands of documents they received from witnesses.
The committee may not be able to enforce all their subpoenas before the public hearings begin next week. They are limited by the number of weeks left in the congressional calendar and the outlook that the House will be under Republican control after the midterm elections.
While the committee has not announced the roster of witnesses for the hearing, J. Michael Luttig, a former federal judge and lawyer who advised former Vice President Mike Pence, is expected to testify. Luttig served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and was a key behind-the-scenes figure in the lead up to January 6. He provided the Vice President with the legal argument Pence used to reject former President Trump’s order to overturn President Biden’s victory.
Gun Control
Today, the House Judiciary Committee is holding a rare recess markup of H.R. 7910, the Protecting Our Kids Act, a large package of gun-control bills. The bill prohibits the sale of certain semiautomatic centerfire rifles or semiautomatic centerfire shotguns to a person under 21, prohibits the sale of “ghost gun” kits without a background check or serial numbers stamped on the parts used in assembling the weapon, boosts penalties for illegal “straw purchases” of guns, makes it a federal offence to import, manufacture or possess large-capacity magazines, creates a grant program to buy back large-capacity magazines, and requires gun owners to store their weapons safely, especially when minors are present. The bill will go to the House floor next week. While the bill has the votes to pass in the House, there is no chance of it overcoming Senate Republican opposition.
Yesterday House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) promised to have a hearing and markup of the assault weapons ban at a future date. In the wake of the Uvalde mass shooting, a handful of House Republicans have expressed an openness to banning assault-style rifles.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) has set a vote for next week on a “red flag” bill offered by Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA), H.R. 2377. That bill calls for the removal of guns from those deemed dangerous to themselves or others. It will be paired with a bill, H.R. 3480, from Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA) that encourages states to enact their own red flag laws. Nineteen states currently have such laws.
A bipartisan group of senators, led by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and John Cornyn (R-TX), is negotiating a narrower gun-control package that focuses on state-based red flag programs, school safety, and mental health programs. They met yesterday and hope to have an agreement in place by next week. Sources involved in the negotiations say interest in reaching a compromise remains genuine on both sides. In addition to Murphy and Cornyn, taking part in the discussions were Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and Pat Toomey (R-PA).
Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations Update
The House passed the final 2,741-page fiscal year 2022 omnibus appropriations bill late last night sending the measure to the Senate before House Democrats left town for a Democratic retreat. The House first voted 361-69 to back funding for the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security and other national security items, and then 260-171, with Rep. Tlaib (D-MI) voting “present,” to advance the provisions largely related to domestic programs.
The FY22 omnibus appropriates $1.5 trillion in discretionary funding ($782.5 billion for defense and $730 billion for non-defense) and $13.6 billion in emergency spending to address the crisis in Ukraine. The omnibus also included several reauthorizations – Violence Against Women Act, National Flood Insurance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the annual intelligence authorization, a provision to promote the U.S.-Israel relationship and back regional peace initiatives such as the Abraham accords, a livestock reporting program, and more.
Last week, the White House requested an additional $22.5 billion for Covid-19 vaccines, testing, and therapeutics. Senate Republicans responded that the funding level was too high, and that it should be offset by cuts elsewhere. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) agreed to reduce the funding level to $15.6 billion and offset part of it by rescinding some state aid provided in an earlier relief bill. However, a number of Democrats objected to the offset saying that it unfairly penalized some states. To get the omnibus across the finish line in the House, the Speaker stripped the covid funding out of the omnibus. A stand-alone covid relief bill will be considered next week when the House reconvenes, but it faces a dim outlook in the Senate. The White House has warned testing capacity will start declining this month without this additional funding.
The omnibus now goes to the Senate for consideration. In case they don’t complete action on it by March 11 when the current continuing resolution (CR) expires, the House also passed a short-term CR funding the federal government through March 15.
