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DC Download - February 3, 2025

Congress returns to a D.C. that’s been reshaped by an onslaught of executive edicts, a heartbreaking plane crash, and a brewing showdown over the President’s authority to ignore Congress’ funding directives. We break down what to watch this week below.

Table of Contents:

This Black History Month, we recognize how racism is a tool used to divide us, but when we come together across race and class, we win policies that uplift us all. As ASO Communications highlights in a new messaging guide, MAGA extremists are working to resegregate our country and strip away our freedoms, hoping to keep us on defense instead of advancing a bold, inclusive vision for the future. We must lead with our values of freedom and equality, combat cynicism, name the culprits working against us, and promote a vision for a better future.

We’ve seen the power of collective action — from expanding voting rights to strengthening worker protections — and we know that progress is possible when we fight together. Our Progressive Playbook offers a range of messaging tips and case studies that will help us confront the challenges ahead.

House Floor

The House will vote on eight suspension bills from the Committee on Natural Resources. Suspension bills require a ⅔ majority to pass. For a list of all suspension bills being considered, click here.

This week the House will also consider the following bills, subject to a rule:

H.R. 27– HALT Fentanyl Act (Sponsored by Rep. Griffith / Energy and Commerce Committee) This legislation permanently places fentanyl-related substances as a class into schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act and expands mandatory minimums for both foreign importation crimes and domestic drug distribution offenses. Under the bill, all fentanyl-related substances are subject to the same penalties as offenses involving fentanyl analogues. Research suggests that certain fentanyl analogues are pharmacologically inactive or do not meet schedule I criteria, and could potentially be used as antidotes to fentanyl—similar to opioid antagonists like naloxone. Additionally, the bill establishes a new, alternative registration process for schedule I research.

H.R. 26– Protecting American Energy Production Act (Sponsored by Rep. Pfluger / Natural Resources Committee) This legislation prohibits a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for oil and gas. The bill also expresses the sense of Congress that states should maintain regulatory authority over fracking on state and private land. Fracking carries a number of risks, including contamination of groundwater supply, pollution, and habitat destruction.

House Committee Highlights

A full list of this week’s hearings and markups can be found here. Notable hearings and markups include:

Wednesday Hearings

Make Community Banking Great Again (Committee on Financial Services)

Preparing the Pipeline: Examining the State of America's Cyber Workforce (Committee on Homeland Security)

Rightsizing Government (Committee on Oversight and Government Reform)

The State of U.S. Science and Technology: Ensuring U.S. Global Leadership (Committee on Science, Space, and Technology)

Hope on the Horizon: Prioritizing Small Business Growth in the 119th Congress (Committee on Small Business)

State of American Education (Committee on Education and Workforce)

Thursday Hearings

Combatting Existing and Emerging Illicit Drug Threats (Committee on Energy and Commerce)

California Fires and the Consequences of Overregulation (Committee on the Judiciary)

Now Ore Never: The Importance of Domestic Mining for U.S. National Security (Committee on Natural Resources)

Time’s Running Out: Prosecuting Fraudsters for Stealing Billions in Unemployment Benefits from American Workers (Committee on Ways and Means)

VA First, Veteran Second: The Biden-Harris Legacy (Committee on Veterans’ Affairs)

Regarding Federally Funded Research Involving Animals (Committee on Oversight and Government Reform)

Operation Choke Point 2.0: The Biden Administration's Efforts to Put Crypto in the Crosshairs (Committee on Financial Services)

Nominations

The Senate this week has teed up votes on the following nominees:

Pamela Bondi, to be Attorney General
Christopher Wright, to be Secretary of Energy
Doug Collins, to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs

Senate Committee Highlights

Monday Hearings

Nomination of Brooke Rollins, to be Secretary of Agriculture (Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry)

Tuesday Hearings

Nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to be Secretary of Health and Human Services (Finance)

The Poisoning of America: Fentanyl, its Analogues, and the Need for Permanent Class Scheduling (Judiciary)

