Congress will be focusing on two major deadlines this week, as members stare down the July 31 expiration of the current highway program and start the clock, set by bipartisan legislation approved earlier this year on review and consideration of the multilateral nuclear deal reached last week with Iran.
The Senate is scheduled to return on Tuesday with a cloture vote scheduled on H.R. 22, the legislative vehicle for the Senate version of a multi-year highway-funding reauthorization. The current extension expires July 31, leaving Congress once again scrambling to produce a long-term reauthorization that is adequately funded, or continue enacting short-term extensions. The House unexpectedly trumped the Senate by moving first on a highway bill last week, passing legislation by a vote of 312-119. The House-passed bill would provide for a five-month extension of the current program, using $8 billion in offsets, largely from enhanced tax-compliance measures, that will supplement Highway Trust Fund receipts derived from the gas tax. Republican leadership supported the measure, hoping the short-term extension will allow Congress more time to negotiate a longer-term reauthorization in the coming months.
Across the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is aiming for the Senate to produce a multi-year proposal, which is strongly supported by Senate Democrats, who have threatened to oppose another short-term extension of the highway program. Republicans and Democrats are engaged in talks to find sufficient support for such a bill. Last week, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) offered offsets of $80 billion to pay for a six-year highway bill. Many of the components of the proposal were immediately attacked by different senators. Included among Chairman Hatch’s offsets was a proposal to save $32 billion from changes to federal employee retirement programs, which was promptly attacked by Democratic senators, and a proposal to save $17 billion from a reduction in interest paid to banks by the Federal Reserve, which was promptly opposed by Fed Chairman Janet Yellen and Senate Banking Committee Chairman RIchard Shelby (R-AL). Although other portions of Chairman Hatch’s proposed offsets are less controversial, with an increase in the federal gas tax off the table due to opposition from Republican leaders in both chambers, it remains unclear if the Senate can reach a consensus before July 31 on the funding for a long-term highway bill. If not, it is likely to follow the House and approve an extension to the end of the year, during which time leaders in both chambers will continue to look for funding mechanisms, including the possibility of some type of international corporate tax reform, to cover the cost of a long-term highway bill.
As has been widely discussed for weeks, the Senate highway bill is the likely vehicle for consideration of the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank, which technically expired at the end of June. In a test vote last month, more than 60 senators voted in favor of extending the Bank’s charter, showing that Bank proponents have the votes needed to cut off a filibuster, which has been threatened by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), a vocal critic of the Bank. Inclusion of the Bank’s reauthorization will make a short-term highway bill more palatable to Democrats in both chambers. House Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) have expressed their opposition to including the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank in the highway bill.
The House has a very light schedule this week and its upcoming agenda is unknown, largely due to patent-litigation reform and Interior Appropriations measures being scrapped from floor consideration. As highlighted in last week’s column, the House has not yet found a strategy for moving forward with consideration of the Interior-Environment Appropriations bill, which ended prematurely in a dispute over the Confederate battle flag. Also noteworthy is the continued absence of the patent-litigation reform bill, H.R. 9, from the floor schedule. H.R. 9 had initially been included for July action in Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s planned schedule for the month after a lopsided vote in favor of the bill in the Judiciary Committee.. Press reports indicate that rising opposition to the bill from various industries has weakened support for the bill and resulted in a postponement of the bill’s consideration until after the August recess in order to allow bill sponsor, Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) to rebuild support for the measure, which had passed in the previous Congress with 325 votes in favor. With little on the House schedule and a short-term extension of the highway program passed, it may be a strategic move for House leadership to adjourn for the scheduled August recess at the end of this week instead of the following week to preclude the Senate from sending a new version of the highway bill, with the Export-Import Bank extension included in it, back to the House for consideration. Such a maneuver would force the Senate simply to accept the short-term, House-passed highway bill and leave supporters of the Export-Import Bank in both chambers struggling to find another must-pass vehicle for their effort to restore the Bank’s charter, which would have to await September, at the earliest.
The House is scheduled to return on Tuesday and take up four non-controversial bills under suspension of the rules. On Wednesday, the House will turn to H.R. 1734, the Improving Coal Combustion Residuals Regulation Act of 2015. The bill would eliminate the implementation issues associated with the Environmental Protection Agency’s final rule on coal ash and set up enforceable state permitting programs. After that bill, the House is expected to take up H.R. 1599, the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015. This legislation would require a national standard for labeling laws related to genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) in foods, rather than the patchwork of state laws that have been enacted or are under consideration by state legislatures across the country.
The VA Accountability Act, H.R. 1994, an oversight and reform proposal for the Department of Veterans Affairs, may also be considered by the House this week. Among other provisions, this bill would further curtail employee-appeal rights for VA employees faced with termination. Additionally, there is potential for the House to take up a bill tackling comprehensive energy policy, currently being crafted by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and legislation to increase transparency in the federal regulatory process. Two other items that could be considered this week, depending on whether bicameral conference committees can wrap up their work, are the conference report on customs enforcement legislation and the conference report on the National Defense Authorization Act.
