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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.

Kaitlyn is also a member of the firm’s Election and Political Law Practice Group. She advises clients on their registration and reporting obligations under the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act, state and local lobbying laws, and the operation and reporting obligations of their connected PACs.

Before joining the firm, Kaitlyn was the Associate Vice President of Client Relations at DDC Advocacy. Prior to working for DDC, Kaitlyn 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.

Contact:Read more about Kaitlyn McClureEmail

Congress enters the home stretch with but few days remaining in the year within which to tackle the remaining must-pass items before the first session of the 114th Congress concludes.  The schedule put out at the beginning of the year had Congress completing its work by December 18, and while members were hoping to get everything done by December 11, the amount of work that still needs to get done this year means that Congress is likely to be back in town for at least some of the week of December 14.

At the top of the list of must-pass bills is an omnibus appropriations bill that will keep the government funded and running beyond the expiration of the current short-term funding on December 11.   Press reports indicate House and Senate leadership and appropriators are still far apart in negotiating the provisions of the spending bill and the policy riders that will be attached. House Democrats reportedly rejected Republicans’ first proposal last week and made a counter-offer on Wednesday evening.  Several proposals related to Syrian refugees and resettlement, repealing provisions of the Affordable Care Act and financial regulations, and energy policy have emerged as hurdles to the completion of a final draft.  The current state of negotiations may require another short-term extension of current funding before midnight on Friday.

While waiting for the omnibus appropriations measure to be resolved, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has indicated a number of other year-end items could come up for a vote this week, including the Senate-passed budget reconciliation bill, which would repeal large portions of the Affordable Care Act and prohibit any federal funding to Planned Parenthood for one year.  Although the House already passed a budget reconciliation bill, it needs to approve the Senate-amended legislation before it can be sent to the White House, where it will most certainly receive a veto from President Obama.  Among other provisions, the reconciliation bill would repeal the authority for the federal government to run healthcare exchanges and  would phase out, over two years, the major expansion of Medicaid that occurred under the law.  The reconciliation measure would also remove the penalty for individuals who do not have insurance and business owners or employers who opt not to provide health insurance. Though the bill will be vetoed, Republicans are likely to use the vote as messaging opportunity in the upcoming election year against the President’s signature accomplishment and against Democratic candidates.
Continue Reading This Week in Congress – December 7, 2015

Congress returns after the week-long Thanksgiving break looking to complete its business for the year and adjourn by December 11.  Much work still needs to be done in order to allow members to achieve that goal.

The December 11 date is when the current short-term funding for the federal government expires thereby requiring that a new appropriations bill be enacted by that date.  The bipartisan budget agreement reached in the waning days of John Boehner’s Speakership in October has made the resolution of an appropriations package much easier, but many obstacles stand in the way of success.  Republicans in both the Senate and the House are demanding that the funding bill include a number of legislative riders, and the Democratic minority in both chambers, backed by the threat of a presidential veto, is resisting those efforts.  Appropriations Committee staff have been meeting to resolve the spending portions of what will be a single omnibus appropriations bill.  They aim to wrap up their portion of the bill this week, allowing leaders in both chambers to negotiate the terms of what riders will get included.  The goal is to have the bill ready for consideration by both chambers at the beginning of next week, allowing one legislative week to resolve the legislation and send it to the President for signature.  Much of the most significant work on Capitol Hill this week will therefore take place, as it often does, behind closed doors, as key members work on resolving the issue of policy riders.

Even as the appropriations process continues largely behind closed doors, the floor activities in each chamber will advance key legislative accomplishments while also giving each party a chance to score rhetorical political points.Continue Reading This Week in Congress – November 30, 2015

After a short respite to observe Veterans Day, members return to Capitol Hill today with Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 appropriations on the agenda and a looming highway authorization deadline on the calendar.

Negotiations over a long-term federal highway and infrastructure bill are headed into the final phase of congressional negotiation.  Congress faces a Friday deadline to complete work on the highway and infrastructure legislation because the current extension expires on November 20 at midnight.  Even though members were largely back in their districts last week, staff for House and Senate conferees appointed to a bicameral conference committee were working to resolve differences between the versions of the long-term highway and infrastructure authorization bills passed by both chambers.  While both versions of the bill reauthorize the highway program for six years, they both provide funding only for the first three years, requiring Congress to come up with the remaining three years of financing.  In addition, differences remain in in the ways each chamber pays for the programs.  Press reports indicate there is optimism that the bicameral committee will produce the conference report on a long-term bill that can be passed by both chambers and sent to the President for signature before the end of the week.  Should any roadblocks appear, it is likely House and Senate leadership will move quickly to pass another short-term extension of current authorization until the conference committee can complete its work.

Appropriations for 2016 will also be on the agenda this week, even though the fiscal year is already well underway.  Passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act in October established topline allocations for discretionary programs, a breakthrough that is allowing the stalled appropriations process to move forward.  Now that a satisfactory budget framework has been established, House and Senate leadership are strategizing on how to complete appropriations work before a December 11 expiration of current funding, but there does not yet appear to be any clear process for moving forward.  Last week the Senate took up and unanimously passed its first appropriations bill this year, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs bill.  The House has already passed six of the twelve annual spending bills and was considering a seventh when it had to be pulled from the floor due to a dispute over the Confederate battle flag.  Chairmen of the House Appropriations Subcommittees whose bills have not yet been considered by the full House have scheduled “listening sessions” with representatives who do not serve on the Appropriations Committee to get input on the remaining spending measures, according to press reports.  New Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has reportedly polled the members of his conference on whether to resume consideration of individual spending bills or proceed with an omnibus bill, and apparently there was widespread support for developing a single omnibus spending bill.Continue Reading This Week in Congress – November 16, 2015