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DC Download 06.03.2024

House lawmakers this week are considering their first appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2025, and a bill to sanction the ICC for issuing arrest warrants for Israeli officials. Meanwhile, as the second anniversary of the fall of Roe v. Wade rounds the corner, Senators will consider a bill aimed at ensuring women’s right to obtain birth control.

Table of Contents:

Whatever our color, background or zip code, most of us believe that voters should pick our leaders – our leaders should not get to pick their voters. When it comes to our elections, we want a transparent process we can trust, where all Americans have equal freedom to vote, whether we live in a small town or big city, the south or the north.

But today, a handful of politicians and judges representing the greedy few are still trying to silence our voices based on what we look like or where we live. They try to hold onto power by rigging the rules with voter ID laws, gerrymandering, voter intimidation, and voter suppression. They fuel divisions and feed us misinformation hoping we’ll blame new immigrants, Black people, or people struggling to make ends meet for the damage their policies have caused us all. But we aren’t fooled.

Together, we can ensure Americans can safely and freely cast our ballots so that every voice is heard and we all have a say in key decisions like health care, schools, and taking action on the climate.

Just like we came together in the past to fight for the right to vote, we need everyone to be a voter now so we can restore the Voting Rights Act, ensure that everyone’s voice is heard, and elect leaders who work for all of us.

Messaging guides and tools:

NAACP Legal Defense Fund Attorneys and client react to the SCOTUS decision
Freedom to Vote Message Guide, ASO Communications and partners
Libertad de Votar (Spanish Language Message Guide), ASO Communications and partners
Fair Districting Message Guide, Frameshift, Fair Representation in Redistricting, and ASO Communications

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

House Floor

The House will vote on 25 suspension bills from the Committees on Judiciary and Oversight & Accountability. 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. 8282 – To impose sanctions with respect to the International Criminal Court engaged in any effort to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies. (Sponsored by Rep. Roy / Foreign Affairs Committee): The bill would require the president to impose sanctions against individuals involved in International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutions against Americans or individuals from allied nations who haven’t consented to the court’s jurisdiction. The bill is in response to the ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli defense officials for war crimes. The ICC is also seeking arrest warrants for Hamas officials.

H.R. 8580 – Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025 (Sponsored by Rep. Carter (TX) / Appropriations Committee: The bill would provide the Veterans Affairs Department, military construction projects, and related agencies $147.5 billion in discretionary funding for Fiscal Year 2025, $6.4 billion less than the FY 2024 enacted level and $487.9 million more than the Biden Administration requested. The bill would also provide advance appropriations for FY 2026, including $131.4 billion in discretionary funding for veterans’ health care and $222.2 billion for mandatory benefits programs. The bill also includes policy riders that would bar the use of funds for abortion care, services for undocumented people, and gender-affirming care. It also would block diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and prohibit LGBTQ+ Pride flags from being flown at V.A. facilities.

House Committee Highlights

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

Monday Hearings:

A Hearing with Dr. Anthony Fauci (Oversight & Accountability)

Tuesday Hearings

Markup of Fiscal Year 2025 Homeland Security Bill (Appropriations)

Markup of Fiscal Year 2025 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Bill (Appropriations)

Powering AI: Examining America’s Energy and Technology Future (Energy & Commerce)

Weaponizing Federal Resources: Exposing the SBA’s Voter Registration Efforts (Small Business)

The Consequences of Biden's Border Chaos for K-12 Schools (Education & the Workforce)

The Social Security Trust Funds in 2024 and Beyond (Ways & Means)

Reforming Unemployment Insurance to Support American Workers and Businesses (Ways & Means)

Biden's Border Crisis: Examining Efforts to Combat International Criminal Cartels & Stop Illegal Drug Trafficking Targeting Indian Country (Natural Resources)

Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice (Judiciary)

Attorney General of the United States Merrick Garland is testifying

Wednesday Hearings

Markup of Fiscal Year 2025 Defense Bill (Appropriations)

Markup of Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Services and General Government Bill (Appropriations)

Oversight of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Oversight & Accountability)

Administrator of the EPA Michael S. Regan is testifying

Nominations

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

Christopher T. Hanson to be member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Tanya Monique Jones Bosier to be Associate Judge of the D.C. Superior Court
Judith E. Pipe to Associate Judge of the D.C. Superior Court
Stephanie Sanders Sullivan to be Representative to the African Union, with the rank and status of Ambassador

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

The Assault on Women’s Freedoms: How Abortion Bans Have Created a Health Care Nightmare Across America (HELP)

Supporting Georgia’s Sovereignty and Democracy (Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe)

Artificial Intelligence and Its Potential to Fuel Economic Growth and Improve Governance (Joint Economic Committee)

A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Appropriations)

Director of the FBI Christopher Wray is testifying

A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for the U.S. Department of Treasury (Appropriations)

Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Janet Yellen is testifying

Wednesday Hearings

Streamlining the Federal Cybersecurity Regulatory Process: The Path to Harmonization (Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs)

Strengthening U.S. Economic Leadership: The Role of Competition in Enhancing Economic Resiliency (Judiciary)

Riskier Business: How Climate is Already Challenging Insurance Markets (Budget)

Heroes at Home: Improving Services for Veterans and their Caregivers (Aging)(Veterans’ Affairs)

Appropriations

Appropriators are making headway as they ready the first of 12 Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations bills for floor consideration this week. The House Rules Committee is expected to mark up the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act this afternoon before the bill heads to the House floor later this week for a vote. Additionally, the relevant House Appropriations Subcommittees this week are marking up bills that would fund the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, Treasury, and their related agencies. The Appropriations Committee is expected to finish markups July 10, 2024. Lawmakers have until September 30, 2024 to pass all 12 appropriations bills or a stopgap spending bill, as Congress did four times for FY 2024. Without one of these actions, the government will shut down.

Fact Sheet (Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro)

SCOTUS Watch: Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP

Last October, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, a case that concerned racial gerrymandering in South Carolina. The NAACP argued that South Carolina’s Republican legislature drew the state’s congressional maps to purposefully target Black communities and dilute their voting power in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments. However, the South Carolina State Legislature maintained that they did not use race to determine the new maps, but instead focused on partisan preferences to draw the districts. While the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act prohibit racial gerrymandering, the Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that partisan gerrymandering cases fall outside federal courts’ jurisdiction and must be adjudicated in state courts or addressed via legislation in Congress (Rucho v. Common Cause). On May 23, the Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision ruled in favor of South Carolina’s Republican state legislature and rejected the NAACP’s argument that the redrawn districts had improperly relied too heavily on race, clearing the way for South Carolina to use the congressional maps moving forward.