Following a 6-week recess for contentious campaign season leading up to a dramatic election day whose outcome surprised most in Washington, members of the 114th Congress return this week to begin the lame duck session. It will be a brief return to legislative business, as both chambers are scheduled to adjourn again at the end of the week through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Although floor activity and hearings are scheduled on both sides of the Capitol, the focus this week will be on organizational and administrative meetings behind the scenes in preparation for the December work period and in advance of the start of the 115th Congress in January.
Beyond the politics and organizing for next year, the lame duck session will be dominated by two “must-pass” items of legislation: a funding mechanism to keep the government running beyond the current December 9 expiration of the current continuing resolution and the annual defense authorization bill. Legislatively, the House and Senate this week will continue efforts to negotiate a path forward on those two items when Congress returns to complete its work following Thanksgiving.
The primary order of business this week is the election of next year’s leadership teams. No major leadership changes are expected for House and Senate Republicans, who maintained the majority in both chambers in the election on November 8. House Republicans are scheduled to hold their leadership vote on Tuesday, while House Democrats will hold their leadership vote on Thursday. Senate Democrats are scheduled to vote on Wednesday for their new party leaders. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has long been the presumed successor to retiring Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) to the post of Minority Leader. The only unknown among the Democratic conference is whether Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) will challenge current Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) for the number two spot in leadership. Press reports indicate Senator Murray has not publicly disclosed whether she will challenge Senator Durbin, but reports are that she has been conferring with colleagues on whether she would enjoy their support if she sought the position.
Other than the leadership elections taking place, it is unclear what the Senate will pursue in terms of floor activity this week.
On the other side of the Capitol, the House is scheduled to return on Monday when it will take up under suspension of the rules eight bills reported out of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Members will meet again on Tuesday to consider four additional bills, reported out of the Foreign Affairs Committee, under suspension of the rules. One of these bills is the Iran Sanctions Extension Act (ISA). The current Iran Sanctions Act, which authorizes sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic missile tests, is scheduled to expire at the end of this year. There is considerable support in Congress to maintain the authority for sanctions on Iran. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) is set to introduce the text of a 10-year extension bill this week. It remains to be seen whether the text will be a clean extension of the current law, or if Republicans will attempt to add additional sanctions, which could prompt Democratic opposition and perhaps a veto threat from the President, should any newly added provisions undermine the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program adopted last year. Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) indicated earlier this year that the Senate could perhaps pass a clean extension of the sanctions act by unanimous consent, but adding new sanctions would prompt a Democratic filibuster.
On Wednesday, the House is scheduled to begin consideration of additional legislation regarding Iran, H.R. 5711. This bill would prohibit U.S. financial institutions from facilitating the sale of commercial aircraft to Iran. Introduced by Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI), the legislation is aimed at preventing Boeing’s sale of passenger jets to Iran after the company announced in June it had signed an agreement to sell 80 airliners worth $17.6 billion to Iran Air, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2017. Boeing is also expected to lease a number of 737s to Iran Air. The transaction is permissible following the adoption of the JCPOA and the subsequent easing of sanctions in accordance with that agreement. Many members of Congress remain concerned about American companies conducting business with nations identified by the State Department as sponsors of terrorism. Consideration of H.R. 5711 will be subject to a rule.
Members will also take up H.R. 5982, the Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2016, subject to a rule. “Midnight regulations” refer to agency regulations issued during a President’s final days in office. Such rules have been highly controversial at the end of the past several administrations, with Democrats crying foul prior to the onset of the Clinton and Obama presidencies and Republicans doing the same prior to the start of the George W. Bush administration and now the incoming Trump administration. Sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and reported favorably out of the House Judiciary Committee by a 15-5 vote, H.R. 5982 would amend the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to allow en bloc disapproval of multiple regulations issued by a President in his final year in office. Under current law, Congress is authorized to use the CRA to disapprove of one regulation at a time.
No votes are expected in the House on Friday.
There is a light hearing schedule for congressional committees this week, but there are several events worth noting.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Mary Jo White will appear before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday morning. The hearing will review the SEC’s agenda, operations, and Fiscal Year 2018 budget request.
Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen will provide testimony on the economic outlook to the Joint Economic Committee on Thursday morning.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is scheduled to hold an oversight hearing of the U.S. Secret Service on Tuesday morning. The committee is no doubt interested in security measures in place for the upcoming transition between administrations, but the hearing is also expected to cover the agency’s response to numerous internal scandals that have occurred over the past several years, including the agency’s data breach and leak of personal information belonging to Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) last year. A recent report issued by the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Homeland Security detailed “a myriad of problems with Secret Service’s IT management.
Relatedly, the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Information Technology will hold a hearing Wednesday morning regarding federal cybersecurity following the data breach at the Office of Personnel and Management that was revealed in 2015. The hearing is expected to focus on agency technology infrastructure used to secure sensitive data.
Also on Wednesday morning, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade will hold a joint hearing with the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology regarding the role of interconnected devices in recent cyber attacks. A distributed denial of service attack in October that rendered Amazon, Twitter, Netflix and dozens of other major websites unavailable exposed a significant security flaw and the need for improved cybersecurity for internet-connected devices. Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and full committee Ranking Member Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission earlier this month requesting that the agency “call on [Internet of Things] device manufacturers to implement security measures, including patching vulnerabilities and requiring consumers to change the default passwords on devices during the set-up process.”
The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development will both be holding hearings on self-driving vehicles. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Administrator Mark Rosekind will be appearing before the House subcommittee on Tuesday and the Senate subcommittee on Wednesday. Both hearings are expected to cover the “Federal Autonomous Vehicles Policy” guidelines that NHTSA released in September.
The details for these hearings and other events scheduled this week are included below:
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
House Committees
Disrupter Series: Self-Driving Cars
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade
Subcommittee Hearing
10:30 a.m., 2322 Rayburn HOB
Examining the SEC’s Agenda, Operations, and FY 2018 Budget Request
House Financial Services
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m., 2128 Rayburn HOB
Central Wasatch National Conservation and Recreation Area Act
House Natural Resources – Subcommittee on Federal Lands
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m.
Secret Service Oversight
House Oversight and Government Reform
Full Committee Hearing
10:30 a.m., 2154 Rayburn HOB
Ongoing Intelligence Activities
House Select Intelligence
Full Committee Hearing (CLOSED)
10 a.m.
Legislative Hearing on H.R. 866 and H.R. 1484
House Natural Resources – Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
Subcommittee Hearing
11:30 a.m.
Pending Legislation
House Natural Resources
Full Committee Markup
4 p.m.
Senate Committees
Taub/Action Nominations (Postal Regulatory Commission)
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Full Committee Hearing
2:30 p.m., 342 Dirksen SOB
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
House Committees
Past Present and Future of SNAP: Opportunities for Improving Access to Food
House Agriculture
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.
Understanding the Role of Connected Devices in Recent Cyber Attacks
House Energy and Commerce – Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade; Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
Joint Subcommittees Hearing
10 a.m., 2322 Rayburn HOB
Modernizing Appraisals: A Regulatory Review and the Future of the Industry
House Financial Services – Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 2128 Rayburn HOB
Pending Legislation
House Natural Resources
Full Committee Markup
10 a.m.
Pending Business
House Oversight and Government Reform
Full Committee Markup
9 a.m.
2020 Census: Outcomes of the Census 2016 Site Test
House Oversight and Government Reform – Subcommittee on Government Operations
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 2247 Rayburn HOB
Federal Cybersecurity After the OPM Data Breach: Have Agencies Learned Their Lesson?
House Oversight and Government Reform – Subcommittee on Information Technology
Subcommittee Hearing
10 a.m., 2157 Rayburn HOB
Senate Committees
Future of Nuclear Power
Senate Appropriations – Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
Subcommittee Hearing
2:30 p.m., 138 Dirksen SOB
The Automated and Self-Driving Vehicle Revolution: What Is the Role of Government?
Senate Appropriations – Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
Subcommittee Hearing
2:30 p.m., 192 Dirksen SOB
Exploring Augmented Reality
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Full Committee Hearing
3 p.m., 253 Russell SOB
Thursday, November 17, 2106
House Committees
Intelligence Community Support to the US Department of Defense
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Full Committee Hearing (OPEN)
9 a.m.
Senate Committees
Intelligence Matters
Senate Select Intelligence
Full Committee Briefing
2 p.m.
Joint Committees
The Economic Outlook
Joint Economic
Full Committee Hearing
10 a.m.