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DC Download 06.20.2023

Congress has a full agenda before lawmakers break for a two-week recess. The appropriations process is in full swing as the House Appropriations Committee continues to mark up bills for Fiscal Year 2024. On the Senate side, Senators are considering a tax treaty with Chile and advancing nominations.

Table of Contents:

Reproductive Justice and Health Care

Most of us believe that everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, should have the freedom to decide if, when, and how to become a parent or grow our families. But the Supreme Court’s devastating decision to overturn Roe v. Wade throws out 50 years of constitutional protection for abortion care and puts millions of people who need abortion care at risk.

Without the freedom to control our own lives, bodies, and futures, we don’t have meaningful equality. We will keep fighting until every person, no matter where we live, how much money we make, or what we look like, has the freedom to make our own decisions about our lives and futures.

For more messaging tools and resources on reproductive justice and health care, visit the Progressive Playbook.

Tools and Resources:

Mifepristone Case Toolkit - Bans off Our Bodies
10 Things to Know About Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA - Congressional Progressive Caucus Center
Interactive Map: U.S. Abortion Policies and Access After Roe - Guttmacher Institute
Getting the Edge:Communicating and Winning on Reproductive Freedom - NARAL Pro-Choice America

House Floor

The House will vote on six suspension bills from the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, Small Business, and Ways & Means. 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. 3799 – CHOICE Arrangement Act (Sponsored by Rep. Hern / Committee on Ways and Means / Committee on Education and the Workforce): The bill would codify a rule allowing employers to subsidize individual health insurance coverage through a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA), expand access to association health plans (AHP) for businesses and self-employed workers, prevent stop-loss insurance from being regulated as health insurance, and require the Treasury Department to notify employers about flexible tax-advantaged health insurance options.

H.Res. 461 – Condemning the use of elementary and secondary school facilities to provide shelter for aliens who are not admitted to the United States (Sponsored by Rep. Miller-Meeks / Education and the Workforce Committee): The resolution would condemn the use of public-school facilities to provide shelter to undocumented immigrants.

H.R. 3564 – Middle Class Borrower Protection Act of 2023 (Sponsored by Rep. Davidson / Financial Services Committee): The bill would reverse recent increases by the Federal Housing Finance Agency to the fee structures of single-family home mortgages guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The House may also consider: Veto message to accompany H.J. Res. 45 – Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to "Waivers and Modifications of Federal Student Loans" (Sponsored by Rep. Good / Education and the Workforce Committee): The resolution would override the president’s veto of H. J. Res. 45, which would block the Biden Administration’s student debt relief plan through the Congressional Review Act. The House passed the measure on May 24 and the Senate cleared it 52-46 on June 1. Biden vetoed the measure on June 7. A ⅔ majority vote in both the House and Senate is required to override a veto.

House Committee Highlights

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

Wednesday Hearings

Hearing on the Report of Special Counsel John Durham (Judiciary)

Clearing the Air: Examining the Environmental Protection Agency’s Proposed Emissions Standards (Oversight & Accountability)

Competition and Transparency: The Pathway Forward for a Stronger Health Care Market (Education & the Workforce)

Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission (Energy & Commerce)

Please Leave Your Message at the Tone: Addressing Post-Pandemic Backlogs and Delays at Federal Agencies (Oversight & Accountability)

The Federal Reserve’s Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report (Financial Services)

Jerome H. Powell, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is testifying

Thursday Hearings

Oversight of the SEC (Financial Services)

Driving Affordability: Preserving People’s Freedom to Buy Affordable Vehicles and Fuel (Energy & Commerce)

Artificial Intelligence: Advancing Innovation Towards the National Interest (Science, Space, & Technology)

Responding to Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israel Bias in the UN, Palestinian Authority, and NGO Community (Foreign Affairs)

Reigniting American Growth and Prosperity Series: Incentivizing Economic Excellence Through Tax (Budget)

Using Cutting-Edge Technologies to Keep America Safe (Oversight & Accountability)

Senate Floor

Treaty Document 112-8 Tax Convention with Chile: The treaty would prevent double taxation for U.S. taxpayers and withholding rates on U.S. investments in Chile, consistent with the U.S. Model Tax Treaty. If ratified, this tax treaty will only be the third U.S. tax treaty with a Latin American country.

Press Release (Foreign Relations)

Nominations

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

Natasha C. Merle, of New York, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York
Julie Rikelman, of Massachusetts, to be United States Circuit Judge for the First 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:

Wednesday Hearings

Reauthorization of the Economic Development Administration: State and Local Perspectives (Environment & Public Works)

Dollars and Degrees: Investigating Fossil Fuel Dark Money’s Systemic Threats to Climate and the Federal Budget (Budget)

Protecting Pride: Defending the Civil Rights of LGBTQ+ Americans (Judiciary)

Thursday Hearings

Cattle Supply Chains and Deforestation of the Amazon (Finance)

Examining U.S. and Global Commitments to Combatting Human Trafficking (Foreign Relations)

The Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress (Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs)

Jerome H. Powell, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is testifying

Appropriations

House appropriators are knee-deep in the annual government funding process as they continue to mark up spending bills. This week, the full Appropriations Committee will meet to mark up the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bills for Homeland Security, the Legislative Branch, Defense, and Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies. Last week, the Appropriations Committee adopted 302(b) allocations, or the cap on spending for each of the 12 annual appropriations bills, which are below the topline spending numbers negotiated between the White House and House Republican Leadership in the debt limit deal. In a statement, House Appropriations Chairwoman Granger claimed that the debt limit deal “set a ceiling, not a floor” for the Committee’s bills. The Committee’s new allocations would result in even steeper cuts, up to $189 billion, than approved in the debt limit deal.

Press Release (Rep. Rosa DeLauro)
Democrats fume as House GOP plans steep spending cuts despite debt ceiling deal (The Hill)

NDAA

This week, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) will mark up the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024. The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) is also expected to hold its closed-door markup this week. The markups are expected to address defense policies and authorize defense spending for next year. HASC and SASC will consider President Biden’s defense funding request of $886 billion, which is also the number agreed to in the debt ceiling deal. This is a 3.3% or $28 billion increase from Fiscal Year 2023. Some lawmakers have expressed interest in raising the defense number by 3-5% to match the rate of inflation. HASC is also expected to support an effort to increase service member pay by 5.2%, the largest increase in decades. The HASC markup was originally scheduled for the end of May, but is occurring this week after almost a month-long delay due to debt ceiling negotiations between the White House and House Republican Leadership.

FY2024 NDAA Full Committee Markup (HASC)
FY2024 NDAA Full Committee Markup (SASC)
House lawmakers want 5.2 percent pay raise for troops (The Hill)
Isn’t every day ‘Member Day’? Lawmakers line up with their defense hobby horses (Responsible Statecraft)

SCOTUS Watch: Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard

These two cases challenge the use of race in university admissions. The plaintiffs allege that using race as a factor in admissions violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. These cases were originally consolidated and then were separated out again to allow Judge Jackson to participate in the UNC case (she recused herself in the Harvard case). Both cases were brought by notorious anti-civil rights plaintiffs who are asking the court to overturn Grutter v. Bollinger, a 2003 ruling that allowed universities to consider race in admissions as long as it was “narrowly tailored to further compelling government interests.” The plaintiffs want to ban universities from considering race in admissions at all, something that will drastically reduce opportunities for students of color, dramatically worsen the quality of discussion and learning in universities for all students, and further entrench white supremacy and the legacy of segregation in our school systems. Like Dobbs, this case is asking the court to overturn settled precedent. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on October 31, 2023 and is expected to rule before the end of the month.