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DC Download 09.18.2023

Congress is running out of time to avoid a shutdown. House Leadership this week is hoping to pass a stop-gap spending bill to provide more time for lawmakers to pass all 12 appropriations bills. Similarly, Senators are considering a minibus package that contains three of the 12 appropriations bills.

Table of Contents:

Care Economy

For too long, a handful of special interest-backed politicians and greedy corporations have put profits ahead of our families. They hand out tax breaks to the wealthiest few instead of funding what our families need, like affordable, quality child care.

Almost $24 billion in COVID emergency federal aid for child care and preschool expires at the end of September. Couple that with Republicans’ proposal to kick 50,000 children out of the Head Start program and we are flirting with a child care crisis that threatens our entire economy.

Senate Democrats have proposed a $16 billion annual increase in funding for child care and early learning programs to address the approaching child care cliff. Join the Progressive Caucus Action Fund and urge your member of Congress to cosponsor the Child Care Stabilization Act for children, families, and our economy!

House Floor

The House will vote on eight suspension bills from the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, Natural Resources, and Energy & Commerce. 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. Res. 684 - Condemning the actions of Governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham, for subverting the Second Amendment to the Constitution and depriving the citizens of New Mexico of their right to bear arms (Sponsored by Rep. Newhouse / Judiciary Committee): The nonbinding resolution would condemn New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) for issuing an emergency public health order suspending the right to carry firearms in the state for at least 30 days. After a court order, the public health order was revised to apply only to public parks and playgrounds in Albuquerque and the surrounding area.

New Mexico governor narrows gun ban to playgrounds, parks in Albuquerque and surrounding county (CNN)

H.R. 4365 – Making appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and for other purposes (Sponsored by Rep. Calvert / Appropriations Committee): The bill would provide $826.4 billion in discretionary funding for Fiscal Year 2024 to the Pentagon and for defense-related activities, $28.7 billion more than the previous year. Some notable provisions include prohibiting travel allowances for service members to access abortion services; banning activities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion; prohibiting activities that promote “critical race theory”; and barring the use of funds for gender-affirming surgeries or hormone therapies.

Bill Report (Appropriations Committee)
Bill Summary (Appropriations Committee)

H.R. 1130 – Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2023 (Sponsored by Rep. Johnson (OH) / Energy and Commerce): The bill would repeal restrictions on imports and exports of liquified natural gas.

Bill Report (Energy & Commerce)

H.R. __- Continuing Appropriations and Border Security Enhancement Act, 2024 (Sponsored by Rep. Donalds / Appropriations Committee): This stop-gap funding bill would keep the government funded for another month with an 8 percent cut across the board, with the exception of the Departments of Defense and Veterans’ Affairs. Notably, the bill includes most of House Republicans’ H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023, which would, among other things, end Health & Human Services funding for legal representation of unaccompanied children and require them to be detained and deported; impose new restrictions on asylum claims, making it almost impossible for migrants to receive asylum; restart the Migrant Protection Protocols and force asylum seekers to wait in Mexico; mandate family detention for all families seeking asylum; slash funds for alternative detention programs; and resume construction of the border wall.

House GOP strikes internal deal as shutdown approaches (The Hill)

House Committee Highlights

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

Tuesday Hearings

The Current State of Disaster Readiness, Response, and Recovery (Transportation & Infrastructure)

Chips on the Table: A one year review of the Chips and Science Act (Science, Space, & Technology)

The Role of Pharmacy Benefit Managers in Prescription Drug Markets Part II: Not What the Doctor Ordered (Oversight & Accountability)

Reduced Care for Patients: Fallout From Flawed Implementation of Surprise Medical Billing Protections (Ways & Means)

Examining Policies to Improve Seniors' Access to Innovative Drugs, Medical Devices, and Technology (Energy & Commerce)

Hearing on EPA’s PM2.5 Proposed Rule (Energy & Commerce)

Defense Cooperation with Taiwan (Armed Services)

Examining Proposed Constitutional Amendments (Judiciary)

A Holistic Review of Regulators: Regulatory Overreach and Economic Consequences (Financial Services)

Hearing on Bidenomics (Oversight & Accountability)

Oversight of United States Capitol Security: Assessing Security Failures on January 6, 2021 (House Administration)

Wednesday Hearings

Industry Perspectives on Defense Innovation and Deterrence (Armed Services)

Republican Border Hearing #747 (Homeland Security)

American Hydropower: Unleashing Reliable, Renewable, Clean Power Across the U.S. (Energy & Commerce)

Oversight of the Federal Election Commission (House Administration)

Oversight of the Department of Transportation’s Policies and Programs

Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of United States Department of Transportation, is testifying

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

Merrick Garland, Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice is testifying

Thursday Hearings

Connecting Every American: The Future of Rural Broadband Funding (Energy & Commerce)

H.R. 4366 – Making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and for other purposes. (Sponsored by Rep. Carter (TX) / Appropriations Committee): The bill is a vehicle for a “minibus” package that includes the Military Construction-VA, Agriculture-FDA, and Transportation-HUD spending bills for Fiscal Year 2024 (3 of 12 spending bills). The bill would provide $155 billion for Military Construction-Veterans Affairs; $26 billion for the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, and includes full funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and $6.3 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and $99 billion for the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Senate’s initial batch of funding bills overcomes first procedural hurdle (The Hill)

Nominations

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

Vernon D. Oliver, of Connecticut, to be United States District Judge for the District of Connecticut
Rita F. Lin, 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:

Tuesday Hearings

Aging in Place: The Vital Role of Home Health in Access to Care (Finance)

Evading Accountability: Corporate Manipulation of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy (Judiciary)

Advanced Technology: Examining Threats to National Security (Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs)

Advancing Intelligence in the Era of Artificial Intelligence: Addressing the National Security Implications of AI (Intelligence)

Wednesday Hearings

Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services (Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs)

Child Care Since the Pandemic: Macroeconomic Impacts of Public Policy Measures (Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs)

Reducing Inequality, Fueling Growth: How Public Investment Promotes Prosperity for All (Budget)

Growing the Economy Of the Future: Job Training For the Clean Energy Transition (Joint Economic Committee)

Hearing to Examine Drought Impacts on Drinking Water Access and Water Availability (Energy & Natural Resources)

Drinking Water Infrastructure and Tribal Communities (Environment & Public Works)

Invisible Wounds of War: Improving Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Measures for our Nation’s Veterans (Veterans’ Affairs)

Government Funding

House lawmakers returned to Washington, D.C. last week ready to tackle their top priority — funding the government and avoiding a shutdown at the end of the month. But with the deadline 12 days away, there has not been much progress. The House last week was slated to vote on the bill to fund the Department of Defense, but Republican leadership pulled the bill from consideration after some conservative lawmakers demanded steeper budget cuts in other areas outside of defense. The bill is now expected to be considered this week. At the same time, House Leadership is expected to bring up a stop-gap spending bill, otherwise known as a continuing resolution (CR), to fund the government for another month and provide time for Congress to pass all 12 appropriations bills. The CR would also institute an 8 percent budget cut across the board (DoD and the VA are exempt) and includes most of H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023, the House Republican immigration bill that would severely restrict immigration, mandate family detention, and resume construction of the border wall, among other things. Meanwhile, the Senate last week agreed to combine three of the 12 bills into one minibus package that the Senate will vote on this week. The minibus package includes the Military Construction-VA, Agriculture-FDA, and Transportation-HUD spending bills for Fiscal Year 2024.