Wednesday Hearings

Investigating the Real Impacts of Debanking in America (Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs)

Legislation and the Nomination of Howard Lutnick, to be Secretary of Commerce (Commerce)

Legislation and Nomination of Kelly Loeffler to be Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (Small Business Administration)

Perspectives From the Field: Farmer and Rancher Views on the Agricultural Economy, Part 1 (Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry)

Thursday Hearings

Nomination of Jamieson Greer, to be United States Trade Representative (Finance)

Executive Orders

President Trump has signed a string of Executive Orders—45 to date—that affect education, trade, diversity and inclusion, immigration, and other policy areas. This onslaught continued over the weekend.

On Friday, President Trump issued executive orders to exalt the federal government’s authority over the U.S. education. One instructed federal agencies to redirect funds from public schools to support private school vouchers and consider withholding funds from schools that promote “radical indoctrination” related to “gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology.” This weekend, the President announced a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on Chinese goods. However, the tariffs on Mexico have already been postponed, leaving the new levies’ implementation to-be-determined.

More on this:

Week One: Amidst A Flurry Of EOs, A First Round of CEOs Cashes In (Revolving Door Project)
Federal Policy Watch: Executive Order Tracker (EPI)

Takeover of Federal Funding and Agencies

Last week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a “temporary pause” of federal agency grants, loans, and other financial assistance programs. The pause sparked confusion among federal and state agencies, schools, hospitals, and nonprofits that rely on federal funding to serve the public. The move resulted in programs millions of Americans rely on, like Medicaid, unable to function properly before a federal judge placed a temporary halt on the order. Some nonprofits are still unable to access promised funding as a result.

While OMB’s memo has been rescinded, the White House clarified that its efforts to review and halt federal spending remain apace. The move has raised several questions about the power of the executive branch to unilaterally halt federal spending that Congress has already allocated.

Simultaneously, Elon Musk, the head of President Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), is working to shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and install his associates in top positions at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Department of Treasury. Despite his association with the President, Musk is a private citizen with no official government position—and, accordingly, no accountability. For more than six decades, USAID has provided global humanitarian relief, health care, and economic development support worldwide.

More on this:
USAID fought apartheid. Musk is killing it (The Ink)

Elon Musk’s Team Now How Access to Treasury’s Payment Systems (NYT)

Confused About the Chaos? Make Congress and the Administration Clarify the Transportation Funding Freeze (Transportation for America)

Conflicting signals from Trump could disrupt HIV meds. What's the impact? (NPR)

FAQ’s on the Federal Funding Pause (CPCC)

Issues Facing FAA

As the country reels from the first U.S. commercial airline crash in 16 years that killed 67 people, longstanding air safety issues have resurfaced. According to the National Air Traffic Controller’s Association (NATCA), more than 90 percent of the country’s air traffic control facilities are operating below recommended staffing levels.

The Federal Aviation Administration has faced decades of staffing issues after then-President Ronald Reagan fired 11,000 striking air traffic controllers. On top of staffing issues, a February 2024 report revealed “the top issue facing the agency is system obsolescence and difficulty in finding replacement parts.” Additionally, FAA’s mandatory overtime and six-day work weeks have raised concerns about air traffic controller fatigue. While the latest FAA authorization addressed some staffing issues, the law also added flight routes to DCA, disregarding capacity concerns.

Given the recency of last week’s tragedy, detailed recommendations to improve consumer safety could be a long time coming. However, the new administration’s actions—including firing the Transportation Department’s inspector general and forcing out the FAA administrator—could bode poorly for reform efforts.

More on this:

Don’t Blame DEI for Crash at Reagan National Airport. Blame Ronald Reagan (Daily Beast)

Trump’s Racist Rants Conceal the Right’s Air Safety Failures (The Nation)

FAA Leader Quit Before D.C. Plane Crash—Thanks to Elon Musk (New Republic)