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DC Download 05.15.2023

With just over two weeks until the Treasury Department is expected to exhaust extraordinary measures that have prevented a default on U.S. debt, talks between the White House and Congressional leadership continue to take center stage. Meanwhile, both the Senate and House lawmakers are considering bills that purportedly support law enforcement.

Table of Contents:

Medicare For All

No matter what we look like, where we live, or what’s in our wallets, when we’re sick, we want to get the care that we need. Yet today, while our families are mourning more than a million lives lost to COVID-19, millions of Americans are without healthcare or cannot afford to see a doctor.

Big insurance and drug corporations spend millions buying off politicians and lobbying to keep prescription drug and insurance prices high. They profit off our pain while our families ration our insulin or drown in medical debt. By coming together, Black, white, and Brown, we can pass Medicare for All and guarantee comprehensive, high-quality medical care we deserve for every person at every hospital and doctor’s office in every zip code.

Facts and Resources:

The Lancet, a world-leading medical journal, published research in 2020 that shows Medicare for All will save $450 billion and 68,000 lives every year.
Two-thirds of people who file for bankruptcy cite medical issues as a key contributor to their financial downfall, and Latino and Black people have significantly higher uninsured rates compared to white people.
Medicare For All Topline Talking Points — Progressive Caucus Action Fund

House Floor

The House will vote on three suspension bills from the Committee on the Judiciary. 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. 2494 – POLICE Act of 2023 (Sponsored by Rep. Garbarino; Judiciary Committee): The bill would allow the government to deport undocumented immigrants if they have been convicted of assault, or admit to committing assault, against a law enforcement officer.

The Myth of the Criminal Immigrant (The Marshall Project)

H.R. 3091 – Federal Law Enforcement Officer Service Weapon Purchase Act (Sponsored by Rep. Fry; Judiciary Committee): The bill would require the General Services Administration to create a program to facilitate the purchase of retired handguns by federal law enforcement officers from the agencies that issued them.

H. Con. Res. 40 – Expressing support for local law enforcement officers and condemning efforts to defund or dismantle local law enforcement agencies (Sponsored by Rep. Buck; Judiciary Committee): The resolution would express Congress’ support for local law enforcement officers and condemn calls to defund or dismantle the police.

House Committee Highlights

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

Tuesday Hearings

Health Care Price Transparency: A Patient’s Right to Know (Ways & Means)

Overdue Oversight of the Capital City: Part II (Oversight & Accountability)

The Next Fifty Years of the Clean Water Act: Examining the Law and Infrastructure Project Completion (Transportation & Infrastructure)

Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Department of Education (Education & the Workforce)

Looking Ahead Series: Oversight of the United States Capitol Police (House Administration)

Wednesday Hearings

Continued Oversight Over Regional Bank Failures (Financial Services)

The Current Mortgage Market: Undermining Housing Affordability with Politics (Financial Services)

Tracking the Postal Service: An Update on the Delivering for America Plan (Oversight & Accountability)

Driving Bad Policy: Examining EPA’s Tailpipe Emissions Rules and the Realities of a Rapid Electric Vehicle Transition (Oversight & Accountability)

Like Fire Through Dry Grass: Nursing Home Mortality & COVID-19 Policies (Oversight & Accountability)

Why Health Care is Unaffordable: Anticompetitive and Consolidated Markets (Ways & Means)

Thursday Hearings

Hearing on the Weaponization of the Federal Government (Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government)

Standing United Against the People’s Republic of China’s Economic Aggression and Predatory Practices (Foreign Affairs)

Senate Floor

The S.J. Res. 26 - A joint resolution disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 (Sen. Vance): The resolution would overturn the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, a recently-enacted Washington D.C. law that reformed policing to include banning chokeholds, limiting use of force and deadly force, improving access to body-worn camera recordings, and requiring officer training on de-escalation. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to “exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever” over the District, and the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973 allows Congress to review all legislation passed by the Council before it can become law. House Republicans used this authority to pass the companion resolution, H.Res. 42, by a 229-189 vote last month. While the Home Rule Act would allow the Senate to pass this resolution with a simple majority vote, President Biden has said he would veto it if it advances.

