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DC Download 03.18.2024

It’s another busy week on the Hill as lawmakers, again, face another government funding deadline. Congress and the president have until Friday to approve a slate of spending bills or face a partial government shutdown. At the same time, lawmakers are considering a bevy of energy-related bills, while Biden Administration officials testify in front of committees following the president’s new budget proposal for next year.

Table of Contents:

Justice Reform

Whatever we look like or wherever we live, we all want to live in our communities without fearing for our lives or our loved ones. But today, our criminal legal system isn’t delivering justice or keeping our communities safe. It’s not equal justice when a kid caught with drugs gets thrown in jail, but a Wall Street executive who defrauds hard-working homeowners gets a bonus.

Today, some politicians shame and blame the victims of police brutality to distract us from their failure to ensure that everyone has care, security, and support. Together, we must imagine a new world for public safety that upholds dignity, safety, and opportunity for all of us, Black, White, or Brown. We must invest in the communities harmed by racist policies like redlining, school segregation, mass incarceration, and police brutality. We can build communities where we all thrive with schools, housing, and healthcare for all.

Fast Facts:

Two-thirds of likely voters support measures to reduce the prison population in America, such as commuting sentences for people 55 and older and those with long-term illnesses.
74 percent of voters agree that poor people shouldn’t be locked up just because they can’t pay fines and fees. 83 percent agree that the war on drugs has failed.
The U.S. has the highest per capita incarceration rate in the world. Every year, over 600,000 people enter prison and people go to jail 10.6 million times each year.
Black people are 2.6 times more likely to be killed by police than white people. Black people are 13% of the U.S. population but 38 percent of people in prison are Black.
Over 477,000 people are locked up who haven’t even been convicted or sentenced, often because they cannot afford to pay their bail.

For more messaging tools and resources, visit the Progressive Playbook.

House Floor

The House will vote on 11 suspension bills from the Committees on Foreign Affairs, Transportation & Infrastructure, Budget, Energy & Commerce, and Natural Resources. Suspension bills require a ⅔ majority to pass. For a list of all suspension bills being considered, click here.

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

H.R. 1121 – Protecting American Energy Production Act (Sponsored by Rep. Duncan / Natural Resources Committee): The bill would prohibit the president from declaring a national moratorium on hydraulic fracturing without authorization from Congress. It would also express the sense of Congress that states should maintain regulatory authority over hydraulic fracturing on state and private land.

H.R. 6009 – Restoring American Energy Dominance Act (Sponsored by Rep. Boebert / Natural Resources Committee): The bill would require the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw its proposal to modify onshore oil and gas leasing rules, issued in July 2023, that would implement rate increases for oil and gas leases under the Inflation Reduction Act.

H. Con. Res. 86 – Expressing the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to the United States economy (Sponsored by Rep. Zinke / Ways and Means Committee): The resolution would express the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to U.S. families and businesses and isn’t in the country’s best interests.

H.R. 7023 – Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act (Sponsored by Rep. Rouzer / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee): The bill would modify the permitting processes and regulatory requirements that address the discharge of most pollutants under the Clean Water Act.

H. Res. 987 – Denouncing the harmful, anti-American energy policies of the Biden administration, and for other purposes (Sponsored by Rep. Newhouse / Energy and Commerce Committee): The resolution would denounce the Biden administration’s energy and federal land policies, including the administration’s pause of liquefied natural gas exports, and its cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline and leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

H.R. 1023 – To repeal section 134 of the Clean Air Act, relating to the greenhouse gas reduction fund (Sponsored by Rep. Palmer / Energy and Commerce Committee): The bill would repeal a $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and methane emissions charges created under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Additional legislative items related to FY 2024 appropriations are expected.

House Committee Highlights

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

Tuesday Hearings

An Assessment of the Biden Administration’s Withdrawal from Afghanistan by America’s Generals (Foreign Affairs)

Wednesday Hearings

Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden’s Abuse of Public Office (Oversight & Accountability)

Examining the Current Status of Iran’s Axis of Resistance and the Implications for Homeland Security and U.S. Interests (Homeland Security)

Reining in the Administrative State: Agency Adjudication and Other Agency Action (Judiciary)

SEC Overreach: Examining the Need for Reform (Financial Services)

Pakistan After the Elections: Examining the Future of Democracy in Pakistan and the US-Pakistan Relationship (Foreign Affairs)

The Danger China Poses to American Agriculture (Agriculture)

The Characteristics and Challenges of Today’s Homebuyers (Financial Services)

Securing our Nation from WMDs: A Review of the Department of Homeland Security's Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (Homeland Security)

Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for the Department of Energy (Appropriations)

Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm is testifying

Fiscal Year 2025 Request for the Department of Health and Human Services (Appropriations)

Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra is testifying

Hearing with Health and Human Services Secretary Becerra (Ways & Means)

Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra is testifying

Conducting Oversight: Testimony from the Small Business Administrator (Small Business)

Administrator of the Small Business Administration Isabella Casillas Guzman is testifying

Thursday Hearings

White House Overreach on AI (Oversight & Accountability)

Countering China on the World Stage: Empowering American Businesses and Denying Chinese Military Our Technology (Foreign Affairs)

The President's Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request (Budget)

US Military Posture and National Security Challenges in the Greater Middle East and Africa (Armed Services)

Safety on Capitol Hill: DC Crime's Impact on Congressional Operations and Visitors (House Administration)

Examining CBP One: Functions, Features, Expansion, and Risks (Homeland Security)

Joint Social Security and Work & Welfare Subcommittee Hearing with the Commissioner of Social Security, Martin O'Malley (Ways & Means)

Commissioner of the Social Security Administration Martin O’Malley is testifying

Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for the Department of Agriculture (Appropriations)

Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack is testifying

Budget and Oversight Hearing -- President Biden's Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request and Economic Outlook (Appropriations)

Secretary of the Department of the Treasury Janet Yellen is testifying
Director of the Office of Management and Budget Shalanda Young is testifying

Nominations

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

Edward Sunyol Kiel, of New Jersey, to be United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey
Eumi K. Lee, of California, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of California

Senate Committee Highlights

A full list of this week’s Senate committee hearings, including confirmation hearings, can be found here. Notable committee hearings include:

Wednesday Hearings

Examining PFAS as Hazardous Substances (Environment & Public Works)

Recreation at Risk: The Nature of Climate Costs (Budget)

Public Safety & Justice Resources in Native Communities (Indian Affairs)

The Continued Assault on Reproductive Freedoms in a Post-Dobbs America (Judiciary)

Strengthening International Cooperation to Stop the Flow of Fentanyl into the United States (Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs)

Oversight of the U.S. Small Business Administration and Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposal (Small Business & Entrepreneurship)

Administrator of the Small Business Administration Isabella Casillas Guzman is testifying

The President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Social Security Administration Budget (Finance)

Commissioner of the Social Security Administration Martin O’Malley is testifying

Keeping Our Promise to Older Adults and People with Disabilities: The Status of Social Security Today (Aging)

Commissioner of the Social Security Administration Martin O’Malley is testifying

Thursday Hearings

Implementation of U.S. Anti-Corruption Strategy (Foreign Relations)

Hearing on the President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget (Finance)

Secretary of the Department of the Treasury Janet Yellen is testifying

Government Funding

This week, lawmakers once again face a tight deadline to fund the government or risk a partial shutdown. So far, Congress has passed and President Joe Biden has signed a spending package that funds some of the government’s operations. However, six spending bills still remain, including: State-Foreign Operations, Defense, Homeland Security, Labor-HHS, Legislative Branch and Financial Services-General Government. According to public reporting, lawmakers have reached deals on five of the six bills, but have stalled on the Homeland Security bill, with funding for TSA officers, Border Patrol officers, shelter, and detention beds for undocumented migrants as the main obstacles. If Congress does not pass the funding bills by the end of the week, a large swath of government operations would be affected. This could include furloughs at the IRS during the height of tax filing season and work without pay for some government employees like active-duty U.S. military service members and airport security officers.

The President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2025

Last week, President Biden released details of his budget for Fiscal Year 2025. The new budget would increase the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent, impose a new 25 percent minimum tax on total income on wealthiest 0.01 percent of taxpayers, expand access to child care and universal preschool, provide national paid family and medical leave, expand the child tax credit, fund free community college, and expand Medicare drug negotiation, among other policies. Now, congressional committees are teeing up hearings to examine the president’s proposals, with many Biden Administration officials testifying before committees this week. Next, lawmakers must pass a budget resolution before hashing out the details for FY2025 spending in appropriation bills before the current fiscal year ends on September 30.

Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2025 (The White House)
Biden’s Budget Underscores Divide With Republicans and Trump (The New York Times)
Analyzing President Biden’s 2025 Budget (CBPP)

SCOTUS Watch: O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier and Lindke v. Freed

Last October, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier and Lindke v. Freed, cases that examined whether public officials violate the First Amendment when they block critics on their personal social media accounts. Last week, the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision ruled that officials can be held liable for blocking critics on social media and provided clarity by establishing a new test: public officials can be sued for First Amendment violations if they had "actual authority to speak on behalf of the state on a particular matter" and exercised that authority in the posts in question. This ruling sets a significant precedent, emphasizing that while public officials do not surrender their First Amendment rights upon taking office, their actions on social media platforms can constitute government action if they speak on behalf of the state, thereby requiring them to not unjustly block critics.