Off the floor, much of the debate on the Hill this week will be centered on the Iran Nuclear Agreement, reached by international negotiators last week. The Obama Administration will be ramping up its lobbying efforts to drum up congressional support for the agreement. Press reports indicate that Vice President Joe Biden and the President’s deputy National Security Advisor, Ben Rhodes, have already begun briefings with Democratic members, who will be crucial to congressional approval of the agreement. As established by the Iran Nuclear Review Act (P.L. 114-17), the Administration has five days to certify the international agreement and present it to Congress. The House and Senate then have 60 days to review and consider the agreement, and ultimately vote for approval or disapproval. President Obama has pledged to “veto any legislation that prevents the successful implementation of this deal.” While House Republicans may have enough votes to pass a resolution of disapproval to block the deal should the majority decide not to support it, Senate Republicans would have to peel off a number of Democrats in order to pass a disapproval resolution. And if a disapproval resolution can be passed by both chambers, it is not clear whether enough Democrats in either the Senate or the House would support an effort to override a presidential veto. Even though a vote is not expected until members return from recess in September, both chambers will start their review of the deal this week. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on Thursday, with Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, and Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew appearing as witnesses. Prior to the hearing, it is expected that Secretaries Kerry, Moniz, and Lew will hold a closed-door briefing of the nuclear agreement for all Senators. On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee will meet to discuss the Iran agreement and its potential effect on terrorist financing.
Immigration policy will be the focus of other committee activity this week, following the fatal shooting of a San Francisco woman over the Fourth of July weekend by a person with a felonious history who was in the country illegally and who is reported to have been deported from the U.S. five times. The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet on Tuesday to discuss immigration enforcement and public safety, while the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security will hold a Thursday hearing on sanctuary cities, i.e., those communities that have policies in place declining to assist or actively defying federal immigration laws and orders. San Francisco is one such city.
The Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday will take up the nomination of General Mark A. Milley, to be Chief Of Staff of the Army. With the Army about to shrink from 490,000 to 450,000 soldiers, its smallest size since World War Two, Gen. Milley will face a daunting task if he is confirmed, as is expected.
Finally, there is a the prospect that a conference committee will be organized on legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as No Child Left Behind. Both chambers have now passed reauthorization legislation, a significant accomplishment, given that Congress has been unable to generate a rewrite of NCLB since its expiration in 2007. The conference committee will have many difficult issues to work out, because the bills are very different, with the House having passed with only Republican support a measure that strictly limits the federal role in schools, while the Senate was able to produce a much more bipartisan product.
A full schedule of House and Senate hearings is detailed below:
Monday, July 20, 2015
Senate Committees
Milwaukee School Program
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Full Committee Field Hearing
July 20, 6 p.m., Krier Center, St. Marcus Lutheran School, 2215 N. Palmer St., Milwaukee, Wis.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
House Committees
VA Procurement Issues
House Veterans’ Affairs – Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Subcommittee Hearing
4 p.m., 334 Cannon Bldg.
D.C. Metro Safety Assessment
House Oversight and Government Reform – Subcommittee on Government Operations; House Oversight and Government Reform – Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets
Subcommittees Joint Hearing
5 p.m., 2154 Rayburn Bldg.
Senate Committees
Army Chief of Staff Nomination
Senate Armed Services
Full Committee Confirmation Hearing
9:30 a.m., 216 Hart Bldg.
Immigration Enforcement and Public Safety
Senate Judiciary
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 226 Dirksen Bldg.
Labor Department Issues
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions – Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety
Subcommittee Hearing
2:30 p.m., 430 Dirksen Bldg.
U.S. Ambassador Nominations
Senate Foreign Relations
Full Committee Confirmation Hearing
2:30 p.m., 419 Dirksen Bldg.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
House Committees
Agriculture Department Oversight
House Agriculture
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 1300 Longworth Bldg.
Federal Reserve Proposals
House Financial Services – Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 2128 Rayburn Bldg.
Social Cost of Carbon
House Natural Resources
Full Committee Oversight Hearing
10 a.m., 1324 Longworth Bldg.
Tax Compliance and Small Businesses
House Small Business
Full Committee Hearing
11 a.m., 2360 Rayburn Bldg.
Brownfields Program
House Transportation and Infrastructure – Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 2167 Rayburn Bldg.
Veterans Health Measures
House Veterans’ Affairs – Subcommittee on Health
Subcommittee Markup
10 a.m., 334 Cannon Bldg.
MedPAC Issues
House Ways and Means – Subcommittee on Health
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., B-318 Rayburn Bldg.
