A shorter-than-usual column for what is almost certain to be the final week of legislative business in 2015.  While much has been accomplished this year, one major legislative obstacle remains: passage of a $1.1 trillion omnibus appropriations measure for Fiscal Year 2016.

With Hanukah underway and the Christmas holiday approaching, Members are eager to wrap up business and get out of Washington.  Nonetheless, negotiations on the omnibus spending measure broke down last week, requiring Congress to enact a five-day extension of federal funding until December 16.  Although negotiations on the spending bill have resumed and continued through the weekend, it seems Republican and Democratic leadership and the Administration are still at odds over several policy issues and funding levels to be included in the final bill.  Policy riders related to Syrian and Iraqi refugees and resettlement, energy policy, and the repeal of financial regulations and provisions of the Affordable Care Act remain unresolved.

Press reports indicate that House and Senate negotiators are hoping to release the text of a final bill on Monday and swiftly pass the legislation through both chambers by Wednesday.  It is possible that negotiations could drag on even longer, requiring another stopgap funding measure before an agreement can be reached.  Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) told reporters last week “I’m not going to put a deadline on it.  I want to make sure that these negotiations are done well and done right, and not by some arbitrary deadline.”  If another stop-gap bill is required and negotiations have not adequately progressed, it is likely the next stop-gap bill may provide funding into January, allowing Members to go home for Christmas and New Year.

Policy riders and spending levels are not the only issues in the mix.  It remains unclear whether Republican leadership will link floor consideration of the omnibus bill to a package of tax extenders legislation.  Over the past several weeks, Republicans have been working with Democrats to develop a bipartisan deal on a number expiring tax provisions before the end of the year, and their negotiations have become intertwined with discussions of the omnibus spending measure.  The proposal being discussed would make a number of tax breaks permanent, including several incentives for businesses, and temporarily extend other tax credits.  Negotiations on the bill are still ongoing.  Republicans are seeking to use either the spending bill or the tax bill to eliminate the ban on oil exports.  Democrats insist on concessions to a list of their priorities in order to make a deal on oil exports.  These priorities include making permanent renewable energy tax credits and the earned income and child tax credits and indexing the child tax credit so that it rises with inflation.  All of these proposals face stiff opposition.   Environmentalists oppose lifting the crude oil ban.  Conservatives oppose the indexing of the child tax credit, although they may go along with it if the availability of the credit is tightened to reduce the enormous fraud in the program.  In addition, many Republicans oppose the extension of tax credits for  renewable energy sources, arguing that after many years these sources have reached the point at which they have to be able to compete in the marketplace without preferential tax treatment, to which many Democrats riposte that oil and coal producers enjoy an array of tax preferences.  A late challenge that ensure failure is House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s insistence at the end of last week that the tax bill be fully paid for, which would require increases in revenue to offset the costs of the tax credits approved in the bill.  Even though many members would like to see a bipartisan tax package materialize, if negotiators cannot reach an agreement that will pass both chambers, they may opt to instead pass a clean, two-year extension of current tax breaks to provide some certainty to businesses and people seeking to engage in future tax planning.  A clean extension would leave the issues for resolution by a new Congress and the next President.

While waiting for the final details of the omnibus deal and tax legislation to emerge, both chambers will work through several other year-end legislative items.  The Senate is scheduled to return on Monday with votes expected on four Department of Defense nominations.  The Senate is then likely to turn to consideration of the conference report to the trade enforcement and customs bill, passed by the House on Friday by a vote of 256-158.  The conference report on the trade enforcement and customs bill is the final piece of a major four-part trade package, which included trade promotion authority, that was considered by Congress earlier this year.  Added to the bill by the conferees is a permanent extension of the federal ban on state and local taxes on Internet access.  That provision, widely popular, has caused bricks-and-mortar retailers to oppose the bill, because they had hoped to piggy-back legislation allowing states to impose sales taxes on Internet purchases to the  Internet access-tax legislation.  Despite retailer opposition, the Senate is expected to pass the conference report and the President is expected to sign it.