Below are links to the 12 appropriations bills included in the FY22 omnibus as well as the Ukraine supplemental:
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies: Report Language| Summary | One-Pager
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies: Report Language| Summary | One-Pager
Defense: Report Language Part 1| Report Language Part 2| Summary | One-Pager
Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies: Report Language| Summary | One-Pager
Financial Services and General Government: Report Language| Summary | One-Pager
Homeland Security: Report Language| Summary | One-Pager
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies: Report Language| Summary | One-Pager
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies: Report Language Part 1| Report Language Part 2| Summary | One-Pager
Legislative Branch: Report Language| Summary | One-Pager
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies: Report Language| Summary | One-Pager
State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs: Report Language| Summary | One-Pager
Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies: Report Language| Summary | One Pager
Ukraine Supplemental: Summary | One-Pager
December 9, 2021 Legislative Update
Debt Ceiling
In November, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Congress that the U.S. would reach its debt limit on December 15. But Republicans in the Senate are refusing to vote for lifting the debt ceiling at a time when Democrats are passing big spending bills. With the Senate evenly split 50-50, a deal is needed to allow the Senate to pass a bill temporarily raising the debt ceiling with only Democratic votes.
This week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) struck a deal that would allow the Senate to bypass the filibuster and vote on lifting the debt ceiling. First the Senate needed to pass S. 610, a bill that would allow the Senate to pass a debt limit increase with a simple majority vote. That bill passed by a vote of 59 to 35. S. 610 passed the House earlier this week by a vote of 222 to 212. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) joined all Democrats in voting for the measure.
Next, they will take up a measure to raise the debt ceiling. The new debt ceiling is expected to exceed $30T (currently set at $28.9T) to ensure Congress won’t need to act again until after the midterm elections in November 2022.
National Defense Authorization Act
The Senate tried to consider their FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last week but the process stalled when Sen. Rubio (R-FL) blocked an amendment deal after he failed to get his amendment to ban imports from China’s Xinjiang region in the package that would get votes before a final vote in the Senate. The amendment wasn’t included in the package because it violated a clause in the Constitution that stipulates that bills that raise revenue have to originate in the House.
The House passed their FY22 NDAA on September 23. Rather than wait for the Senate to pass their bill and then conference it with the House bill; House, Senate, and Armed Services Committee leaders decided to move forward with a conferenced version of the bill. The House passed S. 1605 on Tuesday by a vote of 363 to 70. The $768B defense policy bill now heads to the Senate where it’s expected to advance fairly easily next week before heading to the President for his signature.
Bill Text
https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/BILLS-117S1605-RCP117-21.pdf
Text of Joint Explanatory Statement
https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/17S1605-RCP117-21-JES-U1.pdf
Summary
https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/17S1605-RCP117-21-summary.pdf
Build Back Better Act
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said yesterday that Democrat’s top legislative priority – the Build Back Better (BBB) Act – will pass before Christmas. However, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has made it clear that he is in no rush to vote for the package.
Five Senate committees released their respective pieces of the reconciliation package this week, and the Congressional Budget Office released cost estimates for four of those pieces.
Title IV – Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Legislative Text | CBO Score
Title VIII – Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Legislative Text | CBO Score
Title X – Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Legislative Text | CBO Score
Title XI – Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
Legislative Text | CBO Score
Title IX – Committee on Indian Affairs
Legislative Text
DOD Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Officer (CDAO)
DOD Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks issued a memo yesterday announcing the establishment of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer (CDAO) effective February 1, 2022. The CDAO will report directly to Deputy Secretary Hicks and will serve as the department’s senior official responsible for strengthening and integrating data, artificial intelligence, and digital solutions in the Department.
While the Pentagon already has a chief data officer, a Defense Digital Service and the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, this new position is needed to integrate all these efforts. It was one of the recommendations of the National Security Commission on AI.
The goal is for the CDAO to reach full operating capability no later than June 1, 2022.
National Defense Strategy
Colin Kahl, DOD Undersecretary for Policy, said yesterday that a new National Defense Strategy (NDS) is expected to be released early next year along with the Nuclear Posture Review and the Missile Defense Review. The NDS itself is under the National Security Strategy, which will come out first. The current National Defense Strategy is from 2018. The White House released an interim National Security Strategy in March and approved the classified Global Posture Review on November 29.
GAO Issues Report on Defense Contractor Cybersecurity
This week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report, Defense Contractor Cybersecurity: Stakeholder Communication and Performance Goals Could Improve Certification Framework, which reviewed DOD’s implementation of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). The report focused on what steps DOD took to develop CMMC, the extent to which DOD made progress in implementing CMMC (including communication with industry), and the extent to which DOD has developed plans to assess the effectiveness of CMMC.
GAO issued three recommendations that DOD concurred with and outlined plans to address them in CMMC 2.0:
- The Secretary of Defense should ensure the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment provides sufficient and timely communication to industry on Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, including when additional information will be forthcoming.
