Senate Legislative Activity The Senate will convene at 10:30 am on Tuesday, March 21. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business for one hour, with Republicans controlling the first half and Democrats controlling the final half. After morning business, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session for the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Sonny Perdue to Testify Before Senate Agriculture Committee It’s official; Sonny Perdue is scheduled to testify before the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee on Thursday, March 23 – exactly nine weeks following President Trump’s formal announcement naming Perdue as his pick to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Over the past … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate will convene at 2:00 pm today, March 13. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of the nomination of Seema Verma, nominated to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, post-cloture; all time on the nomination will expire at 5:30pm and the Senate will vote … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Sonny Perdue One Step Closer to Agriculture Secretary Nearly eight weeks ago, President Trump announced his intention for Sonny Perdue, former two-term governor of Georgia, to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Senate has yet to confirm two of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees, which include Perdue and Alex Acosta for the … Continue Reading
Council adopts EU rules on Medical Devices On March 7 2017, the Council of the EU adopted rules which would be contributing to the safety of medical devices in the EU. These rules comprise of two proposals, a Regulation on Medical Devices and a Regulation on Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices. The adopted rules will give … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate stands adjourned until today, March 6 at 2:00 pm. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of H.J.Res.37, disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration relating to the Federal Acquisition Regulation, with the time until … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Homeland Security and Agriculture Issues Intersect: Agro-Terrorism Bills Introduced in Both Chambers; House Committee to Hold Markup This week, the House Homeland Security Committee will mark up a bill, H.R. 1238, the “Securing Our Agriculture and Food Act,” introduced on February 28 by Reps. David Young (R-IA), Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ), and Daniel … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate convenes today, February 27, at 12:00pm. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session and resume consideration of the nomination of Wilbur Ross, to be Secretary of Commerce. At 3:00pm, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) will be recognized to deliver Washington’s Farewell Address. Following the reading of Washington’s … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity 2018 Farm Bill Hearings Officially Underway; Kansas’ “Big First” Representative Roger Marshall Welcomes Panelists Last week, leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee – Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) – traveled to Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, to kick off the first 2018 Farm Bill hearing. The discussion … Continue Reading
European Parliament approves the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) The European Parliament’s plenary approved on February 15 2017 the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), concluding the ratification process of this deal in the EU. Once the agreement is also ratified by the Canadian side, it will enter into force provisionally. CETA … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate stands adjourned until 12:00pm today, February 13. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will enter Executive Session and resume consideration of the nomination of Steven Mnuchin to be Secretary of the Treasury. There are seven hours of post-cloture debate time remaining. Upon the use or yielding back of time, the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Agriculture Committee to Debate SNAP Purchase Restrictions This week, the House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing to explore the effects of restricting certain purchases for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients. The committee will hear from five witnesses representing varied backgrounds. The witnesses are said to represent the American Enterprise Institute, … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate stands adjourned until 12:00pm today, February 6. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of the nomination of Betsy DeVos to be Secretary of Education. The confirmation vote on the DeVos nomination is expected on Tuesday, February 7. Procedural votes are possible tonight around 6:00pm. As a reminder, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Outlook for the 115th Congress On Tuesday, January 31, the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee – led by Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) – held a brief business meeting to adopt the committee’s rules and funding resolution for the 115th Congress. Chairman Roberts announced that a separate … Continue Reading
Energy Union Progress Report The European Commission published on February 1 its second progress report on the State of the Energy Union. The updated Energy Union Roadmap was also issued, as well as the 5-dimensions of the Energy Union and the key indicators for progress on the Energy Union. According to the report, Europe is … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate will convene today, January 30, at 3:00pm. Following any leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:00pm. At 5:00pm, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to resume consideration of Executive Calendar #2, the nomination of Rex Tillerson to be Secretary of State. There … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Agriculture Committee to Hold Organizational Meeting On Wednesday, February 1, the House Agriculture Committee will convene for a business meeting to consider, and likely adopt, measures intended to guide and organize the committee during the 115th Congress. During the committee’s formal organizational meeting, members will consider the rules, oversight plan, and staff … Continue Reading
With President Trump in the White House and Republicans in control of the House and the Senate, renewed attention is being given to the Congressional Review Act (CRA) as a tool to roll back a broad range of Obama Administration regulations. This legislative mechanism has been rarely used, but will provide an opportunity for a … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate will convene on Monday, January 23, at 3:00pm. Following any leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to resume consideration of the nomination of Mike Pompeo to be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. There will be up to six hours of debate, equally divided, followed by a … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Sonny Perdue Selected for USDA Secretary With the selection of Sonny Perdue, former two-term governor of Georgia, to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), President Trump’s Cabinet picks are complete. Perdue must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a simple majority vote before his position as USDA Secretary is official. As … Continue Reading
European Parliament Elects New President The European Parliament elected Antonio Tajani (European People’s Party, Italy) with 351 votes as the new President on January 17 for a two year and a half term. Furthermore, the European Parliament elected 14 Vice-Presidents, responsible for chairing debates when the President is absent as well as 5 Quaestors to deal … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate will convene on Tuesday, January 17 at 3:00pm. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 4:15pm. At 4:15pm, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will be discharged from further consideration of H.R.72, GAO Access and Oversight Act. There will be 30 … Continue Reading
Malta Taking Over the Rotating Council Presidency The Presidency of the Council of the EU is rotating every six months among the EU Member States. The Presidencies are held by a group of three Member States which are rotating per semester. The Council’s Presidency is responsible to set up the agendas and to determine the … Continue Reading
Senate Activity The Senate will convene on Monday, January 9 at 2:00pm. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of S.Con.Res.3, the FY 2017 Budget Resolution. At 5:30pm, the Senate will vote on Paul Amendment #1 (Substitute), with additional votes possible. At 2:30pm on Tuesday, January 10, the Senate will vote on Sanders Amendment #19 … Continue Reading