The House returns to session on Tuesday and is expected to consider two bills under suspension, including one, H.R. 3654, by Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) to address terrorists’ use of social media.  On Wednesday, the House is scheduled to consider half a dozen bills under suspension, some that had been scheduled for consideration last week but were postponed. The House may also decide to tackle the Senate-passed budget reconciliation bill that repeals provisions of the Affordable Care Act, although that bill is not currently noted on the House calendar for the week.  The modest pace of legislative activity on the House floor reflects the fact that this week is all about the spending and tax bills.

Due to the anticipation of a mid-week adjournment in both chambers if the omnibus measure and a tax-extenders bill are approved, very few congressional committees have scheduled hearings this week.  The brief calendar of events is included below:

Monday, December 14, 2015

House Committees

Mining Education Legislation

House Natural Resources – Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources

Subcommittee Field Hearing

12 p.m., Colorado School of Mines Experimental Mine, 365 8th Avenue, Idaho Springs, CO

 

Senate Committees

Keeping the Promise for Arizona Veterans: The VA Choice Card, Management

Senate Veterans’ Affairs

Full Committee Field Hearing

9 a.m. (11 a.m. EST), Gilbert Town Hall, 50 East Civic Center Drive, Gilbert, AZ

 

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Senate Committees

Pending Nominations

Senate Armed Services

Full Committee Hearing

9:30 a.m., G-50 Dirksen Bldg.

 

Is Transition Assistance On Track?

Senate Veterans’ Affairs

Full Committee Hearing

2:30 p.m., 418 Russell Bldg.

 

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

House Committees

Examining the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Mass Data Collection Program

House Financial Services – Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Subcommittee Hearing

10:30 a.m., 2128 Rayburn Bldg.

 

The Future of U.S.-Pakistan Relations

House Foreign Affairs

Full Committee Hearing

10 a.m., 2172 Rayburn Bldg.

 

Egypt Two Years After Morsi (Part II)

House Foreign Affairs – Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa

Subcommittee Hearing

1 p.m., 2172 Rayburn Bldg.

 

Merit Systems Protection Board, Office of Government Ethics, and Office of Special Council Reauthorization

House Oversight and Government Reform – Subcommittee on Government Operations

Subcommittee Hearing

10 a.m., 2154 Rayburn Bldg.

 

Senate Committees

The Administration’s Strategy in Afghanistan

Senate Foreign Relations

Full Committee Hearing

2:30 p.m., 419 Dirksen Bldg.

 

Thursday, December 17, 2015

House Committees

Terrorist Travel: Vetting for National Security Concerns

House Oversight & Government Reform

Full Committee Hearing

9:00 a.m., 2154 Rayburn Bldg.

 

Senate Committees

The Status of JCPOA Implementation and Related Issues

Senate Foreign Relations

Full Committee Hearing

9:30 a.m., 419 Dirksen Bldg.

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Photo of Kaitlyn McClure Kaitlyn McClure

Kaitlyn McClure is a policy advisor in Covington’s Public Policy Practice, leveraging her experience in government and politics to provide strategic advisory services and support to clients with legislative matters before government agencies and Congress.

Before joining the firm, Ms. McClure was the…

Kaitlyn McClure is a policy advisor in Covington’s Public Policy Practice, leveraging her experience in government and politics to provide strategic advisory services and support to clients with legislative matters before government agencies and Congress.

Before joining the firm, Ms. McClure was the Associate Vice President of Client Relations at DDC Advocacy. Prior to working for DDC, Ms. McClure served as the strategy assistant for former presidential candidate Governor Mitt Romney. Her experience also includes working in the U.S. Senate as a legislative assistant for Republican Senators John Hoeven of North Dakota and Judd Gregg of New Hampshire.