This report provides a snapshot of the US Executive Branch priorities via daily schedules and the prior day’s press releases. POTUS’ Schedule* 2:00 p.m. EDT – THE PRESIDENT announces the PREVENTS Task Force Roadmap | Rose Garden VPOTUS’ Schedule* 1:25 p.m. EDT – THE VICE PRESIDENT and THE SECOND LADY lead a call to the … Continue Reading
This report provides a snapshot of the US Executive Branch priorities via daily schedules and the prior day’s press releases. POTUS’ Schedule* 12:30 p.m. EDT – THE PRESIDENT has lunch with the Vice President | Private Dining Room 2:30 p.m. EDT – THE PRESIDENT participates in a roundtable on Fighting for America’s Seniors | Cabinet … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Government Shutdown Looms as Current CR Expires Friday; White House Expresses Interest in Bipartisan Negotiations Congress faces a short time frame to pass a spending package for the remainder of the current fiscal year and prevent a government shutdown as the current FY 2017 Continuing Resolution (CR/P.L. 114-254) expires Friday at midnight. House … Continue Reading
President Donald Trump will welcome Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and King Abdullah II of Jordan to the White House this week. He is expected to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping to Mar-a-Lago later in the week. President Trump met last Thursday with Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. According to the White House, the two … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Appropriations Path Forward Unclear Congress will return this week for a “lame duck” session without a clear path forward for Fiscal Year 2017 Appropriations. Several possibilities are under discussion, including extending the current Continuing Resolution (CR); an Omnibus; a series of “minibus” bills; or a combination thereof. A consensus on a plan is … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Republicans Hope ‘Third Time is the Charm’ on Energy-Water Bill The Senate will bring up the FY 2017 Energy and Water Development (Energy-Water) Appropriations Act for a third cloture vote on the Senate floor this week. The previous votes both failed to reach the requisite 60 ayes, as Democrats have chosen to … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Continues Consideration of Appropriations Bills, House Process Delayed The Senate is expected to pass the FY 2017 Energy and Water Development (Energy-Water) Appropriations bill as early as this week, after considering numerous amendments on the floor last week. In addition to the Energy-Water bill, the Senate may begin consideration of the FY … Continue Reading
Early last week, President Barack Obama hosted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders in California and announced he will travel in May to Vietnam and Laos. Back in Washington on Wednesday, the President announced another trip in March to Cuba and Argentina. Congress was in recess last week, in observance of the Presidents’ … Continue Reading
Syrian and Iraqi Crises Secretary of State John Kerry delivered remarks on U.S. Middle East policy last Wednesday at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The Secretary called on the Russian Government to contribute to the end of the Syrian conflict, including through a political settlement. He also highlighted areas where the United States, Russia, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Budget Negotiations Continue Amidst Busy Congressional Calendar Budget negotiations between staff for Republican leadership, the White House, and Democrats are ongoing, but there have been few signs of progress. Democrats have recently announced they will not accept changes to entitlements as part of a budget deal to increase government spending, increasing the likelihood … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Budget Negotiations Begin Recently, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) began discussions with President Barack Obama on a budget deal. The three of them participated in a conference call to lay the foundation for negotiations, and while Majority Leader McConnell reportedly pushed to keep Democratic Leadership in … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Likely to Move CR Soon, But Complications Remain With only eight legislative days scheduled in the House before government funding runs out on September 30, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is under a short timeline to push a Continuing Resolution (CR) through the House. Speaker Boehner could bring a CR to the floor … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Appropriations Process All But Over, CR Likely The appropriations process is almost certainly over and when Congress returns from the August recess there will be just ten legislative days before federal funding runs out, hardly enough time to negotiate a budget deal or an omnibus spending bill. As anticipated, Congress will likely pass … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Shuffles Closer to a Budget Deal, as Appropriations Process Stops The appropriations process is all but over, after a Confederate flag flap during floor debate of the House Interior-Environment bill brought the process to a standstill. While the appropriations committees in both the House and Senate may mark-up their final appropriations bills … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Appropriations Process on the Floor Comes to a Standstill, in Both Houses After an unplanned public fight over a confederate flag amendment in the Interior-Environment Appropriations Bill the House appropriations process has stalled, effectively bringing appropriations efforts on the floor for both Houses of Congress to a standstill just three weeks before the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Appropriations Process Stalled for Foreseeable Future Both the House and Senate are on schedule to finish voting all 12 appropriations bills out of committee, which if successful would be the first time in six years. However, the process is likely to remain stalled in the Senate, as Senate Democrats are expected to … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Appropriations Process Stalls as Democrats Look to Force a Budget Deal The Senate appropriations process has stalled, and it is unclear how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will proceed this week. Last Thursday, Senate Democrats followed through with their announced strategy to stop appropriations bills from reaching the Senate floor by … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Democrats Continue to Push for a Budget Deal In the coming weeks, Senate Democrats will implement a strategy intended to force Republicans into a budget deal. Senate Democratic leadership does not want to rely on President Obama’s vetoes of appropriations bills to force Republicans into negotiations, and will likely prevent any appropriations … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Transportation-Housing and Defense Appropriations Bills on the House Floor The House will continue consideration of the Transportation-Housing (T-HUD) Appropriations Bill this week. The House was expected to vote on the $55.3 billion measure last Thursday, but leadership said a large number of amendments required pushing the vote to this week. Rail safety was … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Appropriations Bills Head to House Floor The House will debate the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) and the Transportation and Housing (T-HUD) FY 2016 Appropriations Bills on the floor this week. Both bills adhere to the sequester’s spending limits, even though President Obama has threatened to veto any appropriations bills that do not adjust the caps. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Joins House in Appropriations Effort Senate Appropriators begin work on their FY 2016 spending bills this week, with subcommittee markups scheduled Tuesday for the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs and Energy-Water appropriations bills. Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-MS) has not publicly revealed how he apportions the mandated topline discretionary funding level of $1.07 trillion … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Democrats Continue to Push for a Budget Deal The President and Democrats in the House and Senate continue to pressure Republicans for a budget deal to replace the sequester’s strict spending limits. Most House Democrats voted against the two sequester-level appropriations bills that were recently considered on the House floor, President Obama has … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Nearing Budget Conference Agreement House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) included possible consideration of the budget conference report on this week’s House schedule, and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Michael Enzi (R-WY) said he is optimistic the House and Senate budget conferees can come to an agreement this week, noting he … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Budget Conference The House and Senate budget conference committee will hold a public conference meeting on Monday, as they attempt to negotiate a joint agreement on a fiscal 2016 budget resolution that can pass both houses of Congress. Most of the Committee’s upcoming negotiations will take place in private, and … Continue Reading