Broadband Infrastructure Investment
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
Subcommittee Hearing
2:30 p.m., 2322 Rayburn Bldg.
Iran Deal and Terrorism Financing
House Financial Services
Full Committee Hearing
2 p.m., 2128 Rayburn Bldg.
U.S. Commerce in Africa and Middle East
House Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m., 2172 Rayburn Bldg.
The Crisis in Burundi
House Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m., 2200 Rayburn Bldg.
Land Use Bills
House Natural Resources – Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m., 1334 Longworth Bldg.
Senate Committees
Financial Stability Oversight Council
Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs – Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 538 Dirksen Bldg.
Transportation Department Nomination
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Full Committee Confirmation Hearing
10 a.m., 253 Russell Bldg.
Higher Education Reauthorization
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 430 Dirksen Bldg.
U.S. Electric Grid Issues
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 342 Dirksen Bldg.
Judiciary Nominations
Senate Judiciary
Full Committee Confirmation Hearing
10 a.m., 226 Dirksen Bldg.
Tax Compliance Overhaul
Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 428A Russell Bldg.
Supreme Court Activism
Senate Judiciary – Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts
Subcommittee Hearing
1:30 p.m., 226 Dirksen Bldg.
Indian Gaming Issues
Senate Indian Affairs
Full Committee Oversight Hearing
2:15 p.m., 216 Hart Bldg.
Indian Affairs Measures
Senate Indian Affairs
Full Committee Markup
2:15 p.m., 216 Hart Bldg.
Medicare Provider Enrollment Fraud
Senate Special Aging
Full Committee Hearing
2:15 p.m., 562 Dirksen Bldg.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
House Committees
Obama Administration’s Overtime Proposal
House Education and the Workforce – Subcommittee on Workforce Protections
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 2175 Rayburn Bldg.
Banking Capital and Liquidity Issues
House Financial Services
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 2128 Rayburn Bldg.
‘Sanctuary Cities’
House Judiciary – Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 2141 Rayburn Bldg.
National Parks Outlook
House Natural Resources – Subcommittee on Federal Lands
Subcommittee Oversight Hearing
10 a.m., 1324 Longworth Bldg.
Water Management Bills
House Natural Resources – Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans
Subcommittee Hearing
10:30 a.m., 1334 Longworth Bldg.
National Park Service Concessions
House Oversight and Government Reform – Subcommittee on the Interior
Subcommittee Hearing
9 a.m., 2154 Rayburn Bldg.
Ex-Im Bank
House Oversight and Government Reform
Full Committee Hearing
Noon, 2154 Rayburn Bldg.
EPA Renewable Fuel Mandate
House Science, Space and Technology – Subcommittee on Energy; House Science, Space and Technology – Subcommittee on Oversight
Committee Joint Hearing
10 a.m., 2318 Rayburn Bldg.
Ongoing Intelligence Activities
House Select Intelligence – Department of Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture Subcommittee
Subcommittee Hearing
9 a.m., HVC-304 Capitol Visitor Center
Small Businesses and App Technology
House Small Business – Subcommittee on Health and Technology
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 2360 Rayburn Bldg.
IRS Audit Selection Process
House Ways and Means – Subcommittee on Oversight
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 1100 Longworth Bldg.
U.S.-South China Sea Security
House Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
Subcommittee Hearing
2172 Rayburn Bldg.
Terrorism and U.S.-Russia Relations
House Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m., 2255 Rayburn Bldg.
Mexico and North American Energy
House Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
Subcommittee Hearing
2 p.m., 2200 Rayburn Bldg.
Senate Committees
U.S. Bank Holding Companies
Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
9:30 a.m., 538 Dirksen Bldg.
Finance Nominations
Senate Finance
Full Committee Confirmation Hearing
10 a.m., 215 Dirksen Bldg.
Health Information Technology
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 430 Dirksen Bldg.
General Services Administration Nomination
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Full Committee Confirmation Hearing
10 a.m., 342 Dirksen Bldg.
Iran Nuclear Agreement Review
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Full Committee Hearing
TBD
Friday July 24, 2015
House Committees
Hazardous Waste E-Manifest Law Implementation
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy
Subcommittee Hearing
9 a.m., 2322 Rayburn Bldg.
Health Law State Insurance Marketplaces
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Subcommittee Hearing
9:15 a.m., 2123 Rayburn Bldg.
DATA Act Implementation
House Oversight and Government Reform – Subcommittee on Information Technology
Subcommittee Hearing
9:30 a.m., 2154 Rayburn Bldg.
Public and Private Sector Cybersecurity
House Science, Space and Technology – Subcommittee on Research and Technology; House Science, Space and Technology – Subcommittee on Oversight
Subcommittees Joint Hearing
9 a.m., 2318 Rayburn Bldg.