D.C. Home Rule (Council of the District of Columbia)

Nominations

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

Bradley N. Garcia, of Maryland, to be United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit

Senate Committee Highlights

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

Tuesday Hearings

House Republican Supplemental IRS Funding Cuts: Analyzing the Impact on Federal Law Enforcement and the Federal Deficit (Finance)

What Comes Next for U.S. Policy Towards Russia (Foreign Relations)

Examining the Failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank (Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs)

The Impacts of Debt Ceiling Brinkmanship and Default on America's Small Businesses (Small Business & Entrepreneurship)

Wednesday Hearings

A Crisis in Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Care: Closing Gaps in Access by Bringing Care and Prevention to Communities (HELP)

The Rich Get Richer, Deficits Get Bigger: How Tax Cuts for the Wealthy and Corporations Drive the National Debt (Budget)

Federal Actions to Improve Project Reviews for a Cleaner and Stronger Economy (Environment & Public Works)

Review of Federal Judicial Ethics Processes at the Judicial Conference of the United States (Judiciary)

Strengthening Accountability at the Federal Reserve: Lessons and Opportunities for Reform (Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs)

Counting the Costs: How a U.S. Default Crisis Harms American Families and Businesses (Joint Economic Committee)

Thursday Hearings

Tax Incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act: Jobs and Investment in Energy Communities (Finance)

Oversight of Financial Regulators: Financial Stability, Supervision, and Consumer Protection in the Wake of Recent Bank Failures (Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs)

Debt Ceiling Talks Continue

Last week, President Biden met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to discuss the debt ceiling. However, after President Biden called the talks constructive, Speaker McCarthy claimed there has been little progress and accused Democrats and the White House of favoring a default over a deal. They are expected to meet again tomorrow to continue negotiations. The U.S. government reached its debt ceiling in January, forcing the Treasury Department to use “extraordinary measures” to pay the government’s bills. However, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that these measures could run out as early as June 1 and result in an economically calamitous default.

As the countdown continues, some stakeholders have suggested that President Biden should use the 14th amendment to deal with the debt ceiling. Section 4 of the 14th Amendment reads: “The validity of the public debt of the United States ... shall not be questioned.” Some legal and constitutional scholars have argued that the debt limit is unconstitutional, as the threat of default questions the government’s public debts’ validity. The Administration could adopt this interpretation, ignore the debt limit, and continue issuing debt. However, the legal uncertainty around this theory could still cause significant economic damage.

From Debt Ceiling Showdowns to Service Slowdowns: Understanding the Connection (CPCC)
Manufactured Crisis: The Debt Limit in 2023 (CPCC)
7 doomsday scenarios if the U.S. crashes through the debt ceiling (The Washington Post)
How Past Debt Limit Crises Shaped Biden’s No-Negotiation Stance (The New York Times)
What you need to know about the debt ceiling as the deadline looms (NPR)

SCOTUS Watch: Haaland v. Brackeen (Consolidated)

The case challenges a law, the Indian Child Welfare Act, put in place to protect children who are “a member of an Indian tribe” or “eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and [are] the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe.” Its passage followed decades of government-sponsored forced removals of Indigenous children from their families. The plaintiff claims that the law violates the 14th amendment by basing protections on race. The U.S. government and Tribal governments argue that the distinction is not race-based but rather protects citizens of sovereign Tribal nations. The plaintiffs are funded and backed by a number of right-wing and corporate interests seeking to weaken Tribal sovereignty laws. If the Supreme Court strikes down these protections, , Tribal nations’ treaty rights across the U.S. will be in danger. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on November 9, 2022 and is expected to make a decision before the end of their term.