Washington Weekly – September 25, 2015

September 25, 2015

The House passed the Responsibly And Professionally Invigorating Development Act of 2015 (RAPID Act), which would modify the environmental review process for federally-funded projects. The Senate could not get the 60 votes necessary for cloture on HR 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (vote 54 to 42); HR 2685, the FY16 Department of Defense Appropriations Act (vote 54 to 42); and HJ Res 61, a continuing resolution that included language to defund Planned Parenthood (vote 47 to 52). The Senate passed by unanimous consent S1109, the Truth in Settlements Act; HR 2051, the Agriculture Reauthorizations Act of 2015; a resolution congratulating Captain Kristen Griest and First Lieutenant Shaye Haver on their graduation from Ranger School; S 1632, a bill requiring a regional strategy to address the threat posed by Boko Haram; S 986, the Albuquerque Indian Land Transfer Act; and S 1170, the Breast Cancer Research Stamp Reauthorization Act. The Senate also confirmed Kathryn Matthew to be Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services at the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities.

House Speaker Boehner Announces Resignation

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) announced today that he is retiring from Congress effective October 30. Boehner had intended to announce on his birthday (November 17) that he was resigning at the end of the year, but said that it became clear to him that this “prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable harm to the institution.” He also stated that he wanted to retire at the end of 2014, but that Rep. Eric Cantor’s primary defeat persuaded him to stay one more year. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is the most likely candidate for the position. While Boehner said that McCarthy would “make a wonderful speaker,” McCarthy has not yet made his intentions known.

Twenty-five Republicans voted against Boehner for Speaker back in January. Several of them are members of the House Freedom Caucus, which is led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). Jordan said that he would not seek the position. The other candidates for speaker back in January were Reps. Daniel Webster (R-FL) (12 votes), Louie Gohmert (R-TX) (3 votes), and Ted Yoho (R-FL) (2 votes).

FY16 Appropriations/Continuing Resolution (CR)

There are just five more days in fiscal year 2015, and only three legislative days remaining where both the House and Senate are in session before the end of the fiscal year.

The Senate Appropriations Committee introduced a continuing resolution (CR) this week that would fund the federal government through December 11 at an annual rate that conforms to the topline discretionary spending limit established by the Budget Control Act for FY16 ($1.017T). The CR provides Overseas Contingency Operations funding at a rate of $74.758B and includes $700M in emergency funding for wildland fire suppression. The CR also includes extensions of certain expiring authorities, including the Internet Tax Freedom Act, E-Verify, and the Federal Aviation Administration (6 months). And most notably, the CR included a provision prohibiting for one year any funding for Planned Parenthood and redirected the $235M in mandatory savings to increases funding for community health centers.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) brought up the CR for a cloture vote on Thursday and it failed by a vote of 47 to 52. The strong vote against cloture was intended to send a message to the House Freedom Caucus which has been insisting on including the Planned Parenthood language in any spending bill. Republican senators voting against the CR included Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Susan Collins (R-ME), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Dean Heller (R-NV), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Ben Sasse (R-NE).

McConnell then began the process for the Senate to pass a “clean” CR that does not include the Planned Parenthood language. The cloture vote on the clean CR will occur on Monday at 5:30 pm. However, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has vowed to use all procedural tools to stop any CR that includes funding for Planned Parenthood.

Senate Continuing Resolution:

http://www.appropriations.senate.gov/sites/default/files/092215-FY16-CR%20Bill.pdf

One-Pager:

http://www.appropriations.senate.gov/sites/default/files/092215-FY16-CR%20One-Pager.pdf

Section-by-Section Analysis:

http://www.appropriations.senate.gov/sites/default/files/092215-FY16-CR%20Section-By-Section.pdf

On the House side, House Speaker Boehner’s decision to resign may have decreased the odds of a government shutdown. The House is expected to vote on the clean Senate-passed CR next week.

2016 Presidential Election Debate Schedule

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced the sites and dates for the 2016 general election debates this week. There will be three presidential and one vice presidential debates during the 2016 general election. The dates and sites are:

First presidential debate:

Monday, September 26, 2016

Wright State University, Dayton, OH

Vice presidential debate:

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Longwood University, Farmville, VA

Second presidential debate:

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

Third presidential debate:

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV

Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY will serve as the backup site.

Political Updates

Newly elected Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) was appointed to the House Natural Resources and Science, Space, and Technology Committees. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) resigned from the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

Outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey officially retired this week after more than 41 years of service. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr. took over as the 19th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Marine Corps Gen. Robert Neller assumed command of the Marine Corps from Gen. Dunford.

President Obama nominated Eric Fanning to be Secretary of the Army, Ricardo Aguilera to be Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management, Janine Davidson to be Under Secretary of the Navy, Lisa Disbrow to be Under Secretary of the Air Force, Shoshana Lew to be Chief Financial Officer at the Department of Transportation, Jennifer O’Connor to be General Counsel at the Department of Defense, and Ambassador Thomas Shannon to be Under Secretary for Political Affairs at the Department of State.

Jodi Daniel, who has served as Director of the Office of Policy in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) at Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is leaving her post on October 9 to work for a private law firm. Daniel helped found the office more than a decade ago.

The Federal Communications Commission has appointed Brian Scarpelli, Director of Government Affairs at the Telecommunications Industry Association, as co-chair of the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council’s Security by Design working group.

Pete Tseronis, Chief Technology Officer for the Department of Energy, is leaving his post at the end of October to join the private sector.

Dr. James Billington announced that he will retire as the 13th Library of Congress on September 30.

Next Week

The Senate will take up a “clean” continuing resolution funding the federal government through December 11. The House will also consider funding legislation, and may also take up HR 3495, the Women’s Public Health and Safety Act and HR 702, a bill to adapt to changing crude oil market conditions. The House will also take up under suspension of the rules HR 1624, a bill that would amend the 2010 health care law to keep employers with 51 to 100 workers from having to comply with more stringent insurance coverage requirements.

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