- The Secretary of Defense should ensure the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment develops a plan to evaluate the effectiveness of Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification’s pilot, including establishing measurable objectives, collecting relevant data, and identifying lessons and plans to use that information to inform future decisions about the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification.
- The Secretary of Defense should ensure the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment develop outcome-oriented performance measures to evaluate the effectiveness of Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification as a component of the department’s efforts to enhance cybersecurity for the defense industrial base.
Vaccine Mandate for Federal Contractors
Today the Office of Management and Budget issued guidance on implementing requirements of the vaccine mandate executive order given recent court orders and injunctions:
- For existing contracts or contract-like instruments (hereinafter “contracts”) that contain a clause implementing requirements of Executive Order 14042: The Government will take no action to enforce the clause implementing requirements of Executive Order 14042, absent further written notice from the agency, where the place of performance identified in the contract is in a U.S. state or outlying area subject to a court order prohibiting the application of requirements pursuant to the Executive Order (hereinafter, “Excluded State or Outlying Area”). In all other circumstances, the Government will enforce the clause, except for contractor employees who perform substantial work on or in connection with a covered contract in an Excluded State or Outlying Area, or in a covered contractor workplace located in an Excluded State or Outlying Area.
- Currently Excluded States and Outlying Areas: All of the United States and its outlying areas, including:
- The fifty States;
- The District of Columbia;
- The commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands;
- The territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands; and
- The minor outlying islands of Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Atoll.
- NOTE: Federal agency COVID-19 workplace safety protocols for Federal buildings and Federally controlled facilities still apply in all locations. Contractor employees working onsite in those buildings and facilities must still follow Federal agency workplace safety protocols when working onsite.
Administration Issues COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Standards for Companies with 100+ Employees
This week the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an interim final rule to require employers with 100 or more employees to ensure each of their workers is full vaccinated or tests negative for COVID at least once a week and wears a face covering at work.
- 30 days after publication of the rule in the Federal Register: All requirements other than testing for employees who have not completed their entire primary vaccination dose(s)
- 60 days after publication: Testing for employees who have not received all doses required for a primary vaccination
House Passes Debt Ceiling Legislation
Debt Ceiling
The House approved a bill on Tuesday that will briefly lift the debt ceiling until about December 3, 2021 (the same day the current continuing resolution funding the federal government expires). The bill increases the Treasury Department’s borrowing authority by $480B to nearly $28.9T. President Biden is expected to sign the bill into law.
Bipartisan $1.2T Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684) (Infrastructure)
and
$3.5T Build Back Better Budget Act (Budget Reconciliation)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) want to send a budget reconciliation package and an infrastructure bill to the President’s desk before November. However, they are no way near reaching a deal on budget reconciliation within their own caucus even on the topline spending number. Progressives are pushing for $3.5T or more, while moderates in the party have suggested $1.5T is a more appropriate topline figure. President Biden has suggested a compromise of $2T. Without a compromise on the overall amount, the rest of the details for the reconciliation package can’t be ironed out. Once an overall spending level is agreed on, Progressives will have to determine what social spending or climate programs they are amenable to cutting to get to that spending level. Another option is to trim the duration of the programs instead of cutting them. However, the New Democratic Coalition (the House’s biggest moderate caucus) is arguing that a smaller package should focus on long-term certainty for a handful of priority programs. It may take until the end of the calendar year for Democrats to reach an agreement within their caucus. If that’s the case, then a longer-term lift of the debt ceiling could be included in a final budget reconciliation bill.
Upcoming Deadlines
Highway Authorization – October 31, 2021
FY2022 Appropriations Bills – December 3, 2021
Debt Ceiling – Approx. December 3, 2021 (Some forecasters say this latest increase in borrowing authority could allow Treasury to keep paying its bills through the end of the calendar year or even slightly into 2022.)
Senate Passes Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill
The Senate passed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684) by a vote of 69 to 30 today. While this marks a major milestone for getting the bill enacted into law, there are a few more hurdles to overcome.
The bill now goes to the House for consideration. If the House passes the bill without any changes it would go directly to the President for his signature. The White House has privately cautioned House Democrats about making any changes to the bill saying it would risk delaying or blowing up the deal.
Senate Republicans Unveil Infrastructure Framework
A group of Senate Republicans lead by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) unveiled a $568B infrastructure proposal today. This is their counteroffer to President Biden’s proposed $2.3T American Jobs Plan.